Great Cookie Recipe

I figured it was time to memorialize my favorite cookie recipe before my cookbook falls apart. These are my favorites because they have no added fats...no butter, no lard or margarine, nuthin' and I just go a little goo-goo over a cookie that is crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. These are just fabulous with coffee...

Here it is:

Crunchy Chews

3/4 Cup of all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
3/4 Cup of Sugar (I like to mix brown and white equally)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 Eggs
1 Package of diced dates ( 8 ounces )
1 Cup of broken up Walnuts (not too finely)

Start by heating the oven to 325 Degrees

Then grab a large bowl and combine the dry ingredients (flour, powder, salt and sugar)

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl till they are light and fluffy

Fold them (eggs) gently into the dry ingredients, just until combined.

Then add the dates and walnuts and fold gently also to combine. Handle as little as possible.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (your WILL thank me for this later) and put a tablespoon or so of the cookie mixture for each cookie on the sheets. You should end with exactly 24 cookies...space them as much as possible because they spread a little when baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and remove from the sheets to cool. Let them air dry so they get crisp, then place them in an airtight container and munch away when the mood hits!

HH Dalai Lama Visit to Fayetteville, Arkansas

This past Wednesday was a very special day. It was the day that the Dalai Lama came to visit Fayetteville, Arkansas and discuss nonviolence as the ultimate way to solving the worlds problems. In addition to his keynote presentation in the afternoon, there was a panel discussion held in the morning with

Sister Helen Prejean of the Congregation of St Joseph, who is perhaps best known for "Dead Man Walking An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States" as well as "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions" which was inspired by her belief that several of those whose executions she witnessed were innocent. She has dedicated most of her life to the poor and powerless and has been working to abolish capital punishment for over 25 years.

Vincent Harding, who is an icon of America's Civil Rights movement, traveled to Atlanta where he met Martin Luther King, Jr and later worked toward the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The panel discussion can be seen here

His Holiness the Dalai Lama who has worked tirelessly for the betterment of the six million Tibetans who currently remain in Tibet, as well as those who have chosen to follow him. He has become a major spokesperson for human rights, environmental concerns and the practice of nonviolence in solving problems that range from the purely personal to the broadly political. He has also worked tirelessly to promote understanding and harmony among the world's religious traditions.

The photo opportunities were not so good but I got a couple of shots that I thought were worth sharing.

I was sitting directly in front of a huge screen where the speakers were being projected.  Here I must have gotten the shot when Vincent Harding was about to speak and the previous shot of Sister Prejean and HH Dalai Lama were fading into the background.
I like it because it shows visually all three in harmony, with one voice for nonviolence.

This is a shot of His Holiness just before receiving his Honorary Degree from Chancellor Gearhart.

This is just prior to the opening of the morning session. 

The afternoon presentation "Turning Swords into Ploughshares" can be seen here

Mount Magazine, Arkansas

Last week I joined the local OLLI group for the last hiking outing of this season to Mount Magazine. We rode the limo bus to Mount Magazine and had a buffet lunch at the lodge perched atop Mt. Magazine and afterwards we all took a mile and a half loop hike at Signal Hill which is the highest point in Arkansas. I did not have to get acclimated to the height as is necessary at some of the higher peaks in Colorado.

So the leader was nice enough to take this shot for me...we were lucky on all of our outings this year, while rain was predicted, we had none, yet again!

The butterflies were all over the mountain top...the wildflowers are a great attractant.  Here is a yellow swallowtail partaking of wildflower nectar.

I always try to include an unusual picture when I can.  Here, as it was explained to me is fresh (well relatively so; perhaps a couple of hours old) bear scat!  The leader poked it a little and uncovered the fresher stuff in the middle of the dried outer portion.  Fortunately, we didn't see any.

Just Lazy I Guess

I've been a little lazy lately. There have been a couple of good things happening which I will write about soon, but I guess I have just needed to chill out for a couple of days.
I think it helped because I seem to be feeling a lot better and my strength finally seems to be coming back! For a while I thought I was going to be stuck in some kind of funk as a result of my earlier accident, but I think I am rounding that corner and will back to my old self soon. Yippee!
So be patient, I have some good stuff that will be up soon. Probably not today though.

Poor Doggie

I almost feel sorry for this pooch

And So...

So, I was having a discussion with a fellow Sangha member the other day. We were talking about how we have changed over time, by attending Dharma talks and applying some of the principles to our daily life. Without really thinking about it, I blurted out that I had changed a lot over the years.  She was nodding in agreement.

Then, again without really thinking too much about what I was going to say, I said: No I hadn't changed all that much, but I had rearranged the percentages of my personality quite a bit.

We both thought that was a pretty good way of saying it.

I freely admit that I saw this on Brain Pickings, but for those who do not follow the blogs that I follow, it is really worth a look.  Go ahead, enjoy, it is a book trailer and the book really seems worth reading.  The title  Wisdom: The Greatest Gift One Generation Can Give Another by Andrew Zuckerman




WISDOM Trailer from Andrew Zuckerman Studio on Vimeo.