Catch As You Can

 

Book banning is in the news again, and it’s got me scratching my head. There’s a Utah law saying if at least three school districts remove a particular book from their libraries, then all forty+ districts must also remove them. So far, 37 books fit this category, and some of their authors – including Elana K. Arnold, Ellen Hopkins, Stephen King, and the families of Maya Angelou and Kurt Vonnegut – are suing for financial, reputational and professional harm. It’s an interesting conundrum. First, it’s hard to imagine a book ban in the age of the Internet. These books are only removed from school libraries, which have limited budgets and space. Anyone wishing to read them can, by purchasing their own or visiting any other library. Second, a book “ban” tends to excite interest in books that might otherwise collect dust. Third, the current crop of students is barely literate anyway. We should be pleased (and surprised) they’re reading anything.

One Dozen Friendship Stars

 

Jeff Rubin from the San Francisco, CA area was a former reporter. In the early 2000’s he became frustrated with horrible punctuation habits. He was finding glaring errors in practically everything he read, especially printed media like newspapers, books and magazines. He pointed out changes in punctuation can radically change the meaning, as in “Let’s eat Grandma” or “Let’s eat, Grandma.” Jeff worried schools weren’t emphasizing proper use of punctuation, and often teachers and administrators were unclear on the proper use of punctuation. Jeff decided something must be done, so he created National Punctuation Day in 2004 to bring attention to the problem. English has 26 punctuation characters: Ampersand, Angle brackets, Apostrophe, Asterisk, At sign, Back slash, Bullet point, Caret, Colon, Comma, Curly brackets, Ellipses, Em dash, En dash, Exclamation point, Hyphen, Parentheses, Period, Pipe symbol, Pound sign, Question mark, Quotation, Semicolon, Slash, Square brackets, and Tilde. Do you know them all?e

Early Halloween Decor

 

When you win a blue ribbon for a state fair challenge quilt, you bring home more than the ribbon. There’s usually an additional prize. Until now, the prize has been a gift certificate – generally under $20 – for one of the many quilt shops in our state. I haven’t mentioned it here; probably because I’ve always spent much more making the quilt that won the prize. But it’s prompted me to visit quilt shops I normally wouldn’t see. For instance, in 2023 my certificate was from Patches Quilt Shop in Panguitch, Utah. By a happy chance, there was “ring of fire” solar eclipse a month after the fair, visible from Panguitch. We rented a lovely home there for the event. On the way, we stopped at Patches and used the certificate to buy a quilty jigsaw puzzle, which we enjoyed together. This year’s prize was a check. More versatile, but maybe a bit less fun.

Simplicity

 

This dish was on the Chick-fil-A menu for more than forty years. It was finally discontinued in 2013. It’s very old school, and I suppose tastes have changed.

 

Carrot-Raisin Salad

 

4 1/2 cups fresh carrots, finely shredded

1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained

3/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sugar

Juice of one small lemon or half a large one

 

Dissolve sugar in pineapple, then gently fold in remaining ingredients. Be sure to use fresh carrots, as it will definitely make a difference in the finished product. The original recipe called for more than twice as much sugar. But, when you consider pineapple, raisins and even carrots are already pretty sweet, a quarter cup seemed more than enough. You may want to eliminate the sugar altogether. Chill salad thoroughly before serving. 

Nine Friendship Stars

 

“Becoming a lifelong disciple of Christ is a process, the sum of multiple small, daily, personal and spiritual events. President Dallin H. Oaks taught: ‘We need to be patient, even with ourselves. Overcoming doubt can be a lengthy process, as with building faith.’ The path of discipleship often resembles climbing a mountain. The shortest path to the top is not always the most appropriate and often not the safest either. Thus, we must choose the firm and safe path, even if it is sometimes the longest and most demanding one. Jesus Christ and His restored gospel constitute that safe path that leads us to the true summit. I testify of the healing, refining, and perfecting power of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ lives, that He was resurrected on the third day, and that the empty tomb is a symbol of His victory.” - Elder Eduardo F. Ortega

Odd Fellows Cross

 

Our quilt guild occasionally invites quilters to show and discuss their work. Once, when they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel, they asked me to provide what they call a “trunk show.” It was harder than expected, because my best quilts have all been gifted to family or friends, or donated to Quilts of Valor, Quilts for Kids, Project Linus, Festival of Trees, Intermountain Medical Center, etc. This month, the trunk show was provided by Ione Vanwagenen, who used to own one of our favorite quilt shops, Elaine’s Quilt Block. She brought her own creations, and some her mother had made. Several were African designs, and some were Native American. They were all amazing, but the ones I found most inspirational were antique quilts she’d bought, including this one from the mid-1800’s. I’ve made this block, but never with Civil War prints, or reversed color values. Can't wait to start!

Turnstyle

 

I used to have a recipe for a quiche that called for skinny Japanese eggplant. It was delightful, but so complicated I only made it once. I make a mean ratatouille, and once in a blue moon I try my hand at eggplant parmesan. But this is the easiest and possibly the tastiest eggplant recipe I’ve made so far. You take just about any variety of eggplant – globe, Italian, Asian, whatever – and cut it up into one-inch cubes. In a large bowl, toss the cubes with a splash of olive oil, coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the eggplant on top. Roast in the oven at 450F for half an hour, until they’re golden-brown and tender. You can eat them as is, or seal and store them in the fridge a few days. Roasted eggplant is a delicious and nutritious addition to salads or savory bowls.