O maior conquistador não é aquele que conquista grandes coisas, mas sim o que conquista as pequenas e as torna grandes!
terça-feira, 13 de abril de 2021
A LOVE STORY
He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys
chasing after her, while he was average looking, shy and awkward.
At the end of the party, he finally summoned
some courage to invite the girl to have coffee with him. She was
surprised, but out of politeness, she accepted his invitation to go on a date.
They both sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she
felt uncomfortable, waiting for coffee. With him being so shy and awkward
around her, It seemed like the conversation between them would never start.
The coffee was brought and suddenly, he asked the waiter.
“Would you please get me some salt? I’d like to put it in my coffee!” Everyone
at the café stared at him with a strange look! His face turned red, but still,
he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, “Why
this unusual habit?” He took a couple of sips and replied, “When I was a little
boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste
of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the
salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my
hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there.” While saying
that tears filled his eyes.
She was deeply touched. That’s his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart.
A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares
about home, has realized his responsibility for his family … She then started
talking about her childhood, her faraway hometown, and her family.
That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of
their love story. They continued to date. She found that actually, he was a man
who meets all her demands; he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful.
He was such a good man and had it not been for the salt in the coffee, she’d
never have really known him!
The rest of the story was just like any other beautiful
love story: they finally got married, and they lived a very happy married life.
And sure! every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee,
just the way he liked it! After 40 years of marital bliss, he died after a
short illness.
One day, she found a letter he had left for her which said,
“My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life’s lie. This was the only
lie I said to you—the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so
nervous at that time, actually, I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was
hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the
start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my
life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for
anything… Now I’m dying, so I tell you the truth, I don’t like the salty
coffee, what a strange bad taste… But I have had the salty coffee for my whole
life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having
you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the
second time, still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though
I have to drink the salty coffee again.
Please forgive me, darling.. for lying to you first in that
Coffee Shop and then not telling you the truth every time you made coffee for
me! I am not lying now when I say, I couldn’t have that coffee any other way! –
still madly in love with you”
Tears fell down her cheek as she finished reading the letter.
If anybody asks her: “How did that salted coffee taste?” “It’s sweet.” She always replied.
alltimeshortstories.com
Words of wisdom - “Love the people who love you back.”― Laura Ruby
segunda-feira, 12 de abril de 2021
The Best Hummingbird Cake
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. *Place bananas on a cookie sheet with peels left on. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until the skins are black (the bananas may leak which is fine). Remove and let cool until they can be handled. Peel bananas, place in a small mixing bowl and mash. Set aside. Leave the oven heated to 180 degrees.
3. Butter and flour 3-9 inch round baking pans. Trace the bottom of the pan (for all three pans) onto parchment paper, cut out circle and place in the bottom of each pan.
4. In a sifter over a large mixing bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Sift into the bowl. Set aside.
5. In a second large mixing bowl combine the granulated and brown sugar; stir to combine. Add the eggs and stir briskly by hand to combine all ingredients into a smooth mixture.
6. Whisk the oil and vanilla into the sugar/egg mixture until combined and smooth.
7. Add the flour mixture all at once and hand stir (do not beat) to combine the mixture fully.
8. To crush the pineapple: Place 1 cup of finely diced fresh pineapple in a medium mixing bowl and using a potato masher, crush the pineapple. Add the fruit and juice to the batter. Also add the mashed banana and the pecans. Stir just until combined; do not over stir.
9. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans. Tap the pans on the countertop to release any air bubbles and place in the 180 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until cake bounces back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool in pans on racks for 5 minutes then turn out onto cooling racks to fully cool before frosting. Be sure to peel off and discard the parchment paper.
Instructions for Cream Cheese Frosting:
11. Cut chilled butter into 2cm pieces and place in the bowl of a standing mixer (can use a hand held mixer if needed). Beat on low speed, gradually increasing speed to medium until the butter is still cool but has softened together (about 3 minutes).
12. Cut the cream cheese into 2cm strips and add to the butter. Mix at medium speed until fully combined, and smooth.
13. Add the vanilla and slowly add the sifted powdered sugar. Beat until well blended, increasing speed to beat on medium-high for 3 minutes or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy.
14. Fold in pecans by hand.
Instructions for Cake Assembly:
15. Place the first layer of cake upside down (the bottom of the cake will be frosted) on the serving plate. Cover with 2/3 cup of frosting. This will be a thin covering.
16. Place the second layer of cake right side up (flat cake bottom onto the frosting) and frost the top of this layer with 2/3 cup again (note: I found I needed just a bit more to cover this layer).
17. Place the last cake layer with cake right side up and use the remaining frosting to cover top of cake and the sides.
18. 4. Allow cake to stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving and store any uneaten cake in the refrigerator. Cake best when made the day prior to serving!
domingo, 11 de abril de 2021
Here's a dozen of my favorite things never to apologize for:
1) Never apologize for acting on your instincts.
2) Never apologize for being passionate.
3) Never apologize for being smart.
4) Never apologize for demanding respect.
5) Never apologize for saying no.
6) Never apologize for not embracing someone else's agenda.
7) Never apologize for disagreeing.
8) Never apologize for your faith.
9) Never apologize for your own sense of creativity.
10) Never apologize for ordering dessert.
11) Never apologize for being funny.
12) Never apologize for living your truth.
Every one of us casts a shadow.
There hangs about us, a sort of a strange, indefinable something, which we call personal influence--that has its effect on every other life on which it falls. It goes with us wherever we go. It is not something we can have when we want to have it--and then lay aside when we will, as we lay aside a garment. It is something that always pours out from our lives . . . as light from a lamp, as heat from flame, as perfume from a flower.
The ministry of personal influence is something very wonderful. Without being conscious of it, we are always impressing others by this strange power that exudes from us. Others watch us--and their thinking and actions are modified by our influence."
"Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity." Ephesians 5:15-16
~J. R. Miller, "The Shadows We Cast"