Week 32 : Hello Sailor!
Combine the grandeur (and romance) of tall ships, curious boy-crazy teenage girls, and handsome foreign sailors and I’d say you have the makings of a very good story! But, only if one those boy-crazy teenage girls (me) had a better memory and took a great deal of creative license, which I’ve not done, but it’s […]
Week 31: Not So Devilish Dip – Recipe FAIL
What’s the unhealthiest, processed, and otherwise most disgusting food that you either love to eat now or loved to eat during your childhood? I confess…this clean-eating, no sugar and no processed food allowed, healthy, middle-aged (ok, maybe a little more than middle-aged) mom has a long list of junk foods (see below) that I regularly consumed as […]
Week 30: Auntie Does Fish
When I selected this recipe, I thought for sure that it would be easy to write something of relevance, because it was my mom’s Aunt (my great-aunt) Dot’s recipe. But, after five days of stewing, I’ve got nothing. What’s the reason, you ask? I have virtually no personal memories of my Aunt Dot, and the information I’ve […]
Week 29: Maine, Chocolate and a Mystery
A few months before my mom died, she sent Kara a gift—an author signed book titled Miss Rumphius—to celebrate her 5th birthday. As I’ve mentioned before, my mother valued words, reading, and books above most things, therefore most gifts given to my kids were books. At that time, she was living in subsidized housing in New […]
Week 28: Peppers and the Past
For most people, Grandma (or in my case, Nana) is synonymous with warmth, tenderness, well-worn aprons, fresh-baked cookies, snuggles, silly games, and front-row cheering during school concerts. While I have every intention of making sure that image is true for my grandchildren, this was not the case with me and my mom’s mother, my Nana. […]
Week 27: Sangria Rocks
Do snakes and sangria have something in common? Not really, but in today’s blog post they do…sort of. To celebrate the Fourth of July I went on a hike with my dog Willow in Snake Rocks Preserve in Woodstock NY. For many years I’ve driven past the trail sign and each time I think to […]
Week 26: Waldorf Salad, Hold the Mayo and the Melodrama
I’m halfway through my 52-week commitment (insert happy dance here)! To be quite honest it seems as though I’ve run out of things to say… Or maybe it’s that I’ve run out of things that I think folks want to hear. In the editing process, Rick’s feedback has been that I should go deeper into […]
Week 25: Truth, Dare and Grapefruit Salad
What would you do if I dared you to… Skinny dip? Eat something disgusting? Streak through your neighborhood? Kiss or hug a stranger? Jump in freezing cold water? Sing a song on a city sidewalk? Wear something ridiculous to work, church, or a social function? I know exactly what I’d do… because I’ve done all […]
Week 24: Be Spicy
Let’s play a game this week! Ask yourself, “If you were a spice, which one would you be?” I most definitely would be curry powder. It’s distinctive, bold, sweet and has a little heat. But I mostly associate with curry powder because, like me, it’s a blend of several spices like cardamom, cumin, nutmeg, allspice, […]
Week 23: Taco Salad with a Kick
I am clearly not mentally stable because… horrific baby oil-induced sunburns, gritty PB&J and sand between my butt cheeks are my first thoughts of a beachtown summer upbringing. In all fairness, it’s not my fault that I don’t have pavilion cotton candy, beach ball, sailing, cute tan lifeguard memories, because I only spent a few […]