TO TWIST OR TO SUIT FACTS

Ideological extremists and their followers ignore this quote: “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” - Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia

Ideology, when seen through unbiased lenses, is truth. Ideology, when looked upon with the idea that religions (any religion, or all religions) in whole and/or in part, are good, or bad, and/or states of rule – in whole and/or in part, are seen as good or bad (black and white) taint the truth. There are good, bad and neutral in both religious and political ideologies alike. (Yes, religion IS an ideology, where spirituality is not. Most religions force the practitioner into believing there is no distinction betwixt religion and spirituality, when there is a huge distinction). Ideology is about control, fear and/or segregation (us, vs. them), whereas spirituality is about freedom, inclusion and peace.

I include Atheistic beliefs in the religious ideologies category as well. For extreme Atheistic thoughts and their counterparts (for the most part), twist facts to suit their respective thoughts, theories, and/or beliefs. Extremist thinking tends to ignore, pass over or twist evidence to suit their own needs, ignoring vital information, counter to their desires. Pacifist followers of extremist minded people do the same, but at least they do not force others into believing or thinking as they. That is why extremist thinking is so dangerous.

Furthermore and lastly, every single person deserves the same level of approval for being human alone. A person shan't be completely disapproved of, where various individual (traits if you will), thoughts, beliefs and/or actions, may be deserving of disrespect. A belief is in no way the whole person, merely a tiny aspect of that person. To wrap an entire person as being a specific thing, and disregarding the rest, is a part of ideological thinking. An individual is more – far more than any one person can pinpoint! Every single person has aspects to admire, as well as aspects to loath, and yet other aspects to be indifferent of.

Marty R. Woodcock

I welcome your thoughts on this - if you have any.

Butter Beer Recipes

A non-alcoholic recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

·                     1/4 cup butter

·                     1/2 cup packed brown sugar

·                     1/2 cup half and half cream

·                     1/8 tsp. salt

·                     1 tsp. real vanilla

·                     Real Vanilla ice cream

·                     Ginger Ale or Cream Soda

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare Sauce

1.        Combine butter, brown sugar, half-and-half cream and salt in a small saucepan and simmer gently for five minutes. Stir in vanilla and let cool.

2.        Mix Ice Cream Version of Butterbeer

3.        Place a scoop of ice cream in a tall glass, drizzle with a tablespoon of the sauce and add ginger ale to fill the glass.

4.        Mix Non-Ice Cream Version of Butterbeer

5.        Place a tablespoon of butterscotch in a glass, top off with ginger ale to fill.

6.        Our Thoughts On Butterbeer Recipe #1

7.        Butterbeer Recipe #1 is the first butterbeer recipe that we tried.

As you can see from the photo, the recipe worked perfectly. The drink was most definitely a very rich and frothy butterbeer.

However, we were not keen on the flavour combination of butterscotch and ginger ale so we will keep trying to find the perfect butterbeer recipe for us. You could substitute club soda, I suppose, but we are not crazy about that either.

If you do try this recipe, make sure to report back about what you think of the drink.

On a side note, this recipe did make the best-ever butterscotch sauce!

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 Ingredients:

·         1 cup (8 oz.) club soda or cream soda

·         1/2 cup (4 oz.) butterscotch syrup (ice cream topping)

·         1/2 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1.    Step 1: Measure butterscotch and butter into a 2-cup (16 oz.) glass. Microwave on high for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, or until syrup is bubbly and butter is completely incorporated.

2.    Step 2: Stir and cool for 30 seconds, then slowly mix in club soda. Mixture will fizz quite a bit.

3.    Step 3: Serve in two coffee mugs or small glasses; a perfectly warm Hogwarts treat for two!

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Start to finish 1 hour (10 minutes active)

Servings: four

1-cup light or dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

6-tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

3/4 cup heavy cream, divided

1/2 teaspoon rum extract

Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda

In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.

Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.

To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, and then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

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Mix:

¾-cup brown sugar

2 tbs. water

                Bring to slight boil on medium/high while stirring

Stop stirring and heat until 250°F

Meanwhile: mix:

5 tbs. softened butter

1 tbs. lemon juice

½ tsp. salt

1 tbs. pure vanilla extract

Combine everything until it is all mixed in. Add ¼-cup heavy cream and mix thoroughly.

Pour 2 tbs. syrup into bottom of glass mug, top with seltzer water and mix.

Option:

Add 1 oz. Bourbon, or your favourite Whisky or Scotch.

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The Irish grandmother of a dear friend of mine used to melt butter in a pot, then pour in beer to warm it. I'm told this simple version of butter beer dates back centuries. Author J. K. Rowling does not provide a recipe for butterbeer in her wildly popular Harry Potter book series, so this version is pure speculation. Harry Potter's butterbeer contains a mild intoxicant, but this dessert version is suitable for children and tasty enough to please adults as well.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

·         1 pint real vanilla ice cream (use a brand that includes vanilla seed specks for best flavor or make your own)

·         1/4 cup real butter, at room temperature

·         1/2 teaspoon butterscotch extract

·         1/4 cup brown sugar

·         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

·         1 quart apple cider

·         Apple slices for garnish, optional

Preparation:

On medium speed, beat together vanilla ice cream, butter, butterscotch extract, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well-combined. Pour into a container and re-freeze.

When ready to serve, gently heat apple cider in a saucepan until steaming hot.

Place 1 scoop of ice cream in a thick soda glass or large mug. Top with steaming apple cider. Garnish with apple slices, if desired.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

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Try them all, and tell me which one you like best, and/or share your own Butterbeer Recipes

}i{ The Butterfly Girl }i{ Saving The Monarch Butterfly

The Butterfly Girl -- Saving the Monarch Butterfly: The Butterfly Girl (aka Aislyn Woodcock -- my eldest 8-year-old daughter) adores and is passionate about the Monarch Butterfly. So much so, she did two presentations on the topic: one at Brownies, for her "Tell It" Badge in front of her entire troupe and the other at her grade 3/4 split class at school. Aislyn did most of the research, by reading books about butterflies, focusing on the Monarch Butterfly. She also surfed the internet, but found reading books was a lot easier and more enjoyable. Her teacher, M. Boutilier recorded her school presentation with his iPhone. The audio was not that great, so I edited it, to what it is now, but I still recommend you listen to it with earphones/buds though, as it still isn't that great. I want to brag a bit: Not many adults, never mind 8-year-old children, have the courage to do this. What is even more amazing is she wants to start a club here in Regina, educating people about the Monarch Butterfly. Another piece of bragging I want to do is she went into Brownies this year, for the first time. (She was in dance previously). Though this is her first year, she has two badge sashes of Brownie Badges. By the end of Brownies this year, she will have earned all the regular badges in her Brownie book, plus a special interest badge. Because of her age, she is going into guides in the fall. She already has plans to earn each Girl Guide badge she possibly can earn. She wants to continue all the way through the Guiding program and beyond. Though she is only eight, (for now anyway), she has decided she wants to become a lepidopterologist, focusing on butterflies, specializing on the Monarch Butterfly. Below is the text of her presentation, if you want to read and follow along: I love butterflies because they are cool and look pretty. There are many neat things about butterflies. The butterfly is called papillon in French and mariposa in Spanish. Butterflies have overlapping, different colours of scales on their wings. If butterflies get too cold or wet, they cannot fly. Butterflies have been around since the dinosaurs. I really like monarch butterflies because of their orange and black wing pattern. There are rare white monarch butterflies too. One female can lay 400 eggs but only one egg per leaf. Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed. Milkweed is poisonous to birds and animals. Birds can get sick from eating monarch caterpillars and adult monarch butterflies. Some animals eat the monarch butterfly like orioles, grosbeaks, jays, mice, fire ants, and spiders. Viceroy butterflies have colouring like the monarch butterfly to make animals think they taste bad too. Caterpillars eat the eggshell right after it hatches. Caterpillars live for 2 weeks. Caterpillars shed their skin when they get bigger, as many as five times. The chrysalis stage lasts for about 10 to 14 days. Its special gold beading goes half way around. When the adult butterfly comes out, it has to wait for its wings to stiffen before it can fly. Butterflies use a proboscis to drink nectar from flowers. Monarchs fly to Mexico for the winter because they cannot live in the cold and snow. Monarchs can fly across the Atlantic Ocean. People spray herbicides on milkweed and cut it down because it smells bad or because they think it is a weed. This is bad because it is the only thing monarch caterpillars eat until they emerge from their chrysalis. If you spray pesticides, the monarch caterpillar and butterfly would die. Monarch butterflies sleep on trees and use them for shelter. Millions and millions of monarch butterflies gather around each other on these trees to keep warm. If too many trees are cut down, monarch butterflies will freeze to death because they won't have enough trees to keep them warm. I want to help save the monarch butterfly. You can help too, by planting milkweed and other flowers for food and shelter. The flowers have to be in direct sunlight to help the butterflies warm up and stay warm. Put up a sign saying that your garden is a butterfly habitat. Do not use chemicals that could hurt the butterflies, caterpillars or the plants they need to live on. If you want to see butterflies, do not harm the caterpillars. Do not catch butterflies, if they lose too many scales they cannot fly. Do not cut down trees where butterflies go in the winter. If you see a tag on a monarch butterfly, contact Monarch Watch so they can know how far it has travelled. How can we save the Monarch Butterfly? By spreading the word and taking action, we can take this beautiful creature off the endangered species list. Easy steps, like planting Monarch attracting plants, like milkweed, are just the start of how each of us can help. Teaching everyone you know about it is also a great step, but we need help from people around the world, if the Monarch Butterfly is to survive at all! Each and every one of us has the power to help save the Monarch Butterfly! Even you!