Christmas Tree vs Man

Define Naughty

 

Divinity

I haven’t shared many recipes this year.  I remembered, as I was making it today, that I had mentioned to several people that I was going to try and make this for Christmas and they asked if I could share it. So here it is…

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

1. Combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and water in heavy saucepan. Cook to hard ball stage (260 F / 127 C ) stirring only until sugar dissolves.
2. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
3. While beating at high speed, gradually stream syrup over egg whites.
4. Add vanilla and beat until candy holds its shape (4-5 minutes).
5. Quickly drop from teaspoon onto waxed or parchment paper.

Notes

• Makes about 48 pieces – depending on size.
• When the syrup mixture gets to approximately 200 F, start beating the egg whites otherwise, they lose the best form
• Adding the syrup to the egg whites causes them the expand to about 5 times their bulk so make sure you are beating them in a large deep bowl (I use a 5 quart bowl)
• When I say quickly, I do mean quickly…these set up super fast
• Make sure all children and pets are away from the kitchen before starting as this syrup can cause severe burns.
• This is one of those recipes that you cannot interrupt…once you start, you must keep going.
• DO NOT try to make this on rainy, high humidity or overcast days…it will not set up properly. I thought this was an old wives tale…Hahaha…learned the hard way.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  As always, if you try the recipe, I would love any feedback you would care to give.

Hope you enjoy!

Morning Reflection

John Glenn, who died December 8, 2016 at age 95, always had the right stuff.

He was voted the Most Popular Boy in his hometown of New Concord, Ohio; was awarded six Distinguished Flying Crosses as a fighter pilot in two wars; was the first American astronaut to orbit the earth; was elected three times by the people of Ohio to the U.S. Senate; and – after a 1998 flight on the Space Shuttle Discovery – became the oldest man ever to go into space.


 
John Glenn’s personal hero, however, was the woman to whom he was married for 73 years.

Annie Castor was Glenn’s childhood playmate and high school sweetheart.  He adored her wit, her brilliance, and her courage.

But for most of her life Annie has been known primarily for something else:  her struggle with a severe speech impediment.

Growing up, Annie was designated an 85%er, which meant that 85% of the time she would be functionally unable to speak aloud the words in a simple phrase.

She felt isolated from outsiders.  She shrank from the simplest conversations.  She would wander alone from aisle to aisle in stores looking for items on her shopping list because she was too afraid to risk asking for help.

John Glenn always protected, defended, and loved her fiercely.  She dreaded being separated from him.

And Glenn was often gone.  He flew 52 combat missions in World War II, followed by 90 sorties during the Korean War.  Then there were dozens of high-risk flights as a test pilot in experimental aircraft, and that day in 1962 when he climbed alone into a Mercury capsule and orbited the earth three times.

Each time he parted company with her he refused to say goodbye. That would be too painful.  Instead he would say, “I’m just going down to the corner to get a pack of gum.”  And each time Annie would struggle to say the same three words:  “Don’t be long.”

Glenn left her a special gift just before he climbed aboard Discovery at the age of 77.  It was a pack of gum.


Late in life Annie entered an experimental program through which she achieved an almost complete victory over her stuttering.  She became an accomplished public speaker.  Her husband was her biggest fan.


On the 8th of December, John and Annie Glenn parted company one last time in this world.  But they lived in the hope that there is a next world – a place where they will never again need to say goodbye.

 


The word “goodbye” is actually a conflation of four small English words:  “God be with you.” 
Over the years, “God-be-with-you” became scrunched together into the word we use most often when going separate ways.

Scripture promises that the day is coming when we will no longer need to say, “God be with you,” because God will in fact be overwhelmingly present with all of us – with all of God’s people across all generations.

Heaven, in other words, is the place where there will be no longer be a need for goodbyes.

And where all of us will be able to speak, and shout, and sing without hesitation.

And where it’s just possible that gum will never lose its flavor.

Autocorrect is at it AGAIN!

11 Times When Autocorrect Ruined the Day

As we become more and more dependent on our electronic devices for communication, problems are likely to escalate. We live in a society where people tend to talk to each other in 140 characters or less. It doesn’t matter if it is on twitter, Facebook or over text messages, you need to deal with the good and the bad when it comes to this type of communication.

One of the difficulties that many people face today is a problem with AutoCorrect. It seems like a perfectly benign idea on the surface. When you don’t type something correctly, it simply makes the correction for you. Unfortunately, it is far from a perfect technology and most people end up sticking their proverbial foot in their mouth at some point or another.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 













 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 












 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 













 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 










 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 











 
 

Courtesy of ViralSlot

Cowboy Tombstone

Parental Texting

We all owe our lives to our parents, and ever since we were young children, they taught us how to do everything from walking to simple math problems. There is also something else that we can learn from our parents, how to be funny!

As we get deeper and deeper into the technological age, there is always going to be some humor associated with it. Today, parents and children are conversing, not only by speaking to each other but through text messages as well. As you will see in these 13 text conversations, our parents certainly have not lost their sense of humor.



 
 
 
 
 















 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 















 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 















 




























 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 















 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Courtesy of ViralSlot

Decorum and Aplomb

From Meredith's Jack, with the following note: “CAT...I think you'll like this and I'm sure you have many readers who are also Downton Abby fans.”  Thanks, Jack…loved it!

---

The British have such a command of decorum and aplomb to which we can only aspire.

This message is for my friends who appreciate the finer points of the English language used correctly.
 

His Lordship was in the study when the butler approached and coughed discreetly.

"May I ask you a question, My Lord?"

 

"Go ahead, Carson ," said His Lordship.

 

"I am doing the crossword in The Times and found a word the exact meaning of which I am not too certain."

 

"What word is that?" asked His Lordship.

 

"Aplomb," My Lord.

 

"Now that's a difficult one to explain. I would say it is self-assurance or complete composure."
 

"Thank you, My Lord, but I'm still a little confused about it."

 

"Let me give you an example to make it clearer. Do you remember a few months ago when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived to spend a weekend with us?"

 

"I remember the occasion very well, My Lord. It gave the staff and myself much pleasure to look after them."

 

"Also," continued the Earl of Grantham, "do you remember when Will plucked a rose for Kate in the rose garden?"

 

"I was present on that occasion, My Lord, ministering to their needs.

 

"While Will was plucking the rose, a thorn embedded itself in his thumb very deeply."

 

"I witnessed the incident, My Lord, and saw the Duchess herself remove the thorn and bandage his thumb with her own dainty handkerchief."

 

"That evening the hole the rose made in his thumb was very sore. Kate had to cut his venison for him, even though it was extremely tender."

 

"Yes, My Lord, I did see everything that transpired that evening."

 

"And do you remember the next morning while you were pouring coffee for Her Ladyship, Kate inquired of Will in a loud voice, 'Darling, does your prick still throb?'

And you, Carson, did not spill one drop of coffee.

 That, Carson, is complete composure, or aplomb.”