Hard Things

Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

How Foster Care Kills Women

Studies show that losing their children to foster care causes women's physical and emotional health to plummet.  This multiplies their risk of dying from avoidable (like suicide) and unavoidable (like heart disease) causes. 

Consider that humans are social creatures.  If you forcibly amputate relationships, people can rather literally bleed to death from that.  But unlike losing an arm or a leg, the injury is invisible so it usually goes untreated ... and there's no direct way to heal attachment injuries anyhow.  The end result doesn't just shorten mothers' lives, it means that survivors of foster care are much more likely to lose at least one parent early in life, compared to children living with their birth parents.  That contributes to foster survivors' much higher rates of poor physical and mental health.  A system designed to "protect" people is fairly often lethal.  This might be considered a problem.

How to Boost Your Mood: Sit by a Sunny Window

In a conversation with friends, dialecticdreamer recommended sitting by a sunny window as a way of lifting your mood.

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Birdfeeding

Today I hung up my new birdfeeder in the birdgift tree.  It is an upside-down suet feeder with a copper roof.  The idea is that clinging birds (such as woodpeckers and nuthatches) can hand underneath and eat from it, but perching birds (such as sparrows and starlings) can't.  I've seen sparrows eat from an upside-down thistle feeder, and we have a dark-eyed junco who can manage the thistle sock, so it's not a universal filter.  But it will require the clinging birds to apply themselves  in order to get the food!   :D

I need to get a chain to hang it with, though.  I put it up with string today, and I'm not sure how well that will work over the long term.

Some of the spring flowers are already sprouting.  In DECEMBER.  O_O  Earliest I'd seen before this was January.  There are a few skinny leaves in the tulip bed by the parking lot, and iris in the wagonwheel garden.  Fuck global warming.

I startled a great-horned owl out of a tree while I walked around the yard.  I have heard them hooing a lot at night.  <3 owls.

Poem: "Everything Wrapped in a Bow"

Happy Chrismahanakwanzika to all my fans! Enjoy a freebie of Shiv's second Christmas with the Finns.

This poem fills the "Hot Cocoa" square in my 7-1-19 card for the Winterfest in July Bingo fest. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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Notes for "Everything Wrapped in a Bow"

These are the notes for "Everything Wrapped in a Bow."

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Dairy-Free Orange Chocolate Recipes

A friend of mine mentioned missing chocolate oranges, so I looked up some dairy-free recipes. Many of these are also vegan, paleo, allergen-free, or otherwise suitable for special dietary needs.

https://mywholefoodlife.com/2014/12/10/homemade-orange-chocolate-bars/

https://sabrinassinlesssecrets.com/dessert-recipes/bite-sized-treats/dark-chocolate-orange-cream-paleo-truffles/

https://thevietvegan.com/chocolate-dipped-oranges/

https://downshiftology.com/recipes/candied-orange-peel-chocolate/

https://www.onelovelylife.com/gluten-free-vegan-chocolate-orange-cake/

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-orange-hazelnut-cake

https://allergyawesomeness.com/chocolate-orange-cookies/

https://www.pureandsimplenourishment.com/paleo-dark-chocolate-orange-fudge-paleo/

And don't forget dairy-free chocolate chips, dairy-free chocolate bars, dairy free chocolate products, and dairy-free chocolate gifts.  Most chocolate bars and chips use dairy products.  Cocoa powder does not, especially if you pay extra for a high-quality organic cacao powder.  Avoid instant hot cocoa mix, which also has dairy products, unless you can find dairy-free hot cocoa mix.  Want it flavored?  Add spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc.) to the powder before mixing it with liquid or add a few drops of extract (vanilla, orange, peppermint, almond, etc.) to a cup after mixing it.

Review: Bellwether Farms Sheep Milk Yogurt (Blackberry)

At Common Ground I found Bellwether Farms Sheep Milk Yogurt, and bought the blackberry -- they had a few other flavors too. (It turns out the creamery also makes a variety of other cultured products.)  I bought it because 1) I like trying new foods, 2) I was curious about sheep milk yogurt compared to other kinds, and 3) it had TWELVE live cultures in it.  Most yogurts only have one or two.

I tried the yogurt tonight.  It was quite  sour.  Most "healthy" yogurts are much too sour for my taste, alas, leaving me with the sweeter commercial ones.  The only sweetener in this one seems to be a small amount of cane sugar in the blackberry layer on the bottom.  Ah well.  I did finish the container because I wanted the beneficial cultures.  However, I was deeply intrigued by the flavor, which was much more complex than usual.  That could be the pastured sheep milk, or it could be the dozen cultures, or even both.  It definitely has a strong sheepy, cheesy flavor.  As I like sheep milk cheese, this is a plus.  It was very rich.  I would've liked it a lot better to eat by itself if it were sweeter, but I did identify layers of the flavor that I enjoyed.  The texture is exceptionally thick and really stays on the spoon well.  The blackberry layer on the bottom was mostly whole fruit, and did help sweeten the yogurt once stirred in.  My initial taste of the top layer was eye-crossingly sour.

Comparing this sheep milk yogurt to other types of yogurt: It is much thicker, richer, muskier, and cheesier than cow or goat yogurts I have had.  It's more complex than the pastured goat yogurt I had; I don't think I've had a pastured cow yogurt.  I think this is a little less sour than the skyr.  That was relatively awful.  :P  This is a set-in-container fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt, but it is downright sticky; it doesn't have the silky quality of French (cow) yogurt like Oui (which I love).

I am most intrigued by this as a cooking ingredient.  I think it might do amazing things if mixed into something sweeter like frozen yogurt, smoothies, cheesecake, fruit dip, etc.  Mmm, or used as a marinade.  If you want it just a little sweeter, you could slop it onto a bowl of blackberries or use it to top a pie.  Note that cooking at high temperatures would kill the live cultures, and freezing might, but other methods like running it through a blender would leave them intact.

Consider buying some if you:
* think commercial yogurt is way too sweet
* or way too runny
* don't have much taste so prefer strong flavors
* need something with no crud in it
* want a really thick yogurt
* plan to use it as an ingredient
* especially as a starter for your own yogurt
* love sheep milk cheese
* eat yogurt to compensate for antibiotics
* want to consume 12 different live things

... oh, that's  why I kind of liked it even though it was way too sour.  It had a huge amount of vital energy from the cultures.  Definitely consider it if you need that.  There must be ways to make it sweeter if you dislike sour things.

I will have to keep this in mind for future experiments as an ingredient, particularly since the company also sells plain and vanilla versions.