Food, glorious food!

I don't really consider myself a great cook. That would be Denise, and you all know that. But I do have the time to try to be creative about what I am serving for dinner. So while Denise toils away at her job, I decided to blog my dinner ideas. I am not promising great meals every day, or even a level of consistency with posts, but if you make the meal I am posting today I can guarantee a fabulous dinner with many compliments! Bon appetit!

Barbecue Shrimp (this is done New Orleans style)

Thaw out a big bags of frozen prawns (raw, with tails on). Rinse them and spread out in a shallow baking pan.

Combine the following ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes:

1 1/2 sticks butter (I didn't say it was diet food)

1/2 C olive oil

2 bay leaves

4 Tbs fresh lemon juice

2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

4 cloves garlic minced

1 Tbs fresh parsley minced

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp hot pepper sauce (tabasco)

2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup chili sauce (I use Heinz)

Pour this mixture over the prawns and refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 300 and bake for 20-30 minutes.

It's a messy, delicious dish. Serve with a green salad (there's your diet food), and some crusty bread for soaking up the sauce.

Truly delicious. Amazingly easy!

Long time, no see...

I am shamefully delinquent on my blogging.  It isn't JUST that my computer blew up, and I lost my password, and, and, and. I think I am adjusting. Yes, that's it. Adjusting. But I jump ahead in the story.  

Rewind to June: Child graduates, goes off to college, and as the dust settles (literally, in the case of her bedroom) and the house gets quieter, a sudden drop into that pond of stillness sets off a ripple effect: What now?

Many of you  know my propensity for denial. You may recall, it was a good two years after moving to sunny Southern California that I realized I wasn't just on an extended vacation. What? We MOVED? So when Child packed her bags and walked out the door I was busy humming a happy tune and preparing dinner for three. Three months and twenty pounds later my head snapped up from my meal preparation. 

What? She MOVED?

So while some were well into dealing with their empty nest I had just begun.

Such a simple question, but the ramifications are profound. It is not just "what now?" but "who are you now?".  All those years of chauffeuring, catering, nursing, cajoling ground to a screeching halt. Time to redefine, polish, and hone the new me.

So the sun rises on a new chapter in life. Wish me luck.

Surf's Up

I have written and rewritten this particular update more times than I can count. I don't know how to turn a clever phrase to tell this story. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.





This is Kaiden. She just turned four last week....something that we are more grateful for than you can imagine. We met Kaiden about a year ago at a mutual friend's house. Kaiden was diagnosed with neuroblastoma (cancer) in May and has gone through a whirlwind of treatments since then. She begins her 4th round of chemo today. She had surgery over a week ago where they removed an 11" tumor from her little baby belly that weighed in at 4 lbs. They also took her adrenal gland, part of her liver and diaphragm. She's had her stem cells taken so they can replace them later, after the chemo. I get a lump in my throat when I look at this picture...one of my favorites. She is actually getting a blood transfusion as she rides this thing down the hallway with a smile on her face.


I am connected to this family in a strange way. We share mutual friends and I now work part time for Chad, Kaiden's dad. The pressure on this family, and their friends, is tremendous. They struggle with anxiety, fear and the need to stay positive when the statistics are staggering. And it is not just an emotional war...the financial impact has been daunting. But my intention here is not to pass on to you all the sadness of this situation, but to share a lesson that Chad taught me today. Chad stated that though this experience he wishes he could impart to both his children what he has learned about life:


Do whatever makes you happy as much and as often as you can, because when the bad stuff happens you really don't wish that you'd spent more time doing things that don't really matter. Chad would love to pick up a surfboard and hit the waves...that would bring him joy. Right now his focus is on holding it all together.


Please take a moment to send a positive thought or prayer their way. And do something that makes you happy...right now. Really.


To learn more about Kaiden or to donate to her cause please visit:

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/KaidenEvans/updates

Rewind

Sometimes I wish there was a "pause" button to life. Those moments you want to last for more than a fleeting second...better yet, how about that "rewind" button? Hmmmm...

Graduation brings a certain amount of chores to it. I am not sure this is used as a way to distract the parent from the imminent departure of the bird from the nest, or if it's a money-making scheme that our society has developed. A little of both, to be sure. Be that as it may, I was digging around looking for the appropriate baby picture of Lisi (not me??) for the Band Banquet slide show. This is always dangerous ground. I start with the best intention of trying to find a simple picture, and I get caught up in reliving the past! "Oh how cute!" "Remember when?" My quick task becomes a walk back in time!

Rewind to the first bath I gave her...Baby's First Year book open to the "how to give your baby a bath" section and propped in the recipe holder. All the proper stuff lined up on the counter...wash cloth, gentle soap, a towel with a little hood on it...all of this documented with bad photography.

Rewind to her first day of school (see previous posts for pic). Standing on the front porch of our home in Snohomish, backpack ready, lunchbox in hand. Very determined face.

Rewind to the first time she broke her arm. Then the second time. Then the third time.

Rewind to numerous trips and vacations together.

Or how about we rewind to moving to Southern California? Just a little life change.

Pretty soon the simple task of finding a picture has taken on a life of it's own and I have completely lost track of my day. A day that I have with my daughter here in my house, sitting in the next room.

Maybe I'll just push the "pause" button and go be with her.

The Commune

I've always wanted to live in a commune. I picture warm kitchen scenes where we are all drinking wine (ok, it would be dinnertime, not breakfast) and creating delicious, healthy meals. Everybody pitching in and helping wherever the need is...repairs, planting the organic garden. Stimulating conversations, NPR on the radio...sigh. Then I realize that apart from having people in the same house all day, we pretty much have this.

I reflect back to Anne B who called me the day she heard I was sick and said "Bring a pot to your front door", which I did. She met me there, poured the roasted veggie chicken soup from her pot to mine (so I wouldn't have to wash and return her pot). The memory of that soup still makes me salivate. Then there is Marty, who helped nail some board back onto my cupboards...I probably could have done it, but it really was more complicated, and involved laying on the ground nailing upside down. Awkward. Or the other day when I put our Sunday New York Times in a bag after reading it and left it on Tim and Suzanne's doorstep. I came home later to see the same bag on my doorstep with the LA Times in it. Smile. There have been too many dinners at the Macaluso's with friends to mention, and as many last minute calls for help picking up kids from school. I love this place. My happy place.

Oh, and the organic garden!! We had someone else plant it! Hahaha! Really! A group of nine families pitched in to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in Camarillo called the McGrath Farms. We paid for a "season" of 15 weeks, and every Tuesday one of the families will drive to the Farm to pick up nine boxes packed with organic produce. The boxes are then dropped by the Mead's house, where we can pick them up at our leisure. We support our local farmer and we get the most amazing box of veggies, strawberries and herbs...sometimes even flowers!

So, I won't go into detailed discussion about the word community being a form of commune. Let's just say we feel pretty lucky to be here.

The College Search

Yes, it's true! She is wearing the "Reed College" sweatshirt! After a trip to Oregon last week, which included a day with "Reedies" she was ready to drink the KoolAide. She attended an African American Literature class and experienced the Reed way of teaching: The professor makes a comment and the class (ratio of 12-1) has stimulating conversation, all around the same table. They teach them how to think, rather than lecture. She feels this style best suits her, so Reed it is.

It's a good feeling to have the choice made. Now on to trying to motivate her to finish up this year!

Just a little taste

I have been meaning to change my blog for a while now, but my "Cheap Eats and Great Beaches" was a wash, what with the winter storm that hit Kauai about the same time we did.
I do have plans to write up the food aspect still, but for now you will just have to sample a little "taste" of our Drumline show. This season's show is titled Balance. The music is great and the performances are even better. I am adding this clip of a warm-up at a recent competition. No marching in it, because that is to follow. You'll notice Lisi front and center on the Tenors (the drums with 5 drumheads). Cool beans.