Tip-sharing Tuesday: Creative Treats for Children

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to come visit with us for a while! We appreciate so much the friendships that we have made, all over the world.

This morning, as we were wondering how we were going to function with sleep-deprived and feverish little ones, when we heard Mozart drifting in from the kitchen, and dishes being washed. Dear AnnaMarie, who will be 12 next month, took it upon herself to make breakfast for everyone, including a take-along breakfast and lunch for her father. She set the table with daylilies and silk roses, and had toast cut into triangles, along with oatmeal and strawberries for everyone. What a blessing to have such children, who by little things greatly enrich their mother's life! Thank you, sweet AnnaMarie.

We'd like to share some healthful things we give our children to chew or suck on, in place of candies or other sweets. Believe or not, most children readily enjoy natural sweets, if trained early! Ours love chewing on cinnamon sticks, licorice root sticks, and cardamom and fennel seeds; they also like sucking on whole cloves, but we don't recommend chewing them, as they are a little strong! All these things are good for the teeth, and promote a healthy digestive system. When we remember, we like to give them cloves to suck on before bed, to help strengthen their teeth and gums. Cloves also numb tooth and gum pain, when chewed on and the juice held in the mouth for as long as possible. Having a nice little mint patch outside is a blessing for children, too, as they can "graze" on it whenever they are out playing. Mint is a wonderful general tonic, and aids in relieving tummy aches.

Thank you again, dear friends, for your support and sweet comments.

May your day be a blessed one,

Love,

Marqueta

p.s. Dad writes about the rangy Moose he's known in A Natural History of My Father

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More wisdom from "Mary at the Farm"~

"I never saw any one else have so much poetry in a book of cooking recipes."

"Perhaps not, but you know, Mary, I believe in combining pleasure with my work, and our lives are made up of poetry and prose, and some lives are so very prosy. Many times when too tired to look up a favorite volume of poems, it has rested me to turn the pages of my recipe book and find some helpful thought, and a good housewife will always keep her book of recipes where it may be readily found for reference. . . .I know it appears odd to see so many of my favorite poems sandwiched in between old, valued cooking recipes, but, Mary, the happiness of the home life depends so largely on the food we consume. On the preparation and selection of the food we eat depends our health, and on our health is largely dependent our happiness and prosperity."