Good Tuesday morning! Today is my little Grace’s Birthday, she is 5 years old. Grace was only 6 months old when my mom passed away, wow how time flies! I try not to be sad that my mom is missing out on so much of the girls lives, but sometimes it’s hard. I tell the girls that she is always with us in our hearts, but on days like today I have to remind myself! I used to make my mom a chocolate cake from scratch and decorated it with beautiful lily’s from my garden every year for her birthday. This morning, Grace said that she wished Mimi was here to share her birthday celebration. So…I think we will take out some photo albums and spend some time looking through old pictures of Grace and Mimi. Who knows, maybe we will make that special chocolate cake for Grace’s birthday this year.

Have a wonderful day!

XOXO
Ribbon Chick

When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, my dad was at a loss on what to do for her. He felt helpless, this was one thing that he could not fix. Traditionally, men are not the caregivers in the family. men who have a wife diagnosed with breast cancer are not sure how to be a “co-survivor” (this is the new term used by the breast cancer community to describe supporter, caregiver ect.) This website may help. If you know a family going through a breast cancer diagnosis, forward this website to the husband. There is some very good information, a support program and support chat. Hope this helps someone you know.

Have a great day!

XO
Ribbon Chick

I recently spoke to a local book club and all of the women in attendance prepared a dish from my cookbook. This wonderful recipe was my favorite dessert on the table. Be warned, it is very big and really rich. It would be perfect for a party with several people because you can only eat a small piece. Hope you enjoy!

XO

Ribbon Chick

My name is Sarah Guardiola. I was eight months pregnant with my daughter Kailey when I lost my mother Caryl Jane Mika to breast cancer four years ago. I am the oldest of three children; I have a sister Laura and a brother Mark. I was twenty-three when she passed away and she was only forty-eight.

She was forty-six when she was first diagnosed. She went through chemotherapy and radiation, her cancer was at stage three. Two years later her cancer metastasized to her liver and she died two weeks later. I was very overwhelmed with emotions. Suddenly my world was turned upside down and falling apart fast. I knew I had to go on strong for my baby and for my family. After all, it was my mother who had shown me by example that got me through her mothers death. My grandmother, Carlie Rutledge had passed away a month earlier. I remember my mother was strong when her mother died and she led our family through our grandmothers passing. I remember her saying how strange it felt to no longer have a mother here physically on earth. I was about to understand that feeling a month later.

When my mother was dying she was so strong and brave, she never showed fear. That was the hardest and shortest two weeks of my life. All that I could think about was my mother, my baby and how to help the rest of my family just like my mother would have. It’s not easy, I miss her every day! Some days are harder than others. What hurts the most is that she never got to meet my daughter, her first grandchild. I look at my daughter and I think of my mother. I do not think that Kailey resembles her, but her actions and mannerisms are the same. I guess that is how part of us sticks around even after we are gone.

I saved the last birthday card my mother gave me and when I am having a bad day or on my birthday I like to read it. Sometimes it seams as though she might be next to me reading the card with me. The card also reminds me of just how proud and how much she loved me in her own writing. I had a hard time picking the perfect recipe to best represent my mother. I will always remember her making her favorite chocolate and cherries cake at Christmas every year. This Christmas, I think I will honor her and make the famous cake with my daughter. Just the three of us as it should be, my mother, my daughter and me.

By loving daughter, Sarah Guardiola

Recipe from the kitchen of: Janie Mika

Chocolate and Cherries Cake

1 package of chocolate cake mix
1 (21) OZ can cherry pie filling drained and chilled. Reserve ½ C sauce.
1 (6) OZ package semi sweet chocolate chips
1 (14) OZ can sweetened condensed milk
½ TSP almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare and bake cake as package directs for two 9 inch round cakes. Remove cakes from pans and cool thoroughly.

Melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk. Cook and stir until mixture thickens. (about 10 minutes)

Combine cherries, reserved sauce and almond extract.

Place one cake on serving plate and top with the chocolate mixture then the cherries.

Top with second cake and remaining chocolate mixture and ENJOY!

I found this cute little key chain while out shopping on Sunday. I am always looking for unique items to include on my web-site. This keychain will be available on my website for under $5.00 with some of the profit going back to breast cancer research and education. Get yours while they last.

XO
Ribbon Chick

I love to grow a vegetable garden. There is just something special about serving your family food that you have hand grown and picked from your garden. It always tastes better and is much more affordable. Last year I made my first batch of pickled beets with the following recipe, they tasted just like my granny’s famous beets. If you were lucky enough to have beets that survived the frost, give this recipe a try.

XO

Ribbon Chick

After 12 years suffering with breast cancer my mother, Kathern E Mock passed away. Our family missed her greatly, but would not have wished her back with the misery she had endured.

Mother was famous at her church for her delicious apple pies, with their flaky crusts and the yummy cinnamon flavor. I was proud to serve her pies at the Beta Sigma Phi meetings in my home. However, no one has ever been able to duplicate her special touch with these wonderful desserts.

Having been a depression baby, we were among the fortunate folks who never went hungry due to our father’s beautiful vegetable gardens (even before and after the World War II victory gardens) and our mother’s canning talents. Mother often said that when were the poorest, our meals were the best - green beans, tomatoes, carrots, etc. We even had apples, peaches, raspberries and blackberries.

Another of mother’s special recipes was her pickled beets. This is the recipe I wish to share with you. It makes a great side dish and one I frequently keep on hand to fill out our meals.

By loving daughter, Dolores “Dee” Van Dorn

Recipe from the kitchen of: Kathern E Mock
GRANDMA MOCK’S BEETS

Combine the following ingredients, heat to boiling and pour over beets.

3 C vinegar
3 C water
3 C sugar
1 stick cinnamon
1 TBSP allspice
1 gallon beets
It is not necessary to use an entire gallon of beets. I frequently use canned beets and use the beet juice in place of the water.
In addition to the beets, it was an Easter tradition in our family to add hard-boiled eggs to the beet juice and let set over night in the refrigerator. This was a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe handed down over the years from our ancestors.

Good Monday morning. Today I would like to share some information with you about genetic testing. This is something I have been giving some serious thought to. As far as we know, my mom had first generation breast cancer, however her mother passed away when she was only 10 years old…….so, we don’t know for sure.

Here’s the link to the article from Medical News Today entitled Simple Blood Test For BRCA Gene Mutation Helps Save Lives

Something to think about!

XO
Ribbon Chick

Celia Milner is a third generation cancer survivor. Now that she knows about a simple blood test to check for gene mutations, Milner is hoping the cancers will stop with her.

A breast-ovarian cancer gene test is a blood test that shows whether a woman has breast cancer or ovarian cancer gene mutations, known as BRCA 1 or 2, which increases a woman’s chance of having breast, ovarian or other cancers.

September is National Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. More than 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year and more than 15,000 will die from this deadly cancer. Ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women.

“I didn’t know that if you have a family history of breast cancer, a mutation could be the cause,” said Milner. “Had there been greater awareness about the gene mutation, I would have asked for this test years ago and probably would have made the decision to have a full hysterectomy. A simple blood test could have saved our family a lot of pain.”

As a result of Milner’s positive test result, her sisters chose to take the BRCA test. Both tested negative. Milner hopes the negative test results will alleviate fears in her family.

Every woman is born with the breast cancer gene 1 (BRCA 1) and breast cancer gene 2 (BRCA 2). For unknown reasons, these genes can mutate, putting women at increased risk for developing breast cancer compared with women who do not have these mutations, according to Dr. Tri Dinh, a gynecologic oncologist at The Methodist Hospital.

“There’s also a 50-50 chance the mutated genes can be passed on to children, both girls and boys.”

In Milner’s case, her maternal grandmother had thyroid, breast and brain cancer. Milner’s mother had breast cancer at the age of 49, which later metastasized into her ovaries and colon. Milner had breast cancer at 33. Now age 49, she’s recovering from fallopian tube cancer, the rarest of all gynecologic cancers. The blood test showed Milner has the BRCA 1 gene mutation, which is associated with a 60-80 percent greater chance of having breast cancer.

Dinh says a positive blood test in someone who is already a breast cancer survivor means the patient could one day have cancer in the other breast. In patients with the BRCA mutation, he recommends removal of the ovaries after completion of child-bearing, in order to decrease the risk of development of ovarian cancer and decrease the risk of recurrence for breast cancer.

“If the patient is young, still of child-bearing age and doesn’t have cancer, but tests positive for the BRCA mutation, I usually recommend increased medical surveillance through frequent mammograms and physical exams,” said Dinh.

Dinh recommends patients with multiple family members who have breast or ovarian cancer should be tested for BRCA 1 and 2. Most importantly, education and awareness about gynecologic cancers and family history, as well as annual well-woman exams, are key to reducing the incidence of these diseases.

Hello, and good Tuesday morning. Last week my husband and I took our 4 and 6 year old daughters on a little 5 day getaway. We didn’t go far, just to the lake and river areas of Arkansas. However, it was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable vacations we have been on. We spent so much “quality” time with our children! We played with our girls on a river rope swing, they floated the rapids in a Wal-Mart floatie, they caught their first (huge) fish, they drove a pontoon boat, we stayed up late watching movies and slept in