Baklava

Meeting today online with a group of friends to exchange holiday recipes and tips - I'm bring this delicious favorite to the table, I make it every year - joyce

Baklava

4 cups finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pound phyllo (studel leaves)- come frozen in a box at grocery store
1 cup butter melted
1 (12 oz) jar honey

(follow the handling instruction on the phyllo pkg- cover with wax paper then a damp towel - phyllo is very thin and get brittle when dry) do not get the phyllo wet

Greasse 13 x 9 (I use a cookie sheet) pan 2-3 hours before serving.  Mix together walnuts, sugar and cinnamon; blend well.
Cut phyllo into 13x9  rectangles (I use the sheets the size right out of the box).
Place 1 sheet phyllo on cookie sheet, brush with some butter,  repeat to make 5 layers of phyllo.
Sprinkle with 1 cup of walnut mixture.

Place 1 sheet phyllo over the walnut mixture; brush with butter .
Repeat layers at least 6 time.
Sprinkly 1 cup of walnut mixture.
Repeat  layers 2 times

Place remaining phyllo on tip of the last walnut layer; brush with buttter.
With a sharp knife cut halfway through layer in a triangle pattern, corner to corner about 1 or 2 inch peices.

Bake at 300 for 1 hour and 25 minutes or till golden brown

Heat honey over medium-low heat till hot but not boiling; sopoon over hot Baklava. 
Cool in pan at least 1 hour;
Cover andleave at room temp. untill serving.
To serve, finish cutting through layers with a sharp knife.

Thanksgiving

Thought I would post a picture of our table,  the china was my great grandmothers sisters.  I had to have 2 dinners (one the day before to accommodate my  families other holiday obligations).  Think I will have leftover pumpkin pie for breakfast-joyce

Be Thankful Every Day

Get A Mammogram

Today is the day before Thanksgiving -  I spent the past two days worried about a call yesterday from my docs office saying they found a shadow on my mammogram.  This news put me and dh in somewhat in a panic because I am a 3 year colon cancer survivor (level 3 with chemo) and still in the watch period.  Checking the internet I found that if it comes back in the watch period in a different place it means it has metastasised, and survival statistics were bleak (10% - 2 to 3 years).  Spent that day feeling sorry for myself, dh came home from work, ect.

So yesterday I started looking for a mammogram appointment.  The place that did the first one could not see me again till Dec. 9.  Dh said keep looking, I found one that would do a mammogram and ultrasound that afternoon.  I was there most of the day.  I was very pleased that when it was over the radiologist sat down and talked with us both.  I was so relieved when he said that this is not metastasised cancer. 

What they found is 3 salt grain size dots, that have a 25% chance of being pre-cancerous.  Next Wednesday they will do a fine needle biopsy with results a few days after that.    Either its nothing or I will have a small procedure to removed the 3 dots.  Here is a web link about it.  http://breastcancer.about.com/od/types/p/DCIS.htm


These past two days have put me behind in Thanksgiving preparation, plus we are having company tonight and I have to take my cat to the vets this afternoon.
I'm not complaining, its good to be busy, and this year I am again so thankful.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving All...joyce

***Just a quick update from the above, the biopsy results were normal, (they were just some fibroids)---Pheww...back to my new thankful life..joyce *****