Category: Uncategorized

Turkey Chili

 This recipe is an adaption of the one I found on Brenda of Cozy Little house’s blog – real easy, nutritious and  really delicious too.   I tweaked it just a bit, because I can’t leave well enough alone.  This is not my image,  I forgot to take a picture…which is practically sacrilegious.

Turkey Chili

1 lb. ground turkey – as lean as possible
1 large or two small cans Ro-Tel
 (I did not know what this was.  It’s basically diced tomatoes and peppers and can be found in the canned tomato section of the grocery store)
1 can creamed corn
1 can sweet corn
1 packet Ranch dressing (I used 1 and a half packets)
1 can Red Kidney Beans
1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 can Texas Ranch-Style Baked Beans
1 can Northern Beans
Shredded carrot – as much as you want to add
Dash of Chili powder
Dash of Cumin
Salt & Pepper to taste, but I found it unnecessary

Use either a very large deep skillet or a large stock pot – brown ground turkey. When it’s no longer pink, throw in all remaining ingredients, cover and simmer on low for an hour.  It’s that easy.   Garnish with sour cream and shredded cheddar/Monterrey cheese.    Serves at least six.

P.S.  Per my personal trainer friend JOEY… this recipe is high in sodium, so if you are concerned about sodium intake, beware.  There are things you can do to reduce it, like using dried beans instead of canned, and low sodium canned corn, etc.  Ranch dressing packets are high in sodium, who knew? 

Barn Buddies

  When we moved to This Old House from The House We Used To Live In,  I gave up something big.  My barn.  For twenty years I have been taking care of our horses at home.  It’s a big change, not having them right outside the door and I do miss it.   What I don’t miss…. is all the work.  My neck is arthritic from  shoveling manure, chipping out ice buckets, tossing hay bales and shoveling snow away from doors in winter.

    I was lucky to find Opie a very good stable nearby that gives excellent care – great hay.. a timothy alfalfa mix – (any horse person knows really good hay is worth it’s weight in gold)  – and terrific turnout.  The horses have pastures and pasture mates.  We are near trails and the riding ring is huge and has wonderful footing.  The owner is very knowledgeable and lives on the premises.  The combination of all those things is surprisingly hard to come by, so I consider myself lucky.

  But I do miss seeing these faces every day. I miss hearing their greetings at feed time too.  There’s always a trade-off, isn’t there.

At the end of the day

    Have you ever known someone who uses a certain phrase, constantly, whenever he or she can fit it in?  Even when it is completely uneccessary or totally redundant?    Mike’s favorite line (besides “what did you buy now“)  is “The reality is…”   and I mean, he puts that three words in a place where no one was even searching  for the truth. 

 “The reality is, we’re not leaving until you pick your stuff up and put it away.”

 And just where was the facade in this scenario?    

Then we’ve got a soccer/baseball parent who starts every major sentence with  “At the end of the day, when it’s all said and done“…. as in…   “At the end of the day,when it’s all said and done, we’re not gonna win this thing until we start playing as a team”.

 That only happens at the end of the day?   And what happens if you didn’t say everything?

 Oh, I’m not exempt.  I say “OK then”… when I find there’s really not much more to say or I’m flabbergasted enough to be stumped.    Atleast it’s compliant, right?   An expression of acceptance… like “It is what it Is”….which I’m also guilty of.  Again…harmonious in it’s acceptance of things as they are, no?  It fits just about anywhere if you think about it. 

   Anyway… the real reason for this post wasn’t that, but this…

At the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, the reality is, the light filters down toward This Old House as the sun sets gently over the hill, casting a warm amber glow over her rooms.   I like to take this time to sit with a cup of tea,  put the worries of the day aside and accept that it IS what it IS.

Ok then.

    

Precious

  See.. this is one of the awesome things about blogging…

 Beth over at  – Be yourself, everyone else is taken – casually mentioned that she’d be at the beach for the next month.  Seeing as she resides in a snowy state,  I was curious as to where the heck she went.  The lucky girl  is currently a resident of Seaside on the Gulf Coast Pan handle of Florida.  If you’ve never been…  the waters are the most beautiful shade of emerald green/blue and the sands are sugar white.  My grandmother lived nearby in a gulf front condo on Panama City Beach and we visited Seaside often.

 “The original vision of founders Robert and Daryl Davis, Seaside is the heart of Northwest Florida’s Emerald Coast along the scenic Highway 30A corridor. Beautiful, unique residences and guest houses blend seamlessly with pristine beaches overlooking the crystal clear waters of the Gulf Of Mexico. Seaside is designed to reflect a simpler time, when meals were shared, stories entertained and walking was how people got around.”

  I had a dream of one day owning one of these awesome seaside “cottages”… their vibrant colors and big porches and quaint walkways are so welcoming.  There’s an awesome artisans outdoor market in good weather. The problem is real estate is at a PREMIUM down there on the gulf coast and it’s only gotten more expensive in recent years. 

  There was, however, this tiny pink/peach cottage that I adored. It had the name “Precious”.  I thought.. well, some day… perhaps Precious will fit the budget.  I was so enamored with Precious when I last visited that I took photos and came home to paint a small portrait with my then four year old daughter standing in front.  Now I’m not a true artist in the paint medium, my work tends to be flat. But I still try now and then for the joy of it and I do cherish this little painting from 17 years ago.

  

When Beth told me where she was I gave her a photo assignment. It’s been 17 years since I last saw Precious. Could the tiny house still be as it was? Seaside has grown tremendously and it was quite possible she no longer existed. This morning I glanced at my blog roll.. and… THERE SHE WAS!!!
   Beth found her, in need of attention and now a mere guest cottage to a much larger home.  She is still… Precious.   And so is Beth…   thank you, thank you for finding my old friend.   Now that Precious is a guest cottage, I know for sure she is out of my league.  One can always dream.
 
 

Hammonasset in Winter

To stand at the edge of the sea
to sense the ebb and flow of the tides
to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh
to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept
up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of year
to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea
is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal
 as any earthly life can be.



 – Rachel Carson

 
 

I’ve been unfaithful

  We’ve been together for a long time, not really sure when it began to go sour.  So many good times – picnics at the park, family gatherings, The Vineyard, St. John, long walks with the dogs,  romantic sunsets on the beach.  I thought it would never end, the pure joy when we were together.

But …relationships change, needs change… and I began to want more.  I grew, but the rebel didn’t.  What we had was a comfortable existence, but it wasn’t enough.   And so…  when tall, dark, handsome and extremely well equipped showed up on my doorstep, I let go of the past and grabbed  hold of  the future with reckless abandon.

   While the attraction was instant,  the relationship is still very new.  I’m treading lightly here. There are fits and starts as we get to know each other, not sure if I’m pushing all the right buttons – but already there is music and I am in love.  I can no longer deny my feelings… and … we’ve  been photographed together so the Jig is Up.

 I guess this is it… good bye, my rebel friend.

And HELLO CANON EOS 7D. 

(God help me.  Or atleast give me a dummys encyclopedia on HOW TO…. in english)

  Tonight I’ll be sitting fireside with my new beau… and his instruction manual. 
 If only they ALL came with instructions.

 

Resolve

 Another year bites the dust…Or a fresh new year begins.  It’s all in your perspective.. glass half  empty or full kind of thing.  My spouse reflects with sadness on the ending of a year – … I’m all for new beginnings –

 Every year in the past  I have said the same thing –  “THIS… is my  year.  The year that I will get in the best shape of my life, the year that I will find the patience in all things that I have always lacked. More family time, less frivolous spending, more giving of myself, less eating CRAP.    The year that I will FIND MY BLISS.”   and ultimately, when I don’t accomplish all of the above, I feel failure.

 I’m not doing that dance this time, I’m finally realizing that the job I do in the important areas of my life, like family, is perfectly OK.  Even  more importantly –  exactly what I am at this moment… is enough.

 Instead of placing demands and unrealistic expectations on myself, I am going to embrace each day as it comes. Where I find inspiration, I will go with the creative  flow. I will not try to fill every moment with a meaningful existence. Where I find someone or something in need, I will lend a hand.  Impatience is part of who I am, and sometimes it really helps to get the job done… I accept it.   I love food and I’m not obese – perhaps a little restraint and more frequent walks with the dog is all that is needed, and I can handle that with joy. 

  LIFE.. is a huge gift. I think what I will resolve to do this year is to appreciate that I am here, now, living in the moment and doing a decent job of it.  The lyrics to one of my favorite Eagles songs says it best … Learn to be Still –

noreply-comment@blogger.com

  I love reading your comments and I like to respond to each of you, especially when you’ve asked a question or have paid a compliment.  Some of you may not be getting responses from blog owners because we’re coming across THIS message when we attempt to reply –

noreply-comment@blogger.com

 Now, some people want total  privacy and I understand that sentiment…

But I would imagine some of you may not know that you have your email hidden so that people cannot respond.   If you have been wondering why no one ever responds to your comments, follow these simple steps to unblock your email.

1. Go to your dashboard,

2. Click “edit profile”

3. Check the box that says “show my email address”

4. Save your profile

It’s as easy as that.

The Way I See It

  As each year comes to a close, talk around the table turns naturally to  what we leave behind and what lies ahead.  During these discussions it  occurs to me that I have a mental image of what a year looks like, a road map of the weirdest kind.  I’ve often wondered if other people have a shapshot of the mechanics of a year, an image that just pops up when you’re thinking of a years’ block of time.

 There’s no way I can accurately describe what I see mentally – and the image I drew above  is not what I see as far as written words or lines. It is, however, the form I see when thinking of a year, the cycle.  

  There are a few things I notice when I examine this diagram.  July and August have the biggest block of space. I love summer – easy analysis, wishful thinking.  September through June are a typical school year. That’s one looong stretch.  December, or really Christmas.. is the anchor of my yearly model.  I have no idea why a year looks like this to me, and its been this way since I was old enough to imagine.  One other interesting fact … the year runs counter-clockwise. 

   So I’m putting this out to the Universe. I’d like to know what a year looks like to you.  Is it one long continuous string of months from left to right?  Is there a circular cycle in your minds’ eye?  Are you wondering if I lost my sanity among the gift wrap, boxes and christmas cookies I threw in the overflowing garbage cans outside This Old House…..