The Elfin Artist

One of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets, Alfred Noyes. Wish some fabulous artist, like my husband's Uncle Gary, would paint a picture of this poem. Wouldn't it be gorgeous??

The Elfin Artist

In a glade of an elfin forest
When Sussex was Eden-new,
I came on an elvish painter
And watched as his picture grew,
A harebell nodded beside him.
He dipt his brush in the dew.

And it might be the wild thyme round him
That shone in the dark strange ring;
But his brushes were bees' antennae,
His knife was a wasp's blue sting;
And his gorgeous exquisite palette
Was a butterfly's fan-shaped wing.

And he mingled its powdery colours,
And painted the lights that pass,
On a delicate cobweb canvas
That gleamed like a magic glass,
And bloomed like a banner of elf-land,
Between two stalks of grass;

Till it shone like an angel's feather
With sky-born opal and rose,
And gold from the foot of the rainbow,
And colours that no man knows;
And I laughed in the sweet May weather,
Because of the themes he chose.

For he painted the things that matter,
The tints that we all pass by,
Like the little blue wreaths of incense
That the wild thyme breathes to the sky;
Or the first white bud of the hawthorn,
And the light in a blackbird's eye;

And the shadows on soft white cloud-peaks
That carolling skylarks throw,--
Dark dots on the slumbering splendours
That under the wild wings flow,
Wee shadows like violets trembling
On the unseen breasts of snow;

With petals too lovely for colour
That shake to the rapturous wings,
And grow as the bird draws near them,
And die as he mounts and sings,--
Ah, only those exquisite brushes
Could paint these marvellous things.

Alfred Noyes

"A prayer for Joy"

Help me, O God,
To listen to what it is that makes my heart glad
And to follow where it leads.
May joy, not guilt,
Your voice, not the voices of others,
Your will, not my willfulness,
Be the guides that lead me to my vocation.
Help me to unearth the passions of my heart
That lay buried in my youth.
And help me to go over that ground again and again
Until I can hold in my hands,
Hold and treasure,
Your calling on my life.
-- Ken Gire, WINDOWS OF THE SOUL

Loving this little prayer. Sings life into my soul!

Strawberries!

Well, our poll is over and the overwhelming winner was the strawberry! It seems that many of you out there can't get enough of nature's ruby and with good cause. Few things compare with the strawberry's unique mix of sweet and tart and no other fruit (in my humble opinion) can be used quite as diversely as the strawberry. So in honor of our red friend, I've written a little poem.

“Fields of Green”

Through rows and rows of green and brown
Smelling earth and dirt.
With figures hunched and bending down,
One with red-stained shirt
And mouth alive with berry juice
Dripping down his chin.

Fingers plump with reddest fruit,
Warmed by sun-drenched skies,
He loads his bucket with the loot
Content to store his prize.
He’ll eat them in the morning,
For lunch and as a snack.
At dinnertime he’ll share them
With his baby brother Jack.

A summer day he loves the most
The air so sweet and clean
No mountain range or sea line coast
Can top these fields of green.

The Incredible Edible Egg

"ODE TO AN EGG"

When the day is almost done
Home from work you run
Dinner must be made
But, the plans you’ve laid
Lie frozen in the fridge
Not thawed a tiny smidge
What now? The cry is heard
No time to cook a bird
But then you spy a sphere
And suddenly it’s clear
A meal in a shell
Will work out very well
Scrambled, poached, and fried
There’s none that I’ve not tried
A culinary treasure
Whose worth has no measure.

They say that "the best laid plans of mice and men go oft' awry" and I can attest to this truth. Last night before I went to bed, I was bustling around the kitchen making muffins for breakfast and white bean hummus for snacking with veggies at lunch and I remembered that I would need to take something out of the freezer for dinner. I found a pound of hamburger, tucked it into the refrigerator and went to bed. When I arrived home from work today, I pulled out the hamburger only to find it still frozen. Uh oh. It was 5:00, my husband was on his way home and my children were already eyeing the kitchen like hungry dinosaurs sizing up their next kill. What to make? And that's when my eye fell on the old reliable - eggs.

It's entirely easy for me to say that my favorite food in all the world is the egg and it has been since I was a baby. My parents used to feed my sisters and I eggs and I would eat my portion and any extra that were available. My grandfather would come over and make me eggs just to see how excited I would get at the prospect. I was so in love with yolks that the dozen hard boiled eggs that were used to make colored Easter eggs were eaten entirely by me over the course of a week. It is, in my opinion, the most versatile culinary ingredient. It can be used as a main dish, a side or as an aid in countless other recipes.

So tonight, I grabbed eight eggs, a store bought pie crust, some cheddar cheese, a little Mascarpone cheese, half and half, salt and pepper and whipped up a quiche. Forty minutes in a 350 degree oven, topped with fresh chives and rosemary and served with fresh sliced tomatoes with garlic salt, pan sautéed potatoes, and green beans. It was a filling, tasty meal with the incredible edible egg as its star.

The next time you're out of dinner ideas, pull out that carton in the refrigerator and let the King of Foods delight you with it's veritable versatility. Try Eggs Benedict (my favorite application for eggs), omelets, bacon and eggs, deviled eggs, or even a soufflé. Since the beginning of time, man has consumed eggs, for its nutritional value (it's packed with protein, fat, vitamins, calcium, iron and more!!), its accessibility, its adaptability and its flavor and taste. So get crackin!