When I was thinking last night what my planned blog title would be for the week I thought I would post about the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships starting soon and my experience attending my first Nationals as a spectator. But, alas that will have to be moved to next week.
One always hates to receive a dreaded phone call late at night. A 1:00a.m. call can only mean bad news and of course my first thought was my husband is on the road and something had happened. Awakened from a sound sleep and eyes not focused, my groggy hello was not prepared for what I was to hear.
"Your brother is gone". Gone? My first thought was a car accident. My youngest brother who would be 44 this June and we were really the only one's who communicated with each other over the past 19 years. Although the last couple years were filled with missed calls and other issues that kept us apart, he was not the one out of my five half siblings who I would have thought would not live a long life. Our life disfunctions have been many, he was the youngest and once told me he thought he had learned from everyone's mistakes. He never married, never had kids (jokingly he said that he knew about) but he lived with demons like everyone else. He loved commercial fishing and said life on the boats made him happy. Although he was born in Missouri, he had moved to North Carolina many years ago and had acquired that Carolina drawl.
David and I spent some time with him several years ago and one thing about him I remember was his dark brown eyes and his wonderful smile. He had his flaws like we all have but his compassion and warmth no matter what wrongs he had in his life always seemed to overcome everything else in his life.
I have my regrets and probably always will that our lives together were not filled with more happier moments but I at this time I must believe that all things happen for a reason, good or bad and what little time we did spend together was all that God would allow for us.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Coffee Cake for People Who Didn't Drink Coffee
Well it's a little over a week into 2012 and like everyone I am really trying to eat healthy--Again!! I have to admit I did pretty well this year. I didn't do an over amount of baking even though my husband was home for two weeks. I wasn't able to stay out of the kitchen since I felt guilty that while he is on the road, when he is home he deserves home cooking--healthy or comfort food.
One of my friends from back in school days managed to hunt down an old receipe for a delicious coffee cake that the school cooks made from scratch in junior high school. We were spoiled that some of the items were actually cooked and not processed foods like today's school cafeteria's serve.
Early last year the British Chef Jaime Oliver went to a Los Angeles Unified School District kitchen and attempted to teach them how to cook healthy foods instead of frozen, processed, fattening lunches. Of course there was much disapproval from the school board because it would cost more money and with federally subsidized food programs in schools the approach is not healthy but cheap. Jaime Oliver had did this same program in Virginia the year before where the schools also at first were not happy with how he wanted to change things. "If the kids will eat it we will fix it" but if it isn't healthy and is helping in part cause societies battle with obesity why not make the change.
Eventually they did try it his way and who knows maybe someday the schools will serve all healthy foods. When I went to school my mother made my lunch almost every day. She attempted to give me the healthy foods but sometimes I admit I would take money to buy school lunch and toss the home-made lunch in the trash. I no I wasn't the only when then and probably many kids today do the same thing and sadly some can't afford to bring or buy there lunch. I think there is definitely a need for a change in everyone's eating habits. I have always tried to give both my kids and now my granddaughter options. If you don't give them a variety they will stick to the junk food so I am happy even now when my almost two year old granddaughter asks for salad.
After printing the receipe I gathered all the ingredients (including powdered dry milk something I had never had or worked with before). It was a fairly quick process and as soon as it was popped into the oven the smell took me back to the school days of standing in line with my friends and being handed this tasty coffee cake. Funny at the time none of the kids drank coffee but the cake sure tasted terrific. Here is the link for the receipe. www.insidesocal.com/schoolnotebook/2008/02/blogger-raves-about-lausd-coff.html Try it and let me know what you think?
One of my friends from back in school days managed to hunt down an old receipe for a delicious coffee cake that the school cooks made from scratch in junior high school. We were spoiled that some of the items were actually cooked and not processed foods like today's school cafeteria's serve.
Early last year the British Chef Jaime Oliver went to a Los Angeles Unified School District kitchen and attempted to teach them how to cook healthy foods instead of frozen, processed, fattening lunches. Of course there was much disapproval from the school board because it would cost more money and with federally subsidized food programs in schools the approach is not healthy but cheap. Jaime Oliver had did this same program in Virginia the year before where the schools also at first were not happy with how he wanted to change things. "If the kids will eat it we will fix it" but if it isn't healthy and is helping in part cause societies battle with obesity why not make the change.
Eventually they did try it his way and who knows maybe someday the schools will serve all healthy foods. When I went to school my mother made my lunch almost every day. She attempted to give me the healthy foods but sometimes I admit I would take money to buy school lunch and toss the home-made lunch in the trash. I no I wasn't the only when then and probably many kids today do the same thing and sadly some can't afford to bring or buy there lunch. I think there is definitely a need for a change in everyone's eating habits. I have always tried to give both my kids and now my granddaughter options. If you don't give them a variety they will stick to the junk food so I am happy even now when my almost two year old granddaughter asks for salad.
After printing the receipe I gathered all the ingredients (including powdered dry milk something I had never had or worked with before). It was a fairly quick process and as soon as it was popped into the oven the smell took me back to the school days of standing in line with my friends and being handed this tasty coffee cake. Funny at the time none of the kids drank coffee but the cake sure tasted terrific. Here is the link for the receipe. www.insidesocal.com/schoolnotebook/2008/02/blogger-raves-about-lausd-coff.html Try it and let me know what you think?
Friday, January 6, 2012
Do You Have a Forever Box?
After getting through yet another holiday season and starting another new year with hopes of better things to come, of course one of the things that usually is a staple of kicking off the new year is putting back all the holiday decorations. Each year I always take a little extra time to look at all the special ornaments that have hung on our tree for that brief time during the holidays. I have many special one's that I hold dear. I have three that a very dear friend I worked with gave me. She has now passed on so they hold an even special place. The bell is tarnished and the snowflake was damaged one year when the Christmas tree mysteriously feel over but even those flaws are special. Also special are the ornaments I have collected on travel trips throughout the years. From Plymouth, MA to New Orleans, Hawaii, Alaska and most recently Washington D.C. and this past year a Corvette ornament from our yearly car trip. When I pull them out of the boxes each year I always remember the instance from whence they came.
All of this nostalgia also made me think about all the treasure boxes I have had over the course of my life. My first was a jewelry-like box that my grandpa gave me one year for Christmas. I kept a few trinkets and my small diary inside. Many years later after my grandpa's death my grandma gave me his black-lacquer/pearl boxes. A small square sized box still sits on a cabinet with a pair of dice inside that reminds me of his love for Las Vegas. A round larger box I gave to David many years ago and he keeps some little mementos of his own, and the larger of the boxes was almost lost to me many years ago when our house was broken into and those involved tried to pry open this box, not being smart enough to know that it was not locked. This box contains letters from people important to me that either have passed,or lost touch with. I also have some other special things inside but each time I open it my mind goes back in several directions. Be it the time in the Orient that my grandpa had in WWII, or the first pen pal letter I received from Lisette in Sweden. All of them bring me to different times in my life.
I started reading a book recently called The Forever Box. I haven't gotten into it very far but the first few pages hit hard. I won't give it all away (because I don't know what's to come) but everyone should have a Forever Box. I think so far the prolific items are on the front of the book under the title is "The things we love are the things that last"...and if that doesn't hit home hard "long after our ashes have been scattered to the wind and our bones have turned to dust, it is entirely possible for whole pieces of ourselves--our histories, and the depth of our own unique existence--to remain behind for our surviving loved ones to pore over and to ponder. It is the last remnants--the ones that we purposefuly decide to preserve--that offer the generations who comeafter us tangible evidence that we even existed at all, and that our years on this earth counted for something positive and pleasing.. Kristin Clark Taylor how touching these words are!!
In just reading the first chapter of this book it has made me use this idea of a Forever Box for a theme I plan on using this year in my blog. Pick one item per day either from my long ago past or maybe just recently and try to share that experience. I guess technically it will be my blog in-box and it will be forever on the internet for all to read, but I still have my physical treasure/forever boxes that have memories of other's and my own to always keep close to my heart.
Keeping my fingers crossed that I will keep this going all year.
All of this nostalgia also made me think about all the treasure boxes I have had over the course of my life. My first was a jewelry-like box that my grandpa gave me one year for Christmas. I kept a few trinkets and my small diary inside. Many years later after my grandpa's death my grandma gave me his black-lacquer/pearl boxes. A small square sized box still sits on a cabinet with a pair of dice inside that reminds me of his love for Las Vegas. A round larger box I gave to David many years ago and he keeps some little mementos of his own, and the larger of the boxes was almost lost to me many years ago when our house was broken into and those involved tried to pry open this box, not being smart enough to know that it was not locked. This box contains letters from people important to me that either have passed,or lost touch with. I also have some other special things inside but each time I open it my mind goes back in several directions. Be it the time in the Orient that my grandpa had in WWII, or the first pen pal letter I received from Lisette in Sweden. All of them bring me to different times in my life.
I started reading a book recently called The Forever Box. I haven't gotten into it very far but the first few pages hit hard. I won't give it all away (because I don't know what's to come) but everyone should have a Forever Box. I think so far the prolific items are on the front of the book under the title is "The things we love are the things that last"...and if that doesn't hit home hard "long after our ashes have been scattered to the wind and our bones have turned to dust, it is entirely possible for whole pieces of ourselves--our histories, and the depth of our own unique existence--to remain behind for our surviving loved ones to pore over and to ponder. It is the last remnants--the ones that we purposefuly decide to preserve--that offer the generations who comeafter us tangible evidence that we even existed at all, and that our years on this earth counted for something positive and pleasing.. Kristin Clark Taylor how touching these words are!!
In just reading the first chapter of this book it has made me use this idea of a Forever Box for a theme I plan on using this year in my blog. Pick one item per day either from my long ago past or maybe just recently and try to share that experience. I guess technically it will be my blog in-box and it will be forever on the internet for all to read, but I still have my physical treasure/forever boxes that have memories of other's and my own to always keep close to my heart.
Keeping my fingers crossed that I will keep this going all year.
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