Friday 4 July 2008

The Price of Tittle Tattle . . .



I once read a story about a woman who came to her vicar with a very troubled conscience. This woman was well known in the village for having been a habitual gossip - nobody was safe from her tongue for she had maligned just about everyone at one time or another.

Having had her conscience pricked she asked the Vicar, "How can I possibly make amends?"

The Vicar answered, "If you want to make peace with your conscience, take a bag of goose feathers and drop one on the porch of every person you have slandered."

She got an old pillow and took out all the feathers and did just that. When she was finished she came back to the Vicar and asked, "Is that all?"

"No," was his reply, "You must now go and gather up every feather and bring them back to me."

It took most of the day, but the woman finally returned . . . without a single feather. "The wind has blown them all away." she said with a downcast face.

"My dear woman," said the vicar, "So it is with gossip. Unkind words are very easily spoken, but . . . we can never take them back again."



I try hard not to gossip. It's not always easy, especially when you are with someone who gets a real delight out of speaking of others behind their back. I usually try to change the subject. My mother always said that, when you are with someone who gets great enjoyment out of speaking about others and gossiping, then, you can be very sure that, when you are not around, they will also get a great deal of joy out of speaking about you. Your secrets are never safe with a gossip.



"A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealith the matter." ~Proverbs 11:13

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." ~Proverbs 21:23


I just love the scriptures. You can find out just about anything that you need to know or that you need to guide you within their pages . . .

Happy 4th of July to all my American readers! May you have a lovely and safe day with lots of sunshine and loved ones to share it with. Here's a lovely salad that would be perfect to take on that picnic in the park before the fireworks. It's super easy to put together and very, very tasty!



*Summertime Chicken Salad*
Serves 4 to 6

This delicious salad always tastes best with a combination of white and dark meat to me. I sometimes roast a chicken specifically just to make this or if it is really hot and I don't want to heat up the kitchen it's also very handy to pick up a take-out rotisserie chicken at the grocery store! That makes it really very easy!

4 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken
3 ribs celery, chopped into 1/4 inch dice
1 1/4 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half crosswise
1 1/4 cups seedless red grapes, cut in half crosswise
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup whole fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
heaping 1/2 cup of good quality mayonnaise (I usually use French Benedictin, but Hellman's is also very good)
heaping 1/2 cup of non fat plain yoghurt

Combine the chicken, celery, tomatoes and grapes in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss in the parsley leaves and mix all together well.

Mix the mayonnaise and yoghurt together in a large measuring cup. Add this to the salad, stirring to mix it in and make it moist. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 6 hours before serving.

Remove from the fridge at least half an hour before serving. Delicious!

10 comments:

  1. Happy 4th July Marie,
    What a powerful example to highlight how damaging gossip is. It also often ends up like Chinese whispers as the more often the gossip is re-told, the more inaccurate and damaging it can be. Have a lovely weekend Marie.

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  2. What a great post this morning, Marie. I always listen but NEVER pass it on..that way I cant' do any damage. I have a handbag full of feathers!!

    Love the look of that salad, may try that at the weekend. Every morning when I log on to your web site this song (not sure of the name)starts to play and Jo usually shouts jokingly "stop reading Marie's blog" Yesterday at work...while I was making your risotto recipe for the children, the song came on the radio...it was great...it reminded me of you. I was stood in my kitchen thinking of you stood in yours! So even when we are so far apart I felt your presence yesterday....the power of song is wonderful.

    PS - The children loved their meal, I made it with tomatoes and spinach instead of the jar of peppers and it was fab! Thank you!

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  3. Thank you for thinking of your American readers on this Fourth of July. I love your story about gossip. It's hard to trust or respect someone that spreads bad news about others. My mom always remarks to gossips, "Yes, but we're ALL crazy." It's true! None of us are flawless that's for sure.
    I love your chicken salad recipe-I do the same thing by adding yogurt to the mayo. Much better that way!

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  4. The gossip story remind me of the Buddhist saying that every negative thing that you say or do gets reflected back to you and you are the one damaged by the negative energy.
    That chicken salad sounds just the ticket. I was looking at some thawing chicken this morning but it wasn't giving me any dinner clues.

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  5. We just got back from a fabulous parade! I just love the 4th! We will take a quick rest and then head north to spend the rest of the day with family! Such a perfect day!

    Gossip is such an ugly thing! whether it's the truth or not, it's intent is only to hurt others. Have you read The Four Agreements? It's a powerful book that says our tongue can be sharper than knives, and often less painful to others. It's a fantastic quick read tat I highly recommend!

    Chicken salad looks divine! My assignment for today's BBQ is dessert- so I will have to make this another time-- very soon!

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  6. oh bother...I meant to say that knives are less painful than the tongue, you get the idea! smile

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  7. Hello my blog friend,
    How true are your words about gossip. I hope that we all can remember them. Funny but my mom taught me the very same thing that your mom taught you about gossip spreaders.

    I'm so glad that you wished us Americans a happy 4th. I was afraid that maybe all you in the UK said "bah humbug" to us repels on the 4th of July.

    I do love this holiday. I love my country and I am amazed that our founding fathers had the courage to do what they did.(even though my little granddaughters think that we really miss out not having a Queen and princesses...somehow pretending to be the first lady and her daughters at a tea party just doesn't cut it!)
    We just got back from an inspirational program and flag ceremony at church followed by a great pancake breakfast. Now we are preparing for the rest of the day's festivities. Thanks for the recipe...I am going to make it right now..must run...love ya

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  8. Hello! I love your stories and recipes. The story about the gossip and the goose feathers was so right on the mark...;) THanks for wishing us in America a Happy 4th! YOu have a great day too! Maria

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  9. Happy 4th of July what a great looking chicken salad, yummy!
    I abhor gossip. That was a great story about the feathers. I'm going to remember that so I can retell it someday if needed. My Mother used to say the same thing about people that gossip, that you can be sure they'll gossip about you when your back is turned.

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  10. loved the story marie, my ex mil use to tell people that thought they're kids did no wrong " don't talk about anybody elses ducks til yours are out of the water". she got her point across! that salad is making me drool!! it looks so good!!

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