Category: Uncategorized

Chicken with Garlic, Rosemary & White Bean Stew

This recipe is awesome for a chilly fall evening, my picky family loved it.

 Garlic bread is the perfect side…

Ingredients:
2 tbs olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into stew sized pieces
Pearl onions (I used jarred)
I bag shredded carrots or three carrots diced
5 garlic cloves, chopped
4 oz. canadian ham, diced
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
2 cans (19 oz each) canellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried
2 cups chicken broth

Warm olive oil, salt & pepper to taste in large non-stick soup kettle over high heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides. Add pearl onions, carrots, garlic and canadian ham/bacon, saute until onions are lightly browned. Stir in balsamic vinegar and wine or broth; bring to boil and then simmer over medium-low heat until liquid is reduced by about a third.  Stir in beans, rosemary and chicken broth. Bring back to simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt & pepper, ENJOY!     Serves 4

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

 It’s the book I’m reading right now… (love it) … but it’s also the overwhelming need I had today  to recognize and truly appreciate the day before me. 

Right now in this moment… I need to appreciate that my kids are healthy and happy in the direction their life is taking.. we are not losing our house (yet!) to foreclosure, we are not struggling with a catastrophic illness, we still have jobs.  I went for a ride through the beautiful  early autumn woods on my horse.  MY HORSE! Something that was only a dream as a kid growing up in the shadow of the big city.  I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up food for a refrigerator that is always stocked.  Then I took my other horse, ben, for a walk down the street in our neighborhood, admiring old homes and fading gardens without fear of being hit by a bullet.  There’s a guy sitting at home watching football who gives a damn whether I’m hit by that bullet.  Tonight we will go to the birthday party of a good friend and we are praying that he has many many more birthdays to look forward to.   

It’s not a perfect life – never judge a book by it’s cover and all that –  but today I have the gift of an ordinary and extraordinary day.  Life is good.

Doe anyone know what this is?  There are about twenty of these growing up out of the pine forest floor. They are not together.. but scattered about five feet from each other.

Life As A House

 
I saw this movie for the first time last night on PayPerView, although it was originally released in 2001. What a wonderful film… full of real and imperfect characters, the gutwrenching twists and turns of true life, humor, humanity… something for everyone, and several clear messages we can all come away with.  I absolutely loved it…

Storyline

George Monroe is a lonely and sad man. Divorced for ten years, he lives alone on the Southern California coast with his pet dog in the same run down shack he has lived in for twenty-five years, the shack which his father passed down to him. In the intervening years, ostentatious houses have sprung up around him. He’s been at the same architectural firm for twenty years in a job he hates, which primarily consists of building scale models. On the day that he is fired from his job, he is diagnosed with an advanced case of terminal cancer, which he chooses not to disclose to his family. In many ways, this day is the happiest of his recent life in that he decides to spend what little time he has left doing what he really wants to do, namely build a house he can call his own to replace the shack. He also wants his rebellious sixteen year old son, Sam Monroe, to live with him for the summer, hopefully not only to help in the house construction… Written by Huggo

This description is only the beginning… 

CAST:  Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Hayden Christensen,  Jena Malone,  Mary Steenburgen

FUN FACTS: The featured house had to be removed after filming, but costume designer Molly Maginnis led a group of parents that had it dismantled, reconstructed, and enlarged to become a library for the Kenter Canyon school in Brentwood, California. The new library opened in April 2004.
The video of George and young Sam playing in the surf was shot by Kevin Kline’s wife, Phoebe Cates. She videotaped Kevin and their son Owen on the beach in Bermuda.
Lindsay Lohan, who was 14 years old at the time of production/casting, was strongly considered for the role of Alyssa and even screen tested for it. While the filmmakers were impressed with Lohan, they ultimately gave Jena Malone the part, deciding they wanted someone a little bit older.

Mystic Pizza

 Today I  took my girl  (who apparently STILL NEEDS ME on occasion!  I won’t dwell on the fact that it usually revolves around replenishment of funds and stuff )  to Mystic Seaport for some retail therapy and Mystic Pizza – Do you know, they still play the movie in the actual joint? We had the Mediterranean and Buffalo Chicken specialty pies…  I will say, their pizza is OK… but it doesn’t compare to what we get at Modern or Pepe’s in New Haven. Of course, even in New Haven you can’t get the pie I grew up on in New York.  

 All over the restaurant there are photos of Julia and the cast, scenes from the movie…and other Hollywood icons as well.  Speaking of Julia… I have always loved her movies and she’s one of my favorite actresses.  I just don’t get the Eat Pray Love thing.. the book didn’t grab me and the movie didn’t either, although anyone could admire the scenery.  Am I the only one?

 

Winds of Change

I’ve been at odds lately ….
Stevie Nicks, one of my all-time favorites, 
 asks the question in one of my all-time favorite songs -.Landslide
“Can I turn with the seasons of my life”
Easier said than done.
The thing thats tugging at me the most right now is simply this..
This job…the one I’ve held the longest,
the one I’ve cherished the most
is slowly being outsourced.
Meaning…
 my kids don’t need me so much anymore.

They are slowly but surely getting what they need and want

from the outside world… as it should be.
But… that leaves me slightly at odds. I’m a little lost in that knowledge.
The not needing..you know.
And the what next?

Caramelized Apple Cake

 Got this recipe out of a magazine, delicious and not too hard to make.  I used a cast iron skillet (oven proof is necessary).

Caramelized Apple Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 5  tbs  Butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large granny smith apples – peeled, cored, sliced 1/4 inch thick

Heat oven to 375.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl, set aside. Use electric mixer high speed to beat 1/2 cup of butter in large bowl until creamy (1 minute). Add granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla, beat until blended. On low speed blend in flour mixture and then sour cream.

Melt remaining 5 tbs butter in ovenproof 10 inch skillet. Add brown sugar , stir 2 minutes. 

Add apple slices to the pan and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 10 minutes or until tender.  Let cool 5 minutes.

Spoon batter over apples and spread to edge of pan. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on rack for 20 minutes, run knife around edge and carefully invert onto plate.

Not to change the subject, but I’m changing the subject….
The first week of Catholic High School has been a success!
I don’t know who they sent home after the first day in my son’s clothes,
but whoever he is has been doing his homework
without being asked
Neatly! Organized! and with enthusiasm!!!
He’s even waking up after the first bugle call every morning..
instead of the 56th.
Holy Crow.
Literally!
 And to those of you who recommended ditching the ironing of the shirts and just snapping them right out of the dryer… Eureka!.. it works!
  I’m doing a happy dance, can you tell? 

Where were you?

…my sister and I were talking on the phone. I was folding laundry, piles all over the bed.  Then a news flash on CNN.. a plane had hit one of the twin towers.  My first thoughts were “Oh, a pilot error, how terrible.”   Now riveted to the TV, my sister and I watched in horror as the second plane hit…and it was instantly clear this was no accident.

 Of all the images you can view with a google of the numbers 9/11, this one haunts me the most. This is the very instant when the world would change forever in a twisted and horrible way.  It brought clearly to the surface all the anger and hate that lies beneath. Until this time my generation lived in a relative time of peace.. too young to have been a part of Vietnam, old enough to have been around a while without the experience of living in war time.  I was so naive. 

  And then there was the time of rallying together.  We were One Nation again…flags hung from highway overpasses, doorways, bumper stickers…. waving from car antennas, worn on clothing.. we were again a proud nation standing strong together, caring for each other.  For a while.  We’ve drifted again -yet another tragedy, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Since the time he could walk he was taking things apart and actually fixing them as he got older.  He was aloof and sarcastic and funny at the same time.  When we were 10 years old  playing in the yard, I tangled with a bees nest and had three stuck in my hair. As I went running and screaming for my mother… his mom yelled out her front door “Arthur,  what did you do?’…..
When friends began settling down and he was invited to a housewarming party, he’d bring a large quantity of toilet paper and beer as a gift.
 He also made his own brew.
 He loved his dog, buddy.
Time went by.. he became a fireman in the tradition of his family.
And he was a good one.
On that day..that day…
he had the day off. 
But.. his station needed a tool to fix something and he happened to have it
in the back of his truck and he also happened to be the most capable fix-it guy.
So he crossed the bridge and went into the city…
Arthur T. Barry
We all have stories of that day,  where were you?

Before and After – The office of the Boss

 This room, located in the front right corner of the house if you’re facing it from the street.. was originally a dining room. Since we use that big keeping room (kitchen) as a dining room, sitting room, hanging out at the island room… Mike made this his office.   Jeff did all the cabinetry work in his shop, and the fireplace and beams are original, even the stones are back in place.  Mike took photos before the dismantle and the stones were marked so that they would go back together properly.

Jeff and crew …..
I know there should probably be a photo of some prestigious politician or religious leader or prominent family member  up over the mantle there… but this rhinoceros photo speaks to Mike in some mystical way,  (POWER,  MIGHT,  BRICK SH*T HOUSE, I’m guessing).  

See you at the Fair

 I can’t think of a better way to start the fall season in New England.  Within driving distance we’ve got everything from a MEGA -Fair, which draws Saturday Night Band Talent such as the Charlie Daniels Band and Leann Rimes… to small town fairs that have all the charm you’de expect.  The kids love hooking up with their friends and we get to eat all that sinful food. 

There’s a certain elecricity in the air…the combined energy of good live music, the smell of woodsmoke and bar-b-q.. talent contests, agricultural exhibits and 4-H projects, the rides, the games, young lovers, families, gathering of friends old and new… it’s a love affair I’ll never outgrow.

His shirt said Ho Ho Ho.    I Believe.