A Don Update, The Finer Points of Indian Ink Viscosity and Home Spa Recipes

Don - well, perhaps we should call him Indomitable Don. Despite the fact that he has developed a blood clot, he is doing so well. He has been moved to the brand new Saint Anthony's Hospital. They've been around for over 100 years, and they moved into their new building this past summer. Don is in the rehab. center on the 7th floor. He was so pleased when he was checked in by the man who recognized him from the last time he needed physical therapy. That made him feel good. Don is excelling in therapy.

Ellie, my clever and artistic girl, made a really cool box. I love her eye for art and the graphic quality of what she creates.

It is a gift for Grandpa Don.

In making the box, Ellie discovered that she was nearly out of her favorite ink - Rotring Artists Color. Unfortunately, Rotring was bought out and I cannot find it any more. Thus, I trotted down to Meininger's, my favorite art store, to find a suitable replacement. We needed a waterproof ink that is solidly black and not too watery. I know from reading comments online that Magic Color bought part of Rotring, but no one in town sells their ink, so none of that was to be had as quickly as I would like. The art store was sort of slow and so one of the clerks and I spent a part of the afternoon testing out various inks. It was a ton of fun, the kind of fun I don't usually get to have. In the end I opted for Sennelier. It is smooth, thick and completely black. The next contender was Dr. Martin's Bombay black. It is solidly black, too, but not as thick as I was looking for. I had expected to pick a Sumi ink, but it turned up to be pretty gritty, all things considered.

Earlier in the day we tried out some homemade spa treatments. I got a bee in my bonnet to try my hand at making some of the treatments after reading, "A Spa Day - Without Leaving Home." It is about Mathilde Thomas who owns a string of impressive spas. Here are the recipes we tried out:

Hair Masque

Mix the following in a blender:
2 Egg Yolks
5 TB Rum
1/2 Avocado


Massage into your dry hair. Wrap your hair in plastic wrap (from your kitchen) and then wrap that in a towel. Leave it on for 30-60 minutes. Shampoo as you normally would.

(Ellie left the house when her hair ws still wet, so I don't know how it came out. I do know that he head smells slightly of rum.)

Face Mask

1/2 cup Oat, steel cut or instant
3 TB Greek Yogurt, Plain
1/2 cup Orange Juice
2 TB Honey
(2 tea. Orange Peel, dried and ground - I did not have this so I made the mask without it.)

Soak until the oats are soft Apply and wait for it to dry (about 15 minutes.)

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We've been eating a lot at the hospital, so I thought it would be nice to have a simple dinner. I made a spiced up version of the filling for Kraut burgers.

Ground Beef with Cabbage, Carrots, Onions and Spices

3 TB Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
1- 1 1/2 cup Carrot, shredded
1 Cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup Water
3 TB Worcester Sauce
2-3 TB Thai Chili Sauce
Ground Pepper to taste
1 # Ground Beef, cooked

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Once they are soft, add in the carrot. Saute for 5 more minutes.

Add in the shredded cabbage, water, Worcester sauce and Thai Chili Sauce (you can use sweet chili sauce in place of this.) Cook all of this until the cabbage is soft. If you want the pepper to add in a bite, instead of a mellow flavor, add it in the end.

Add in the ground beef, mix well and serve. I offered hot sauce and Sriacha sauce so that people could add more heat to the flavor, if desired.

This could make a nice sandwich or be made into Kraut burgers by rolling out small balls of dough and making them.

(This was inspired by the recipe found over and Jo and Sue.)