Beet and Sauerkraut Cold Salad

Christmas is almost upon us, looking for a delicious bright red salad this will fit the bill.

This is a hardy vegetable salad that is best made the day before allowing the many flavours to blend together. 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium beets cooked and cubed
• 2 medium potatoes cooked and cubed
• 2 medium carrots cooked and cubed
• 1 cup drained sauerkraut
• 4 celery stalks cubed
• 3 shallots cut into thin slices which are pulled apart
• 2 tablespoons sweet relish
• 1 tablespoon horseradish
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the carrots, beets, and potatoes.  The vegetables can be cooked together and we like this salad with the vegetables being slightly firm or under cooked.
2. Cut cooked vegetables into 1/4 inch cubes and cool in refrigerator. 
3. Set the sauerkraut to drain.
4. Clean and cut the celery into 1/4 inch cubes.
5. Slice the shallots
6. In a separate dish mix together the sweet relish, horseradish and oil creating the dressing
7. In a large bowl mix together all the vegetables
8. Add the dress and mix until all the vegetables are coated.
9. Refrigerate overnight
10. Salt and pepper to taste
11. Serve

 This recipes serves 8

From Our Table to Yours

Grandma Snyder

©2013 - 2015 twosnydergirls

Crocheting the September Sky

September 2015

Fall, Leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Emily Bronte

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Veterans and Remembrance Day

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Lest We Forget

Today we stop for a moment  and pause our busy lives to remember those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

As you pause think about the freedoms the define your everyday life, 

that are taken for granted on most day but not today.

Today we remember. 

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Be Mindful of Yourself

Airlines understand this as do first responders, you must look after yourself before you can attend to those who are dependent on you and so did Grandma.  

She always served herself at the table first and when asked why she said "because I will be the person who leaves the table first to look after you and your Grandfather" – she was right and knowing this she made sure she had time to eat.

This weekend was very busy and I lost track of me as I played with grandchildren, invited mother over for a meal and prepared for Paul’s family Christmas dinner.  I enjoyed doing all of these activities yet by 7:00 pm on Sunday I was unsettled, resentful and tried.

It came to me as I lay in a hot bath I had spent the weekend being mindful of everything except me and this is what I resented.  No one had done it to me I just forgot about me.

As we approach one of the most demanding times of the year it will be important to be mindful of yourself.  Create space each day for a quiet cup of tea, 30 minutes to pray or medicate, take a bath, write in a journal, take a walk etc.  

Listen to your body and mind to decide what time of day you need to take time for yourself.  Be selfish about this because it will mean you have more energy to be mindful of those around you.

I have a childhood memory of a kitchen full of cousins everyone covered in flour as we made Christmas cookies with our Grandmother.  All of a sudden we noticed that she was sitting in her favourite chair with her apron pull up over her face.  Silence settled on us as we tried to take in this strange event, in a little while Grandma pulled her apron away from her face, got up and said "now for jam jams" with all the energy of a younger woman.

We asked her what had just happened and nonchalantly she said "Oh God and I were just talking".  Years later I would learn that this was how she took her time how she learned to be mindful of herself.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Two Small Coins

Every day I see examples of the poor giving all that they have in the moment to others who in their eyes need it more.  

The homeless teenager who walking out of Tim Horton's with his coffee is approached by an old woman who from her clothing is also homeless,  “change to spare she tentatively asks, Yep replies the teenager and passes what is left of his money to her and walks away”. 

This boy not yet a man has no idea where his lunch will come from and in that moment a hot coffee in his hand and his breakfast donut already digesting he identified in this woman a need he could fill and so he gave her the last of his money.

Later that day leaving the conference that brought me to Toronto I saw the teenager with a coffee jar in front of him begging for supper money.  

I asked him if he regretted giving the old woman the money earlier in the day, “what, hell no she needed it more” and now you are in need I offer because of that gesture.

“No you got it wrong lady, because I helped her I know someone will help me, just works that way, you know like some other homeless person will have extra, like Mike last week he shares that’s how the world works.”

That is how the Christian world is meant to work and yet in that moment I knew I only gave from my wealth always holding back enough to ensure I protect

myself against the day I might not have enough money.

Psalms 146 yet again reminds us who Christ became a serve

7 Who executeth justice for the oppressed; Who giveth food to the hungry. Jehovah looseth the prisoners; 8 Jehovah openeth the eyes of the blind; Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down; Jehovah loveth the righteous; 9 Jehovah preserveth the sojourners; He upholdeth the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

And after reading this weeks scriptures once again I see the 'eye of the needle' that I have to pass through and like the wealthy man of the Bible I turn ashamed because I have much and I am afraid to give it away and trust God to provide. 

Yes we attend church faithfully and we give of our wealth each week in the offering plate yet we holding back large portions of our wealth and we ensure we get a tax receipt.  

And we with money in our pockets we walk past the homeless and hungry, ensuring we do not make eye contact least they make demands upon us.

We do not give like the widow or teenage boy!

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2014 twosnydergirls

Readings this week 1 Kings 17:8-16 Psalm 146 Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44