Cosee sends out a great welcome to all the new readers!

It's the day before Spring Break 2020... How many of you remembered that?

Here is a great example of  how we should approach life in general , not just during the pandemic!

Grandma once gave me a tip:

During difficult times, you move forward in small steps.

Do what you have to do, but little by bit.

Don't think about the future, not even what might happen tomorrow. Wash the dishes.

Take off the dust.

Write a letter.

Make some soup.

Do you see?

You are moving forward step by step.

Take a step and stop.

Get some rest.

Compliment yourself.

Take another step.

Then another one.

You won't notice, but your steps will grow bigger and bigger.

And time will come when you can think about the future without crying. Good morning ………

(Elena Mikhalkova, "The Room of Ancient Keys")

Hi! It's me and I am back! Big news! I am the official mascot for the LHS JV Women's Soccer team. Whoo Hoo Girls, Go for the wins!!

More later as the season goes on!!!

Beekeeping in the 'Rona?

 How can anyone not like bees? I mean really.... do you like to eat? Bees are such a big part of our lives and bees are not scary. Hi ! It's me Cosee and I have been secretly listening to the bee course that my person's person is taking. Last week , we learned all about bee anatomy. I learned about new queen bees killing all the other potential queens and about fly abouts and royal jelly and then.... the instructor moved on to stings.

Holy Moly!! I mean you must have really scared , threatened or made a bee mad for them to sting you. Do you realize that when they sting , that the stinger rips out some of their body with it? That is epically tragic. 

I truly feel sorry for a bee now. I feel sorry for the bee sting recipient and I feel great that it will never happen to me. Aside from being a docile creature myself, I am beautifully colored blue , like a flower .... not causing a problem there! Let's not forget that I am also made of fabric , which isn't appealing to bees either.

But, let's talk about a sweeter topic : honey . Did you know that  honey cannot be labeled organic or pesticide free? I mean seriously, you cannot control where a bee flies and so therefore , you cannot control where the pollen source is from either. Common sense , right? So honey is delicious and is wonderful in cooking , on cooking or by the spoonful!!! 

What are the benefits of raw honey , you ask? This wise little monkey has the answer for you! But , before I answer that question , let me ask you  one: what is the difference between raw and pasturized honey and who actually cares? 

What is raw honey? It’s a pure, unfiltered and unpasteurized sweetener made by bees from the nectar of flowers. Most of the honey consumed today is processed honey that’s been heated and filtered since it was gathered from the hive. Unlike processed honey, raw honey does not get robbed of its incredible nutritional value and health powers. So! raw honey is healthy and a great sweetener and all other honey is just a great sweetener.

What some benefits of raw honey?

  1. Healthy Weight Management

   2. Counters Pollen Allergies

   3. Natural Energy Source

   4.  Antioxidant Powerhouse

   5. Sleep Promoter

   6. Wound and Ulcer Healer

    7. Diabetes Aid

    8. Natural Cough Syrup

If you want more information, here is a really great website:

 

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/top-raw-honey-benefits

 

I love honey : lavender honey being my favorite .. but all honey is amazing . The idea that Roman soldiers used to carry honey for consumption and for first aid is just so , so cool!!!

Here's a wee recipe for you!

Honey Baked Chicken

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 to 3 lbs.

-

skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks

1 cup

-

all-purpose flour

2

-

large eggs

1 1/2 cups

-

panko breadcrumbs

1 1/2 cups

-

plain breadcrumbs

1/4 cup

-

avocado oil

kosher salt and black pepper

For Honey Glaze:

1 cup

-

honey

3/4 cup

-

orange juice

1/4 cup

-

soy sauce

2 cloves

-

garlic

,

finely minced

2 tsp.

-

hot sauce

1 tsp.

-

black pepper

1/2 tsp.

-

kosher salt

parsley

,

for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Heat your oven to 400°F and have a large baking pan (9x13) nearby.

Set up a breading station with 3 shallow bowls, filling one with the flour, one with the eggs and the last with the panko, plain breadcrumbs and avocado oil. Season each with salt and pepper, mixing together to combine. The texture of the breadcrumbs should feel and look like wet sand.

Rinse and pat dry the chicken, season generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Starting with the flour, dredge on both sides, move on to the egg to coat even and then cover with breadcrumbs. Transfer to the baking pan. Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken.

Bake the chicken for 25 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, in a medium saucepan combine the honey, orange juice, soy sauce, minced garlic, hot sauce, pepper and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce down slightly.

After 25 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven, using tongs turn oven and lower the temperature to 350 degrees. Pour over the glaze, leaving about 1/4 in the saucepan.

Return the chicken to the oven and continue to bake for another 10 minutes.

Place the saucepan with the remaining glaze back on the burner, bring to a boil and continue to reduce until it is a nice thick syrup.

Once the chicken has finished cooking, transfer to a serving platter and pour the cooked down glaze over the top. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the top and serve.

In case you want more : https://honey.com/

Cossee's thought for the day:

....... February 2021 : The Pandemic lingers....

 There are a lot of things in life that you want to linger; the smell of coffee or fresh baked bread, spring rain or even the scent of upcoming snow. But , the ' Rona has to go. Cosee and I will be back blogging shortly and would love ideas that you have of things that you want him to cover...... see you soon!

“We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more.” ― Bill Clinton

So remember yesterday when I asked you to think about how we are different and how we are similar? Let's have a chat! We all have our differences: birthplace, family life , level of education , color , gender , religion..... but if you think about it ; that means that we are similar in all of those differences, right? How many of those differences can we see? Not many that's for sure.... my person is from Boston ; I am from Put-In-Bay Ohio and who knows where the people reading this are from. But, nobody knows that difference unless we say something. So what about outward appearance? My person has white hair so she must be old , right? well guess what - she has had that same color hair since she was 40... and me? I have had the same blue skin and it never ages, wrinkles or looks different. In that way, I envy humans... all those great wrinkles from laughing.  Want to see a great laughing picture? This is my person's favorite picture and when she feels sad, she looks at it and laughs.

What joy in that picture!!! Or admit it; babies laughing and giggling make you laugh , right? I know they do so why not just go with it.
So how does this have anything to do with anything other than a sock monkey's rambling? Well... this is weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic and things may actually be starting to settle down. My person went to the Ingles today and the shelves were almost like normal. There was toilet paper and paper towels ... no wipes yet, but it's a start. So . if people just let the panic pass, then we can let the grocery stores do their thing and the shelves like this will be a rarity rather than a commonplace thing.

How can we all feel better , all similar in our struggle with the pandemic? We all turn to comfort foods. I want to thank all the people that shared their best comfort food memories with me yesterday. If you have some, now is the time to make and eat that food. If you are looking for some ideas, let me share what was shared with me: it's a great long list so be patient: fried liver mush and eggs , pozole , biscuits and gravy ( with and without sausage ) , chocolate gravy , roasts, mashed potatoes , ice box cookies , grits with butter, salt and milk , tamales , atole , cubed steak and gravy , chicken and dumplings, pot roast , American Chop Suey , macaroni & cheese , golumpkies and pierogies ..  my person's comfort food is a really good latte .....What a great list!! Some international foods , some New England food , some Southern foods and some that everyone eats! We are a great group of people .... take your grandmother's advice and have something to eat.... try your old stand by or try someone else's.. either way comfort food is exactly that. Something to make all the worries go away just for a while. 

A latte for you to share with my person: notice the heart? I am sharing my heart with you like she shares hers with her students daily...... enjoy !  Can you feel the warmth? It is like a virtual hug from me and my person to you! Hang in there.... enjoy the beautiful days; get outside in the garden and listen to the birds , pick some flowers or do some nature journaling . ( I have some great instructions if you need them )

Just a reminder of the moon last night so you have a happy thought:

Words of Wisdom on comfort foods:  " Laughter is the brightest , where food is the best" - Irish Proverb

A Pink Super Moon , Big Foot and an afternoon of movie monsters? Sounds perfect to me!

So the day started just like any other day. My person's alarm clock annoyingly went off at 5:05 AM... yes I said morning , in the dark. What was she thinking.... she said she has to stay on the schedule or she will have hard time getting back on the schedule. Ok, I guess that makes sense. For me. I prefer a good hot soak in a tub to start my day and so that is what I did.... check it out. I am all sparkly and shiny clean now!

Off to school and my person got all the folders in the teachers home room boxes and the my person's person went and paid some bills before it is considered unessential to do that. We heard from the Allstate lady that three people got tickets the other day for paying their bills. We were met with really pretty flowers blooming and it is a shame that the kids won't see them before the flowers fade. But you can see them here!

Speaking of flowers, you know how much my person loves lavender... well her Spanish lavender is blooming and it is really pretty...... love that deep purple...

Can't wait for the rest of it to bloom... the smell is so awesome. Well we didn't stay at school much after noon and on the way out of Lincolnton, my person was completely startled to see Big Foot! I was excited to because I know how many people spend hours looking for him and there he was.... Good thing that my person is friendly because he is really really big!!!

Needless to say , we finally made it home and it was LUNCH TIME !! So I had a wee sandwich while everyone else ate Japan.  I made this by myself because they were too wrapped up in food and the telly.

Once I got my sandwich taken care of and wandered into the living room , I could see what they were so intently watching.... TCM was showing 5 movie monster movies in a row! Oh Man!!! I am all over that ... Attack of the 50Ft Woman , then THEM ! , then Forbidden Planet and then the original, in Japanese Godzilla and finally The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Whoo Hoo!!! Getting settled in for a binge watch...

I was fascinated by the work in these movies... I mean really... you look...

and then.........................

I bet that the 50Ft woman could have taken care of those giant ants...... humans had a little problem...


or how about Robby the Robot's debut performance?

Our movie adventures were brought back to Earth abruptly when bomb testing woke up Godzilla and he basically trashed Tokyo....... well until they discovered the oxygen destroyer and that was that.....

I feel pretty bad for Godzilla , but I really feel bad for the Creature. I mean , he was in the Amazon minding his own business and these explorers looking for fossils barged into his lagoon and disrupted everything. But, he is the one that they try to kill when he just wanted to be left alone. Well , he did want to kidnap the girl , but that isn't the point. Is it?

Not a bad looking movie monster ... nope not at all.

I am in the process of collecting all sorts of comments on comfort food and so we will chat about that tomorrow . So be thinking about how we are different, but yet very similar......


The moon is shielded by clouds here in Denver and so I will share a picture that a friend of my person's took in New England and Ohio  earlier this evening.... enjoy.... it is lovely.

Words of Wisdom:

“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star. “      – W. Clement Stone