Libations Friday! 31 July 2009

Featured today: Cold coffee recipe, funny birthday quotes, original poem about how to conquer abuse in your life.

From Denny: Yesterday was my birthday so I thought I'd mellow out on the early AM posting today... :) (lame, I know!) Basically, I took yesterday off and am up early putting together today's post which usually takes some time just to load it into the online editor.

Anyway, at our house we celebrate birthdays all week long with more than gifts, flowers or chocolates. We celebrate with birthday jokes, quotes, or stories. We like to annoy the birthday person to the point they will never forget their birthday this year or any year! It also goes a long way to making a person feel loved and special to be reminded more than once we are glad they are sharing the planet with us.

Here are 9 birthday quotes which we find amusing. If you like to make your own greeting cards for birthdays some of these would be a great idea to include for a friend or loved one to make them smile!

Image by Kapil Karekar via Flickr

9 Funny Birthday Quotes

Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician. ~ Anonymous

The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything: the young know everything.” - Oscar Wilde

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened. ~ Jennifer Yane

Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. ~ Tom Wilson

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age. - Robert Frost

I never forget my wife's birthday. It's usually the day after she reminds me about it. – Anonymous

Age is a number and mine is unlisted. - Anonymous

Last week the candle factory burned down. Everyone just stood around and sang, 'Happy Birthday.' - Steven Wright

People ask me what I'd most appreciate getting for my eighty-seventh birthday. I tell them, a paternity suit. - George Burns



Photo by nyki_m @ flickr

Creamy Espresso Coffee Ice Cream Cooler

Serves: 4

Birthdays in late July can be a bit*h! It's hot, steamy and people can get grumpy crowded together. Why not make everyone happy by cooling them down with this ice cream coffee cooler? Watch the birthday gifts roll in! :)

Ingredients:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup half and half

1 1/2 cups hot water

1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee (or leftover strong coffee)

4 standard scoops coffee ice cream

Directions:

Combine the chocolate chips, cream and half and half in the jar of a blender. Cover and puree until the mixture is smooth, about 2 - 3 minutes.

In a small bowl stir the espresso into the hot water until dissolved. (Or skip this step if you have leftover strong coffee or just want to make fresh expresso.) Add the espresso to the chocolate mixture and mix until well blended, about 2 - 3 minutes.

Put covered blender jar in the refrigerator and chill until cold, about 1 hour.

At serving time blend the mixture for a short while, until frothy. Fill 4 glasses 3/4 full with coffee mixture and top with 1 scoop of coffee ice cream. Serve immediately.

Don't forget to laugh a lot and enjoy yourselves!



From Denny: Speaking of birthdays, I wrote a new birthday poem this week. Do you find around your birthday that there is all this good energy in the air? Mine feels so positive and peaceful. This time of year I always try to write some poetry, sometimes more. Well, this week something unexpected that reminded me of the past popped into my world.

Whenever I get a new follower signed on from Blogger (look in the sidebar) I check to see if they have a blog and I make sure I follow theirs too. You never know when you might learn something new from someone else and I sure don't want to miss anything. That, and I like to support my friends!

A new follower, a talented poetess by the name of Am I Dead, Yet? (her blog is the same) is the new follower. She is also a friend on HubPages. So, I read through several of her posts and landed on one on her birthday. She was wishing herself a happy birthday because she knew the abusers in her life sure wouldn't.

Actually, this act is a great idea to boost your self-esteem when in a negative situation. If you have to reaffirm yourself to your self, then do it. It's the right call to keep your spark alive in this world and to keep from getting completely burned out. Little by little this woman is discovering the smallest things you can do to survive and later thrive out of this bad environment.

I was struck by how much our childhoods had been so similiar: terrible abuse. She is still struggling with reconciling the garbage. Well, I did my time in hell, figured it out, healed myself and pushed forward into the light of a much happier life.

So, I thought I'd write a poem for her - to laud her as a person and a talent. Poets often write each other poems. Artists often paint each other paintings. Writers often riff off each other in answer. Maybe in your writing you could do the same for someone in your life.

This poem is also useful for others who have been abused and are struggling with their identity and to free themselves from a negative environment. People who have not experienced abuse and are struggling to understand what is going on inside the heads and hearts of friends and loved ones who have been abused, this poem is informative. You really can heal yourself; you really can dare to dream for a better life!

You Are Worthy Every Day!



Photo by soylentgreen23 @ flickr


Happy Birthday to a quiet beautiful soul
Who knows how to shout in the darkness
Wade through surging waters and come out dry
Huddles by her heart’s warm fire to revive
Carefully stepping out onto a new path
While nobody’s looking…



Photo by Rampant Gian @ flickr


Happy Birthday to a touchingly beautiful soul
Who knows not to be forced silent any more
Pushing back the mean-spirited into the abyss
She just climbed out of today, never return, ever
Swimming upstream against bullying naysayers
While everybody’s looking…



Photo by left-hand @ flickr


Happy Birthday to a growing lovely soul
Who knows she is in transition away from abuse
Casting off ugly words, crafting instead beautiful words
Building a creative foundation of new life
Unwinding, putting to the fire the mean parent tape
While the abusers shrink back in new found fear…



Photo by John-Morgan @ flickr

Happy Birthday to you as you win each day
Walking farther away each step from where you were
Hugging close the dream unfolding into new reality
Living the Love each new moment you create
The shackles of your mind unlock and fall down
While the world embraces one willing to be loved and love…



Photo by mark sebastian @ flickr


Happy Birthday to a sensitive poetess
Who can employ the past to be her servant
Swaying and dancing with exquisite words
Protecting her new path as fearsome weapons
To stun and confuse fools who no longer can stop her rise
Creation unveils “I am,” traveling moment to moment into infinite Beauty...



Denny Lyon
Copyright 27 July 2009
All Rights Reserved

For more information about how I experienced abuse and figured out how to heal from it - as well as people's reactions to the poem, go here on HubPages: Push Abuse Out of Your Life and Out of Your Head

Coffee Photo by once and future @ flickr



Photo by 1happysnapper Hugs to All @ flickr

Thanks for visiting, everyone! Have a great weekend and have some fun!

birthday quotes, poetry, Birthday, Coffee, denny lyon, Espresso, Greeting card, Happy Birthday, HubPages, Ice cream, Types of chocolate, Baking and Confections, abuse, healing, PTSD, trauma, funny birthday quotes, humor, flickr, beautiful photos

Libations Friday! 5 June 2009

Frozen expresso yogurt and ginger candied coffee cake recipes - and an original poem thrown in for good measure to start your weekend!

From Denny: Welcome to Libations Friday! This expresso frozen yogurt recipe looked so easy and cooling in the early summer heat. After you read the poem you will laugh a second time as to my choosing this frozen recipe. Some people get “after taste” when they dine; you will get “after chuckle” when you read! :)

Both recipes are quick and easy, perfect for the weekend! The coffee cake answered my question of what to do with all that crystallized candied ginger I buy from time to time during the holiday season – and then wonder what’s next…

Low-fat Expresso Coffee Frozen Yogurt

“Only lightly sweetened, this yogurt is good as is, but perhaps is better with a dash of chocolate syrup over the top. - John Kessler”

From: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hands on time: 5 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1/2 cup strong espresso, cooled

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 quart plain yogurt


Instructions:

In a bowl, combine espresso, sugar and yogurt until smooth. Churn in ice cream maker until thick like soft-serve ice cream, about 20 minutes depending on the machine.

Nutrition:

Per serving: 124 calories (percent of calories from fat, 28), 4 grams protein, 18 grams carbohydrates, no fiber, 4 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 16 milligrams cholesterol, 57 milligrams sodium.



Pear Ginger Coffee Cake

From: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Perfect for: Breakfasts, brunches, coffees, meetings, office gatherings.

Make and take: Bake ahead of time, cover pan with foil and serve at room temperature.

Made famous by Maralyn Christoffersen of Atlanta, who got it from the Penzeys’ Spices catalog. "I served it at my book club and everybody wanted the recipe," she said.

Candied ginger adds just a touch of zing to this tender cake.”

Hands on time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Serves: 15


Ingredients:

Granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups diced (1/4 to 1/2 inch) and peeled pears

1/4 cup cinnamon sugar (or 1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon)

2 to 4 tablespoons crystallized (candied) ginger, finely chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray with cooking spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and dust with granulated sugar, if desired. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, salt and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Sift together the flour and baking soda. Alternately add the flour mixture in two parts with the buttermilk, beating a minute or two after each addition.

Fold in the pears. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon sugar and the ginger and sprinkle on top.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving; serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes:
Total time includes 20 minutes of cooling time before serving.

Tip: Although pear goes especially well with candied ginger, you can also substitute apples or berries for the pears. For best flavor, says Christoffersen, use real butter and whole buttermilk.

Nutrition:

Per serving: 209 calories (percent of calories from fat, 29), 3 grams protein, 35 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 7 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 30 milligrams cholesterol, 184 milligrams sodium.

Now on to the poetry portion of Libations Friday!


Bitter Romance in the Garden

A parable about relationships and humor found after a bitter romance.



Moody twilight rolled down the hilly sky

Lush garden welcomed me softly.

The lover looked on in secret;

Seductively, he whispered on the wind.



He escaped my notice;

Perfumed rose breezes distracted.

Pleasant, ending of the day.



Not seen, he brushed lightly my wrist, more;

I turned to see whose touch, no one.

The twilight lay down to sleep deep night.

I retired to my curving bed, wondering,

Who was that secret lover, unseen?



Next day at first light, I awakened.

At once, I knew that bitter lover, his name:

Poison Ivy.

You, cad, you.



Two weeks later, remembering,

Wearing, enduring your caustic kiss.

Decadent baths three times daily,

Soak away your incendiary romance,

Cooling the passion of your

Whispered, burning kiss.



No summer’s friend,

Liar in the garden,

False promising, secret lover,

Nature’s sneaky misfit,

Poison Ivy,

You, cad, you.


Beware that bitter garden romance…



Denny Lyon
Copyright 4 June 2009
All Rights Reserved


Thanks for visiting, everyone! Have a great weekend; keep laughing!

Coffee Photo by once and future @ flickr
Garden Photo by Athena's Pix @ flickr

Libations Friday! 27 March 2009

From Denny: To wind down your work week, here are some funny photos and art work, a funny coffee prayer, a coffee poem, and yet another coffee recipe with chocolate ice cream.

I love chocolate ice cream and right now it’s a pollen-filled Spring time in Louisiana while Colorado gets stacked up with snow! Hang the pollen; eat ice cream! It’s the weekend. And I’ve got pollen head right now and just can’t be too serious. I knew pollen was good for something; now I know…

***

From INeedCoffee.com comes a funny from Todd Zapoli:



There is also The Falling Dream cartoon site to check for smiles.

Then there is Bad Bob's Screaming Man on Coffee graphics if you haven't seen them yet or wanted to know who was the artist.



***

Now for the new coffee recipe from VolcanicaCoffee.com!

Mocha Cinnamon Shake

Ingredients:

1 cup brewed gourmet coffee at room temperature

1 cup chocolate ice cream

1 cup milk

1 cup crushed ice

2 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Directions: Combine the gourmet coffee, ice cream, milk and crushed ice in a blender. Blend it until it is all combined and serve. Pour into two mugs and add cinnamon sticks. Makes 2 servings.

***

Now for an amusing prayer by Anonymous:

The Coffee Prayer

Caffeine is my shepherd; I shall not doze.

It maketh me to wake in green pastures:

It leadeth me beyond the sleeping masses.

It restoreth my buzz:

It leadeth me in the paths of consciousness for its name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of addiction,

I will fear no Equal (sugar substitute):

For thou art with me; thy cream and thy sugar they comfort me.

Thou preparest a carafe before me in the presence of Juan Valdez:

Thou annointest my day with pep; my mug runneth over.

Surely richness and taste shall follow me all the days of my life: and

I will dwell in the House of ....... for ever.

***

Coffee Quote and Poem from CocoaJava.com

*** Nancy Astor: "If I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee."

Sir Winston Churchill: "And if I were your husband, I would drink it." ***

***

From Denny: And since I live in Louisiana, and it’s been raining like a flood lately, here is a poem from the French Quarter in New Orleans where he really has captured the coffee moment in the culture:



Photo by ercwttnn @ flickr

Stopped for a cup in the French Quarter

The ceiling fan above me twirls languidly, dangling…

swaying from the embossed tin ceiling from a century ago

loping shadows cut the muted fluorescence from twelve feet

The resulting flickering makes the scene into a silent movie

piped-in, ancient, scratchy, re-mastered piano jazz heightens

the noirish ease of an afternoon latte, a cloudy, dreary

day in the old part of the old town; caffeinated history

real and imagined, sip after black and white sip

Rain begins to pelt the arching, aching windows as I reach the

bottom of my cup and a dreamer, coffee drinker’s dilemma;

sit for another cup, watching the time and life brew, or

head on out into the rain with a self-promise to return

Unlike the movies, such an answer is not black and white,

simply a compromised black; a cup of French Roast – to go.

And go I do, stepping onto the cobblestoned street, right hand

warmed by the cup, left hand in my pocket, rain dribbling off

the flattened out brim of my hat, I take a steamy sip, and smile.

By Mark Lucker

(Mark is a writer, employment counsleor and coffee junkie!)

Check out the other coffee poems at this site!