Tag Archives: Mark D. Jones

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My Book – Organizational Aerodynamics

Here’s an excerpt from my motivational, self-help book Organizational Aerodynamics: “…helping individuals, organizations and businesses creatively solve their challenges…”

“We often speak of inventors having that eureka moment, when they first capture a concept they have long been searching for.  The mind has a way to channel and access these eureka moments through altering the approach it takes in dealing with the subject at hand.  By changing your perspective, paradigm and/or approach to the subject – as well as the context you view it in by pulling it out of the familiar and placing it into a different medium – the mind can visualize connections and concepts that it was unable to previously recognize.

Random associations can pull everything into focus when you change the background of the familiar that has previously clouded your perception.  Look at your world through new eyes and you will see details that you’ve never noticed before, brainstorm and generate ideas that you haven’t thought of before, and make connections that you’ve never recognized before – helping you to permanently alter your perspectives in every facet of your life, organization and business!

Welcome to the world of Organizational Aerodynamics, designed to help individuals, organizations and businesses creatively solve their challenges by adjusting the way we perceive the world around us – including our personal lives and the organizations we’re part of.”

Here’s the link to the Kindle Version – free to read on Kindle Unlimited (view this post online to see the link):

Here’s the link to the Paperback Version – 245 pages, 6″x9″ format:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1723281743/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i24

Here’s the link to my Amazon Author Page – Mark D. Jones (I’m currently proofing my 17th book Jonathan’s Wish (An Adventure Novel) )

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B078RRS631?_encoding=UTF8&node=283155&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=author-pages-popularity-rank&page=1#formatSelectorHeader

Cheers!

Mark

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My Latest Book – Organizational Aerodynamics

I’ve published a series of books lately and one of them is Organizational Aerodynamics – “…helping individuals, organizations and businesses creatively solve their challenges…”  I first began writing Organizational Aerodynamics in 2000 to help folks look at their world through new perspectives through the Art of Visualization.  Simply changing your perspective can change your world and my aim in this book is to show you how I’ve used this technique my entire life.  Organizational Aerodynamics is free on Kindle Unlimited and the paperback version is 245 pages.

Kindle link:

Paperback link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1723281743/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i20

My Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B078RRS631?_encoding=UTF8&node=283155&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=author-pages-popularity-rank&page=1#formatSelectorHeader

About this book:

It was through the process of visualization that I had the idea to write this book, in order to help anyone utilize the technique of visualization to improve their lives and the organizations they’re part of.  Visualization provides you with the opportunity to see anything from a fresh new perspective, explore alternative options, and open yourself to eureka moments of self-discovery in your life and in the organizations you participate in.  This process of visualizing something we’ve never before experienced, or hasn’t taken place – or doesn’t even yet exist – allows us to explore new and imaginative ways we can transform the world around us and create the world of our dreams.  It is this radical alteration of how we look at our world that can change everything for us – and it is the Art of Visualization that can make it happen!

About the Author:

I’ve written this book as a self-help motivational guide to teach you how to visualize your community, organization, business, family, life and world in brand new ways, so that you can creatively solve your challenges.  Organizational Aerodynamics allows you to visualize your unique situation in a way that perhaps you’ve never seen it before, in order to refine and focus your energy on successfully accomplishing your goal.

The saying ‘our mind’s eye’ is a way of describing the fact that we often see what we’re thinking.  When someone describes something to us we often develop a mental picture of what they’re saying – even as they’re saying it to us.  So open your mind’s eye as wide as you can and free your mind to look at your world anew as if for the first time ever – and use the Art of Visualization to see new and unique solutions to solve and overcome your challenges!  Cheers!  Mark

Cheers!

Mark

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

My wife recently made a batch of ‘Gluten-Free Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies’ from a recipe called ‘Rice Flour Jam Cookies | Thumbprint Cookies | Gluten Free Recipe’ she found online at ‘Kurry Leaves dot net’ ~ and they were excellent!

She used almond extract instead of vanilla extract, and seedless raspberry jam instead of strawberry jam in her cookies, and they tasted delicious.  She baked them for 14 minutes at 350 deg F, and next time she’ll try the vanilla and strawberry combination ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies

I made a batch of ‘Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies’ as part of my Christmas baking this year, based on a recipe called ‘Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies’ my wife found online at ‘Crazy For Crust dot com’ ~ and what a treat they are!  Chocolate chip mini-morsels suspended within delicate snowball cookies dusted in powder sugar!

I made these cookies using half gluten-free flour and half oat flour, and couldn’t be happier with how they tasted and turned out.  This recipe made 44 cookies using a small 1″ cookie scoop, baked at 350 deg F for 12 minutes ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Butter Swirl Shortbread Cookies

I made these ‘Gluten-Free Butter Swirl Shortbread Cookies’ the other day, based on a recipe for ‘Butter Swirl Shortbread Cookies’ my wife found on ‘Fifteen Spatulas dot com’ ~ and they’re delicious!

This recipe made 44 cookies, baked at 350 deg F for 12 minutes.  These cookies have a wonderful buttery shortbread flavor that melts on your tongue, and for this batch I used half gluten-free flour and half oat flour ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

I’ve always loved Peanut Butter Blossom cookies made with Hershey’s Kisses, and this morning I made a batch of Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms from a recipe that my wife found on ‘Hersheys dot com’ ~ and they’re delicious!

The only thing I left off the recipe was rolling the dough balls in sugar before baking, as I don’t need the extra sugar coating.  I used a 1″ cookie scoop to portion out my cookie dough, which made 29 individual cookies that were baked for 10 minutes at 350 deg F ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Spritzgebäck Christmas Cookies

We enjoy German Christmas cookies during Advent and the Christmas season, and one of our favorite cookies is Spritzgebäck – a crisp shortbread type cookie that’s traditionally topped with melted chocolate on just a portion of the cookie’s top surface.  Honestly, these cookies are wonderful any time of the year, with or without the melted chocolate.  These simple cookies allow the individual flavors of butter, sugar, eggs, flour and chocolate (when used) to express themselves individually, without competing or being overpowered by icing.

This was my first attempt at making a gluten-free Spritzgebäck, so I only made half a recipe as an experiment, and didn’t opt for the melted chocolate.  While my first ever piping technique needs some artistic work and practice, these Spritzgebäck cookies turned out perfectly – with a delicious traditional Spritzgebäck flavor, a nice golden color, and a sharp snap when broken – just what the holidays call for! 🙂

You can easily find photos of Spritzgebäck online, and lots of traditional German recipes to follow – just look for something that suits your fancy – or use ours.  My wife’s recipe used for these cookies is a traditional family recipe from Germany, and while I made only half a recipe this morning, you can easily double it to make a larger batch.

Spritzgebäck Recipe:

– 125 grams butter

– 125 grams sugar

– 1 egg

– 1 package of vanilla sugar (We use a Dr. Oetker .32 oz/9 grams package, or use vanilla extract instead)

– 125 grams ‘Gluten-Free 1 for 1 flour’

– 125 grams oat flour (I pulse my own oat flour from rolled oats in the food processor)

Combine together in order: butter, sugar, egg, vanilla sugar and gluten-free flour.  The dough will be stiff to begin with, but will loosen up a bit when piped.  You can also form the cookies with a cookie mill instead.  I baked these Spritzgebäck for 17 minutes in a 350 degree F oven, and the recipe made 48, 2″ and 3″ cookies.  Enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars

I’m a great fan of pumpkin pie in the fall, and as it turns out, I like these ‘Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars’ even better than a traditional pumpkin pie – in fact, I love them! 🙂

My wife found the recipe on ‘Cooking Classy dot com’ for ‘Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars’ and while the recipe isn’t gluten-free, she simply substituted gluten-free flour for the regular flour the recipe called for.  In this case, she used ‘1 for 1 gluten-free flour’ and oat flour in equal measures where flour was called for in the recipe.

The secret to these crumb bars is that there is a hearty oat based crust supporting the pumpkin pie filling, and a delightful crumb topping above it.  As a pumpkin pie lover from day one, my vote is to enjoy these gluten-free versions of ‘Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars’ in the future ~ they’re the best – enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Vanilla Snowball Cookies

This year I made gluten-free versions of our favorite German Vanille Hoernchen or Vanilla Crescent cookies as Vanilla Snowball cookies instead ~ and they’re absolutely delicious!

We use a traditional German recipe for making our Vanille Hoernchen (just Google Vanille Hoernchen or Vanilla Crescents), and all we did was substitute Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour for the regular flour called for in the recipe.  I used a small cookie scoop to make 48, 2″ cookies and carefully coated them in a bowl of powdered sugar while still warm.

With a fresh dusting of powdered sugar when served, my vanilla snowballs will be ‘picture perfect’ Christmas treats ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking – Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Chocolate, Oat and Peanut Butter Cookies

I made a terrific batch of chocolate drop cookies I call ‘Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Chocolate, Oat and Peanut Butter Cookies,’ that my wife found at ’12 Tomatoes dot com’ called ‘Slow Cooker Chocolate Cookies.’ This was an easy recipe to follow, and the results were just as advertised ~ perfect for the holidays!

I set the slow cooker on low heat, and my recommendation is to check the chocolate for reaching the boiling point before the minimum cooking time has expired, as you can’t see the chocolate boiling underneath the oats without probing the mixture to check.  The only alteration I made to this recipe was that I used ‘super chunky’ peanut butter when the recipe called for smooth, but I like the addition of nuts in these cookies.

You could just as easily add chopped walnuts with smooth peanut butter, or add some flaked coconut if you like.  I used a small cookie scoop in portioning out my cookies, and it made 50, 1.5″ cookies. Either way, it’s an easy and scrumptious recipe ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂