The Magic of Masks

I wear a sleeping mask to bed, and I am not 65 years old. Don't judge me, I'm not ashamed.

It all started when I got my first, big migraine. "The Big One", as I refer to it. The mother of all headaches, that debilitates you, strips away your dignity, and laughs at you. During moments like these, light is your enemy-as well as sound-movement- and any slight movements of anyone within 20 ft of you. "Stop walking near me!" (*misplaced anger)

I bought my first sleeping mask at walmart for $2.99. It was a travel mask- one size fits all. I had to rig the elastic for it to fit my head (apparently one size fits troll heads only).

But, alas, it fit and it was dark again: Ahhhh complete darkness! This is the one time you want darkness to defeat light- a haven to my eyeballs! Temporary blindness never looked so good. It is as dark as day 1, and God will not let there be light.

I now wear my sleeping mask to bed every night. It also helps with insomnia (see post on 10/23/2010)! Who would have thought! Sleeping mask= migraine + insomnia killer!!!

Sleeping masks have a surprisingly large business market with companies making over $100 million in 2009. They offer every color, fabric, even tempur-pedic masks. I still rock the original black-travel-size mask from Walmart. Maybe for Christmas I will treat myself to a fancy mask. Here are some of my favorites:

Sweet dreams...

Sweet tooth.. or teeth?

The baking bug bit me this weekend. I was impelled to make something sweet for the chilly evenings we've been experiencing. I looked in my pantry to see what to conjure up. I had canned peaches and cherry pie filling. I decided to make two perfect desserts: Peach Cobbler & Cherry Crisp.

Peach Cobbler:

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1 cup flour (all purpose ok)

1 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup milk

1 can of peaches (or 4 cups fresh)

1 tbl fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Pre-heat oven 375. Pour melted butter on bottom of 13 x 9 cake pan.

Mix: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, cinnamon. Pour in on top of butter. Do not mix. Heat peaches and lemon juice on stove top til the syrup is bubbling then remove. Plop peaches onto first mixture. Do not mix. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

* serve warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Cherry Crisp

1/2 cup flour (self rising or all purpose ok)

1/2 cup oats

1/3 cup butter

1 can cherry pie filling (21 oz)

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp cinnamon

 Directions:

 Pre-heat oven 375. Spread cherry pie filling evenly on 8" square cake pan. Mix: brown sugar, flour, oats, butter, nutmeg, & cinnamon. Pour over cherry pie filling. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

*serve warm with a dollop of ice cream.
*serve chilled leftovers for breakfast with a dollop of plain or vanilla yogurt.
*picture shows crisp without oats.



ENJOY! BON APPETIT!



*Side note:
Dollop- a lump or glob. Derived from the Anglian "dallop" which is a patch, tuft or clump of grass.
             Origin is uncertain.