Bettina Network's Blog - Table Talk at a Bettina Network Home - Page 38

Harvest Restaurant

July 13th, 2010

copyright the Bettina Network, inc. 2010

44 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA. 02138
617 868 2255

Hours: Mon-Th 12pm-10pm
Fri-Sat 12pm-11pm, Sun 11:30am-10pm

We were roaming around Concord, MA., went into a beautiful modern art gallery and heard about the Harvest Restaurant’s history. The person in the store lived in Cambridge, once upon a time, and her husband worked at the Harvest so we got an earful. We were on our way to reviewing another restaurant, but after that conversation, which was fantastic with lots of history we didn’t know, we decided to stop in for lunch and maybe dinner to take another look at the Harvest Restaurant in Cambridge.

The history was intriguing. Many of the ‘greats’ in the restaurant world in Cambridge/Boston started out at the Harvest Restaurant or worked there at some point in their career. The Harvest and Design Resource – a great place to shop, once upon a time – were connected by the same ownership and we had just enjoyed the retrospective display in the window of the old Design Resource while it waited for a new store to open. The Marimekko fabrics and other items once considered consumer items, now in the area called art were beautifully presented.

Lydia Shire, Chris Shlesinger, and we heard, but couldn’t verify that even Jasper White worked at the Harvest. We couldn’t verify any of the stories we heard because we called the Harvest’s PR person, who was in a hurry and didn’t have time to talk with us. We asked our questions, she promised she would send info on the Harvest’s history – weeks ago. We are still waiting for either a return phone call or marketing information.

That is symbolic of our entire experience.

Our first trip to the Harvest was for lunch on a week day. The restaurant was only about 1/3 full. We were happy about that. Service would be great, no crowds with which to contend, no running out of dishes on the menu, etc.

When we walked in we were confronted with large flower arrangements, which were exquisite, but looked as though the florist had just arrived and put them wherever there was space – pushing some things out of the way to make room for the flowers. That was disappointing. The Harvest would have looked better without the flowers. Someone’s aesthetic sense is missing.

We looked at the menu and looked and looked and looked. It was hard deciding what to order, because nothing really struck us as great for lunch. I came from a place which cooks great rabbit, but somehow Bacon Wrapped Rabbit Leg with grilled nectarine foie gras stuffing just didn’t do it. My food memories growing-up include foie gras and great bread for breakfast and an even greater foie gras for dinner or a late evening snack. The thought of eating a grilled nectarine foie gras – stuffed into a rabbits leg which was wrapped with bacon, just spoiled all those memories so I bypassed that item.

After taking a long time to decide we settled on hamburgers. Going to an upscale restaurant for fast food was just debilitating. There were three of us and we all settled on the hamburgers for lack of being enticed by anything else. The hamburgers were a forced selection, – since we were there we had to choose something. It was not a choice we jumped for joy about.

When the food arrived, it was disappointing! The burger was alright; the aioli good; there were huge proportions; the fries were good; the bread not so great; way to much raw onion – a huge thick slice of raw red onion on the sandwich overpowered everything else. Since we had a meeting to go to after lunch and didn’t want to run everybody out of the room with our after lunch bodily smells, we took the onion off the sandwich. A smaller, thinner slice might have held its own, but this was way over the wrong top.

For an upscale restaurant, it was a decidedly downscale meal. The service was more than adequate, but the wait people were totally lacking in energy. I wondered if they would make it through the meal.

We were bothered by flies throughout our meal and we chose to sit inside so we wouldn’t have to worry about the insects. A fly settled in the rim of the glass at the empty table next to us and stayed there for over an hour. Could that be why many restaurants turn their glasses upside down once a table has been set? – to keep tiny, unwanted intruders out of the crystal and off the porcelain? It was more than a little upsetting to have to battle flies, but we weren’t excited about the food anyway so we skipped dessert, ignored the coffee and left most of the food uneaten.

Because the room was not full the table arrangements didn’t bother us. If it had been filled we would have left before ordering. Somehow, we didn’t expect to see tables lined up along the wall – one table after another, where you would probably elbow your neighbor at the next table before the end of the meal because there wasn’t room to eat with any sense of privacy and distance from others trying to do the same thing. Stuff another table along the wall and push them all closer together to accommodate the extra service for another party – seemed to be the ethos!

All in all – too much money – for a forced upscale-wanna-be menu. One choice we skipped over was a Burgundy Escargot Tart with Chorizo Butter. We wondered what Chorizo butter would do to the Escargot – a delicate taste mixed with – what – butter whipped with chorizo sausage? It sounded greasy, unappetizing and we just couldn’t imagine ordering it.

Would we return? Uh-Uh! We did, however, for dinner – to make sure we weren’t judging on just one visit where things could have been a bit off that day. Dinner wasn’t any better. Especially since NOTHING was organic. The only item close was the “natural” Boyden Farm Vermont Burger. For the same money they could have made that burger an Organic one.

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Searching for Goats MILK!

July 8th, 2010

We are searching for Organic Whole Raw Goats Milk Kefir! If we can’t find the Organic Whole Raw Goats Milk Kefir – if you know of a source for Organic Whole Raw Goats Milk let us know that to – we will make our own Kefir.

We have received lots of mail about one of our bed & breakfast home’s morning Smoothie Drink which is available to their bed and breakfast guests as an addition to or instead of the regular breakfasts they prepare. We would like to make the recipe and information available on the Blog, but sources for the Goats Milk are impossible to find – except in the most hidden places. What country is this? A democracy? Or has our open government been replaced with a dictatorship when we weren’t looking?

Don’t know why those foods that are best for us are the hardest to find? Are we being marketed and programmed into sickness and problem health issues?

The smoothie made with Organic Raw Goats’ Milk Kefir is getting rave reviews from some of our guests. One guest credits it with getting rid of his “pot belly” which he cultivated by drinking beer and which exercise did nothing to flatten.

The recipe:

Put the following in a blender –
1 cup organic raw whole goat’s milk kefir
Add a frozen packet of your favorite organic fruit – blackberries, pinneapple, cherries, strawberries, etc.
Add one organic banana – very ripe
Add organic maple syrup to taste

If you like your smoothie very cold and a little like a soft ice cream add about 4 ice cubes
If you prefer your smoothie more liquid, don’t add the ice cubes and you will get a wonderful thick drink.

Blend for several minutes – depending upon how you want the outcome – experiment until you get your favorite consistency.

We’ve started trying it, but can’t get the proper milk. We are using organic whole milk pasteurized cows milk kefir. Its still good, but not as healthy, nor does it give the kind of results the organic raw whole goat’s milk kefir is giving and we are jealous of the results and frustrated in this search.

At least we can find the organic whole milk – Lifeway is the only label we’ve found selling the organic whole cow’s milk kefir.

I am sure you all know the difference between the whole milk and low fat. We are discovering claims that low fat is what is producing the osteoporosis epidemic. All the research we’ve done and the breakfast discussions we’ve been made aware of talk about the difference and the false bill of goods, particularly women, have been sold thinking low fat milk products will help them control their weight and provide their needed calcium, etc.

Apparently, milk fat and milk protein have to be present in the body at the exact same time and the only way that can happen is if your milk is “whole”. All the unnatural things that are being done to milk is amazing. What ever happened to good, plain, clean milk straight from the animal without all the expensive equipment now needed to produce a bottle of milk to sell to consumers. It certainly has limited who can go into the dairy business and produce the end product – And, especially – who receives the real profit from milk. It looks as though that will not be the farmer with the dairy animals producing the milk. That is only the first step – after which those who make the real profit on milk step in, collect milk from many dairy farmers and up the price beyond anything any dairy farmer could hope to make.

There have been some hot breakfast table discussions about milk lately. We buy organic milk, but hadn’t thought much beyond that. We now have been pushed to look at a lot more and think carefully about this whole topic. There is even a bit of controversy over kefir. Are there 10 or 12 probiotics in Kefir or are there 36 and are we being short changed even in that area?

Bed and breakfast opens doors we didn’t even realize were doors and throws open windows we couldn’t see through. What a startling new view through those windows with the painted glass panes. This milk business is certainly an area that has us dizzy. And it all started with smoothies for breakfast.

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______________________________________________________________

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

A Harp Concert at King’s Chapel

June 22nd, 2010

copyright 2010 the Bettina Network, inc.

(If you would like to know more about King’s Chapel, another Bettina’s Blog reviews King’s Chapel and it is also included in Bettina’s Menu of Events.)

On Tuesday, June 15th at 12:15pm there was a wonderful harp concert in King’s Chapel. The harpist was Franziska Huhn

Her concert included the Ciaccona from J. S. Bach’s Partita in D minor for solo violin (BWV 1004). It was amazing to hear this piece played on the harp. The ciaccona is considered a pinnacle of the solo violin repertoire and has been transcribed for other instruments – the piano, the full orchestra, the guitar, organ and others. Franziska played the Ciaccona brilliantly and set in the background of King’s Chapel the incredible feelings this piece generates came through the harp playing and made the afternoon.

Also included in this concert was Bach’s French Suite no. 5, BWV 816. Written by J. S. Bach for the clavier, Ms. Huhn transcribed these pieces for the harp. I thought I would share with you the musicians thoughts about the French Suite and her transcription.

A lot of movements have melodies based on arpeggios and some on scales, allowing for a sonority that should work well on the harp. I have had the French Suite on my mind since I first read through it in 2000. I thought then it would work beautifully on the harp and finally I decided to sit down and do the transcription.

All of the movements can be played in the original key and all voicings can be left intact. The only movement which proved tricky was the gigue. It has fast moving left hand lines which can easily lose their clarity on the lower register of the harp. That area tends to build up a lot of vibrations and clarity of lines can easily be lost. In Bach, both lines – the melody as well as the bass line – are equally important, so it is critical that the lines are clear. In later periods the melody rules and the left hand is “serving” the right hand, but in Bach they are equal partners. In the gigue, it took several small discrete register changes of the left hand to make sure it could be heard clearly.

Overall, the character of the Suite is very intimate and personal. It is not a large showy piece, which is one reason I love to play it and thoroughly enjoyed transcribing it for the harp. In this concert, it was a great contrast to the much more extroverted style of the Chaconne.

Ms. Huhn is a rising young musician who has an international resumé of concerts performed throughout the United States as well as Poland, Turkey, Georgia, Luthuania, Norway, Russia, Syria, Germany, Pakistan and more with several concerts performed for German Presidents – both Johannes Rau and Horst Koehler. Ms. Huhn performs as a substitute harpist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, plays regularly with several chamber groups and studied with both Lucille Lawrence and Ann Hobson Pilot, among others. She serves as harp faculty at the New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music, received the Artists’s Diploma from the Conservatory in 2005 and has several harp albums available for purchase. She is the Assistant Director of the Harp Seminar at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute and the above is only a partial list of Ms. Huhn’s musical accomplishments. We know you will hear a lot about Ms. Huhn in the future and hope you take the opportunity to hear her play when she appears in your area of the world or when you are travelling to where Ms. Huhn is performing.

If you would like to follow Ms. Huhn’s career you will find her on the web at www.FranziskaHuhn.de.

She is also an important part of the Bettina Network, inc. and has been for over a decade.

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______________________________________________________________

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Good News in New Orleans

June 19th, 2010

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.
sent by a guest

There are many catastrophes in the Gulf these days. Most of the news emanating therefrom is dismal and seems as though the place is falling apart. This news, however, is good and may help the light to shine through and the creation of a new and better day for New Orleans. New Orleans has a new Labyrinth. It is beautiful; well sited; and wonderful to walk.

check out: www.labyrinthataudubonpark.org

Purpose of the labyrinth
The Labyrinth at Audubon Park has been waiting for its own timing and purpose and that purpose has now become clear, particularly as New Orleans is consumed by the gutting of homes, the rebuilding of levees and the removing of debris from many neighborhoods. The labyrinth stands as a symbol of hope and will offer the New Orleans community a place to heal, to walk together, and to celebrate new life.

Who did this?
The labyrinth has been a five-year collaborative effort of the Audubon Nature Institute and The Friends of The Labyrinth at Audubon Park. One of America’s most well-known creators of labyrinths, Marty Kermeen of Labyrinths in Stone, was commissioned to construct it in Audubon Park.

Where
The permanent labyrinth is located among the oak and sycamore trees on Audubon Park’s East Drive where Laurel Street meets Audubon Park near the Tree of Life. View map

Walking the Labyrinth
The labyrinth’s archetypal symbol of the spiral is the universal representation of transformation. The labyrinth is a tool that provides a sacred place for meditation, centering, and healing. A labyrinth is a walking meditation. All people and all cultures are invited to journey along the labyrinth. As in life, you will encounter many turns. Trust the path. There is no right or wrong way to walk a labyrinth. There are no tricks or decisions, just follow the single path, one foot in front of the other, until you reach the center. Return along that same path.

Our thanks for this bit of heaven on earth goes to: The Friends of The Labyrinth at Audubon Park
They are a non-profit organization whose mission is to build and support the first permanent labyrinth for the New Orleans community. The Friends are also active in projects to educate the public about the history of the ancient labyrinth and to raise awareness about the resurgence of the labyrinth as a meditative and spiritual tool.”

(Ed. Note) Most of the above in quotes was taken directly from the New Orleans Labyrinth’s web site.

Our thanks for letting us know about this new Labyrinth goes to Anne Gordon, whose book – “Numina” will soon be followed by another on Trees. We hope you have purchased a copy and have read through. When you have finished reading “Numina” you know you have been changed, but you aren’t sure what happened. It is a very good life experience.

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______________________________________________________________

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

In Memory of Jaki Leverson

June 9th, 2010

.
May 28, 2010, Jaki Leverson died.

There is much joy in bed and breakfast, much happiness, laughter, sharing, but there is also grief and pain.

Jaki Leverson was a guest in our homes from 1990 until she could no longer travel from London to the United States in 2008. We kept in touch via e-mail and messages from friends of Jaki’s who travelled to Boston and stayed with us at her recommendation. Even though we realized she was quite ill, we put aside the possibility of not seeing her again and kept her in our prayers.

It is very difficult to say good-bye to someone you’ve known for many years. It is saying goodbye to a very good friend. Twice a year, for two weeks, from 1990 through 2007, we spent many memorable breakfasts with Jaki and sometimes dinner. Some of you who read the blog to keep up with what’s happening in the Bettina Network may remember Jaki. She crossed paths with many guests while she was here and several of you have asked about her over the past couple years.

Jaki shared many stories with us around the breakfast table. One that stands out was the story of her trip to Spain. She was travelling with a group in Youth Hostels. At one hostel, the people weren’t giving them any “respect”. They couldn’t get any information, couldn’t get clean sheets, soap, some parts of the hostel needed a good scrubbing and Jaki tried to get attention to these things for her group, without success. Our breakfast table conversation had been about Germans who take no nonsense and insist on everything being just so – the mythological perfection of the German traveller. Jaki had not been enamored when meeting Germans in her travel who were insistent on perfection, they seemed such a nuisance. But during this trip to Spain, after her many failed attempts, into the hostel came a very matronly, Germanic woman with her group and she took over. Jaki said she was never so glad to see anyone as she was to see this woman from Germany, who in short order had clean sheets on the beds, soap in proper dispensers, workers at the hostel scrubbing everything and order reigning.

Jaki’s big concern, when in Cambridge, was for her mother, whom she worried and talked about. Her experiences from childhood and her current times with her mother were joyful. She expected to take care of her mother through the end of her mother’s life, but fate had it otherwise. She is now survived by her mother. For as long as her mother lives, we are sure Jaki’s spirit will always be close to her. Jaki’s regular routine, almost daily, was the telephone call from her mother – which generally came about breakfast time. The love and concern they had for each other stands out for us as a bond that endures.

Jaki was the long-time Resident Director of the Tufts-in-London and Tufts-in-Oxford programs. She was a scholar in International Politics and History, with a BSc from University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and an M.Litt at Linacre College, University of Oxford. She taught at Oxford, Cambridge and the American Institute for Foreign Study prior to her appointment at Tufts University. She also worked in Israel, Italy and Japan at various points in her career. She was truly a citizen of the world and it showed in her life – her interests, her wisdom, her experience and the way she was able to interact with everyone.

We will miss you Jaki Leverson. May God’s love permeate your new life. You will be remembered at Bettina’s for years to come and I am sure you know there will be Jaki stories told around the breakfast table.

_________________________________________________________-

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

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______________________________________________________________

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Soap for Leg Cramps

June 6th, 2010

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.
by Marceline Donaldson

We have had interesting guests who have given us much over breakfast. Our knowledge and wisdom has increased exponentially. I don’t know of any school, degree, or learning center of any kind which is better. This mornings breakfast, however, left us amazed – and don’t you know it had a New Orleans connection.

We had a guest who asked for a bar of soap. We do get such requests every once in awhile, but generally from people who are not accustomed to using the organic liquid soap we provide in the bathrooms. This requesst for soap was different. This guest – with Mobile, Alabama connections – needed a bar of soap because he has leg cramps and is accustomed to putting a bar of soap under the bottom sheet so he can sleep without leg cramps bothering him.

Now I believe in this kind of ‘medicine’, however this was a bit much, even for me. So I did a bit of research and found several new sources of information.

If you have leg cramps and want to try it, it is supposed to work with all soaps except Dove and Dial. No one knows why it works nor why it does not work with those two bars of soap. Since we gave him a bar of Dove soap – we put a bar of Irish Spring soap in his room while he was out so he wouldn’t have to spend a night with leg cramps.

We discovered a new source of information you might like to check out. This information is on the web at AskDrGottMD.com. We have reprinted below what Dr. Gott had to say about nocturnal leg cramps.

DEAR READER: Since I first published this remedy for nocturnal leg cramps, I have received dozens of letters from readers who endorsed this novel approach.

Recently, I also received mail from patients with restless legs syndrome, a serious and uncomfortable disorder of unknown cause. These RLS patients have had success with the soap.

Although it would be irresponsible of me to endorse this as a cure for RLS, the initial responses have been overwhelming. I’ll update you in a future column as I receive more feedback from readers.

To review the technique briefly for people who may have missed previous columns, here is what to do: Take a bar of soap (large or small, new or used, but no Dial or Dove) and place it under the bottom sheet of the bed in the area of the feet and legs. Go to sleep and see what happens. If you sleep, undisturbed by leg cramps or RLS for a full night, let me know. Of course, write me if the technique is ineffective. I’m looking for honest and objective analyses.

Of course, Dr. Gott has a New Orleans connection – his medical degree is from Tulane Medical School. Before you think any other thoughts, he meets the Northeastern Establishments criteria for credibility by also being a graduate of Princeton University. He writes several medical columns and you can get many of his past articles and columns through his web site and several other sites – just Google or Yahoo Dr. Peter H. Gott and see what turns up.

I was a little wary of this advice because the couple claimed at breakfast that Mardi Gras first happened in Mobile, Alabama before Mobile folks brought it to New Orleans. Now that is rumor spreading that we have very little patience for so I was all ready to throw out this soap business, until I realized I should put aside my prejudices and listen, thereby learning a lot.

See: AskDrGott.com His His daily column has been syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association since 1984. Via postal mail Dr. Peter Gott, P.O. Box 433, Lakeville, CT 06039.

In this bed and breakfast business you never know what tomorrow will bring or who will cross the sill of your door bringing information you didn’t know you needed or that existed and we thank God for it every single day.

______________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

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______________________________________________________________

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Mosquitos and Vitamin B1

May 29th, 2010

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

We talked about many remedies for mosquitoes at breakfast this morning. The one we all decided to try is Vitamin B1. This conversation took over breakfast because my beautiful garden can’t be enjoyed without enduring mosquito bites and everyone was scratching from spending time outside.

One of our bed & breakfast guests gave her children Vitamin B1 before they went out to play. She didn’t believe in mosquito repellants. Since her children are all grown and have families of their own, this remedy must have been around for quite awhile. She didn’t ever use mosquito repellants because she thought they were probably harmful over the long term. The rest of us were amazed at the thought that something so simple, healthy and readily available could be used to repel mosquitoes.

The table pretty much divided into pro-mosquito repellant people and anti-mosquito repellant people.

I tried it and within 1/2 hour my skin had this slight mosquito repellant smell to it. Going out into the garden I was not bothered my mosquitoes for the rest of the day as I spent my time weeding, and spreading compost. Hope it helps Bettina Blog readers.

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Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

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Red Tea – Po Er

May 27th, 2010

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

We had a magnificent tea, made and served at breakfast by a bed & breakfast guest. It was an incredible experience and we wanted to share it with you. The guests carry the makings for this tea in a special box wherever they travel. The tea itself looked like a sheet of dark green paper and they cut the tip of the square of this ‘tea sheet’ and it made a huge pot of tea. So much for our tea bags, which make one cup.

INGREDIENTS:

5 Chrysanthemums (they used dried)

5 rose buds (also dried, but you could use fresh flowers if they have not been sprayed, etc.)

Tibetan red flower (small amount – they used two pieces)

Ling chi (mushroom chopped in pieces)

Tea (red, green, black, white – any kind)

Pour hot water over all and let this sit for 15 minutes

Add milk – honey – and drink.

Enjoy this unusual treat.

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Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

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Grits, Shrimp and Greens

May 25th, 2010

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

We combined two recipe’s from two different guests who told us one way they make grits. Both are from the deep south – one from Mississippi, one from Tennessee. We think, in this combination, we have found an outstanding way to make grits.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups organic yellow grits (we prefer Arrowhead Mills)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper – I would not add salt to this. Save your himalayan salt for
guests to add according to their tastes.

6 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or any kind of broth you make and keep for cooking or
some of the soup you keep in the refrigerator and add to periodically.

Collard greens, spinach or any other kind of chopped greens.

One nice-sized organic yellow onion, chopped fine.

2 1/2 cups Parmesan Reggiano Cheese – nothing else tastes quite the same

One recipe calls for 1 cup cooked bacon. One recipe calls for a couple cups of raw chopped
shrimp. We would give you another alternative – wild caught raw bay scallops. If you feel
particularly flushed with money a really spectacular grits dish would combine all three –
bacon, shrimp and scallops.

PROCESS

Put cream and broth or cream and milk (which can be substituted for broth), in a glass pot and bring it to a boil. Add grits while whirling the milk with a wire whisk so you avoid lumps.

Put greens and chopped onion in the broth/milk/grits and stir the liquids from time to time.

Add cayenne pepper, cheese, raw shrimp and whatever else you decide to put in the grits.
Constantly stir to keep from getting lumps until you are happy the grits is on its way to cooking nicely on its own.

Pour into a greased baking dish and sprinkle with the bacon (if you decided to use bacon), and extra cheese to make the top nicely browned and bubbly.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

We owe a huge thank you to Marilee and Sherry. They haven’t met, but their grits recipes have combined to make a superb breakfast dish.

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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

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A New House in the Bettina Network

May 11th, 2010

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

In CONCORD, MA. – This home is for all of you who love American history and want to explore some of its beginnings and important early events. Not to mention those who love music, outdoor activities, small festivals with meaning, historical sites, really old homes and especially those looking for a bucolic-quiet-pastoral-retreat getaway.

This “new” home to the Bettina Network dates back to the 18th century. It has all the modern conveniences, but the home, as it was originally built, is still intact. There are many fireplaces in this home, which have not been fancied-up and ruined – they work and are wonderful to sit in front of during those cold, snowy, wintry days. Breakfast, with bread baked from scratch, home-made yogurt, granola and more keep you enjoying your stay and particularly appreciating the family and how they extend themselves for you.

If you love walking around and looking at construction from the 18th century; in a home with old beams and floors in tact; BUT you also want your Wireless, your satellite TV and your modern bath; – AND you enjoy having breakfast at a table facing a large picture window where you can look out over a garden with birds and other small animals frolicking, eating, playing – this is the ideal place for you.

Have you thought of visiting Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the Old Manse, North Bridge, Orchard House, Wayside Minuteman National Historical Park, Estabrook Woods – stop thinking about it and make reservations to stay where it will take only minutes for you to reach so many wonderful places full of national memories and historical events. You will still be only 20 miles from Boston/Cambridge and a short drive to the highway to take you to the ‘city’. You can hike, bike, boat, fish, skate, go horseback riding, visit and swim in Walden Pond. In winter you can go snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and in any season sit outside your room on the grass where you can read Henry David Thoreau’s Novel “Walden, Or, Life in the Woods” in authentic territory.

It is also a place to have a lovely wedding, birthday party, anniversary celebration or small meeting. A colonial farmhouse – furnished in a style which maintains the integrity of its origins. It is full of music, a grand piano and other instruments. To the musicians among us – avoid those anxiety attacks, don’t stay where you are away from your music, stay where you have a small vacation from your music, but access to other musicians, musical events and music lessons which you can give or take.

What more can we say!!!!!!!! It is a Bettina home with an authentic Bettina family.

Call us for more information and to make reservation.

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

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IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

A Memorial to "Brother Blue"

May 9th, 2010

Copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

We spent Saturday at a memorial service to Brother Blue – Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill. I say “we spent Saturday” because it started about noon and went on until about 4pm. At no time during those four hours did you want to leave. There were several hundred people present, coming from far and near – Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Canada, California – to name a few places of which we were aware.

Ruth Hill, Brother Blue’s wife, organized a remembrance of her husband which will last in memory as long as Hugh lasts in memory.

Some of you, who frequented Harvard Square, may remember Brother Blue. He was the “Character” dressed in blue, preaching, praising, storytelling, making you feel special as one of God’s chosen. When he raised his hand to welcome you showing you his palm, on which a beautiful butterfly had been painted, letting God’s blessings fly out to greet you – it was his version of the open, giving hand.

The service started with a procession into St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Boston which set the tone and called Brother Blue back for this performance in his honor. Tejo Ologboni, drummer, led the procession. He is amazing performing by himself, but leading this procession it was as though the roof lifted off the Cathedral, light shone in and the colorful Butterfly Puppets appeared following Ologboni. Their wings moved as butterfly wings move, their faces were bright and lit up with smiles that woke those in the congregation who Tejo Ologboni hadn’t yet touched – if such existed.

Memorial services tend to be beautiful, sad, very tearful with much longing and regret from missed opportunities hanging in the air, during and after. This one started with incredible light, color, shouts of joy, drums and more.

It was the first time I saw Brother Blue in the context of his community and it was glorious to see! We mostly saw him with Ruth, his wife, by his side telling stories, exorting, praising and calling those who passed by to be their best selves. In the context of his community you understood, finally, who Blue was and what his life had been about. “…I see through a mirror dimly, but then face to face…” could characterize this event.

A very long succession of people brought their talents and their being to pay tribute to Brother Blue.
Warren Senders – composer/musician from New England Conservatory composed, sang and got the audience caught up, with great gusto, in the chorus to his song which went:

“My brother Blue, My Brother Blue,
he was the kindest man I ever knew
he took your light and shined it back on you!”

The politicians were there and they normally dampen down any event they attend. These politicians must have been carefully chosen because they added to the remembrance and took it to a higher plane – Charles Yancey from the Boston City Council – who made us remember that Blue was the Official Storyteller of Boston, Alice Wolf from the MA. House of Representatives reminded us that he was also the Official Storyteller of Cambridge and had received many other honors as well; Kenneth Reeves from the Cambridge City Council; Byron Rushing also from the MA. House of Representatives who reminded us that we are in Blue’s story because he put us there and then he insisted on our being in everyone else’s story. Steven Tolman from the MA Senate said what Blue meant to him and the affect he had on Tolmans running for the Senate.

Blue was a storyteller, preacher, prophesied, danced, entertained. He had several mantras – one “The greatest thing you will ever learn is to love and to be loved in return.” And he clearly spoke that from a marriage which was an example of love and love returned.

A powerful performance was by Wendy Jehlen, dancer/Choreographer, Director Anikai Dance. The music to which she danced was a recording of Brother Blue’s breath. It was very moving and magnificent. Once you die, the one physical thing you no longer have is your breath – one thing you can no longer do is breathe. Your body begins to deteriorate because the breath which circulates the oxygen to keep you moving and living is gone. For a few very exquisite moments, Ms. Jehlen brought back Brother Blue’s breath and breathing.

Those gathered to remember Blue in the Cambridge/Boston area were the most truly diverse group I have ever seen in that area. When you die, your funeral and your memorial service say much about how you lived. As I looked around the Cathedral and saw the great diversity of people there to remember Brother Blue, it was a testament to his life. White, Black, Asian, Indian (both East and American), very prominent citizens, those who were clearly living on the edge, in various kinds of dress and comfortable in their clothes. And it was a group of people who lingered and talked in groups at the end of the remembrance and went from group to group even talking to those they did not know in a joyful, light-infused, animated conversation. A rare occurrence in this world.

Byron Rushing reminded us that one form of Brother Blues dialogue was “Praise Poetry” which came from Africa and was meant to authenticate who you are – not who the speaker is! Many spoke on the effect Blue had on them when they were in his audience. Rushing spoke on the effect it had on you when Blue was in your audience. It was a profound testament to the man we were remembering.

With Guy Davis‘ presentation – storyteller, actor, blues musician – there was dancing in the aisle and he was beautiful and extremely talented. Elizabeth Morse‘s harp music was a beautiful meditation which brought us back to the sacred. Ms. Morse is someone Blue asked to accompany him over the years.

Eliot Fisk, classical guitarist, was the final person giving a testament to Blue and it was a musical gem.

I saw, for the first time, the power of the Story. We heard about Dr. Hill’s end time in a rehab facility, which will never be the same again, and it was beautiful because you knew through the story that he didn’t ever lose his humanity or identity or interest in others, nor did he stop blessing others. The story about the “Star Child” – one born prematurely and on the life support systems in which we put some of our children – being told stories by his father with his head pressed against the plexiglass and we heard the father’s promise to continue to tell to bring his child in, the way an air traffic controller brings in an airplane.

It was the remembrance of and homage to a man who made his vulnerabilities into a tower of strength and shared his light and blessings with others. It all ended with a video of Hugh Hill over the years. His voice narrated the message which is one he preached over and over again during his life. It was all done with the background music being different renditions of America the Beautiful.

You left knowing your life had been touched by a truly great human being, who walked this earth in his bare feet and brought goodness, kindness and love to many as you heard story after story of how he so positively affected the lives of literally thousands of people.

Our “Praise Poetry” to Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill comes from his obituary: “Most often known as “Brother Blue” Dr. Hill has degrees from Harvard, Yale and the Union Graduate School…. He wanted his stories to be ‘bread for the mind, the imagination, the heart, the soul. He said, ‘I SOUL my stories out, to speak from the middle of the middle of me to the middle of the middle of you…..’ He presented workshops in prisons, schools, colleges and universities, libraries, and conferences and told stories before countless audiences via radio and television, and in person in streets, parks, and festivals in the U. S. Canada, Europe, South Africa and the Bahamas. Among them were First Night Boston, the World’s Fair in New Orleans, Lincoln Center, Spoleto Festival, United Nations Habitat Forum, yukon Storytelling Festival, the National Storytelling Festival and Sharing the Fire in New England. He received many awards and was storyteller-in-residence for the Harvard Law School’s Saturday School and much more.”

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

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1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

ACRI, the stock we are buying

May 3rd, 2010

Moved from .060 where it closed on Friday to .0737 today. We think the move came from a press release from the company which talked about a new Purchase Order it received for product to be delivered in two weeks:

“Acro, Inc. Receives Purchase Order for ACRO-ETK5 Plus Explosives Detection Kit From Government Agency
9:04a ET May 3, 2010 (Market Wire)
Acro, Inc. (OTCBB: ACRI), a leading manufacturer of explosive detection solutions for the homeland security market and related sectors, today announced a new purchase order for its popular ACRO-ETK5 Plus explosives detection kit from an international government agency. The purchase order will be shipped in two weeks, and will be used in the field to detect a wide range of materials used in explosives.

“This product has been successfully used by Israeli Port Authorities and security forces of other countries around the world,” said Gadi Aner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acro, Inc. “This newest purchase order demonstrates our ability to successfully grow our base of customers and increase market adoption for our products.”

The ETK5 Plus enables simple, rapid and reliable detection of persons engaged in preparing, handling or carrying explosive charges and allows for fast screening of suspects in the field. The kit aids in detection through exposure and proof of contact contamination of various surfaces by explosives.”

ACRI has a product which can be used by companies around the world and it looks as though it is beginning to get its groove on. Hopefully, it will continue to move up as more such orders come pouring in.

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Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

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For Maximum Info on ARCI

April 22nd, 2010

Go to Google.com or Yahoo.com or your favorite search engine and put in Arco, inc. You will find lots of articles from different perspectives to give you more indepth information on this stock and to help you understand what it does and why we are tweeting about it.

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Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

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More Information on ACRI

April 22nd, 2010

NEWS RELEASES

ACRO, INC. RECEIVES PURCHASE ORDER FOR EXPLOSIVE DETECTION DEVICES FROM DIVISION OF U.S. ARMY
4/6/2010 6:12:50 PM – Market Wire

CAESAREA, ISRAEL, Apr 06, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX News Network) —
Acro, Inc. (OTCBB: ACRI), a leading manufacturer of explosive detection solutions for the homeland security market and related sectors, today announced that the Company has received a purchase order for its ACRO-P.E.T., ACRO-N.E.T., ACRO-CH.E.T., and ACRO-U.E.T. explosive detection devices from a division of the U.S. Army.

“This order is very important for us because it continues our momentum in the United States and could further increase market adoption of our cutting-edge explosive detection solutions,” said Gadi Aner, CEO and Chairman of Acro, Inc.

The ACRO-P.E.T. is the first explosives identifier of its kind, effective against TATP and other Peroxide Based IEDs. It is light, easy to use and gives instant results, even when explosive quantities are small. The novel portable ‘micro-laboratory,’ ACRO-N.E.T., with its sensitive, simple, rapid, precise and reliable operation, revolutionizes the field task of police and other security agencies in the detection and identification of explosives. ACRO-CH.E.T. (Chlorate Explosives Tester) is light, easy to use and gives instant results, even when explosive quantities are small. ACRO-CH.E.T. has low false positive and negative alarm rates, is very sensitive, and can detect 10 micrograms of chlorate based explosives traces.

This initial purchase order will be used to determine the suitability of Acro’s explosive detection devices for certain U.S. Army units. The order is expected to ship within few weeks.

About Acro: Acro, Inc. develops explosives detection technologies and manufactures relevant products. In addition to the explosives detectors that are currently marketed by Acro, the company continues to develop proprietary technologies for the HLS market. Acro’s Advisory Board includes Nobel Prize laureate Prof. K. Barry Sharpless, and Prof. Richard A. Lerner, President and CEO of The Scripps Research Institute, one of the most influential scientific institutes worldwide. For more information about Acro, visit www.AcroSec.com.

Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning our marketing and operations plans. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made based on management’s current expectations and estimates, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, risks related to the evolving homeland security market, general economic conditions and other risk factors. Acro does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements made herein.

For more information please contact Acro, Inc. info@AcroSec.com

SOURCE: Acro, Inc.

mailto:info@AcroSec.com

Copyright 2010 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

What is ACRI about?

April 22nd, 2010

What is this stock ACRI that ANITTEB is tweeting about on Twitter?

What follows is a news release the company itself put out. We will put other info about this company on the blog as we get access to it. If you have questions that we can answer – email us at bettina-network@comcast.net

This is not a stock we recommend you hold forever – one to two weeks tops and then on to something else! You can, of course, hold it as long as you decide. Our holding is over the short term.

NEWS RELEASE

ACRO, INC. INTRODUCES EXPLOSIVES DETECTION PRODUCTS AT THE COUNTER TERROR EXPO 2010 IN LONDON
4/20/2010 5:54:49 PM – Market Wire

Company Receives Numerous Inquiries From Potential UK Customers

CAESAREA, ISRAEL, Apr 20, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX News Network) —
Acro, Inc. (OTCBB: ACRI), a leading manufacturer of explosive detection solutions for the homeland security market and related sectors, today announced that it unveiled its all-new ACRO-Mini-ETK and ACRO- CH.E.T. products at the Counter Terror Expo 2010 in London.

“We had a very successful showing of our newest products at the Counter Terror Expo last week,” said Gadi Aner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acro, Inc. “Our UK representatives reported that traffic to our exhibition booth was non-stop and received a lot of interest in our products from potential customers in the UK.”

The ACRO-Mini-ETK contains four crushable ampoules protected by plastic mini tubes, filled with liquid reagents for the detection of explosives. Each kit contains sampling paper, a quick reference table and instructions. This compact kit distinguishes between explosive and non-explosive materials. Furthermore, the kit is capable of identifying four classes comprising the majority of explosives currently in use and revealing their traces on the body and various items such as clothes, suitcases, door handles and car surfaces and has been successfully used by Israeli police and security forces of other countries around the world. The ACRO-CH.E.T. (Chlorates Explosives Tester) is a light, easy-to-use, disposable, pocket-sized device that immediately and accurately identifies chlorate based explosives and can be used independently or as part of a total systems solution. The ACRO-CH.E.T. has low false positive and negative alarm rates, is very sensitive and can detect 10 micrograms of chlorate based explosives traces.

The Counter Terror Expo offers a secure exhibition showcasing the latest solutions dedicated to the counter terrorism and specialist security arena. The products and technologies shown in the exhibition form a crucial part of counter terror capabilities. The exhibition features over 300 international leading vendors.

About Acro: Acro, Inc. develops explosives detection technologies and manufactures relevant products. In addition to the explosives detectors that are currently marketed by Acro, the company continues to develop proprietary technologies for the HLS market. Acro’s Advisory Board includes Nobel Prize laureate Prof. K. Barry Sharpless, and Prof. Richard A. Lerner, President and CEO of The Scripps Research Institute, one of the most influential scientific institutes worldwide. For more information about Acro, visit www.AcroSec.com.

Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning our marketing and operations plans. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made based on management’s current expectations and estimates, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, risks related to the evolving homeland security market, general economic conditions and other risk factors. Acro does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements made herein.

For more information please contact: Acro, Inc. info@AcroSec.com

SOURCE: Acro, Inc.

mailto:info@AcroSec.com

Copyright 2010 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

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1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Follow ANITTEB on Twitter

April 22nd, 2010

copyright 2010 the Bettina Network, inc.

Anitteb is Bettina spelled backwards.

We have a twitter account and we are “tweeting” on how to build a fortune, starting from almost nothing. We are given lots from the bed and breakfast business and are doing two things with it;

1) Building a business which is fully integrated and brings in as many people and ideas as possible – and –

2) Sharing what we get from a great community of people as you all pass through our homes. The middle class is being squeezed today by the banks, and everyone else – how do you not just survive, but thrive. We think we’ve found one way and we have lots of help from all of you, so we are sharing.

With Twitter we are going to try to build a fortune, going from $500 to $10,000,000 in one year.

We need your help – if you have a twitter account, sign up to follow us on Twitter. If you do not have a twitter account it is easy to sign up. Go to www.twitter.com. They will ask for your email – a screen name – and a password.

Once on Twitter put – anitteb – in the search box. Once anitteb comes up, check ‘following’ and you can then log out. You will receive our “tweets” in your email box or you can log onto twitter and get them there.

You can then buy whatever we have bought and hopefully, with this community of people, we will all do very well and that goal of moving from $500 to $10 million dollars will be realized. You might make money and on our bad days you might lose money, Hopefully, it will all work out in the end so that the net result moves us to our goal.

Don’t have a brokerage account? Let us know and we will tell you how to get one where you only need a little money to start.

Its all in good fun and we might wind up making complete nuts of ourselves, but it won’t be the first time so what’s to lose?

We hope you will send us your feedback as you read the “tweets”.

Tell all of your friends!

Let us know what you think!

Sincerely,

All of us at Bettina’s

Keep in touch with a great community of people through Bettina’s Blog www.bettina-network.com

If you are bowled over by us and want to become a host family, putting your home in the Bettina Network to welcome guests from all over the world – call us at 800 347 9166 – and lets talk.

If you have or know of an estate that needs to be sold – redistributed back into the world from whence it has come – call us also.

Have a house you want us to take over and manage – we can do that to.

Geez! What won’t they try next?

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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Creole Grits – for Sami

April 17th, 2010

copyright 2010 by The Bettina Network, inc.

Most of my young life, growing up in New Orleans, grits was a daily breakfast staple. If my grandmother didn’t make grits for me for breakfast – no matter what else she made – I would ‘pout’ until she produced grits. My favorite breakfast in those days was grits and liver. My neighbor used to tease me because he could hear me through the window in the morning calling downstairs for my ‘drits and liba, Mama’ when I was just learning to talk.

It is amazing how things change as we grow-up. Today I can’t stand to eat liver. When I think of my grandmother’s lovingly prepared calf’s liver I remember the conversations about who had the best calf’s liver, how old the calf should be -not too old or the liver would be tough with that strange taste, how long to let it cook (You didn’t want well done liver) etc. I could not hold that conversation today without getting a little sick to my stomach. I often wonder if my turning away from liver was a function of growing up or of the society changing around me having an affect on my eating likes and dislikes.

Grits, however, has remained a favorite and not just any kind of grits – Creole grits. I look down my nose at anyone who prepares grits according to the recipe on the box and tries to serve it to people for them to actually eat. It seems such a sacrilege to a great food.

The amounts below will feed about four or five people, with some left over for later to fry in butter or reheat. You need to get to know, for yourself, the amounts you want to use for the number of people you are feeding. Cooking is not slavishly following someone else’s discoveries, but taking the general idea someone else follows, making it your own. The pre=prepared pre-processed food companies have spent billions on marketing to make cooking seem like some mysterious process, which is known and can be successfully practiced only by the professionals in the food processing company’s commercial kitchens – ergo you have to buy their prepared foods. Because you couldn’t possibly make your own – cost too much, takes too much time, you don’t know how to make these complicated dishes. Many of us have bought that story-line. I am still amazed at the number of people I meet who think baking bread from scratch is a really difficult and time consuming process – it is definitely not. With a little planning, baking bread fits into the busiest lives. In reality, cooking is easy and much of it quick. Spending hours slaving over a hot stove to make a meal is an advertising guru’s creation, not a reality.

Back to Creole Grits:

1 cup organic yellow stone ground grits

(I prefer Arrowhead Mills grits. We try to stick to Arrowhead Mills products with flour and other grains, because we discovered the only place in the U. S. which does not have DDT residue in the ground is in the area around Arkansas where Arrowhead Mills products are grown. Robert says it is because the farmers were too poor to afford the pesticides which were so popular in the 1950’s and ’60s and which were going to save the world from starvation. Well, we know that didn’t happen – instead they’ve caused the world much grief. So today, those farmers and their descendants are rewarded by being able to charge a premium for their organic products because they are the only place one can get truly organically grown grains.)

4 cups water
1 organic onion – vary the kind you use when you make this dish
3 stalks organic celery
1 large organic green pepper
1 teaspoon himalayan salt – or sea salt if you haven’t changed over yet
cayenne pepper to taste
3 kinds of your favorite cheeses – we use parmesan reggiano, jack cheese and cheddar. We use Stonyfield Farms’ organic raw milk cheeses as much as possible because they are made with raw un-homogenized, un-pasteurized milk and they do not use rennet or other synthetic things to rush the cheese-making process and cut corners.

Put water in a glass corning pot and set the pot on the stove over a medium to low flame. Use a steel wire whisk to start the water swirling around and while you swirl the water slowly add the grits. You do this to keep the grits from clumping.

Let this mixture cook a few minutes, stirring it and keeping a close eye on the pot because you don’t want it to either burn or clump so stirring is essential. While keeping an eye on the pot and stirring the grits, chop the vegetables or put them in a food processor to chop pretty fine – unless you like to see the vegetables in this dish. In that case, chop the vegetables to whichever size makes you happiest.

Because we make this for bed and breakfast guests, we process the vegetables almost to a sauce. Not everyone enjoys the different textures produced when you chop the vegies. You will notice we do not fry the vegies in butter or oil before putting them into this dish. That is an unnecessary evil and produces a very different taste, which I don’t like.

Add the vegetables to the grits and continue stirring. I think putting the vegetables into the grits without pre-cooking them gives added nutrition to this dish and eliminates the oil that would come from adding the vegies after frying them in oil or butter.

When the grits look almost, but not quite done, add about 2/3 the cheese (two cups of cheese is great, but that is my taste, you might want to add more or less depending upon your taste buds.) We grate the cheese before adding to this dish. The only difference chopping the cheese into pieces instead of grating makes – it takes longer for the cheese to melt and takes you a longer time stirring the dish to incorporate the cheese. So you either spend your time grating, or you spend it stirring.

Stir the pot until the cheese is well mixed into the grits.

If this is the pot in which you want to serve the grits, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of this dish (which would be about 1/3 the amount you started with), put a cover on the pot and put the pot in a 350 degree oven for about 1/2 hour. If you do not want to bring this pot to the table, transfer the grits to your serving pot – which should be oven-proof – sprinkle the cheese on top, cover this pot and let the grits cook for the requisite 1/2 hour. The amount of time you let the grits cook depends upon how long it takes for the cheese on the top to melt and form a nice added taste and another texture. The top will look like melted cheese with a light brown color with oil, which has come out of the cheese, on top.

This is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is especially good served with broiled wild-caught (not farm raised) fish – halibut, cod, etc. If you don’t obsess over fried foods you might also serve this with cat-fish, covered with corn meal and fried in butter.

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

Old Fashioned Tea Cookies

April 12th, 2010

copyright 2010 by The Bettina Network, inc.

1 cup organic butter
1 cup organic turbinado sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups organic whole wheat stone ground pastry flour
2 generous teaspoons baking powder
1 generous teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup organic milk (more or less)

These are wonderful cookie/cakes which go unbelievably well with tea. They remind us of freshly baked vanilla wafers, before the recipe for vanilla wafers was changed and fixed up so they could sit on the grocery shelf for a year or more without going rancid. These cake/cookies are delicate, light, cake-like with a wonderful taste whether warm out of the oven or at room temperature.

Put butter in your electric mixer and beat a few minutes until it becomes creamy. Add sugar, a little at a time, beating until the combination is creamy and light. Add eggs and beat a few minutes to blend the mixture.

Mix flour, baking power and cinnamon in a bowl using a spoon to lift up the flour and pour it back into the bowl – letting lots of air into this dry mixture.

Add half the flour mix to the electric mixer, which is now turned to low, add the milk and the remaining flour while mixing the cookie dough. Be careful to mix only to combine the ingredients, don’t mix too much because you will get a tough cookie.

Put the cookie dough into the refrigerator for an hour or more. This is a cookie dough you can keep in the refrigerator, taking a bit out as you are ready to have freshly baked cookies.

Butter a baking pan by making circles with the butter where you are going to put a cookie.

Using a teaspoon, take up a spoon full of the mixture, roll it into a ball in your hand and put the ball where you have made a circle on the baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes. When you take these out of the oven, immediately release the cookies from the baking pan using a spatula to lift them from the pan. Put the cookies back in their place on the baking pan to cool a few minutes. When cool enough not to stick together or to stick to the plate in which you are going to put them, transfer the cookies to a serving plate. Take the cookies you would like off the plate before you serve them because they won’t last – it is hard to eat only four or five and impossible to eat only one.

4/16/2010 an email from a blog reader follows
Thanks for the tea cookies recipe. They are wonderful – they taste like fresh vanilla wafers. The ones you buy at the store in various boxes from different manufacturers are hard and stale. We are so used to them we have collectively forgotten why vanilla wafers were so popular.

I put a pecan into the top of the cookies before I baked them and it made a world of difference. The taste was barely modified with the pecan, but they looked much more elegant. I am sure other things pushed gently into the top of these cookies before they bake would also be great – depending upon the taste of the baker. Keep those recipe’s coming. I love being a part of the Bettina Network’s bed & breakfast community even though I only travel once or twice a year I read your blog religiously.

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

Even More Stock Market Information

April 6th, 2010

copyright by The Bettina Network, inc. 2010

A summary of this breakfast’s stock market conversation is only for the strong of heart.

We had a guest who was celebrating wildly at breakfast. He owns 1 million shares of a little stock called EKWX. To find it we had to go to http://investorshub.advfn.com/, an information web site for people who spend $50 and buy a few million shares of stock (I hope you realize that is an exaggeration).

This is a stock which sat dormant for several years at about .0006/share and since March 31, 2010 has gone to .002/share. Figure out that profit if you owned the 1,000,000 shares. There is no information on the company I could find. The guest knew nothing, he was totally into his euphoria over his great luck and he was going home to buy more.

Going to Investors Hub,—- when their site opened, on the landing page on the left hand side was a list of the 15 stocks with the most comments, which were left by those who regularly follow what happens on investors hub and at the top of the list was EKWX. Much of what we read was about conjectures that this was going to be a reverse merger where EKWX is a publicly traded shell, probably merging with a private company and the activity comes about because, as you know, news leaks, only we aren’t on the top of the list to get the leaks.

EKWX traded almost a billion shares today and has gone up some 350% since 3/31/2010.

We are going to follow this guest and his stock tradings. We asked him to write a blog for Bettina’s, but he spends his days watching the stocks he buys and sells and doesn’t write.

He danced around the breakfast table all morning, trying to stay sane until the stock market opened and he could watch his stock – which he did, all day. We would have danced with him if we owned any of EKWX, but since we don’t we just drank an extra cup of coffee.

If the stock goes to $1, he becomes an instant millionaire.

This has better odds than the lottery, at least you get to keep some of your money if what you expect doesn’t happen.

The blogs are hot with this stock and the conjecture on most of this is that EKWX – a public shell – is in the process of becoming a Reverse Merger. Which is what is causing all the furor.

What is a Reverse Merger with a Public Shell?

“A Reverse Merger is a transaction where by the private company shareholders may gain control of a public company by merging it in with their private company. The private company shareholders receive a substantial majority of the shares of the public company (normally 85% to 90% or more) and the control of the board of directors. The transaction can be accomplished in as little as two weeks, resulting in the private company becoming a public company. The transaction does not go through a review process with state and federal regulators because the public company has already completed the process. The transaction involves the private and shell company exchanging information on each other, negotiating the merger terms, and signing a share exchange agreement. At the closing the public shell company issues a substantial majority of its shares and the board control to the shareholders of the private company. The private company shareholders pay for the shell and contribute their private company shares to the shell company and the private company is now public.

Upon completion of the reverse merger, the name of the shell company is usually changed to the name of the private company. If the shell company has a trading symbol it is changed to reflect the name change. An information statement, called an 8-K, must be filed within 4 days of the closing. The 8-K describes the newly combined company, stock issued, information of new officers and directors, a full description of the business, and financial statements audited to US GAAP standards. The 8-K must disclose the same type of information that it would be required to provide in registering a class of securities under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
(See Sec Final Rule 33-8587, pdf file)

If the shell company is listed on the Bulletin board, the registered or “free trade” shares can continue to trade. The company can do a private placement immediately. To trade new shares offered by the public the newly combined public company must first register the shares with the SEC. This process takes three to four months and normally requires filing a Registration statement with the SEC under Reg. SB-2 or SB-1.

If the shell company does not have a symbol, an application for a symbol is usually made to the NASDAQ Bulletin Board. The application for a symbol requires filing a Form 211 by a market maker that is a member of the NASD. The Bulletin Board has no financial requirements. A listing will be granted if the affairs of the company are in order and the company answers the questions posed by NASDAQ.”

ED: NOTE; THIS WAS COPIED FROM THE Investors Hub Web site to give you an idea of what this kind of trading is like and how and where to find information when you are off the big board and onto the sub-penny stocks. We hope they don’t mind.

Of course, another possibility is that this is what is called a “pump and dump”, something which happens on these boards. Someone starts buying a stock to get your attention, little by little others jump on the band wagon seeing the action and when the stock has moved up a bit, the original person sells all of his stock and runs to the bank with the money, leaving a lot of folks holding the “bag”. Only generally, the stocks don’t go this high this fast with a pump and dump operation going.

Wheee! Isn’t this fun? It actually would be if we had money invested in EKWX at .0006. This way, as observers, it is a learning experience and especially learning how to contain our jealousy of someone who has that 1 million shares.

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

A Great and Healthy Cookie

April 1st, 2010

copyright Marceline Donaldson 2010

I have been experimenting with cookies and wanted to share the recipe and the process that came out of those experiments.

The cookie is fantastic. If you have just a little will power you can eat and enjoy only one. If you have no will power, the cookies are gone before they cool and you are left with a heavy stomach-ache because these are heavy cookies meant to be enjoyed one at a time.

Ingredients:
2 cups organic stoneground whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking power
1 teaspoon salt – we use himalayan salt, some people use sea salt, try for the purest and most organic salt you can find
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 and 1/2 sticks organic butter
2/3 cup organic peanut butter
2 and 1/2 cups organic turbinado sugar
2 large organic eggs
1 cup – or to your taste – organic dark chocolate chips
the same amount of roasted organic peanuts
1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon or to your taste organic vanilla oil

I made these cookies without baking powder and they were almost rock hard. You had to really work at eating them. I tried them with baking soda and they were still rock hard. I sort of knew you add baking soda when baking with sour milk products, but I didn’t know why or what happened if you added it to other baking times and now I know. It was only when I added baking powder did I get great cookies.

I always wondered why add baking powder and I now have my answer. When adding baking soda or nothing, the cookies came out of the oven and they were great – soft, but not too soft, etc. When they cooled, however, they also hardened – really hardened – late night stand-up comic jokes hardened. When I added baking powder, they cooled and stayed nice.

There are many stories about cookies made for dunking in coffee and now I know why. They are cookies where the baker forgot to put in the baking powder, or picked up the wrong box and added baking soda without thinking.

I found a recipe for baking powder, but haven’t had the guts to try it. It is 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda. Anyone out there try this? Any feedback you want to give the cowards among us? With real experience from a friend I might take the plunge. When your grandmother dies, your experience corner is gone and you have to rely on your own hard-won experiences. My grandmother has been dead for quite a few years so i’ve had to rely on my own experimenting, except where friends came forward to share. Make peace with your family before the silence falls – you miss a lot after that happens – the stories, but mostly the life experience. You can either get it from those older than you in your family or you can reinvent the wheel over and over and over again. Why in your family, you ask? Because you share the same culture, tastes, history, DNA. We don’t want to recognize that and try to move on to – ‘my friends are my family’, but it is not true. Your family is your family.

You know, after all these years, and thousands of breakfast conversations I am beginning to understand why so many people have such negative feelings about their families. Mostly, they are trying to change class and culture and family is like a bright red blinking neon sign which makes that more difficult. Either they show up and ‘out you’, or your newly acquired way of speaking, eating, thinking, living are put in jeopardy because family comes along with the old ways and you have to struggle to maintain your new higher status. What a stunner! I guess you all knew that already. Reject your class, race, culture, history, DNA and you are forever conflicted and have heavy conflicts with those who knew you when. AH! Truth telling in a cookie recipe, but then when you reach my age you can take all kind of liberties.

Now – preheat your oven to about 325-350 degrees.
Put the butter in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on almost high speed until it begins to lighten in color and texture. Add sugar and continue to mix while the two blend and become sort of like whipped cream. Then add the peanut butter and mix until all are combined.

In a separate bowl put in flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and mix with a large spoon, picking up a spoonful of the flour mixture and pouring it back into the bowl over and over again to let a lot of air get into the mix. I don’t believe in sifting. You have to do that with non-organic white flour to get the pesticides and the little lumps out before using it – you know, the tiny little lumps in the flour and the black flecks which are the remains of the bugs which were killed in the flour by the pesticides when the flour was in the Silos – where it got an infestation of bugs – which were killed off with the pesticides, left in the flour, with the pesticide residue, to deteriorate and are now the little black specks and little white flour covered lumps you have to sift out before using. Since you are using stone-ground organic whole wheat flour you don’t have to worry about that.

Back to your mixer – once the sugar and peanut butter have been added – crack your organic eggs and add them to the mixer one at a time. Don’t mix too much after adding the eggs.

Gradually add the flour mixture, turn your mixer to low and mix only until the flour is incorporated into the cookie dough. Add the chocolate chips, peanuts and vanilla, again mixing only until they are well distributed. This is the crunch time for baking – too much mixing and you get a tough product – so be careful at this point.

Refrigerate the dough until it is firm – or until you are ready for freshly baked cookies. You can bake these all at once, or you can bake them as you want freshly baked cookies. The dough will last in the refrigerator a couple days. Impress your friends, bake cookies after they have arrived in just a little over ten minutes – the time it takes to make tea and put together a pretty serving tray to gossip over.

We use them for afternoon tea. They are substantial enough to bridge the gap from lunch to dinner without eating too many. The problem is, whenever I eat them I don’t want tea I want hot chocolate. The two go together like peanut butter and jelly, or rice and gravy.

To bake you can have either small bite-sized cookies or larger ones. For small cookies, take a teaspoonful of dough, roll it in your hands to make a ball and put it on a greased baking sheet. The size of the dough you take out of the bowl and roll is dependent upon the size of cookie you want as a final product. They will spread a little when baking, but not much.

These are very rich cookies so you don’t want to make them too large, most people won’t be able to eat a large cookie and they will waste your hard work and hard-earned money by eating a piece and leaving the rest.

Bake these about 12-13 minutes. Don’t bake them much longer than that or the bottoms will burn. They will be soft to the touch when you take them out of the oven and look as though they are not thoroughly baked. Ignore that – they are – these are tricky little cookies. To get a really good final product the baking time is the most crucial stage for these cookies.

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