BEFORE the storm

Porter and I visited New Orleans the spring before Katrina.. The scenery was verdant and the people were in full bloom. We met so many different characters once we decided to walk the city instead of rely on the public trolley car system which always had someone half-mast with a beer dribbling over ..We stayed in the garden district at an ancient B&B.. After the first night we slept there we asked to be moved to a different room as both of us had very vivid dreams about the same woman who had been mis-trialed and hung in the 1700's..The story retold to us by the owner..Once we moved into a converted sun porch that overlooked a small garden the dreams ceased..However the adventures multiplied..We visited museums,walked though crocodile

sunning spots,past the uneven architecture and economically challenged shanties..thru swamp areas, downtown New Orleans with its long term perfume of whiskey and vomit laced with its beauty and soulful music woven into the damp air.. We talked to shop owners learning stories about the Neville brothers , the movies that had been filmed there over the past 10 years after

the governor had made a tax deal with Hollywood..and ate fusion food which is still on my memory bank..Asians,Latins,Germans,French,Russians, had all made their mark and interpretations on the long term corner of Louisiana Cuisine producing amazing cross breeding of flavors and integration..My favorite site was a group of cranes nesting at the Museum on their own designated island..they collectively looked like snow.

I feel fortunate we were able to see New Orleans like this : in its glory.. Like Haiti it will have a layer of its devastation for a long time..Wealth measured in the depth of its culture..That collapsed delta was the feeding mouth for 110's years of commerce and pockets lined by others toil..Toil and soil and now silt.

Hot pimento bar olives:

this recipe I talked off of a friendly bartender in the French Quarter..

they are fun to play with both in drinks and cuisine

Empty and rinse 2 jars of pimento olives...place in a large bowl..cover with Tabasco sauce or any type of red hot sauce of your liking...recant into jars and refrigerate..These are fun in Martinis, salads... in sandwiches...chopped into Spaghetti Arribata...sliced over grilled halibut, chicken...mixed into scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese....you'll know what to do....................Get on that van and Gogh...........keep scrolling down.....so green

IMPORTS AND IMPRINTS

The plates here are plates I watched being thrown outside of Guadalajara Mexico some 35 years ago..I had exchanged my apartment in Silverlake (LA) for an artist's studio for a month in the summer.The family that made these plates were my favorite ....they had a sense of harmony and purpose...I purchased 6.. only one has broken over the years and they keep finding a new place to hang where ever we live.When I look at them I can still smell the dirt streets and the heat rising like a soft cloud, the smell of chicken fat heavy in the

air surrounded by all the noise and daily activity of life back then..Now the same spot has been transformed into a golfer's paradise and riddled with condominiums for visiting Gringos..A pink paradise..for me these plates remind me of the smell of wet clay,my hands taking command and the shape taking form as I pump a rusty pottery wheel.. They hang to remind me of a part of myself that sleeps but lingers forever.

The chest in the second photo is from Brazil..Someone has carefully painted chickens all over it..The paintings are wonderful, primitive but modern. This armoire reigns over our kitchen : our own chicken coop per say..It will travel forward with us when we move from here.

We are in the process of downsizing our lives since our children have moved to California. It is a gesture of embracing age and change which has so many layers I often feel as if I have cataracts over my visceral vision.. Change is constant ..change is inevitable...I know once I am installed in my new life I will embrace it but standing on the other side of the river,,I am trying to refresh my breast stroke..It all went too quickly..I am awaiting a new face of family.

Our daughter is part of the RAW movement and has taught us many nutritional facts and helped me to redesign how I prepare meals and eat..2 years ago we visited verdant Costa Rica with its overlay of McDonalds and development imprints..we found a beautiful home off

VRBO.com which was situated high in the hills overlooking the jungle floor and the ocean..The toucans would come out in the early evening ..mate..make noise..Occasionally we were lucky enough to have a wave of Mariposa butterflies fly by our shower window..It was magical..

Fresh fruit and vegetables were readily available by car on the open road..Our main food prep was either fresh juices or salsas eaten with fish or poultry or eggs..(Coffee was not scarce)

I don't think I have ever chopped more fruit in my life..

COSTA RICA SALSA

chop 1/2 pineapple into small di

chop 2 cups of watermelon into small pieces

chop 1/2 onion into small di

chop 1 cucumber peeled and seeded into cubes

Add the juice of 3 limes

salt

add green chili sauce to taste

add red chili sauce to taste

add 1 teaspoon of chili flakes

add 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

Allow this to become itself for several hours covered in the fridge..

grab a tortilla....slice some grilled chicken..slice an avocado... blue blue flying by

Snow Flowers cacti ...

SNOW.....FLOWERS...CACTI...WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW

GATEWAYS TO UNDERSTANDING

WHEN the Christos decided to install THE GATES after the 911 tragedy I went to go walk thru them on 3 different days: one day it was snowing lightly, another day the sun was out all day and the third day it was cold and the light quite compromised..Each event (and I lightly call it that because they all were), was life changing.

The color of Tibetan orange they chose was the visual thread..The gates could be seen from a great distance .Their silent companionship worked like a flood of emotions..the most potent being a sense of repair..Children and adults alike seemed to abandon their inhibitions and find a common link in the stroll or in some cases wildfire romp..thru the crushing leaves and the blaze of the never ending flame..

I ran into Anne Bancroft the second time I went just a week before she left us..I was always so grateful for this meeting as I had always admired her.. She was also a customer of my clothing line..She had been the vessel for so many wonderful women in her lifetime and her humor was impeccable.

In the early 70's I walked The FENCES in California.. google ..CHRISTO and JEANNE-CLAUDE.. wonderful visuals.

DILL SAUCE :

This dill sauce is the base for several dishes I make in the summer but I keep it around all the time as it makes a delicious

sandwich spread ..It also transcends frozen peas , makes a dip for vegetables and a side sauce for seafood..

Mix 1 small 8oz jar of high end mayonaise

6-8 Tablespoons of Yellow mustard (French's or the like) you want a tumeric undernote

1 cup of chopped fresh dill .. I often use ALOT more

1/4 white onion chopped very fine

1/4 t. tabasco sauce

2T fresh lemon juice.. add more if you like a higher acid flavor

Blend all of this together and recant into jars

Keep refrigerated ....will last for weeks

Try dipping asparagus into this............. mmmmmmm.

Table Tableau

Setting the table..Table landscaping..Homeplates

I read an article the other day on the differences between different cultures around the world: diet and exercise versus customs.. The US as a whole eats too many meals on the go.When we first moved back here form France it surprised us how quickly the kids that visited wolfed down their meal.One evening Hart suggested to his friend

"hey man you have to slow down when you eat" his friend answered "why?" Hart quipped "so you have an idea of what you just ate"..more importantly slowing down opens up the conversation..the dinner table should be the replacement for the tribal bonfire.When we sit down and share a meal with others or even between 2.....a certain intimacy is invited in. ( If you are by yourself, light a candle ,put on your favorite music,..give yourself a beautiful view...review your day and plan your next.). Turn off the TV..have your meal in small courses..discuss the day..When we first moved to France in the 90's it was such a huge adjustment..The kids would go off to school (the battlefield) and we were left gravitating daily life and business long distance..We used to think we were either inspired or the most ridiculous people on the planet. One day we invented a conversation game.. Minor Mistakes/Major Accomplishments . At the dinner table we would all report our day..laughing at our follies and putting perspective on the journey we were taking..eventually there was not as much to report as we acclimated to our new zone..so another game slipped in..stories of invention..

The Photo here is a montage of 2 placemats..When the children were quite small I had them start setting the table ..We have rarely ever returned the plates and silver to the cupboards but rather reset the tables right from the dishwasher..It struck me one day what a waste of energy that was and it also created a "last minute chore" just before dinner when everyone was spent...This way with a pre-set table everyone just sat down to that meal's tableau...an inventive maybe whimsical confection from a group effort..Sometimes the tables are theme oriented..I am currently working on the Valentine's Day table..sometimes they have been just rudimentary..but sitting down to a well set table..taking our time and reviewing our day has become part of how we eat..Nourishment from all aspects..

Something to check out...when Porter was attending Brown ..she introduced me to a City Event caalled WaterFire....,google it... see if you can attend one..its free.. its an outdoor tribal picnic..SO FUN

MICRO WAVE JAM

Cut up your desired fruits..apples,pineapple,melons.oranges,apricots,peaches..ect...add I/2 the quantity of sugar..For example if you have 4 cups of fruit add 2 cups of sugar...Microwave this for 4 minutes...Allow to cool a bit and taste if it needs more sugar... add to taste..

At this point I start adding either almond oil, vanilla ,rose water, orange water, cardamon, cinnamon...so many flavors to add become an early morning alchemist....

jasmine..what ever flavor you want the confection to take on...Microwave the mix again for 4 more minutes..if it is not set..the consistency should be a little runny...microwave again for 2 minutes..While the mixture is still very bot...pour into pre-sterilized jars and cap tightly...

This is so easy and delicious..Sometimes I add rum,cognac or nuts..just play around..

One spoon,one fork,one knife and a well set table.......

Vikings and Legends

This is my Viking Stove I inherited from the previous owners. She had a small catering business and did not go to the school of

"Ratatouille"clean as you work..The real estate agent suggested we give it away ...WHAT????????? I spent a good 2 weeks taking the thing apart and cleaning it on the back lawn piece by piece..it was disgusting but worth the effort because it has been a work horse for 9 years extra now .I have had the thermostat replaced and some simple wiring updated..It looks like an overcrowded snack stand..I have everything within an octopus reach..my own cooking callipoe...Where the grill is supposed to be I put down 2 large tiles which works for me..The 4 burners are enough too..In Los Angeles I inherited a vintage OKeefe and Merritt from the previous owner Grace Wertzel..I don't think she ever used the thing..I know I made up for that over the years we lived there..Christmas,Easter,Thanksgiving,Valentine,Birthday dinners oozed out of that kitchen. A pageantry of celebration and nibbling,kids running through the halls and bottles of wine being drained over animated conversation.

I love the way I can remember events and people by the food we shared together... music is food for the heart and... food is music for the palate.....

Vignettes and Voices

The photo here is a vignette I snapped from our front entry hall..I found the drawing of this girl at the Goodwill and re-framed it, actually most of the plates on the hutch are from the Goodwill..tidbits from other people's lives..The hunt is always so rewarding..There are voices living in older items I feel ; animism..

I have been watching a growing trend of parents talking constantly on their mobiles when they are out with thier children: especially little ones. I can't help but wonder how this trains a child not to listen to any given voice.They are growing into an awareness that when their parents speak they are not necessarily speaking to them. I wonder if this doesn't play havoc with the "voice of reason"...after all children are not born with a dictionary of emotional and physical archeology..it is an incremental process: things learned by trial and error..when the element of continuous inter-action is removed..is there some perception mutation??? With the advent of cyber knowledge and the plethora of information that is made available it seems to me there is just too much..When a parent is telling his child to get ready for bed and yet he/she is texting throughout the dialogue: what is the message they are being sent??? I have no judgement on this but often wonder how the assimilation plays out..A young child can grasp a foreign language with rapid speed before the age of 5....so maybe all of this is just another language.. I do know I notice a difference between our daughter and son who are 5 years apart..She did not incorporate the computer until high school and he was using the computer at 5.. In retrospect any person born after 1985 ushered in the cyber umbrella..Time will tell.. In general I find the connectedness and possibility of cyber communication a miracle: it is our never ending story..The graphic input alone is riveting..

I also love the molecular ability to connect with random text..we live in a kaleidescopic world.

Cooked a puree today: cut up equal portions of parsnip,carrot,yellow squash,turnip and 1/2 a white onion ..These I simmered until tender..As they cooled I whrrrrr them in the Cuisineart.adding a bit of the cooking broth to keep the consistancy moist...Beautiful color...

Enjoy the day.............

The BIG POT of gold .. Le Creuset...14"x11"

This POT was delivered to me the first time after we moved to France in l985.

Since we were restaurant owners in the US we were entitled to purchase items from a large restaurant supply house in Nice...It was like letting a kid have full go in a toy store..We purchased everything we needed for our small kitchen: plates,glasses, pots and pans ,utensils,little things like sea food forks...a week later it all arrived with this huge pot..I was sure it was a mistake..I almost returned it...yipes...and then that evening I cooked Rissotto in it..I fell in love...The advantage of this pot.... if you only own one pot.. you can saute in it ..cook pasta..bake in the oven..make bread in it.. fry fish and meats w/o grease going all over the stove top....simmer soups...it will become your new best friend...THEY ARE NOT CHEAP but can be found over the inter-net at better prices than the leading kitchen stores..My French friends tell me they find them at vides greniers (tag sales) all the time as the trend is less cooking now..

I'm not sure I agree with this ..I see people just cooking differently as more women join the work force and the world has opened up to " all is possible".. Will post a risotto recipe soon..

Bird Houses and finding food

1. 

A few years ago I was asked to design a bird house for a local charity to be auctioned off for proceeds to battered teen girls. Having a history of this in my girlhood I took this project on with a passionate zeal..Above is what I created..However, the cause I found to have holes....I suggested to the committee they found a nationwide birdhouse chain being linked with birdhouse charms that could be purchased over the internet ...instead of sending these girls back to thier unhappy surroundings they could continue to be sheltered in cities across the US ..all birdhouse businesses who hired these girls.. give them skills and a sense of public self worth...well it wasn't about that..it was about something else I couldnot put my heart on..So I try to give back in other constructive ways.. it really is the nourishment of the soul and of self worth that holds one high.. I love the smile on ones face after they have successfully sewn on a button: sounds simple but it is a nice impowerment being able to repair one's clothing, to do simple wiring,..tile a wall.....balance a checking system..cook a meal.

NO HASSLE RICE... pour Jasmine or Basmati rice into a saucepan (about 1/2-3/4cup per person) cover the rice with about an inch of water over the rice line..Bring this to boil..allow it to boil for about a minute making sure it doesn't boil over.Turn off the heat and cover with a tight lid...Make the rest of the meal...By the time you are ready to eat (15-20 minutes) your rice will be perfect..the bonus??? neat easy rice and a pan that is easy to wipe out and clean...

Sweet sweet reward.... eat in health and laughter

Lily ponds and rissotto

A happy risotto is one that has sufficient liquid slowly added during its formation: also true with a lily pond.. REMEMBER the left over onion tomato whrrr from the Marcella Hazen tomato sauce???

This the base for the liquid in this risotto.

For the broth I used 2 quarts of water, 1 full cup of the onion/tomato whrr, 1 cup of the tomato sauce, a little sea salt, 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, several threads of saffron soaked in warm water (see little jar with cork cap) 1/2 bottle of white wine and all the juices from the lobster and scallops..

To Start prepare all your ingredients:

steam 1 small lobster....cool and reserve any juices

defrost or drain 4 scallops per person

sliver cut 1/2 bunch of scallions (see photo)

dice one onion...1 small zucchini...1/2 red pepper..1/2 orange pepper

Have 1/2 bottle of very cold white wine on hand

Heat 3T olive oil in the BIG POT ..when the grease is HOT add the 2cups of Arborio Rice

The secret to excellent risotto is to coat well the rice at a high heat stirring constantly for about 3 minutes...NOW pour in the cold wine..you will hear a sizzling sound and steam will whoosh up into your face..this is good..stir stir stir...now lower the heat and add all the vegetables except the scallions ..these are for plating later...IN AN ADJACENT 3 QT SAUCE PAN mix the wine, 2 quarts of water,thee juices from your sea food, the tomato sauce and the tomato/onion whrrr. and the saffron .keep this at a simmer...AS THE WATER BECOMES ABSORBED into the rice add 2-3 cups of the simmering broth....stir stir stir ... keep this process up until the rice is tender to the tooth (about 20 minutes) and there is still quite a bit of liquid in the rice.. add more water to your broth if needed....Lightly fry the lobster.. set aside...Saute the scallops on a high flame in a wok..the heat distributes faster..any juices add to the rice... PLATE THE RISOTTO as per the photos...sprinkle on some fresh parsley or cilantro if you like..I serve this with a HOT SPICY oil and sea salt...ENJOY

seeds of change

Often I come across "misplaced" seeds in my reserve, and randomly plant them just to see what the earth might give back..I love doing this.This last summer it was a packet marked "sunflowers".....I had tucked away years ago.. Carefully packing the soil around presoaked seeds I patiently waited. The results are here. After a few weeks I had a towering wall of different species of sunflowerss,..bees....,hummingbirds and a tomato patch near by that was brimming with produce.

A PERFECT TOMATO SAUCE *****

THIS recipe is based on Marcella Hazan's

classic tomato onion sauce with a tweek..

Purchase one large can of San Marzano Tomatoes...pour this into a saucepan...cut an onion peeled into 2 halves, place these on top of the tomatoes..open a small can of tomato paste ..add this to the saucepan..NOW add one full cube of butter...a dash of sea salt.. thin out with water if you want the sauce runnier ..... toss in a torn bay leaf....ALLOW this to simmer for over an hour.. when the onions are softened..(.HERE COMES THE MAGIC BULLET.)...Remove the onions from the sauce and place in the Bullet..whrrrr until they become a rosy red cream.....add back into the sauce the amount of onion you want..I used 1/2 of the mixture and reserved the rest for some other concoction later????

I boiled up extra long Italian pasta but one could used tortollini...corkscrew pasta...ziti..meza rigatoni...this sauce really stands on its own but you can add grated pecarino cheese if you want..plate with several strands of fresh basil .. and you are good to go....this sauce is wonderful on grilled sandwiches (use like mayo)...rub garlic on the othe bread side...MOMan Panini it!!!

She was the wife of head of the English Departemnt at the University of Alaska. At the time I was married to a junior member of the staff and the youngest in our literary coterie.. I met her one bone chilling day in the cemetary outside Fairbanks. I used to amuse myself by trying to read out the tombstones that had been racked by nature and frozen winters year after year..

Her name was Cheryl.. She could draw the dead..She was there gathering portrait material.. I was just looking for a friend.. I loved her instantly..I signed up for her husband's classes the next semester: a dry but interesting class on 19th century literature..They becaame ny resevoir..From the dry sadness of my inconsistant marriage came an image I wanted to be. I was 19...I saw possibility in them..He was 40 which seemed ancient then ,she was 25..Cheryll cooked.... frying bacon in the nude..said it was easier that way ..no spoiled clothing..She had a point: laundry was a BITCH back then..very few people had personal laundries....we ALL trecked to the local laundromat..oh there were some stories there...

One day I told her about the death of my brother 2 years earlier..

I was inspired in her presence..I began to draw, cook,sing more and feel alive..I was sprouting under this cold veneer of a life I was living..I joined a singing group and campaigned for Robert

Kennedy around Alaska..They flew us in a Sezna all over the State.. It seemed like everyone we met came out of central casting..What a flurry of characters..Kennedy left for SF and another red page of history was written.

When I finally moved to Vancouver BC after the announcemnt of the pipeline going thru,

Cheryl left me with a portrait of my brother she had drawn for me ( the likeness uncanny)

and Don, her husband made me promise I would at least see the movie of Moby Dick..that my essays were outstanding ,considering I chose to write my final on the one book I hadn't read..I recieved a A for best bluffer...but really they left me in full bloom...and I left Alaska with roots that would serve me for the rest of my days..I learned an enormous amount about character in that frozen tundra...presoaked and ready to grow.......

The Health Care Bill needs a better bank

I am fortunate to have the priveledge of househelp every other week. My househelpers name is Fernanda. She is a woman my age who moved here from Portugal as a young bride with several of her family mambers. Prior to being introduced to her I did everything myself. We have a wonderful cross polination.She likes to go home to Portugal for 4 months every summer and we are absent those months to live in France : our life there..Both of us I know would feel enormously amputated if this could not be done on calm terms. Fernanda knows when she returns she will have the same job and family and we know she will be there for us .We have many small things to share each fall..Her family expands as new grandchildren keep coming into thier constellation. our family is growing outward and new wings..

This fall she arrived with serious health issues..I have been very concerned about her all winter. I find myself not wanting to leave her alone at the house when she is here.

Each visit she talks about tests and medicines and we discuss nutritional issues.I can see the

worry on her face.I can imagine the financial stress from all these medical visits..Fernanda worked as a seamstress for many years in NY before moving to Norwlk. Sometimes when I listen to her at her I am reminded my past employees . Before I closed my business I made sure my key employees had a trade so that they could make the transition with grace. We always gave our employees full coverage.

and wages far above the minimum rate plus a 2 month paid vacation every summer as I did not produce a fall collection..When we regrouped each fall we were collectively refreshed and ready to hit the treadmill.

I find the most wasted energy over this health bill is the ommision of addressing the individual..If the individual is at the mercy of the Insurance Companies then there really is no plan.. People should not have to be concerned with thier rates going up every year w/o cause or warning..Every person in the US should have the right to Medical Coverage: this is not a priveledge but a human right.. It is a CIVIL responsibility. So is education..The climbing tuition rates are unfair: a locked in price Freshman year for 5 year BA would be smart. We paid 20% more a year for our daughter's education..Our son is at UCDavis and is a shave away from the tuition increases next year. What about the families who can't afford these prices: thier children are slaves to loans for the rest of thier youth..Most colleges have very sound endowments and funds should be made more readily available..To survive as a Nation we need a stronger and carefully structured educated infra-structure..Sit-Com pablum is not the answer..nor is media blame throwing..

Our media is twisting the facts and the emotions of the msses to think otherwise..We ALL need to fight back for what we deserve; so that fear of health safety can be diminished... 35 years ago when I first moved to California I lived with a famiily named Mendoza in Baldwin Hills..Alex's mother died in the emergency waiting room, waiting to be admitted. ( 6 hours) I will never forget the raw sadness after her death which should have been avoided. I don't see the right to live as a Partisan decision. PASS on the word .. speak up..demand fair prices..vote for the person who will represent your values.. I am amazed how polititians can spin..........

Fun call from our son Hart last night on his way home from snowboarding in California..He was so high on nature..The strong winds had blown clear the high altitudes and he was snowboarding in perfection all day.I envy that kind of sport I have never had the inclination for speed: however I did love figure skating when I was younger. I remember well that glide and the cold climbing up my legs from the ice. There was a sense of flying when I spun..We used to ice over our backyard every winter in Spokane. The boys played hockey which made the ice uneven. I secretly wanted a zamboni..Our father and I usually prepared the ice each winter. He knew who was his second in command..I was always passed the unfinished projects.I can't complain . He helped to form a very efficient person.

A couple of Christmases ago we were invited to a party...A 90+ woman was there with her family.Her granddaughter attended college with another of the young girls..Her family was very intolerant of her as families often are when the end is evident ( a sad sign of fear and unpreparedness)..I sat down and talked with her for about an hour. I found her to be extremely lucid and fun..she was very curious and could hold her own on any topic. After several fertile mind switches she asked me the best question " if you could use one word to decribe yourself..what would it be?" I didn't even blink..I answered "problem solver"..Later I related the conversations to my family and asked them what they would have responded about me:

they responded with several variations of the same..

Good ? to ask oneself...

off to cook......Veal Stew ....Bay Leaf Tomato Sauce....Lobster Rissotto Sauce...

Promise to share tommorrow................... OH YUMMMMMMMMM

check out our daughters post on portersinger.com her music is so woonderful

The Art of Letting go

Okay I promised to talk about the BULLET next..This is the magic bullet mini mixer you see on the info-mmercials and stacked up at Costco and BBand Beyond.It is a miracle machine..The handy aspect is that it is small and has reserve jars that anything you whip up can be capped and stored in the refrigerator..Makes wonderful pesto,sauces,salad dressings..but is best in my mind as a flavor tool:  so....you are making soup or spaghetti sauce and you want  that kick of onion, garlic,ginger,chili+heat,herbal tweek...whirr it up in the BULLET and you are ready for a flavor uplift..I don't even wash mine as I am using it.... I allow the flavors from one concoction to  drift into the next project..
Some of the staples in my fridge are :
Sundried tomato paste...sundried tomatoes mixed with a little water and olive oil
                                  consistancy of a thick tomaot sauce
Pesto Sauce..Fresh basil,olive oil,a pinch of sea salt. walnuts 
                                  consistancy of a thin mayo


Green Scallion Drizzle.one bunch of scallions mixed with a few chili flakes and lots of olive oil  the drizzle should be the consistancy of a salad dressing..this is wonderful drizzled over fish ,chicken,underplated for vegetables ect..delicious added to steamed rice just before serving... imparts a lovely soft green color..


Then there are all the sweet things to be done...whrrrrred fresh fruits with a little honey or syrup and flash frozen into little dishes for "ice cream"


Roast any seed or nut and whrrrrr in the BULLET TO MAKE NUT POWDERS that can be incorporated into cakes,breads,sprinkled on rice ..noodles..pasta..


We love this machine so much as a family we own 3 which are in constant use..


THE ART OF LETTING GO
Several years ago (l0 to be exact) my husband's mother passed away after the passing of her husnabd three years earlier..These were sad and confusing adjustments..When we mioved to our new home in CT all the contents of thier lives plus ours arrived together..I incorporated alot of the larger pieces,re-covering them, refurbishing them to give them another life layer ..but in general it just seemed like we had too much..WE DID.. and have for a decade..Our children have moved to California and we are now sifting though all the remains of so many layers of life::like pulling emotional kleenex out of a life box..so many items are being recycled and passed on.. A few key momentos are held behind as I also endorse a thread of history..
As the pieces go, the house feels lighter..we feel lighter...my husband especially feels lighter..There is freedom in confronting yourself and moving on..
I often joke about how simple life would be with one knife,one fork,one spoon,one blanket......and of course that one Bullet....but in reality we all have to do this work..dealing with loss and defining the future..this hopefully is the thread of compassion when we are challenged to reach out and help others..
Back to that jar with the $ a day...I am keeping mine loaded for Haiti and any other cause that a little help will  make a difference..Spiritual Fortune...we all possess a personal acorn...even a daily smile will shift mountains..
say hi to the person in your presence...hold the door open...make a joke...comment on how nice they look..sing..humm .. it IS contagious...

Just a little CHANGE

Last night I watched 60 minutes which covered a small portion of the devastation in Haiti...it was so SAD to think that number of people collectively have to suffer such pain and loss..I realized if I put a dollar away a day for the recovery it would be enormous if millions of people did the same.I imagine the real recovery will take place in a few months time when homes and lives need to be rebuilt: not unlike sitting with the bereaved: the support is so welcomed after the event..it takes so much emotional archeology to recover: sliver by sliver from devastation.. So chose a jar,push in the dollar a day and don't forget..

Put a few bay leaves in your water when you blanche vegetables..it imparts a beautiful perfume and smokiness to the vegetable..

In fact place bay leaves in your larder it helps control pantry bugs..I buy the Williams and Sonoma Bay leaf wreath every year and use it all year long..then break it down and put the dried leaves in closets in mesh bags..

One can purchase the wreath online..also makes a nice gift. keeping things at bay......

Tommorrow I will discuss the wonders of the Magic Bullet

GINGERLY GOLDEN

I have declared I am going to recycle one item a day this year....whether it be an emotion, a reaction, an article of clothing ,an unnecessary

household item or thought...keep my highways uncluttered shall we SAY...this will bring in rebirth...I host change with a vengence..

My refuel elixir:

Juice 6-8 corms of fresh ginger either in a blender, sieve and reserve the filtered juice or juice thru a juicer ( I swear by the Jack LaLane )

Drink this 2xs a day with water 1T to 2 cups of water...or add a T. to hot water for a tea..

and then sit down and read WORLD CHANGING a user's guide to the 21st Century.

bird by bird....song by song...thread by thread...

In this blog: food ,thought and the arts of daily life

I will plant the extra corm now in a pot of soil...next spring brings a red ginger flower