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Herb Brined Lamb Chops
My good friend Janet came to visit a few weeks ago. Janet lives in DC, though she used to live in Texas, and before that, she lived in New York, and before that, DC. It’s been a long time since we lived close by each other in San Francisco and Berkeley, or Stockton and Lodi. She had several hours to spend before heading back to DC, and wanted to know if I wanted to have lunch or dinner and a visit. Often when she comes to visit, she spends a bunch of money taking me to a fancy lunch, and we have a nice visit, but she doesn’t get to…
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Pictures of You
April Nash is leaving her marriage. Leaving her husband and young son behind, traveling on a foggy road towards another life. Unbeknownst to her, her son, Sam, is asleep under a blanket in the back seat. The car was moving. Sam heard the rivery sound of the road under him, and he sat up, rubbing his eyes, pulling the blanket from him. Cars were zipping past in a blur of color. And there was his mother in front, singing along to some song on the radio. “You are my spec-i-al someone,” she sang, and because Sam thought she meant him, he grinned. Her voice sounded bright, like it was full…
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Mother’s Day
Pretty pretty please, don’t you ever ever feel Like you’re less than, less than perfect Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel Like you’re nothing, you are perfect to me* I don’t even like this song. Sorry Pink. Nothing personal. But the other day I was in the car, and it came on, and I found myself wondering if Maya knows that this is how I feel about her. I know, I nag. Pick up your clothes. Do your homework. Make your bed. Finish your girl scout award commitment. But none of that means I think any less of her. It means I know she’s a teen, and sometimes…
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Garlicky Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes
I’ve been wanting to make this recipe for awhile now. It’s in an issue of Real Simple, easy, delicious meals. (The link goes to a more current issue, I believe…mine is dated January of 2010.) Well, last night was the night, and I decided to give this one a try. I must say, it was both easy, and delicious. Really, really good. I can imagine it would be even better if you live somewhere where you can catch fresh salmon yourself. Mine was from the grocery store, and it was still very good. If you were to make it later in the summer, you’d get better tomatoes, though the salmon…
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Wordless Wednesday
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Happy Birthday Ted!
OK, this is just about as corny as it gets, but still….here goes…my message to my darling beloved husband Ted, whom I’ve known and loved for over 23 years…(sing it with me here people, and give it your all…) You light up my life You give me hope To carry on You light up my days and fill my nights with song And you….you light up my life…. Happy Birthday darling!
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Royal Wedding
Today is the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and I wish them every happiness. After the unhappy marriage of William’s parents, it feels like a happy ending to see a couple with a chance of happiness, even under the ugly microscope that follows the Royal family. I’m sure we’re all tired of seeing stories on the news, magazines, etc. And by now if you’re in the least bit interested in this story, you’ve seen the wedding, you’ve seen the dress, and they’re partying like it’s 1999 at Buckingham Palace. So, what do I have to say about it all? I wish them well. I think about the ugly…
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Finding Nouf / City of Veils
Jeddah, gateway to Mecca, on the Red Sea. Photo found here “Despite the independence, or perhaps because he had too much of it, his childhood had provoked an intense longing for a family, a longing that lasted well into adulthood and that he was certain would never be satisfied. His deepest fear was that he’d never marry. Parents arranged marriages. Parents had brothers and sisters who had children who needed to be married. They organized the complicated social visits in which a man got to meet a prospective bride – veiled of course, but the groom could at least study her fingers and feet (unless she was socked and gloved…
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Shrimp Curry
Last week I was watching Nigella Lawson cook on TV, and she made a delicious looking chicken curry, muttar paneer, and something else that I don’t remember. I was mostly sucked in by the muttar paneer, because I love peas. So I wanted to build a dinner around it. I had made a chicken curry just a week or so ago, so I wanted something different. I decided that I’d rather make a shrimp curry, sort of like the seafood tikka masala we had a few weeks ago at a local restaurant. This was truly delicious. I might try a fish tikka masala next time, but this was really, really…
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Legion of Honor
Maya had Spring Break last week, and I took a few days off to spend with her. Originally, she wanted to paint her room, but when I told her how much work that is (moving furniture and cleaning being most of it), she decided she didn’t really want to do that anymore, and could live with the sage green color that she has previously described as ‘mucus’. Undaunted, I insisted that we clean her room anyway. Which didn’t involve moving any furniture, but it did involve getting mounds of dust off of her toys, pulling 2 years worth of backpacks and paperwork out of the closet, going through her books…
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Crabby Patties, two ways
Last week, I saw Ina Garten make Crab Cakes on an old episode of Barefoot Contessa. What especially intrigued me was the bell peppers. I know that crab cake purists say the fewer additives, the better, but if I want pure crab, I don’t bother with crab cakes, I get whole crab and crack it with my teeth. That’s how I roll. I thought the veggies might be a really welcome addition. I mentioned the crab cakes to my sister-in-law, who said that she uses canned crab for crab cakes. “CANNED????” I thought….“THE HORROR!” But what she said made some sense, which is that with all of the other flavors,…
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Playing Hooky
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NpJ4fUhFRU[/youtube] Last weekend, Maya asked if she could miss school on her birthday. My first reaction was, No, go to school. Then I thought about it and realized, who cares if she misses a day of school to celebrate her birthday? I mean, if a teacher is absent, they just show a movie in class, so if they can waste her time (once in awhile…not ragging on her school…it’s a good school, with very dedicated teachers), then so can I. Anyway, it seemed like SUCH a good idea, that Ted and I decided to take the day off as well. So we took a vacation day from work, and went…
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Getty Mansion
(you can click the picture of Marilee and Me, if you’d like to see us with the tops of our heads intact…) Last week, on a stormy, windy, rainy Thursday afternoon, my friend Marilee called me and asked, “Would you like to go to a high society fundraiser at a billionaire’s house tonight?” Her +1 had been forced to cancel at the last minute, due to a child with croup, and she thought we might have a great time. My first reaction was, um, no, it’s RAINING! It’s WINDY! I want to stay home and have a cozy dinner here. But by the time she finished telling me about the…
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Happy Birthday, Genevieive!
Hi Everyone, it’s Genevieve! Guess what? Today’s my birthday! I’m 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 today! Medium Boss keeps saying I’m 13, and that I’m no longer a tween and had better start acting my age, but that just goes to show that she doesn’t understand dog time AT ALL. Last week, Medium Boss took me to a new place to have a bath. It was kind of scary, and I’m sorry to say that I dug in my heels a bit and didn’t let her guide me to the car. But it was kind of loud! And there were so many interesting smells! And you know, since…
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Happy Birthday Maya!
Sometimes it seems that the time is flowing so quickly, and that I don’t know how we got from that very first day, with its fear and pain (labor), as well as its joy and exultation (baby), to today, when our beloved daughter is 15 years old! It has thus far been an amazing ride, watching Maya grow from a sweet, dependent baby, to a sweet, strong, thoughtful, intelligent, caring, beautiful girl. She truly is our dream come true, and we could not wish for anything more. I remember those baby wishes, before we had her, before I was pregnant. I had it bad. I wanted a baby so much,…
