Monday June 06, 2011
You were on my mind, in my thoughts and prayers and you did great!! If I had written this earlier in the day, my musings would have centered on hope. Now, I know you made it through brain surgery, tumor removed, surgeon happy and you are on the way to recovery. The spirit guides heard our prayers and your spirit guided you through the surgery. Your optimism, bravery, love, comsideration, spirituality and humility during these last few weeks have left me in awe, filled me with love and believe it or not, a sense of calm. Perhaps you are one of my angels, AnneMarie!!
A toast to you, my friend! To Life! To Living, loving, laughter, and friendship. Thank you for getting though the surgery. I love you!
Monday May 02, 2011
I'll never forget where I was and what I thought on September 11, 2001. My thoughts, " Life as we know it is about to change forever." And for a while it did. People were really nice. Drivers were courteous on the road. We were all nervous. Terror alerts became the norm. But I really thought we would be under more sneaky attacks, that we would be on edge for the rest of our lives.
What happened was many of our personal freedoms were taken away in the name of national security. We made sure the war on terror was fought on other soil. The federal reserve loosened credit so dramatically that the real estate market started to boom and credit standards were thrown out of the window -- creating the biggest credit and housing bubble of a lifetime. So, yes, life as we knew it changed, but not the way I imagined.
And now, Osama is finally dead. On the one hand it is a great symbol of our determination. But I hate the thought that it is a symbol of our might. Is our might the only way we can survive in this world? I hope not. I think I'll focus on food and nourishment as love. I know that will make me feel better. What about you?
Monday April 04, 2011
That's what I am!! Back to normal - I think!
Bewteen the wacko health journey and the death of my sweet Guinea hen - Uni - I have been functioning on empty. Doing what's necessary.
So, I will be back at my post - blogging again and sharing....so stay tuned - lot's brewed in my head while I was healing!!
Monday March 21, 2011
I can't believe it's come and went...My Mom, Jen and I had so much fun developing the recipes and sharing them on the demo stage at the Boston Flower Show.
On the Menu right out of our container garden:
Tarragon-Chive Pasta Salad
Pesto Rubbed Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Strawberries in Mint Simple Sugar.
If you missed seeing us in person - enjoy the demo here!! See you next year.....
Monday February 28, 2011
What I have learned from running the chicken soup recipe contest is that there are only winners when you cook from the heart!! It was such a thrilling and sobering experience receiving, making, eating and "judging" all the recipes. The making and eating was the easy part. And the judging was made somewhat easy as the "story" was part of the contest and some of the stories were just stand-outs along with their recipes.
Here are the links to the three "winning" recipes and stories:
Francine's Avgolemono, Carol's Asian-style and Judith Lerner's traditional. And check out what the news team at NewsChannel13 had to say.
I will be putting the other 14 recipes online over the next week or so. They are all truly delicious!!
And again. I learned that when you mix love, a treasured family recipe and good ingredients together, you always get a winner!!
THANK YOU ALL!
Monday February 21, 2011
Many years ago,1972 to be exact, my Uncle died of cancer. I distinctly remember his juicer and carrot juice, in particular. He was using food as medicine! My grandmother got Prevention Magazine and, by and large, we ate real food.
Fast forward to now. I am passionate about eating only food from where I know the source, or is organic or grown locally; we avoid processed foods like the plague. Agribusiness pisses me off (yes I said it!). Between the antibiotics, pesticides, water contamination, e coli breakouts etc, I could scream. And here I am, a foodie, per se, and I am frustrated and confused. I go to the grocery store and get depressed by the abundance of crap and want to yell - "People - BUY THE VEGGIES!! Eat Beans! Only buy the organic meats. Eat less!!"
So, my hope with Heirloom Meals is that, while we explore our cultural connections to our food, I also understand the health benefits of certain foods and suggest alterations to tried and true recipes if they are unhealthy. I truly believe that cultural foods from our ancestors were grown locally, biodynamically and sustainably; that religious rituals such as the fastings that occurred after winter were for both health and spiritual beliefs; and if we embraced local, in-season foods, we would celebrate our past food traditions and increase our health.
Check out the list on Eat to Defeat's website of the foods we should be eating. Wouldn't you rather have a handful of grapes than a handful of pills?