I remember the day that my Nana died. It was early in the morning and I was in Florida with my mother. It was a sad day. A sad week even. It was a year, though, before she died that I'd visited Nana in Bermuda. She was very cute. Crocheting, she was always crocheting. Something about how it helped the arthritis she had in her hands. She was always working on a blanket for someone in the same pattern I'd been looking at since I was a child. Sure, I could probably do that pattern with my eyes closed, but it was more special coming from Nana. Thing is, Nana had never made me a blanket. Everyone else had one in the colors they wanted and I never got one. So when I saw her last I said so. "How comes I never got one of your blankets Nana?" Nana looked at me, "No?" she told me where to go and look for an extra she had someplace in her house and I did. It was the one pictured. Made from all the leftover yarn from all the blankets she'd made throughout the years. I recognized them all. I took my blanket home. Happy because mine was the ONLY ONE like it. Like I was am the only one like me. Just like the blanket I have a bit of Nana, and bits of everyone that I love...never to be repeated.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Bits of Her
I remember the day that my Nana died. It was early in the morning and I was in Florida with my mother. It was a sad day. A sad week even. It was a year, though, before she died that I'd visited Nana in Bermuda. She was very cute. Crocheting, she was always crocheting. Something about how it helped the arthritis she had in her hands. She was always working on a blanket for someone in the same pattern I'd been looking at since I was a child. Sure, I could probably do that pattern with my eyes closed, but it was more special coming from Nana. Thing is, Nana had never made me a blanket. Everyone else had one in the colors they wanted and I never got one. So when I saw her last I said so. "How comes I never got one of your blankets Nana?" Nana looked at me, "No?" she told me where to go and look for an extra she had someplace in her house and I did. It was the one pictured. Made from all the leftover yarn from all the blankets she'd made throughout the years. I recognized them all. I took my blanket home. Happy because mine was the ONLY ONE like it. Like I was am the only one like me. Just like the blanket I have a bit of Nana, and bits of everyone that I love...never to be repeated.
Hey Ma...
No idea where this little tidbit came from, but I think I am meant to share it.
"Do you think Dr. Stephen Hawking would appreciate a lap dance? Not from me. Rather, from someone familiar with the trade? I thought I saw something during one of his programs that got me thinking "yes" but my friend said it was just the way he was holding the slide rule. Just wondering. His program on time travel was brilliant. A bit dry though. Would have benefited from a conjurer, a Mariachi band or, perhaps, a bit of cleavage. I don't know. It was easy to follow but exciting and depressing at the same time. Like birthday parties."
Pressin' it OUT
Yesterday, my Aunt and I got hold of a kick-butt panini press and so we decided to give it a whirl.
You will need:
(mind you, a panini is like a good jazz standard, you can riff on it anyway you see fit. The ingredients we chose because that's what WE like...you can change it up, if you want.)
Assemble the sandwhich like so: Bread, gourmaise, cheese (1.5 slices, it's big bread), ham, (3 slices), tomato, pickle, artichoke hearts (not too much), cheese (again, 1.5 slices), gourmaise, bread. Butter one side of the outside of the sandwich and put it butter side down on the press, then butter the other side of the sandwich. Close the panini press and let the cheese get all melted and the bread nice and golden. Do not burn it.
I hope you like them as much as we did.
If you don't have a panini press, I am sure you can use a frying pan to get the same results, or if you have a grill pan. Either way, pressed sandwiches are the best.
P.S. I'm sorry the picture couldn't have been better, but I was really focused on eating that sandwich.!
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| yum |
(mind you, a panini is like a good jazz standard, you can riff on it anyway you see fit. The ingredients we chose because that's what WE like...you can change it up, if you want.)
- Really great bread. We got country white bread from the bakery section in the grocery store...nothing but the best for our creation
- Boar's Head Pepper Corn Gourmaise...it was like mayo, but it had all this stuff in it that made it look like mustard, only it had no mustard in it. We used probably about 2tsp per sandwich. Not too much.
- Creamy Havarti Cheese sliced not too thin
- Sweet Sliced Ham...I had NO IDEA what Sweet Sliced Ham was, but my Aunt told me it's like the kind of ham that you would bake at home...DELICIOUS!
- Pickle slices
- Tomato slices, thin
- Artichoke hearts
- Butter, not too much butter, 1tsp maybe 2tsp for the entire sandwich.
Assemble the sandwhich like so: Bread, gourmaise, cheese (1.5 slices, it's big bread), ham, (3 slices), tomato, pickle, artichoke hearts (not too much), cheese (again, 1.5 slices), gourmaise, bread. Butter one side of the outside of the sandwich and put it butter side down on the press, then butter the other side of the sandwich. Close the panini press and let the cheese get all melted and the bread nice and golden. Do not burn it.
I hope you like them as much as we did.
If you don't have a panini press, I am sure you can use a frying pan to get the same results, or if you have a grill pan. Either way, pressed sandwiches are the best.
P.S. I'm sorry the picture couldn't have been better, but I was really focused on eating that sandwich.!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Cereal Killah
I just made these really sweet business cards using cereal boxes for paper, the MS Publisher program and my very humble printer. I got the idea from Ashley Weeks Cart at Blog A La Cart and I have to say I cannot get enough!
You can find the instructions on Ashley's blog, the only difference I have is that I used MS Publisher. Really, I think you can use any design or word program. Go nuts!
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| two scoops of awesome! |
Thursday, January 19, 2012
me : shots in the dark : you
me : I prefer the dark
hard to see you : you
me : you saw me in the dark before
where are you now?: you
me : somewhere in the dark wishing you could see me
me too : you
It ain't over
My dad, 66 this year, has really begun to feel the sting of his own mortality. His friends have begun to pass away at an alarming rate. This week his best friend died of colon cancer, a few months back another had a stroke and just recently another went into the hospital with some mysterious illness and is hanging by a thread.
When we got word of his freind's passing there was this look on his face of utter disbelief and perhaps loss. Then the tears in his eyes. I have only seen my father cry once in my life. I couldn't handle it then and I cannot andle it now. I excused myself and went to my room and had my own moment of mourning.
When we got word of his freind's passing there was this look on his face of utter disbelief and perhaps loss. Then the tears in his eyes. I have only seen my father cry once in my life. I couldn't handle it then and I cannot andle it now. I excused myself and went to my room and had my own moment of mourning.
Later, on Martain Luther King Day, he and I were watcing one of the many documentaries trotted out especially for the day when he sits back and looks hard at me says: "What an exciting life. I was born at the tail end of a war, witnessed a few other wars. I've seen assassinations, the rise and fall of governments, the creation and dismantling of gangs, civil rights ... " the man goes on and on...
I could only stare at him and say "Yeah".
The other day mom and I were sitting in her bedroom watching tv, dad was someplace else in the house. Suddenly there was this sound like a body hitting the floor my mother's head snapped up and my heart dropped. My father's been plagued with a heart condition for a little more than a decade, including a pace maker, so you know where our minds went, especially given the events of the past week. We both leapt up and stalked through the house calling out "Dad?" "Tommy?"
I could only stare at him and say "Yeah".
The other day mom and I were sitting in her bedroom watching tv, dad was someplace else in the house. Suddenly there was this sound like a body hitting the floor my mother's head snapped up and my heart dropped. My father's been plagued with a heart condition for a little more than a decade, including a pace maker, so you know where our minds went, especially given the events of the past week. We both leapt up and stalked through the house calling out "Dad?" "Tommy?"
Dad was sitting in his office minding his own beeswax.
What was the sound? Balloons getting caught in the ceiling fan. The remnants of a party a few days ago.
That's not the point.
The point is my father reviewing his life has me taking stock of my own.
Amazing things have happened in my lifetime as well. I have done things that a lot of people I know haven't. It's been an interesting life, but I am far from finished.
What was the sound? Balloons getting caught in the ceiling fan. The remnants of a party a few days ago.
That's not the point.
The point is my father reviewing his life has me taking stock of my own.
Amazing things have happened in my lifetime as well. I have done things that a lot of people I know haven't. It's been an interesting life, but I am far from finished.
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