The Peasant and the Cucumbers

A peasant once went to the gardener's, to steal cucumbers.

He crept up to the cucumbers, and thought, "I will carry off a bag of cucumbers, which I will sell; with the money I will buy a hen.

The hen will lay eggs, hatch them, and raise a lot of chicks.
I will feed the chicks and sell them; then I will buy me a young sow, and she will bear a lot of pigs.

I will sell the pigs, and buy me a mare; the mare will foal me some colts. I will raise the colts, and sell them.

I will buy me a house, and start a garden. In the garden I will sow cucumbers, and will not let them be stolen, but will keep a sharp watch on them.

I will hire watchmen, and put them in the cucumber patch, while I myself will come on them, unawares, and shout, 'Oh, there, keep a sharp lookout!'"

And this he shouted as loud as he could.

The watchmen heard it, and they rushed out and beat the peasant.


story source: Fables for Children; Stories for Children; Natural Science Stories written by Leo Tolstoy translated by Leo Wiener published 1904 

I have two cool and yummy recipes for you. Both are
great ways to get kids to eat their veggies!

Cucumber Slushie

Ingredients:
1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into pieces
2 cups of water
1 cup of ice
3 tablespoons of sugar (or to taste)
the juice of 1/4 lemon or 1/2 lime

Directions:
Place all of your ingredients in blender, and puree until completely smooth
Serve immediately.

Cool Mint Cucumber Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup of plain yogurt
2 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lemon (add to taste)
1 to 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic (to taste)
1 to 2 tablespoons of honey (to taste)
Chopped fresh mint (to taste)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:
Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
The items that are listed as _to taste_ can be added slowly and you should taste as you go.
Chill soup, well (approximately 2 hours).
Served garnished with a few fresh mint leaves and/or with pieces of very finely chopped cucumber.

The Flies and the Honey....an Aesop Fable

A number of flies were attracted to a jar of honey which had been overturned and placing their feet in it, ate greedily.

While eating, however, they became so smeared with the honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and they soon died.

As they were dying, they exclaimed, "O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves."

Moral: Pleasure bought with pains, hurts_or_Too much of a good thing can be bad.



Both of these recipes are really simple and great for younger children.


No Bake Honey Crispies

Ingredients
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1-1/2 cups crisp rice cereal
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chocolate or multicolored sprinkles

Directions
Place a sheet of waxed paper on a cookie sheet so cookies won't stick.
Combine powdered sugar, honey and peanut butter in a medium bowl.
Stir until mixed well.
Stir in cereal and raisins.
Using hands, shape mixture into 1-inch balls.
Roll balls in sprinkles and place on a cookie sheet.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Cookies should feel firm when touched.
Serve right away or place in tightly covered container and store in refrigerator


Honey Banana Breakfast Blast



this is a cute song about Honey Cakes, it's also a recipe!

The Fox and the Grapes----an Aesop Fable

One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch.
"Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he.
Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success.
Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour."

Moral: It is easy to despise what you cannot get.

Picture from The Baby's Own Aesop (verse fables by W.J. Linton), 1887. Illustrations by Walter Crane



Grape Salad

Ingredients
2 lbs green seedless grapes
2 lbs red seedless grapes
8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, to taste

Topping Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar, packed, to taste
1 cup crushed pecans, to taste

Directions
1) Wash and stem grapes.
2) Set aside.
3) Mix sour cream, cream cheese, white sugar and vanilla by hand until blended.
4) Stir grapes into mixture, and pour in large serving bowl.
5) For topping: Combine brown sugar, and crushed pecans.
6) Sprinkle over top of grapes to cover completely.
7) Chill overnight.

The Sparrows Holiday

Mr. and Mrs. House Sparrow hopped round the garden looking for crumbs.

But alas! Nobody threw any crumbs for the sparrows that day:

At last Mr. Sparrow said:

"All the people must be away on holiday."

"Then why don't we go away on holiday?" chirped Mrs. Sparrow.

Mr. Sparrow cocked his head on one side.

"Yes, we will have a holiday. We will go into the country to visit our cousins, the Hedge Sparrows."

"Hurrah!" chirped all the little sparrows.

They flew over the houses and the chimneys, and soon they came to the fields, which were full of golden corn. There were lots of brown sparrows pecking the grain.

"These are our country cousins," said Mr. Sparrow.

"How do you do!" chirped the Hedge Sparrows. "We are very pleased to see you."

They all had such a happy time in the fields. There was plenty to eat, because the corn was ripe. Indeed, the little sparrows ate so much that they felt fast asleep among the corn.

Too soon it was time to go home. So they said "Goodbye" to their country cousins, and away they flew, over the fields and hedges, back to the houses and chimneys. But they did not forget the kindness of their country cousins. When winter came Mrs Sparrow said:

"We will invite our country cousins to spend Christmas with us. There will not be much to eat in their part of the world now."

So the Hedge Sparrows came to spend Christmas among the houses and chimneys.

And they all had a jolly time. There was plenty to eat, because in winter everyone puts out crumbs and titbits for the birds.

So in winter, when you throw out crumbs for the birds, do not forget to throw a little extra for the country cousins too.

Super Simple "Crumb" Cake

Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup water
5 Tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature
.
For the Crumb Topping:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup very soft butter (soften for 2 hours at room temperature)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, water and butter in a large mixing bowl.
Beat until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the crumb topping:
Combine flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
Cut in butter until mixture becomes crumbly.

Sprinkle crumb topping over half-baked cake.
Return to oven to bake another 20-23 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

The Three Cranberries......a Chippewa Fable

The Three Cranberries
A Chippewa Fable

Three cranberries were living in a lodge together.
One was green, one was white and one was red. They were sisters.
There was snow on the ground and the men had gone hunting.
The sisters felt afraid and began to say to each other, "What shall we do if the wolves come?"
"I", said the green one, "shall climb up a Shingoub(spruce) tree."
"I", said the white one, "shall hide myself in the kettle of boiled hominy."
"And I", said the red one, "shall conceal myself under the snow."
Presently the wolves came and each cranberry sister did as she had said.
But only one of the three had chosen wisely.
The wolves immediately ran to the kettle and ate up the corn and with it the white cranberry.
The red cranberry was trampled in the snow under the wolves feet.
But the green cranberry, who had climbed up the thick Shingoub(spruce) tree, escaped notice and was saved.

retold from Algic Researches: North American Indian Folktales and Legends by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Curtis M. Hinsley, first published in 1839

Once called bounceberries, because ripe ones bounce, cranberries are a staple at Thanksgiving, mainly due to the fact that they are harvested in the fall.
Because of their extreme tartness, cranberries are best combined with other fruits, or turned into cranberry sauce.


Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

PREP TIME 15 Min
COOK TIME 1 Hr
READY IN 1 Hr 25 Min
Original recipe yield 2 - 8x4 inch loaves

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup egg substitute
1 (16 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Spray two 8x4 inch loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon and ground cloves in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Mix the egg substitute, cranberry sauce, pureed pumpkin, vegetable oil and grated orange zest together.
Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened.
Pour batter into the prepared pans. Sprinkle the top of each loaf with the chopped nuts.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let loaves cool for 10 minutes then remove from pans.
Can be made even lower in fat by substituting 1/3 cup applesauce for the 1/3 cup vegetable oil.

Did You Know?
Cranberries help fight bacterial infections.
It takes 4,400 cranberries to make a gallon of juice.
Native Americans used cranberry juice as a natural dye for rugs.
more cranberry facts and recipes at Allrecipes.com