Sept 1 to 3 Crazy Cake Chocolate Faiiure and Canned Chicken Soup Success

Contestant: Chocolate Crazy Cake
Original Recipe:
Flour Cooking Oil
Sugar Vinegar
Cooking Cocoa Vanilla
Soda Cold Water
Salt

Courtesy of an old Peg Bracken recipe I’ve baked off for years. As it is
egg-less, this recipe probably originated by those crafty cooks making do during
WWII.
My family loves this cake so much that it is often the requested Birthday Cake
leaving me free to concentrate on the rest of the party… It is that great, no
need for icing either…but a lovely scoop of ice cream on the side make it
terrific.

THE CHALLENGER-Crazier-Chocolate Crazy Cake with the plan to be Gluten Free,
Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Egg Free Goodness!
Dry Ingredients-
1 ½ Cup Arrowhead Mills Organic Brown Rice Flour www.arrowheadmills.com
3 Tbs. Hershey’s Cooking Cocoa www.hersheykitchens.com
1 Cup Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Soda
½ tsp. Salt
Wet Ingredients-
5 Tbs. Pompeian Extra Light Olive Oil www.pompeian.com
1 Tbs. Mizkan Nakano Rice Vinegar www.mizkan.com
1 tsp. Spice Club Vanilla www.ALDL.com
1 Cup Cold Water
DIRECTIONS:
Mix dry ingredients in un-greased 8x8 square pan
Make 3 grooves in the dry ingredients
Put oil in one, vanilla in next, vinegar in 3rd
Pour water over all and mix thoroughly with fork to blend until smooth and
mixed.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until done

RESULTS: It doesn’t look so good…my cake batter was very thin after I blended it
and the usual bubbles when the vinegar touches the soda bits in the dry
ingredients didn’t happen at inclusion.

The cake baked in the normal baking time but it obviously blew up too
high and jumped over the edge of the pan as it was baking. Now it has cooked
onto the bottom of my oven so it isn’t pretty as the usual crowned top has
collapsed as well.

Now for the taste test…Lousy!
Too much soda perhaps too, but there is no glue to keep it from crumbling…not
uneatable with ice cream, but better off becoming squirrel or raccoon food. I’ll
try again soon.

SECOND THOUGHTS on FAILURE:
This rice flour/rice vinegar attempt failed so badly, both my husband
and I decided it needed to be thrown out…not even fit for the scavenger
creatures of the forest. AND I never throw away good ingredients! That’s where
our Rum Balls come from…
But it had been a tough week with my cooking buddy daughter out of town, two
sick dogs and an emotional mood to match. Soooo…with all this failure going on I
realized I’d forgotten to grease the foil muffin cups for my South Beach Diet
“Veggie Quiche Cups To Go” from Pg. 134 of the Phase One Recipes
www.SouthBeachDiet.com/Rodale or www.prevention.com/sbdiet. that I’m enjoying.
Pleased with my concoction of Daiya Foods Dairy Free Cheddar Style Shreds
www.diayafoods.com and some leftover grated peppered-jack cheese, my spinach
filing altered with healthy dash of Blessed Botanicals Planet Garlic seasoning
blend www.blessedbotanicals.com had been terrific…albeit, they all stuck to
their wrappers!

I NEEDED SOME MOOD ALTERING SUCCESS!
HENCE MY; September 3,
2010
“Crazy-Brand Chicken Noodle/Rice Soup for the Stormy Souls”

Anyone who knows me well…knows as an inspired, creative and frugal
shopper, I LOVE the damaged-discounted and discontinued section of my two local
Winn Dixie Stores; each has their own personalities and selections reflecting
the differing tastes of the shoppers who purchase there.
My Island store will offer more up-scale brands and higher-end products than the
in-town store that caters to the down-home folks; I lov’em both because of those
diversities.

But last night I concocted a wonderful soup that would reach out to all kinds of
eaters…as I was remembering the taste and family gatherings around the “End of
Harvest” Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn Soup I’d eaten as a child.
But it didn’t start out that way…I began very late in the day scouring my pantry
shelves for SOMETHING to have for dinner.

Our daughter was driving in late after skirting south beside Hurricane Earl as
it traveled north threatening the Carolina coastlines. We were to meet her in
town to unpack her baggage… so the knowledge that either our dinner or her
dinner would be delayed, kept me struggling.
The result was a delightful blending of four different brands of chicken soup
reconstituted or not, per the labels directions plus the addition of a can of
Green Giants Chipotle White corn, www.greengiant.com some leftover steamed
carrots, about 8ozs. additional water after adding a single package of Goya
Brand chicken bouillon for some needed “salty-ness” and some Mrs. Dash
www.mrsdash.com …this cook’s best friend.

The four soups arrived in my pantry though the commingling of many discounted
shopping trips and the recent relocation from the North Carolina Mountains to
the combined recycled food pantry of our www.ConvertibleCooking.Com efforts.
Two are Campbell’s of Camden, N.J.,U.S.A.08103-1701 products…a 15.3 oz. “Select
Harvest Savory Chicken and Long Grained Rice” that comes in a cute heat and
serve tub I’m going to recycle under one of the African Violets that I love and
recently re-potted. For another one that’s blooming I used the clear container
top from my package of CD’s for my computer. It’s clear and water tight and
just…this is taking me down a different path from my soup!

Next I added Campbell’s Light Chicken Gumbo at 70 calories, 10 3/4ozs.and a
whopping $.83 price tag plus a can of Southgate Brand Condensed Chicken Noodle
Soup, 10.75oz. “packaged by the Vietti Foods, Div. of Choice Foods of America,
LLC, Nashville, Tenn. 37203” that more than likely hit the shelves of the Dollar
General Store in Hot Springs, N.C. before finding it’s way to Southeast Georgia
to blend it’s magic flavors with a 10.5 oz. can of Ingles www.inglesmarkets.com
Laura Lynn Brand CHICKEN NOODLE as the label proudly displays with the needed
three cans of water thrown in to reconstitute them.
At last thought if I’d had a can of cooked chicken I might have added it in just
to make it “heartier” but I added about 4ozs. cubed Firm Style Tofu from The Soy
Shop P.O. 47749 Atlanta, Ga. 30362 as I’m trying to find good ways to sneak it
in to our diet more often…and the 8oz. package had already been opened… Duh!
(Also the package tells me to write for more recipes, so I might send them this
idea!)
While tasting my way through this exercise I heard my husband from across the
room muttering;
“I hope there’s going to be more than JUST soup for dinner?”
So a DiGiorno Rising Crust frozen Supreme style pizza from Kraft Foods,
www.kraftfoods.com I had stashed away in my freezer came to mind…and Voila!

Some sliced cucumbers with a splash of vinegar for a quick salad-side, set the
oven timer for the pizza while planning ice cream for desert; and dinner was
going to be ready when ever we were ready for it. Perfect!
Now, the reason I write all this today after receiving our,
www.MonsterMotorGirl.com daughter, home safe and sound after a long and
difficult drive with her fully loaded car and trailer and TWO new rear tires
courtesy of the nice salesman at Sears, Spartanburg, S.C.; …was my man’s
reaction to my soup!

After LICKING the side of the bowl where the dribbles went down onto his plate
was to say, “An amazingly good soup!” Wow…I’m thrilled. This silly combination
of rice and noodles made my day.
Never to be duplicated in the same fashion perhaps except for another meal of
low cost dinning for three at my house…
and space for more interesting discounted and discontinued food items from the
store shelves as they present themselves to me for cooking and writing
inspiration. Savoring the sweetness of his remark tastes as good to my heart and
mind as ever a soup does on my tongue.
Almost nothing else in my kitchen of fun and frolic gives me the sense of joy I
get from “Cooking with Cans”. I love the results, the speed and efficiency and
the magic of my can opener plus I always have a meal handy when pressed, am too
busy, lazy or un-inspired by my day’s tasks.
I have a favorite “Cheesy Chowder” recipe that a college friend gave me back
when my husband was in school that has been a staple in my meal planning for 44
years…I always have those 4 cans on my pantry shelf in case an unexpected guest
arrives.

Having been taught resourcefulness as a young wife living in the snowy New
Hampshire woods, 35 miles from the nearest grocery store stays with me today,
even though my current Winn Dixie is less than 5 blocks away. A few little
tricks with cans… let me eat well at dinner and sleep well at night...

Here's to some good eating and the sweet smell of success,
Carol

Come and get it! Scratch-made Gluten in a jar! Yikes!

Wheat Gluten in a Jar

During our search for better, fun, alternative products, we seek out the Asian market is Jacksonville. Why? You may ask? Just for the sheer pleasure of different food, items, packaging…and “what the heck do you do with that?” 


My dear friends Christiane and Jenny in Asheville turned me on to making your own spring rolls. I love spring rolls and I ALWAYS order them if they’re available. I love eggrolls too but that’s a story for another time. So lets save some green and make our own! FABULOUS!


So the challenge is finding the skins. Thus the trip to Jacksonville since we ran out of the ones I brought from NC. Earth Fare in Asheville had them for about $4.00 but it was a minimum of 5 meals feeding 3 people, at least 3 rolls each, not bad for a few bucks. Now , of course since we’re baking and cooking for the multitude and giving food away since we’ll be as big as houses if we don’t…it gets expensive and honestly a little dull. So throw in rice spring roll skins and viola! Instant savings and excitement!


What I have discovered after making them for my family a few times for lunch or dinner, is that spring rolls are refrigerator clean out food. Seriously, if you can find the skins fill’em with whatever you have in the fridge. Left over chicken, pork chops, salad, eggs, noodles whatever. If you’re a purist stick to chicken or shrimp and julienned veggies, and Google a good peanut sauce recipe, which I did, altered a little and will include here. There’s also the addition of cellophane rice noodles which can dress it up if you need to.


But, after all the fun…and a new place where you can’t locate the products you’re used to finding easily…enter the Asian Market. We make a pilgrimage to Jax Asian Market supposedly behind Whole Foods on San Jose Blvd, after an hour and 2 trips to Jacksonville we have found it! Not exactly behind...but anyway...


WOW! What and experience and all I want is dried, round, rice flour skins. Well, look out…there are wheat, egg, rice, tapioca… and a veritable cornucopia of others in various sizes shapes and colors! Holy Cow, who knew? Well they did obviously, but what else could we make? This label is so pretty and this looks really interesting, and what is THAT!?


Needless to say we filled our basket, to overflowing with tasty and beautiful treats to play with and talk about in later postings, along with a fresh made Sweet Red Bean and Sesame Dumpling…marvelous. All for 15 dollars, Yeah, you heard me 15 bucks!


But the coup de gras was the “Wheat Gluten in a jar”. I looked at the display and said “are you kidding me?” you can pull it out and package it, really? WHY? Apparently they use it as a thickener or something, but this brown gelatinous mass in a jar was, well, GROSS!


Now that I know what it does to my body…yikes. It was a little frightening, I’ll admit. I’m all about trying new things but that might be pushing it. The toasted coconut drink was heavenly as was the dumpling, and I’m still interested to try a tamarind drink…but I think I’ll steer clear of ADDING Wheat Gluten to anything, now that we are better educated.


But I do recommend patronizing your local Asian Market and other local ethnic food stores, you’ll be saving money, inspired and happy you visited.


Here to better eating!

Noelle

A Good Peanut Sauce

• 1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter (we like a good crunchy sauce, use creamy if you like)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice or 1/2 a medium lime
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari (which you can get wheat free)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper depending on your taste
• 1-2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 3 tablespoon pre minced in oil)

Gingersnaps and Banana Cake

As the storm clouds gather over my island home here on the coast of Georgia, I
thought I might tell the connection that these two items have in common besides
me, the baker. I’m enjoying baking off my 44 year old favorite recipes with
Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour. Wheat Free, Gluten Free,
and Dairy Free if possible, except for my Banana Cake that I made with
Stonyfield Organic YoBaby banana yogurt.
Bob’s Red Mill offers Xanthan Gum that is needed when you bake with the All
Purpose Flour. Find it at the natural foods store and the directions for how
much to use are on the flour package to give you the results you expect, and
from what I’ve read a little is all you need…more is NOT better.
Neither of my recipes are sugar free for those unfortunate among us that
are diabetic…sorry. But so far, this wheat eater is impressed, going gluten
free, etc. The banana cake I pulled from the oven minutes ago smells heavenly
and looks beautiful.

The base recipe was once a $100,000.00 winner in a baking contest. The fun for
me is whatever flavor yogurt I use, this recipe never fails to please whenever I
bake it…the cake is just a Winner!
My Gingersnaps are nearly world famous…having traveled by plane, train,
car and the good old USPS to those I love for all these years.

So messing with them caused a moment of hesitation and heart palpitation when I
decided to attempt changing things. I don’t ever like to change much of
anything…ever, especially when whatever... works REALLY well and especially with
ones own baking reputation’s building staples. But again, I confess, these
crinkly-sugar-topped Grandma’s Molasses flavored
beauties turned out wonderfully.

So far I’m not quite ready to hand out my two fabulous recipes to anyone
just yet…but I’m working on it. But to buy a package of something that works as
a near equal to my old fashion way of doing things demands a discussion about
“old dogs learning new tricks” as this happy old dog has been learning with
Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour. I’m here to shout it out!
Give some of your old favorite recipes a brush off…it feels like your visiting
and old friend and will put some new ideas in your head about how you’ve found
yourself doing the same old thing over and over.

During this recession when sadly everything fun has been rearranged and money is
tight for a lot of folks, a few simple changes can make life a little more fun
and a lot more flavorful and as I’ve found, good for me! What a plus, and isn’t
a taste of the good life what it’s all about anyway? Take something old and
make it new…its fun.

Enjoy!
Carol

Leslie’s Blasted! Banana Bread and Muffins with Namaste Muffin Mix

Challenger #2

Dry mix from package:
Plus;
8oz. NaSoya Silken Tofu
4 small bananas- mashed
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 Tbsp. Grated Lemon Zest
2 Eggs
¼ Cup Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil

Add eggs and oil to package contents and mix as package directed. Add lemon
zest, vanilla and banana’s while beating.

Yields: 1 large loaf, Or -2 small loaves and 6 regular muffins Or- 3 small
loaves.

Note: Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees as this recipe blew up so quickly
into beautiful browned mounds of muffin tops and mountains of height on my
mini-loaves that I freaked out at 25 minutes cooking time on the muffins and
only let the breads bake for 35 minutes…only to watch them sink into themselves
upon cooling.
I fired up my oven …reducing the temperature on my big  Thermodor Convection oven to 325 degrees where it is happiest baking the majority of my stuff and stuck the two loaves in again for another 15 minutes just to bake them off.

As a rule this never works, but at $4.79 for my 16oz. Namaste’ Muffin
mix and their 400 degree oven temperature suggestion, I figured it wouldn’t be a
waste if it failed. (I’m thinking warm banana Bread pudding with ice
cream…hummm, as nothing from my kitchen is ever wasted.)

So now I’m not sure what I’ve got.... The batter tasted lovely and was
thick and dry enough for even more banana flavor as I kept adding them in…mine
were small to medium size. I’m very pleased with my muffins so I’d better see
how they taste as they are meant to be a gift for an old friend who loves my
baking. Hopefully they are a winner.

*Namaste’s Muffin Mix- “Made in a Dedicated Facility Free
of: Gluten, Wheat, Soy, Corn, Potato, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Dairy, and Casein”
**NaSoya Tofu- Silken – 8oz.
***Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil- ¼ cup

P.S. Flavor’s great …might add a bit of Agave Nectar  as a sweetener( my
newest baking buddy) or honey next time as they could be sweeter if your
personal taste leans that way… but they don’t NEED it. Stick with muffins for
now however as my lovely little twin loaves failed my test.
They have not baked through. Temperature and baking time adjustments should help
with the added extra moisture and I didn’t figure that in correctly, but for now
I’ll be off to the store for another Namaste’ Muffin mix. These are no doubt an
excellent product base for lots of good baking ideas to come. The JOY in baking
is having fun like this…tasting good is the goal as nothing is ever a flop, even
if it doesn’t look so good.

Here’s to better baking…
Carol

Tofu is as Tofu Does

Tofu Bean Icing for Cakes

Who’d believe this is Beans?
My icing is so good I can’t believe it myself…Tofu, more Tofu and 10X 
Sugar turned out so well!
Of course it was always planned…it was the execution that was difficult. I 
finally added 15 Tbs. of my LOVELY LEMON FRUIT DIP “mistake sauce” to ½ pound of 
10X Confectioners Sugar ONE tablespoon at a time until I got it to a spreading 
consistency for my layers.  

 Before I began frosting my two layers I spread the bottom layer with 
Dickenson’s Lemon Curd as I wanted an extra edition of 
wonderful tart lemon-ness as my family adores the sharp lemon bite with the 
extra sugary-ness of anything that I make with lemon.  

 There is NEVER enough lemon flavor for my group…but as lemon curd is a 
jelly-like addition added here for color and our taste it can be eliminated as 
Dickinson’s Lemon Curd is made with eggs, butter (cream made from milk) and 
salt, plus other things that might cause problems for some folks but is was the 
only brand I could purchase at two stores. Leave it out as this cake and 
frosting will stand on it’s own without it. 

 But back to my icing…I found it to have a lovely consistency at 15 Tbs. but 
after spreading it a bit I felt it could have taken the 1 Tbs. more to make it a 
full cup. This would yield softer spreadablity as it was easier to spread it 
upon itself than the top of the cake…it had a drag and “tear-up” quality about 
it. In thinking this problem through it might be alright to add ½ tsp. Pompeian 
Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil www.naooa.org as I happen to have some.
So if you’re feeling a bit daring …I would try to make this icing from scratch 
again this way: 

 

Carol’s TOFU FROSTING-
Mix 2oz. Silken Tofu (butter replacement) with 1oz. Creamed cheese Alternative 
(dairy replacement) to the ½ Box or ½ pound 10X Confectioners Sugar plus ½ tsp. 
Olive Oil and see what happens!  

 I used fluted edged pans and always wanted to allow my added blueberries to 
show…never intending to spread this icing on the sides of this pretty cake…so a 
thinner glaze would have worked just as well for me. I struggled for the sake of 
photographic beauty!  

 Not much of a struggle really as we all felt this cake was a success last 
evening as we enjoyed a thick and gooey slice with a hot cup of tea as per 
custom in our home at 11:00 p.m. 

We’d just enjoyed the last showing of “Despicable Me” at the Island Cinemas 
after the afternoon of food photography and experimentation…so we went to bed 
soon after leaving my cake covered and sitting on the counter.  

 This morning revealed some Slippin’ and Slidin’ of my pretty blueberries and 
frosting from the cake’s edge.
Now I must remember and remind myself in spite of the lovely creamy texture and 
flavor… this icing is made from Soy Beans! 
Tofu is as tofu does and it says on my packages of Soya Kaas Natural Cream 
Cheese Alternative www.panosbrand.com and NaSoya Silken Tofu stating “Keep Refrigerated”. So you might want to store this 
cake in the refrigerator if there are any leftovers from your first servings.  

 This IS a delicious cake and the Namaste’ Vanilla Cake mix that I began with is 
a terrific product for future experiments in fine eating. Leslie, our Celiac 
Spru suffering friend, trusts their products and that’s good enough for me to 
try and make good things happen. 

Try it yourself and enjoy the good company and companionship that comes when 
EVERYONE can enjoy this Luscious Lemon Cake with or without the berries and the 
Lemon Curd. 

Here’s to better baking!  

Carol 

Leslie’s Lemon Cake with Blueberries

The Challenger #2  

Namaste’ Foods Vanilla Cake Mix 

3 Eggs 

½ Cup Light Virgin Olive Oil 

¼ Cup Lemon Juice 

¾ Cup Water 

Add all to cake mix and blend well 

Add:
Optional: 1 ½ Cup Fresh Blueberries* dusted with
1 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill Arrowroot Flour** 

Bake in two round 9” layer cake pans about 25-30 minutes.
 

*Black or Red Raspberries if preferred 

** 1Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour 

Frosting:
Lemon Curd with Fresh Blueberry garnish  

August 12, 2010

 Well…this WAS my plan, all things lovely with this challenge at the end of 
my experiment when my tasters returned home from their errands. Sorry to say, 
but my icing has been a BLOW-OUT!

 Oh yes, my 8 ozs. of Organic Silken NASOYA Brand Tofu and my 4 ozs. of SoyaKaas Natural Creamed cheese alternative, being lactose free, with no cholesterol and no hydrogenated oils gave me a base for the 1 lb. box of 10x Confectioners sugar that my LOVELY LEMON ICING required…but my concoction thinned down SO much that with the addition of 3tsps. Winn Dixie brand lemon extract and 1 tsp. of 
Gold Medal Brand Imitation Vanilla extract from www.cfsauer.com plus 4 DROPS of 
Imitation Butter Flavor from Maid of Scandinavia Company, Minneapolis, Minn. 
that is so old there is no Web address listed beside the “CAUTION: Use only 
Drops” label; all in a successful attempt to give that marvelous creamy 
vanilla/lemon taste that I was hoping for to frost and garnish my cake!
I have a GALLON of the stuff…not really but I did end up with just over 2 
POUNDS (!) of the most delicious lemon flavored fruit dunk imaginable.  

So DUNKABLE that it is too thin to spread as a glaze…so off to my Winn 
Dixie I ran for their marvelous FREE coffee and 10x sugar. 

The coffee was the easy part of this equation as my busily stocking 
shelf-stocker ran off to tell me that although the isles were stuffed to maximum 
this morning there was NO confectioners’ sugar to finish my icing! 

No Icing, No Lemon Curd, No Fresh Blueberry garnish until I complete this 
task…therefore NO tasting report either.
I’ll get back to this later…
Carol

Understanding the magnitude of things…

As some of you know, my dear friend Leslie is the catalyst for our experiment in convertible cooking. So we converse often about her issues, desires and the results of eating the wrong thing.

Now, I have not been diagnosed with any disease that I am aware, and I am just trying to pay attention to what my body is telling me. Like “that hurts” and “don’t do that”, with obvious discomfort and non-verbal communications. But fortunately for me I have not had to survive and endure the hell that my friend has over the last decade.

We spoke yesterday about “trying new things”. Well, for most people it’s not a big deal, we are encouraged as children to do this, as it will expand our experience and help us gain understanding about cultures and even ourselves. But when it is dangerous to your person, insofar as complete incapacitation, to the point of being confined to a wheelchair and possible brain damage, it gives a lesson in perspective.

Food has been a major “event” in my life, for lack of a better term. It has ruled, dominated, and engulfed me and my family. You are “IN” if you are invited to eat with us. If you have dietary issues or don’t like something we have prepared for you we take great offence, and it is discussed long after you have left. If you have the opportunity to stay you will get regaled by “don’t be so picky” and “how do you know you don’t like it if you’ve never tried it?” But our naiveté is not meant to cause harm; it is all in jest and good fun, even to let you know you’re loved.

But what harm are we causing? My Mom was told what to give me by the supposed “experts” to stop my colic (as she has wrote about in her "Reasons") and we wonder now what damage that doctor caused to my body, that I’ve been dealing with for over 42 years.

Leslie has scar tissue, she doesn’t know about the brain damage, but the FEAR that she deals with everyday about what is in and around her body that could cause real harm to her, I can’t image. Imagine looking at some beautiful, succulent and "harmless" little fruit like a blueberry and wonder “will this kill me?”

My fear is only of a stomach ache and maybe a headache, hers is blackouts and seizures. Questions like “Who will take care of me if something happens? “are in her head daily, and she knows she can’t count on her family. The good intentions they have could kill her, it’s that simple.

So we talked yesterday about baking mixes and new Gluten Free brands that we have found, and she tells me she’s not willing to try them, my reaction is programmed, but then I remember who I’m talking to. She has every right to say “no”, we are trying to help not cause harm.

We know we can’t cook for people in our kitchen right now because we are “contaminated” the favorite pans are dangerous to some, so we have to eat and share with lay people who don’t know about Celiac Spru, or Gluten sensitivities…we ask how it tastes, and would you ever know it doesn’t have; what they know, as”flour” in it. Take our kudos and go on our merry way…and tell you all about it.

My friend gives me perspective every day about how lucky I am, to be as healthy as I am, and that I can help some live that much better, and enjoy a difficult existence just a little more. For that I am grateful.

Noelle