Showing posts sorted by date for query easter. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query easter. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, April 20, 2025

Happy Easter 2025

Photo: Getty
Here we are again, celebrating hope, optimism, and human perseverance, along with starting with a clean slate. Let's take a break from any stresses, challenges, or hardships in life to enjoy a festive meal with family and friends.
Photo: iStock
"Morning has broken like the first morning
 
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird 
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning 
Praise for them springing fresh from the world" ~ Cat Stevens 

Let's put our work aside on Easter Sunday and enjoy the company of our besties. Catch up. Break bread. Share a laugh. Whatever floats your boat today, enjoy! A day of leisure, a good meal, and a celebratory spirit await you.

In spring, life begins anew. The next images are posted for their cuteness.

Please excuse the impolite word in the bubble below, and yet it's a common human expression, isn't it? You can't help but laugh at the cleverness. Sometimes humor is rude, and the little baby chick is adorable.

Who are you going to pick out of the lineup?

Monday, April 7, 2025

What I'm Feeding My Senior Mom

Photo: Canadian Digestive Health Foundation

My Mom relies on me to make her food choices, but honestly, I liked it better when she had an appetite and all her faculties, and if she didn't eat, or eat healthily, it was her choice as an adult and not my problem. I should add that younger, she prepared and ate healthy meals. Now it's my job to plan and cook for her.

I support eating a healthy diet, and I also pity her because it's sad to grow old and lose your independence and appetite. She must follow my rules, and I can be an enforcer if necessary.:)

The following are my caregiver rules:

1) She must eat at least 2 meals a day! In her adult life, she never ate lunch, so I have to work with her lifelong habit and pack her nutritional requirements into 2 meals a day. But after I've done so ...

2) She must eat her dinner. Breakfast is never a problem. Too often she claims she's not hungry for dinner, but I tell her she must eat one. She's lucky to have someone in her life who is mean. Me! It is something a nursing home aide cannot do ... tell a senior she must eat food. In a nursing home, the meals roll in and out, eaten or not, often by separate aides.

3) She must eat the amount of protein her body requires daily and a variety of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains, as much as I can get her to eat with her reduced desire for food. I use skim milk and 4 ounces of fruit juice (no sugar added) to help meet her dietary needs. According to the National Library of Medicineolder adults may benefit from consuming 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (or 0.54 to 0.9 grams per pound). This is in line with what other medical sources recommend. Three glasses of skim milk a day help get the job done! Eggs, too, are an easy-to-eat light meal.

3) No overloading on sugar. Everybody should eat a healthy diet, young, old, or in-between. Sugar is a treat, not a staple. In fact, sugar is bad for all of us and addictive. Many of us like sweets, but if a senior has arthritis, sugar causes inflammation, resulting in more painful joints. We cut down on sugar, eating it in moderation only: A row of dark chocolate, 2 cookies here and there, birthday cake, Christmas cookies, one portion of Halloween or Easter candy. So we don't feel deprived. I'm also a believer in the less sugar you consume, the less you crave it. Finally, it's as easy to like healthy food as unhealthy food. Cherries, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and apples are all delicious snacks! Ditto for vegetables and a healthy dip such as spicy humus!!
A fortune in eggs.😳
It's payback time for both my mom and me. Once upon a time, she was the enforcer ensuring I didn't overload on sugar and ate a balanced diet, and now our roles are reversed. The egg has become the head chicken and enforcer. Be careful of the values you instill in your children. Chickens come home to roost!🐣😁


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Thursday, May 9, 2024

Dresses For A Senior Mother

Are you surprised by my choices? For a moment let's think outside the box. 
Today I'll post the dresses I bought for my elderly mom over the span of 2 1/2 years. The top 4 dresses are my latest purchase for her. She requested sleeves. She likes pink when available. Florals are lovely on her too. In the above image, 3 of the dresses are $12 and the pink gauze dress is $17, so steals at Old Navy this week!

Here are the 6 Features I Look for in Selecting Dresses for my Senior Mother:

1) Easy to slip on and off

2) Easy to machine wash and dry

3) Soft fabrics - I like cotton, linen, rayon, or a blend of these cool textiles for spring and summer. A little spandex is fine. She also has a part wool, part rayon knit dress for winter. 

4) She prefers loose clothes, so I usually order her a size large. Although my mother isn't large in weight or stature, the large size often fits her upper body better, the reason is a mystery to me.

5) Dress lengths that won't trip her  - At Old Navy, I must judge whether to order her dresses in petite or regular. She is petite in pants, yet ON dress styles aren't consistent in sizing. The 4 dresses at the top of the blog are called mini swing dresses, therefore I ordered her the dresses in regular as opposed to petite sizes, with the anticipation they'll fit her slightly above her knees -- not as the minis shown in the photos. If I'm wrong ON offers free returns or exchanges.

6) Cuteness - My mother is a chic dresser. Her style has become more casual as she's gotten physically less flexible and moves with less ease. I do my best to meld pizzazz with easy-to-wear and carefree fashion.

Frequently clothes made expressly for seniors look dowdy and old-fashioned or like bedclothes. Their greater cost is also puzzling. 

There's absolutely no reason for an elderly woman (1) to look frumpy, (2) to adorn ill-fitted clothes (3) to sport clothes resembling pajamas and slippers, or (4) to pay significantly more moola for them than younger women.

Crinkle Gauze Mini Swing Dresses - Also in hot pink, amber, black, and light blue.

Just like my clothes, my mother's dresses can be dressed up or down, and for the price of one dress at a senior apparel shop, at Old Navy, we brought an entire wardrobe of more attractive everyday dresses to wear over all 4 seasons!


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Sunday, March 31, 2024

Happy Easter Sunday 2024

Noli me tangere by Simone Cantarini (1612 - 1648), an Italian painter who was born in Pesaro, the then Papal States 

Scholars of theology think Mary Magdalene was an influential figure in the early Christian Church. According to all 4 Gospels, she was one of the women who traveled with Jesus and supported his ministry from the beginning to the end. The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John mention her by name 12 times, more than any other woman fellower, as well as, more than most of the apostles. Mary Magdalene was never a prostitute. Blame Pope Gregory IX for a sermon he gave in the 13th century for this wrong perception. According to the Gospels, she witnessed the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and was the first person Jesus appeared to after rising from the dead. Some theologians think she was a leader of the early church. She is declared a saint in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran Churches. In 2016 Pope Francis elevated her status higher calling her the "Apostle of the Apostles." Theologians postulate the reason Mary Magdalene was the 1st person the risen Christ appeared to was due to how highly he regarded her. Some of the unauthorized (called non-canon gospels, the gospels of Thomas and Philip) portray Jesus and Mary as romantically close, which so far is impossible to confirm, but surely will continue to be the source of endless speculation. Easter, the most important date on the Christian calendar, celebrates hope, optimism, and human perseverance.
Enjoy the day and eat the chocolate.


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Sunday, April 9, 2023

Happy Easter 2023

Photo: The altar of Westminister Abbey, London England 

Once again we celebrate hope, optimism, and human perseverance. 


A belief that ultimate good can overcome challenges, evil, and the limitations of life. Existence is layered and multifaceted. There will be trails, and yet everything has an opposite. Up - down, hot - cold, bad - good, despair - hope. Death - eternal life? It's a leap of faith.

We also celebrate all the goodness life has to offer both in nature and manmade ... from flowers (nature) and colored eggs (art!) to human kindness (generosity of spirit).

Photo: David Attenborough's Facebook post.

Every year there's a new cycle of life. Welcome to the world little lamb. My lovely Readers make the most of your time here on earth!

🐣🐇🌷

A flashback photo of my mom and me on Easter Sunday. Dad was taking the picture. Unlike Christmas or Thanksgiving, it was the one holiday we sometimes treated ourselves to eating out and after our dinner hobnobbing around town.


Happy Easter from THE SAVVY SHOPPER!🐥



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Saturday, December 24, 2022

Peace, Love & Joy!

The Adoration of the Shepherds, c.1650, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain - Images 1 and 2 by Bartolome Esteban Murillo
Some people get upset if the historical accuracy of Jesus' birth is questioned, but when the Gospels were written, the people they were written for had a different sensibility and way of reading texts than we do today. Gospel writers crafted their stories to make points about who they thought Jesus was [to paraphrase Matt Baker, Ph.D. in theology]. Modern scholars tell us that fact-for-fact-accuracy or historical record was secondary, which was accepted by the audience, who didn't expect factual reliability. This can rattle some contemporary believers who do.

Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1618 - 1682) was a Baroque Spanish painter. Orphaned at 11 years old, the artist became a ward of his older sister and brother-in-law, in a close-net family, and lived with them until he married in 1647. The painter, famous for his religious work, also painted everyday life giving us an insight into the 17th century. He was the father of 10 children. 

The Holy Family, c.1660-70, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Murillo created warm images of Mary and Joseph playing with their happy baby, the man Catholics proclaim as fully human and fully Devine (a hypostatic union in the incarnation). The painter left us with depictions of the Holy Family as a close-net loving unit. St. Joseph is an appealing devoted father.😍

Here's a Victorian drawing of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and 5 of their 9 children surrounding their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle where the royal family celebrated Christmas. Prince Albert was also known to be a loving, involved father, adored by his children. The Prince Consort popularized Christmas trees in Great Britain, a tradition he brought from his native Germany. Unlike Prince Albert, Queen Victoria was not a natural parent, but she was a mother who loved her children and they loved her. She put a ton of time into raising them, and they grew into 9 decent adults. Let's look at one of the royal couple's homes ...

The 2022 Christmas trees are up at Osborne on the Isle of Wight which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought as a private home in 1845 to get away with their brood from court life. Queen Victoria used Osborne House for 50 years to entertain family, foreign royals (many were also family), as well as, government ministers. After Prince Albert's early death in 1861, it became her favorite home. Her son, King Edward VII, wasn't as fond of it (as it was far from London) and after his mother's death, donated the Osborne estate to the British people. It is open to the public for tours, giving us a glimpse into the private lives of Queen Victoria and her family.

Another longtime Christmas tradition is (of course!) baking cookies. My family bakes the same cookies every year and I posted some of the recipes previously. Pictured above you see (in order): Pecan cookies👇, Russian Tea Cakes, Coconut Macrarooms, and Scottish Short Bread. Other varieties of cookies are scattered throughout THE SAVVY SHOPPER. My mother always requests that I make Mini Pecan Tassies and she always makes butter cookies at Christmas and Easter. Golly, decorating cookies after pulling them from the oven is not my thing! Starting over is a hassle!! Eating is my next step (which now you know is the reason I bake Scottish Short Bread instead of butter/sugar cookies.:) 

(Here is our recipe for) Pecan Cookies 🐫

Ingredients:

20 ounces ground pecans
4 large egg yolks
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (you decide how sweet)
a sprinkle of cinnamon

Optional: A little flour for your hands to help form the cookies.

Directions:

1) Using a fork mix the ingredients in a bowl.

2) Dip your hands in all-purpose flour to help form the cookies and drop in a parchment paper lined, or greased cookie sheet. If your cookie dough is too wet to handle, just add additional ground nuts (a tad more sugar for the addition) until you can handle the cookie dough.

3) Bake for 10 - 12 minutes in a preheated 350-degree F oven and remove to cool.

We always make pecan cookies and coconut macaroons at the same time since the former requires egg yolks while the latter, egg whites.

Photo: Macy's
My Dear Readers ... thank you for spending another year with me, and I welcome you who joined us recently. Here we're one global human family sharing our collective knowledge, humor, interests, tips, and holidays with acceptance of all cultures. I can't do it alone, so bring your uniqueness! Everybody is valued on THE SAVVY SHOPPER, and I love hearing from you!🌍🌎🌏 

Sunday, April 17, 2022

Happy Easter People!

Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio

Leave it to one of my favorite Baroque painters, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 - 1610) to depict a resurrected, incognito, very human Jesus eating a meal in the town of Emmaus with his clueless disciples who fail to recognize him ... until they do. Then Christ vanishes. (Khan Academy analysis here of the painting).

Once again we celebrate hope, optimism, and human perseverance in a flawed, limited, and sometimes challenging world. But, spring is here -- days are getting longer and warmer, and life is good.✝️🐣
Happy Easter! 



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