I Spy Out the Window

Remember my brave watch cat who watches diligently down the driveway from her new perching bench? The ducks have grown bored with the pond and have begun to wander all over the yard and road. I am just awaiting the return of Mr. Bobby Cat. Shoot. Meantime, lioness Boogheera is keeping her eye on them..........

Tortellini in Sarcofago

Goodness gracious! I came home from work today to this wonderful creation baked by none other than my old boyfriend (and current husband) :o)

Only this time, due to my last blogging of the mess created when he cooks, the kitchen was sparkling clean! By the way, for those of you who asked, most of the time he cleans up his own kitchen messes. I am simply puzzled why such a mess is ever made in the first place...... so many pots and pans used, every counter surface covered with something...... it just isn't that way when I cook. But who cares? I ask you. The end product is always so delicious!

Three-color Tagliatelle

Browsing through some of my cookbooks, mi espouso decided to cook up this pasta dish.

This is what the kitchen looked like afterwards..........

.....we did, however, end up with a delicious new dinner :o)

Cutting Calories

Discovering an interesting new type of sandwich bread at the grocery store last week, I put it in my shopping cart. They call it "Sandwich Thins". Thin it is, but packed into that thinness is something out of the ordinary. Though only 1/2 the calories of two ordinary slices of sandwich bread, it is soft, with a hint of crunch, and holds just the right amount of chewiness. I highly recommend it! Then after cutting all of those extra calories, serve up yourself a delicious hunk of French Silk Pie :o) After all.

Boeuf Bourguignon

MY HUSBAND cooked Boeuf Bourguignon today! Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon! He has totally outdone me!

Pre-cooked. Just like in Julia and Julie!

Mouthwatering. Isn't it beautiful?

YUM!!!!!!!

It was just as tender and savory as I dreamed it would be from the movie. Mmmm! Ohhhh! Ahhhhh! Gosh, it was delicious! And so nice to have the family here to enjoy it with us!

Haiti

Our hearts go out to the thousands of hurting, grieving Haitians after the Tuesday evening 7.0 earthquake that devastated Port au Prince. Already a struggling country, the capitol and largest city of Haiti collapsed, leaving an estimated 45-50,000 people dead in its wake, with an untold amount injured.

This photo was taken on my first medical trip to Haiti in 1993. Though the good folk of that country always hope for better, they struggle daily just to stay alive. That is a successful day for them. Ill health, starvation and gunfire claim many lives every day. Our hearts should go out to them even without this added tragedy of unspeakable horror.

Let's count our own blessings, as we remember the survivors in our prayers.

Do I like getting old?

Once again I am reminded of my mortality as I have watched a friend from my past dying this week at the hospital as I am at work. The following is from one of those email forwards that came my way. I would like it to be my sentiment, though I have to admit, I still struggle accepting the new body bulges. The alternative to getting old is death. So, do I regret getting old?

"I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 & 70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful.. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver..

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be.

And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it). "

Birthday Schmirfday

Daughter Bethany brought a fun, beautiful bowl home from Guatemala for my birthday, graced by happy flowers from mi espouso :-)

Hubby also bought me a collapsible salad spinner........... nice for storing!

Here are all 3 parts closed down, and then opened up.

A fun new purse/bag from my KSBB to go with my new love of bird watching, along with gardening gloves and apron. Also from Darrell, a collapsible awesome red colander with tea towels that totally describe what I am all about......... Have you noticed that kitchen products are finally being made in a form easier to store? Or at least they take up much less room? Gotta love it, even though it's mucho years too late for many of us.

My lovely tete-a-tete daffodils that I receive annually from one of the Garden Peeps. My yard pop out every spring with the birthday bulbs I plant from her! Also, from son and DIL Scott and Bethany, the all new Winnie-the-Pooh book out this last fall, authored not by A.A. Milne, but by David Benedictus, and illustrated by Mark Burgess! I think they did a great job creating this sequel to the Pooh books in the same flavor, though I still like the original ones best :-) The salt and pepper mills are from son Ryan, and are very slick! Just like the pros, now!

Thanks, All, for the wonderful birthday gifts (birthday was January 7). :-)

Thinkin' on Spring

Yes, I know. Winter has only just officially begun. However, the daylight has already begun getting longer, which means less dark time for all of us Northerners who suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder...... a fancy tag put on those of us who seem to wither without our beloved daylight hours to keep our spirits high). To celebrate the uphill slide towards longer days, as well as my birthday, I am posting about the candied wild violets I made last spring :-)

First, pick a bunch of wild violets, found in the woody areas. They take over my gardens in my yard, so I pull most of them out as weeds. Since they are one of the first flowers to burst open in the spring though, I am in love with them, so I always leave plenty. Anyhow, softly whip up some egg white, dip each flower separately into it, then into a small bowl of superfine sugar and lay on a piece of waxed paper to dry. Sounds simple, right? Deceptive. I will never do these again, fun as they are to use as decorations on cakes, cupcakes or whatever one uses them for. I had a difficult time working with these tiny flowers, and to top it off, when I went to pull them off of the waxed paper, most of them crumbled to pieces. I can check this one off of my 'must do before I die' list. Glad I tried it, after thinking about it for many years, but am ready to move on now to something that works. Kinda like all of those science experiments I had my kids do in high school that failed more than they succeeded.

Spring is on the way! I am sure of it!