The Rookery - Day Seven

For many women home is... "taking up an endeavour of some sort. Women begin to sing again after years of finding reason not to. They commit themselves to learn something they've been heartfelt about for a long time. They seek out lost people and things in their lives."... Other women find Riversleigh, become Ravens and, in doing so, find a soul home.
Estes

Cheshire D. Smith in Lemuria

Cheshire D. Smith joined Soul Food Cafe at the end of 2006.  She immediately settled in at Riversleigh Manor and began participating in the holiday festivities.  One highlight of the 2006 season was an unforgettable New Years' Bash at Taverna di Muse.  Stories about--flamenco dancing--on tabletops--circulated around the Village for weeks afterwards.  Cheshire and other Riversleigh residents refused to confirm or deny such rumors.

During 2007, some of her favorite places to be included Riversleigh Manor, Taverna di Muse, Lemurian Hermitage, The Murmuring Woods, and The Open Studio.

Cheshire's twin sister, D.Q. Jones, visited Riversleigh in the summer of 2007.  One of her first observations were–quote-"I know a good thing when I see it.  And this is good!"-unquote. 

In January of 2008, both sisters (and a group of other curious & courageous souls started a magical mystery journey (guided by Enchanteur) into the depths of Lemuria.  For more about these journeys check out Enchanteur's Squidoo Lens.

The second major adventure of 2008 occurred in late summer & early fall when Priscilla arrived in the Pacific Northwest to stay with Cheshire.  

You can share Priscilla's journey in the North West on Priscilla's Soul Tour blog. Make sure to visit Priscilla's Squid lens and her Flickr Stream

From the Well of Mnemosyne: Christmas Memories

"Riversleigh Manor at Christmas.  A view of the east wing of the manor."  photo courtesy of stock.xchng    

Cheshire has very fond memories of Christmas holidays.  Of the times at her maternal grandparents' house; watching the blinky-twinky lights of the Christmas tree, singing carols, and eating freshly-baked sugar cookies!  Another holiday favorite (a main dish too good to be kept a secret!) is this recipe for corned beef.

According to Cheshire, "This recipe spans three generations now.  It's served for Christmas, Easter, St Patrick’s Day--every occasion except Thanksgiving.  My grandmother found the recipe in a women’s magazine in the early 1940s and tried it.  Everybody loved it!  So her two daughters make it, her two grand-daughters make it, and everybody loves it!" 

GRANNY'S CORNED BEEF

Cut the corned beef into two pieces, trim the fat, and stick several whole cloves into the meat before cooking it.
It can be cooked either by baking or boiling it.  (The longer it is cooked, the more tender it becomes.)
The baking temperature is 350 F.  Follow package directions for baking.
The boiling time for 4-5 lbs is 3 to 3 and 1/2 hours. 
When the corned beef is the desired tenderness, mix up the following sauce, then pour it over the corned beef and bake it (350 F) for an additional one half hour.

Sauce Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of water or the corned beef juice
3 tablespoons of vinegar  (white or red)
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
One-third cup of ketchup
One-third cup of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of butter  (this can be microwaved & then added to the sauce)

Directions:
Mix the sauce ingredients in a small pan and heat to boiling point.  (Bubbles just breaking the surface.) Then pour sauce over the corned beef and bake at 350.

DOUBLE the sauce mix for more than 4 lbs of corned beef.  Or double it anyway, because it's a great-tasting gravy for mashed potatoes!

One unusual quality about this dish is that it will taste even better two days later!  So make it a day or two early, and allow it to marinate in the sauce (in the fridge) before warming/serving it.

Working With Priscilla

Soul Foods little ambassador of goodwill, Priscilla, Queen of Cyber Space, spent a couple of months in the North West with Cheshire D. Smith. Apart from checking out the scenery they collaborated to help Priscilla learn all about making avatars. Cheshire and Priscilla discovered Voki.

While she was with Cheshire Pris did not forget her secret mission to become Queen of the Web. (Although she might have to share that title with Charleen, who lives upstairs by the computer and is a professional web designer.)

In October, Pris learned about avatars.

Here she is making a Voki avatar. She insists that it is not difficult if you go to Voki and experiment. She and Cheshire made one for D.J. and a special Halloween one for herself. Why not try now!

Making Avatars

Avatars are a lot of fun. Many programs, from Word Press, to Squidoo, to Facebook encourage you to upload a distinctive image. Some people use Vokis while others are happy to make their own.

Avatarity is a site dedicated to being the best place on the net to come for Avatars. Whether you need an Avatar, an identity, for an online forum, a web page, or just to put into an instant messenger profile, you're sure to find it here! Avatarity claims to have the biggest, best organized collection of searchable Avatars on the web.

Wee World enables students to create little computer figures of their own choosing. In this way they create online personalities for themselves.