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A Week of Breakfasts
Some people eat the same thing for breakfast every day. I am not one of those people. I like some variety. I don’t usually eat 7 different breakfasts in one week, but this week I did and I documented it for you. Working from home means that I have freedom in when I eat. Generally I get up, have tea and play my word games, do weights and yoga, go for a walk, sign in for my daily 8am meeting, and eat breakfast whenever I’m hungry. Saturday ~ Smoothie day. I don’t want you to think that I put any of these pills in my smoothie. I was thinking about…
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Friday Randomness
Sometimes I think my blog has turned into book reviews and randomness, with the occasional recipe thrown in. Was it ever anything different? I don’t know. I mean, for about 5 minutes in 2005 I wrote about local restaurants, but that didn’t last at all. So without any further ado, here is your random content for the week. Earthshake*Monday morning we were awoken in our absolute favorite way, a 2:55am earthquake. They’re unsettling, because you’re never sure whether that jolt you felt was the worst of it, or if they are going to get stronger. This one was a quick jolt, then some rolling, then it (thankfully) stopped. A 4.3…
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The Anomaly
The Anomaly ~ Hervé Le Tellier, translated from French by Adriana Hunter In March of 2021, an Air France flight from Paris to New York hits extreme turbulence. The plane is damaged but lands safely. In June of 2021, an exact duplicate flight (both the plane and the passengers) attempts to land at JFK. Alarms go off when air traffic control realizes something very strange is going on, and brings in the US Department of Defense. The Anomaly follows the passengers and crew, both before the second plane lands and after. We hear from both the versions who land in March, and those who land in June. We see their…
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Wordless Wednesday ~ For Stephany
This picture is for Stephany, who went with her mom to a dachshund meetup and shared the adorable pictures here. This picture is from a gathering for the rescue where we got both Genevieve and Mulder. Mulder is the dog in the foreground. They’re begging for some kind of frozen treat. He had SO MUCH FUN that day.
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Friday Randomness
It feels like our descent into fascism is speeding up exponentially, doesn’t it? I suspect that is because it is. This has been a rough week or 30, hasn’t it? Oh hell, a rough century so far. To say I don’t understand this world is a gross understatement. Ted recommended a podcast to me. Forum is a locally produced NPR show, and this episode is about the tension between the stresses in the world while we still need to go about our day, and continue to find beauty in our lives. Life Goes On While Systems Fray – How Do We Make Sense of the Dissonance? Give it a listen…
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Foreverland
Foreverland ~ Heather Havrilesky In Foreverland, Heather Havrilesky explores her 15 year marriage to her husband. It’s a memoir told in essays, from their first meeting, falling in love, marrying and having children, and aging together. Are we really meant to sleep next to the same person every night, put up with all of their annoying habits, care for them when they need it, let them take care of you when you need it? She’s not sure that marriage is for everyone. She doesn’t seem entirely sure it’s for her. But here she is, and she loves her husband more than she is frustrated by him. I think anyone in…
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Heartwood
Heartwood ~ Amity Gaige Valerie Gillis is hiking the Appalachian Trail alone. Well, sort of alone, as there are a lot of hikers on the trail, and people sometimes hike together for days or weeks on end, and her husband is following along in his car, meeting her every few days to give her provisions. When she doesn’t show up on time, he’s not too worried at first, but after a day goes by and she still doesn’t appear, he starts to worry. The search is on, led by Beverly, the Maine State Game Warden with a perfect record for finding lost hikers. She doesn’t always find them alive, but…
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Downton Abbey – The Grand Finale
Saturday afternoon I had my favorite lunch, popcorn and Coke Zero at the movie theater. The movie in question was Downton Abbey – The Grand Finale. In the first film, it was a visit from the King and Queen. The second film, there was a trip to the South of France for 1/2 of the clan, while the other half stayed behind and a movie crew filmed at the Abbey. Now in this third film, Mary is newly divorced, and London society is scandalized. The effort is to keep her from being shunned from the local community as well. What else is going on? Mrs. Patmore and Carson are getting…
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Friday Randomness
It’s been a busy week around here. We celebrated Ted’s stepdad’s birthday last Saturday – no pictures, but we had a lovely time. We had bbq ribs and chicken, green salad, potato salad, watermelon, hibiscus tea mixed with lemonade, wine, and chocolate raspberry cake. The weather was perfect, not too hot, but warm enough that you could sit outside if you wanted. Speaking of weather, it seems from your posts like it’s full on fall for some of you. I remember fall coming in August when I was a kid in Alaska, and when Ted and I lived in Philadelphia, it felt like a switch was flipped in mid September…
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The Three Lives of Cate Kay
The Three Lives of Cate Kay ~ Kate Fagan Annie Callahan and her best friend Amanda Kent are inseparable. They are both involved in their High School theater, and dream of getting out of upstate New York and moving to Los Angeles in search of fame and fortune. After a horrible accident, Annie leaves town. Her shame at leaving is so great, she does not go back. Instead, she becomes… Cass Ford, a barista who dreams of becoming an author. On a whim, she audits a writing class at her local college, where she meets Sidney Collins, a lawyer who also wants to write. They become involved romantically, and Sidney…
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Black Cake
Black Cake ~ Charmaine Wilkerson Benny and Byron Bennett are estranged siblings, brought together by the death of their beloved mother, Eleanor. Eleanor, with help from her lawyer, has recorded a message for them, and she wants them to hear it together. This is the beginning of Black Cake, and from there we are taken back and forth in time, to learn the deep secrets that Eleanor has kept from her children. Listening to her recording, Benny and Byron discover that while they knew the essence of their mother, they did not know the details of how she became to be the woman they admired and loved. The trials she…
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Friday Randomness
Apparently last week’s theme was day by day (Music Monday, Wordless Wednesday, etc.) and this week was recipes. Did I plan this? Not really, but it worked. Where to start? Oh, I know. In hell. Politics Maya has been sucked into the ‘Trump is Dead’ internet speculation, and starts each day telling us the current conspiracy theories. Allow me to show you a corner of my recently cleaned out closet. Tucked in with my bulkiest sweaters…ready and waiting. It’s been there since January. Painful Things The latest school shooting, this time in Minnesota, reminded me of this poem. So frustrating, so heartbreaking, so infuriating, so avoidable. I love a lot…
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Roasted Zucchini
Diane had a post the other day that included some delicious sounding zucchini, so I thought I would give it a try. Zucchini is not my favorite vegetable (or fruit), unless it is deep friend and dipped in ranch dressing, but when the zucchini are small and it’s not overcooked, it can be really nice. So I decided to try her recipe, which we ate with chicken (Maya had leftover pasta). Roasted Zucchini Ingredients Directions Preheat oven to 375 F. This is my default roasting veggie temp, it works for me. Slice zucchini into rounds, then toss with remaining ingredients down to oregano. Roast for 10-15 minutes until almost tender.…
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Quinoa Bowls with Sweet Potatoes and Black Beans
After I made Nicole’s tacos last week, I had leftover sweet potatoes and guacamole. This is not a bad problem to have, so I decided to figure out how I could best use the leftovers. Also, I thought maybe I would add some protein, and quinoa sounded like a good way to do that. I cobbled together a bowl with mostly the same items from the tacos, though I added some tomatoes because it is tomato season. Putting this into a recipe form is ridiculous, but perhaps it will trigger in my brain next time I want something quick, easy, healthy, and delicious. Ted is the biggest meat eater in…
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Guacamole
This is not a beautiful picture, but it’s the picture I have. This is our go-to guacamole recipe nowadays, and when Maya comes home from a long day of work and finds me making this, her eyes light up. Also she always requests it for an appetizer at family parties. It’s lime foreword and delicious. We originally found the recipe buried in a fajita recipe, here, and because of that when I want to find the recipe in my binder, I have to look under beef. Stupid. Guacamole Ingredients Directions In a bowl, smash together the first 5 ingredients, then add salt to taste. The lime does a pretty good…
