Red Bush tea. Have you ever tried it? Do you know what it is? Knowing I’m a big fan of tea, a friend recently asked me if I know what it is. Yes, I know. I’ve been drinking it since about 2004.
I learned about it when I was reading the first five books of Alexander McCall Smith’s series about Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. The series takes place in Botswana (in southern Africa). It’s interesting that a man should write about a “traditionally built”, black, African woman. Mr. McCall Smith knows whereof he speaks. He was born in Africa, in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) and was educated there and in Scotland. He has written a delightful series of detective books featuring characters of high moral standards solving mysteries that don’t involve vile, depraved, or psychotic criminals. You can enjoy these books yourself and you can enjoy reading them to your pre-teen children or grandchildren.
Yesterday I made a Salmon Pasta Salad. It was very good, refreshing and cool. It’s the same basic recipe I use to make my Chicken Salad with the addition of bow tie pasta. You can substitute precooked tuna, shrimp or chicken for the salmon. You can also add chopped, hard cooked eggs. You can use different shapes of pasta. Whatever suits your fancy. 
It’s not quite summer yet and I’m already tapped-out when I try to think about meals to make that won’t heat up the kitchen and cause the air conditioning to work overtime. I made a quiche last week having the oven on for only 1-1/2 hours and it took hours to cool the main living area back to a normal, livable temperature. Even though we heat the leftovers in the microwave, it wasn’t worth the hours of having the air conditioning running constantly. 
Every grocery store I’ve shopped in lately has reusable grocery bags for sale. It’s good to be environmentally concerned. It makes good sense. And it is probably about time. I worked in Germany over 30 years ago. People shopped taking their own reusable bags with them as they bought fresh food supplies daily. When you paid for your groceries there was no generous supply of disposable grocery bags at the end of the checkout counter. If you didn’t have your own shopping bag you either bought one or carried your groceries out without a bag. It was that simple. More American stores are heading in that direction. I saw a TV program recently where all Chicago area residents were being encouraged to use reusable bags for all their shopping needs.
When I was growing up creamed eggs on toast was one of my favorite luncheon foods. My mother said she doesn’t remember ever making it for us so it was likely my Aunt Sig who made it because though she lived over 200 miles away in Minneapolis, we spent a lot of time with her, my Uncle Chet, and Cousin Jerry. Now days, when we are watching our food budgets carefully, this is also a very economical meal to make. The calorie count is in our favor, too. A serving of this comfort food is only 458 calories. 
I’ve been trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables so I’ve concocted a low calorie, satisfying, and filling luncheon fruit parfait that I’ve been eating for lunch recently. 
Some years ago I wrote, illustrated, and self-published an educational coloring book for children. It was titled Iron Mining Fun Book for Children featuring Orville Ore (the link to download the file is at the bottom of this post) — it answers the question, how is iron ore mined? At the time, I was working in the iron mining industry of Minnesota, specifically, I had been hired as the first female management employee of a Minnesota iron ore producer at a time when the federal government was leaning on companies to hire women into management positions. 
Did your eyes just glaze over at the idea of making a book? Don’t let it scare you off. Making a book is a lot easier than you think, especially a cookbook since you will be gathering, assembling, and typing information rather than doing a lot of creative writing! And, you don’t need to hire a professional cookbook publishing company to get the job done. You can do it yourself and I’m going to tell you how to do it step-by-step. 
Are you still wondering what to give to a special elderly person on your Christmas list? When my 90 plus-year-old Aunt Sophie was still alive and living in an assisted living apartment complex, my mother and I would puzzle about what to give her for Christmas. She certainly didn’t need more things like nicknacks or decorative dishes or linens or hand towels. She had pared down her possessions and given away many of her things before she moved into the assisted living apartment.