Exploring Our Talents

"O human race, born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou so fall?" ~Dante Alighieri (The Divine Comedy)

"Robert Louis Stevenson said, "To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming is the only end of life" The gospel calls to us to stretch ourselves, to embrace our talents, to concentrate on our strengths, to be productive, to be creative, to reach our full potential, which few of us ever do. We seem to get discouraged by such trivial things and fail to see the great things we are capable of doing." ~Marjorie Pay Hinckley


This past week has been really gloomy. The weather really has been lousy . . . lousy . . . lousy. . . . Wind and rain and more wind and rain . . . I am so tired of wind and rain. March, which came in like a lion, is bucking tradition and also going out like a lion, or so it seems . . .

I did a bit of baking yesterday and then as Todd was watching war movies on the television I was a bit at loose ends as to what to do. I know I could have done some housework, but I didn't really feel like doing any of that. (who ever does!!) I was feeling rather creative but my sewing machine just wasn't calling to me. Neither was my pen. I felt inspired to pick up my paints after not having done so for several months. I believe the last thing I painted was a recipe box that I had made for a friend way over in America in a craft exchange of sorts sometime last year. I used to paint all the time and, in fact, once upon a time I taught tole painting lessons to people with a desire to learn. I used to paint on anything I could get my hands on . . . old tin cans, cookie tins, wooden lathes, old boards . . . even rocks!

I have always loved drawing and colouring and painting. I guess I am just a creative person at heart, and art is one of the ways I have always used to express myself, as well as cooking of course! (Not to mention writing!!) My family have been telling me for years that I needed to do my own illustrations for the little stories I write from time to time. Just silly little things, with children in mind . . .

I have always shyed away from doing that though, never quite feeling that my drawings would be good enough. I suppose I am like that with most of my work. None of it ever seems good enough to me when it is done . . . even the cooking. I am my own worse critic, finding fault easily and probably where there is none.

I think one of the problems I have is that I always try to turn everything into a great masterpiece, instead of just letting my creative juices flow naturally. I feel that everything I do has to be a Da Vinci or a Rembrandt, instead of recognizing that I am a Marie, and that what I do, quite simply has to have me stamped on it and nobody else . . . for what is a pale imitation of someone else's work, but exactly that . . . a pale imitation.

God gave us talents and abilities that are each our own, and uniquely ours. It's up to us to explore them, develop them and to use them as we are inspired. We must write our own stories, and sing our own songs . . . write our own verse and paint our own pictures. It's all beautiful in the eyes of the Master and He, really, is the only one we have to please deep down, for His opinion is truly the only one that counts or matters.

So, with that in mind, I sat down yesterday with a blank piece of water colour paper and my box of paints and I began to create. This is what I came up with. I call it simply:

"When in Doubt, Eat Cake"



Of course there had to be some sort of food theme surrounding it. I love how the cat is sitting there patiently at her feet, waiting to capture the crumbs that are already falling from the cake. I think she looks quite happy actually!

After I scanned it, I then played around with it a bit on paint shop pro and I added some flowers to the background and a signature on the bottom:




I'm not sure which one I like the best. What do you think? I think the flowers give it a sunny feel, and with this awful weather, we certainly could use a bit of sunshine!

Now that my creative juices are flowing again, I think I will pick up my paint brush a bit more often, and maybe do some pictures for those stories I have already done . . . not to mention the ones that are waiting in my head to spill out and amuse people with.

My only problem is time . . . now that . . . there is never enough of to go around . . .

When I was a girl, I always loved it when my mother made pancakes. She never made them for breakfast though, only ever for supper, and it was only ever once a year . . . on pancake day.

We could never get enough of them and thinking back on it now, I feel rather sorry for her, as she must have had to stand at that stove for hours to satisfy our rather voracious "pancake" appetites! Now that I'm all grown up (and NO, that is not open to debate!) I can make them anytime I want to, and more often than not, I choose this lovely recipe for buttermilk pancakes . . . we love to have them with tinned sliced peaches and maple syrup. This was often a weekend treat for my own children when they were growing up, and always, always when they had a friend to stay over . . . it was like a tradition . . . a very tasty and fluffy tradition!



*Buttermilk Pancakes*
Makes about 9 six inch pancakes

Nothing says loving more than a stack of these delicious babies with a pat of butter melting on the top and golden maple syrup gilding the edges and dripping down the sides . . .

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBS caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
3 cups buttermilk
4 TBS unsalted butter, melted
more butter to grease the pan

Measure the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Whisk it all together with a whisk until mixed and well incorporated. In a seperate measure, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and the melted butter. Stir this into the dry mixture all at once and mix together lightly, but not until smooth. It's ok and actually preferable to have just a few lumps in it. Overmixing will create rubbery pancakes!

Heat the oven to low (about 90*C/175*F). Put a heatproof plate inside to hold your pancakes and keep them warm while you are cooking them.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Once it is hot, brush it with a bit of butter. Scoop pancake batter in half cup measures onto the hot pan, allowing about 2 inches of space between each one. You should be able to get at least two of three in the pan, allowing for the size of your pan of course! Cook for several minutes, or until the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges. Carefully flip them over and cook until lightly browned on the other side, about one minute longer. Remove to the heated plate in the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. Repeat until all the batter has been used up.

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup and for a real taste treat . . . a chilled can of sliced peaches!