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21

And so, my girl turns twenty one. 


Seems like just yesterday we were heading out of those big glass hospital doors, you safely tucked in your car seat dressed in way too much clothing. If I had my way there would have been bubble wrap too, and all cars would have been ordered off the streets until we got you safely home.  I remember thinking to myself ..” Are they really letting me out of here with this tiny little baby?….I’m going to be trusted with this little life all by myself, without a nurse nearby just in case?  What if I make a mistake? “ 


 I’m sure I’ve made mistakes, but there has been so much joy and love along the way, and it’s been my privilege and pleasure to have raised such a wonderful human being.  You have taught ME a few lessons in courage, strength and perseverance in the face of adversity. 


Dad and I are so proud of all you have accomplished, and we look forward to witnessing the wonderful life you have ahead of you….


Happy 21st Birthday to our Bean, Cookie, the doo, Kristabell, Cookie Crumb…   

21 lessons of life, learning and love

Originally written by Cheryl-Anne Millsap

1. Learn to forgive. Hurtful things are going to happen to you. Learn to let it go. Carrying a grudge is like trying to climb Mount Everest with a boulder in your backpack. It weighs you down and holds you back.


2. Say “I love you” and say “I’m sorry.” These really are the magic words. Learn when to say them, say them often, and mean it when you say them.


3. Be a child. Open your eyes every morning like you are opening them for the first time. Look closely at the world around you and find your place in it.


4. Never stop learning. Whenever you can, turn off the television and pick up a book. Take a class. Learn another language. Try something new. Travel. Explore the world around you. Exercise your mind.


5. Use what you’ve learned. You came into this world as helpless as any creature could be. But, by now, you should have most of the tools you’ll need to survive and thrive. Make good use of them.


6. Lose your ego. You won’t miss it.


7. Ask questions and question the answers. When you get the chance, ask a question. Search for the answers and when you think you’ve found them, look again.


8. Listen. Listen to music, to the birds and to the voices of people all around you. Listen to what they say and to what they aren’t saying. Listen to the little voice inside you.


9. Never lose your self respect. It’s the one thing you can take with you.


10. Hold a baby. Even if you never have one of your own, hold a baby in your arms now and then. Cradle them. Breathe the scent of a newborn. Think about the people who held you.


11. Practice gratitude. Look around you and count your blessings. Count them again.


12. Mind your manners. Make the world a kinder, gentler, place. And for heaven’s sake chew with your mouth closed.


13. Get a job. Learn the value of hard work. You don’t have to be rich or famous or powerful. You don’t have to play sports or be a movie star. Just do what you love and do it well.


14. Make friends but choose them carefully. Surround yourself with people who lift you up. Avoid those who want to drag you down.


15. Take a leap of faith. Sometimes, that’s all you can do.


16. Give until it hurts. Spend time with those you love. Share your thoughts and dreams. Give a little back to those who need it more than you do.


17. Learn the difference in fashion and style. Fashion is what looks good at the moment. Style is what fits you forever.


18. Try something new. Don’t be afraid of change. Break out of a rut. When you get too comfortable, stretch a little to see what happens.


19. Hold onto tradition. Hold onto your history by keeping at least one tradition alive. Cook the family mac and cheese recipe. Tell old stories again and again.


20. Reach out and touch someone. Hold a hand. Give a kiss. Hug someone who needs it.


21. Never forget. Remember that you are loved with a love that knows no bounds.

Count on that.

In search of the rare silver-winged water fowl

  There were rumors.  It had been spotted by more than a few people.  Something folks around these parts have never seen before!   I wasn’t sure that I believed it…until I caught a flash of silver as I drove by the rumored pond on my way to the grocery store.

  This little pond happens to abutt the back of This Old House’s property, and it borders the main drag most people take in and out of town.  So yesterday Ben and I took a walk out back to see if we could get a glimpse. I wasn’t hopeful because the trail narrows and the  brush gets thick around that pond and who knows whether the silver winged water fowl was still in residence. Or if it had ever existed at all, for that matter.

   With hiking boots, tick repellent and stoic resolve we headed into the wilderness, unsure of the length of the journey or it’s outcome. As with all great journeys, there were risks. It’s hunting season after all, so I wore bright yellow and talked nonsense with great frequency and volume.

Ben was up for the task.

 Our first leg was uneventful…
…except for the passing of the chicken manure pile in the back field.
You remember the flies, right?
And the man’s denial that it had anything to do with this HUGE MOUND OF SH*T ?!

Back to the journey…

 We avoided the consumption of poisonous berries….

Considered harvesting mushrooms for the evening meal…
Decided against it since I haven’t a clue as to which are edible unless they’ve come
from the grocery store in a cardboard carton…

The woods became dense and the trail less obvious…

but the sky was still friendly and the temperatures moderate…so we forged ahead.

I made note of markers along the way as the trail narrowed to non-existence.
As we neared the body of water the moss grew thicker and the footing became treacherous.

 Just as I was about to give in and go home, out of the corner of my eye…..
 I saw something….

 Good Lord, the rumor is true.
Behold the rare silver winged duck.
And there is more than one!

There is a moral to my story.
When your son  who has no interest in hunting comes home with an armload
 of old decoys he bought from the neighbor’s yard sale

..disappearing into the garage and mysteriously into the woods for an hour or two…

 don’t be afraid to ask the Big Questions.
I suppose this is our version of Graffiti here in the sticks.

Everybody Needs A Little…. in Washington DC!

But we knew that already, didn’t we.

Big News on the Gelato front!…

Roba Dolce, the Gelato and Sorbetto Company I have been shamelessly hawking for my husband and his business associates… exhibited at the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) 35th Anniversay Gala in Washington, DC this past weekend. Free samples were passed out, and guess who stopped by the booth!?…..

 Danny Devito!!!… with Matt’s daughter and Roba Dolce’s best girl Shayna!
I love this guy.

Roba Dolce Founder Matthew Olerio, Shayna and Lidia Bastianich!!!!
Matt’s the guy that gave me the killer sauce and meatball recipe, BTW…
the secret sauce I couldn’t reveal.
I bet he and Lidia had a few things to talk about.

 How COOL is that?

The Invitation

The Invitation
By Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Canadian Teacher and Author
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon…
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy
Mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

  Thank you to Beth of Be Yourself…Everyone Else is taken
for letting me steal this.

The Economy is so bad….

* The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

* I ordered a burger at McDonald’s, and the kid behind the counter asked, “Can you afford fries with that?”

* CEO’s are now playing miniature golf.

* If the bank returns your check marked “Insufficient Funds,” you have to call them and ask if they mean you or them .

* Parents in Beverly Hills and Malibu are firing their nannies and learning their children’s names.

* A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .

* Motel Six doesn’t leave the light on anymore.

* Congress says they are looking into the Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh Great!! The guy who made $50 Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 Trillion disappear !

An Evening Stroll with Bailey and the Rebel

…my camera,  that is. Although some would say that’s me.  *sigh* ….there’s always a critic, isn’t there.

   New England can be a dreary place come January and February, when all the snowbirds have scattered down South.  I’ll admit I have dreams of a little seaside condo with sugar white sand and gulf waters where I can flee those bitter grey days.

However, THIS time of year…. is glorious. 

   

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 These are my new favorite cookie… so divinely moist and fluffy and soft and pumpkin pie-ishly  chocolate. If you like those two flavors, you will LOVE these cookies.  

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil   (I used olive oil )
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)  – I don’t like them in it.

Directions:

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.

3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes

Spooked

  It’s a ridiculous thing I’ve been tormented by for most of my remembered life.  I LOVE a good horror movie.. a ghost story,  a haunted place.  And yet… it all  SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME.  I still can’t watch The Exorcist all the way through, and I don’t even want to be in the same house as a Ouija board…. but it fascinates me still.    I kid you not… on Halloween I used to keep rosary beads and holy water on my windowsill so Vampires couldn’t come in, or at least I’d be prepared if they did.   Why the fear of Vampires?  I have no idea.  It’s probably not wise to tell you I finished all four Twilight books in nine days… NINE DAYS!.. but.. it put a whole new spin on the Vampire thing for me, you see. 

Thank you, Stephenie Meyer.

  What I’m really getting at is, I love Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday, and I think it’s because we get to step out of the box.   Be something, do something, dress like something different.  Anything!  The sky is the limit.  Nothing is really expected of you on Halloween.. it’s all for fun…and Candy Corn.

   This year the holiday brings with it a little sadness. My kids are beyond trick-or-treating with parents in tow.  My daughter is going to a  Halloween dance at her college and my son will be heading out with a group of his friends. Last year they were dressed as a wedding party and I at least got to buy him an old suit at the Goodwill store. He actually came with me to pick it out!   This year I asked if I could deck him out in Zombie attire and I just got an eye roll.  Alas…. the proverbial apron string has snapped.

   I already miss the evening walks with flashlights in hand, crunching fragrant leaves underfoot, and the  glorious smell of woodsmoke in neighboring fireplaces while the kids dart ahead from door to door to door.  Is it too much to ask if I still get to inspect and raid the stash when it’s dumped on the kitchen table at the end of the night?

I’m not one of those who dresses my dogs up for the holiday
 (not that there’s anything wrong with that)
These costumes, however, are awesome.

           My Favorite!

Love these too…

For those of you who are local… there are lots of spooky fun things to do in CT…
The Dark Manor Haunted House – voted CT’s No. 1 scariest haunted house attraction
Lyman Orchards Corn Maze, Thru Oct. 31
Haunted Hayride – This one made me scream like the little girl that I am no longer. 
 Great for tweens, teens, and adults especially.

October 21-23, 27-30; gates open at dusk
Corner of Ingham Hill Road and Elm Street, Old Saybrook
860.395.5550
Admission: $12; under 11, $6 ($1 discount with a canned food donation for the Shoreline Soup Kitchen)
More info: A possessed tractor-drawn wagon leads you into the deep, dark, demented woods for a 40-minute ride into the ghastly world of ghosts, goblins and ghouls. **WARNING: The haunted hayride is very scary and may be frightening to younger children; parental discretion is advised.
  

A lesson in Pie

  Last weekend while driving through the Shelburne Falls and Greenfield leg of our Vermont day trip,  we passed a church holding a pie sale.  There were several older women standing at the roadside with one pie in hand, waving to passers-by.  I knew those pies would be good, but my eager family didn’t want to stop just yet.  So on we went.

 That evening as we headed for home, we again came across the waving ladies and their pies… still smiling, still waving.  I couldn’t pass them by again.  We pulled over and  I crossed the street and approached the first waving lady, the one with the biggest smile.  I said  ” We saw you this morning and you’re still here waving and selling pies!”…  and she said ”  We’re almost out, go grab one for yourself, they are divine!  I’m smiling because I made alot of those pies and I know that I’ll be making someone happy today. My pies are that good, and our church and it’s people in need will benefit from this sale.”     With that she gave me a big hug and said “Thank you for taking the time to stop by”.

  When I got back in the car my son asked “Why did that lady give you a hug, mom? What did you say?”   I told him I didn’t say much, she was just thankful for our simplest gesture of stopping to buy one of her pies.  The money will go to a cause she believes in and we helped just a little bit for them to get to their goal.”

    That hug from a stranger warmed me.  Moments like these remind me, sustain me, fill me with hope.  They don’t come often and there should be more of them.  It doesn’t take much to contribute to the greater good of the world. I could easily fall into a black hole of despair over the state of so many things. I hate reading the news in any form, so much in the negative. What could I ever possibly do that might make a difference?   But there are things each one of us can do.. little things, baby steps, moments of kindness.

 When we arrived home I tore into that pie and boy, was it good.  I noticed something else too…. those ladies probably made about 20-30 pies each before the sale… I’m guessing there were about 200 to sell.   Notice the little leaf in the pie crust. When you’re cranking out a lot of pies… this is an unnecesary embelishment and it takes more work.   An extra detail on each pie, just because.  Another kind gesture, another hug.

    For $10  I got a heck of a lot more than just a really good apple pie.

 “Anything you do from the soulful self will help
lighten the burdens of the world.
Anything. 
You have no idea what the smallest word,
the tiniest generosity, can cause to be set in motion…
Mend the part of the world that is within your reach.”  
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes

quote taken from the book
the gift of an ordinary day, by Katrina Kenison

    

Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken

 I get many good recipes from foodnetwork.com. This is a terrific roast chicken recipe, moist and delicious.

Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken

Photo & recipe courtesy Footnetwork

Ingredients:
•1 (5 to 6-pound) roasting chicken
• salt
•Freshly ground black pepper
•1 large bunch fresh thyme
•4 lemons
•3 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
•2 tablespoons butter, melted
•1/2 pound sliced bacon
•1 cup white wine
•1/2 cup chicken stock

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, reserving enough thyme to garnish the chicken dish, 1 lemon, halved, and 2 halves of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Cut 2 of the lemons in quarters and scatter the quarters and remaining garlic around the chicken. Lay the bacon slices over the chicken to cover.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour. Remove the bacon slices from the top of the chicken and set aside. Continue roasting the chicken for an additional 1/2 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until reduced by half.
Slice the chicken on a platter. Garnish the chicken platter with the bacon slices, roasted garlic, reserved thyme and 1 lemon, sliced. Serve with the gravy.