The Best Thing Since Sliced...

A few weeks ago, I got wind of a new trend. This one happens to be healthy.  Have you heard of Mason Jar Salads? The concept is to make salad for the week when you bring those veggies home from the market and store them individually in Mason jars. I had to try this and I am sold.

Here's the deal. Buy your favorite salad fixings. Wash them in one part vinegar to 10 parts water. That is suppose to clean them up and kill any miniscule things you don't really want. Line the jars up. I bought quart size jars with wide mouth openings. 12 for $10 or so. Chop the wettest veggies first. Generally the tomatoes, next cucmbers, then celery, then carrots or radishes and green onions. Finally top off with chopped lettuce. Push the lettuce down a bit to pack it in. Place the lid and then store in the fridege.

I usually add spinach to the mix when I put the salad in a bowl for serving. Spinach doesn't chop to well. It has  tendency to wilt. If you are taking these to work, you can add dressing first so that it stays in the bottom of the jar and then shake to mix it at serving time.

Obviously, you can add meat or egg or whatever other veggies you like best. Just put the wettest ones in the bottom. This stays amazingly fresh. Mason jar seals or really good.

I love salad but making one everyday is a pain. I always have good intentions and then at the end of the week I find this runny stuff still in bags in the fridge. What a waste of cash.  Making salad once and storing it in separate containers fits my bill. For more info or other ideas, just Google Mason jar Salads. An amazing number will pop up.

Have fun and good eating!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who have mothered someone or something. That is a broad definition, I know. That definition is also good. Mothering someone or something is worthwhile. If you haven't mothered then mentor. We mothers like to share. Life is good!

My view today...Amen!

Cinco de Mayo

I may not be Hispanic, but I am a believer.
So looking forward to a margarita and quesadillas this eve.

A story from a Cinco de Mayo celebration a few years back...

Today is the Cinco de Mayo half marathon except it is on Once de Mayo and Mother's Day to boot. A rainy day in Portland but would you expect anything else. I am the designated driver and stuff-holder. Here is this fit young man posing for the photographer at the start of it all. He’s got the Portland Spirit.

One of the benefits of running this race is the promise of a couple of beers at the end. Drew left his ID at home. They wouldn’t serve him. I grabbed his race placard and went to the oldest person taking tickets, showed her “my” race number and started to pass through the line. She looked at me quizzically and asked if I had run in the race. I replied “Doesn’t it look like I did?” Me in my jeans and birkenstocks. Who argues with a 60 year old woman? Not a 70 year old that’s for sure. One benefit of aging. PS The beer was good and cold even if it was 9AM

Ya Gotta Love Skype

I know I do.

My son lives in Amsterdam and Skype allows us to video conference on a regular basis and best of all, it's free of charge. Having worked for Ma Bell back in the day, I wonder how all this is possible.
Sundays generally are our day to connect. I was thinking about him today and made this digital layout with a picture he sent to me when he was in the French Alps. Photo via Smartphone and What's App messaging. Ya gotta love this too! Hi Drew!

Voices: Amy Tan

I've read a number of her books. The Bonesetter's Daughter was my personal favorite although The Joy Luck Club is good too. I often wonder how much of a person's life story ends up in their writings. In this case, quite a lot. Ms Tan was born in the US to immigrant parents from China. On this evening, she shared the story of growing up with a mother who suffered from severe angst and perhaps depression.

Generally, I thought the lecture was too personal, a downer but some life stories are just that. I would have liked her to link her unusual upbringing to her life as a writer. Or, the journey she traveled to becoming a published writer. That didn't happen and I missed that aspect.

She graduated from Linfield College here in Oregon. It is where she met her husband of many years. Her next novel, Valley of Amazement, will be published later this year. I look forward to reading it.

If you live in Oregon, you should consider attending the Voices lecture series. There are four a year in October, November, February and April, featuring women speakers from all walks of life.

Next years lineup features Eve Ensler of Vagina Monolog fame, speaking on "In the Body of the World";
Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love, speaking on "Big Magic: Thoughts on Creative Living";

Marin Alsop, first woman to head a major American orchestra, speaks on "A Life in Music";

and Asenath Andrews, founded the Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women, educating teens with children and helping them break the cycle of poverty. She will speak on "Take Away Shoes and Give Girls Wings".

I hope to see you there!

Lemon Meringue Pie, Oh My!

Being one of 27 grandchildren, one on one time with Gramma is really special. Gramma Dorothy is a very good pie maker. On this day, she and Caite decided to make a lemon meringue. An internet recipe, improvising without a rolling pin (isn't that what empty wine bottles are for) or a rolling canvas, lots of pots and pans later, some angst and a lot of laughter, the golfers, Delse and Elaine, were the recipients of this amazing effort. Thanks you girls!

Ready for the oven...

Baked and ready to eat...

Lemons and More

When you have a Meyer lemon tree and a prolific producer of fruit it is, you are constantly on the look out for lemon recipes. This one I found in the new Oregonian cookbook which I discovered at Costco and was made possible by this delightful machine gifted to us by Rick's sister, Marcy, many years ago.

This machine is so simple, much better than the old fashioned ice cream maker. No salt, no ice required. Just put the inner container in the freezer. Overnight is best. Make the ingredients and pour in. Turn the crank every 3-4 minutes for a total of 20 minutes.
VOILA! and YUMMO!

Meyer Lemon Frozen Yogurt 
2 1/4 cups plain low fat yogurt
3/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 T light corn syrup
1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 T grated Meyer lemon zest

Whisk all together in a mixing bowl.
Process in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers directions.
Eat a lot!

Landfill Harmonic

This is inspiring.
It makes feel bad for what we buy and then dispose of so quickly.

Technology saves the day

I needed something to keep the fruit flies out of my wine glass. This worked.

 Whatever!

A Valid but Lofty Goal

I found this on Pinterest the other day and it made me pause. I find it very difficult to pare things down to just useful or beautiful. There is the category "might be useful someday", or "might be useful to one of the kids" or "to good to toss", or "what do I do with this" or "I'll just put it away for now"...
I am very good at making new categories.

One road block is indecision. At our last house, we had an unfinished basement which I fondly referred to as "the pit of indecision". It housed all the superfluous stuff.

Another roadblock is taking the time to put things away, as in clean up or file or dispose of or just whatever.  I would much rather move on to the next fun activity. So, this is not my strong suit. How do you manage your stuff?

I

What Comes Next?

I was invited to participate in a Fiber Art show with four other very talented artists. We have been planning as a group and working as individual artists for over a year now. The first show opens on February 1 at the Architectural Heritage Center in downtown Portland. If you are in the vicinity, do stop by. Here are the details:

Som Sabadell Rocks!

I love flash mobs. So apparently random and spontaneous to the viewer. And, so joyful! A wonderful respite in the day to a live viewer; a wonderful respite to an internet viewer as well. Sit back for a minute and enjoy this music and people watch JOY!

1.3.13

My word for the year...drum roll please...is  E N C O U R A G E!

What exactly does that mean?

To compliment...other women so they know how magnificent they are.
To comfort...with words, with silence, with a loving touch.
To listen...to people to see what they are really saying.
To mentor...to take another woman under your wing and help her learn to fly.
To look outwardly this year.

and,

To lighten up!
Will you please just lighten up!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Spending the Holidays in the desert with all the kids. I arrived on Thursday, Nick and Caite on Friday and Rick and Drew on Saturday. In the past year, we have all spent time with each other but not all together in one place. The reconnection is good!

Here's to calm, here's to bright!

fa la la la la...

12.12.12

The month and season so far...

Same Day, Just Later

My last blog was on November 15. This is why:

Getting ready to drive down the I-5. Type A me, foot traveling about 50 per hour forward while looking up, ran right into the U-Haul stem. Good thing it's low to the ground. Good thing Rick was there to break the fall. Tough luck that all of me traveled forward except my pinky finger which got hung up on something. It wasn't pretty unless, of course. you like right angles. This seems like overkill for a bone on a little finger but it is what it is. Missing golf and tennis...

Just Wondering...

Have you ever heard of Story People?  It's the work of Brian Andreas. If you click on the link, it will take you to a page with the 10 most favorite stories of all time. His stories are all so whimsical and fun and often thought provoking that I don't know how they arrived at these 10. But they are wonderful. You can also sign up to receive a story each and every day delivered to your email box office. I do this and love the fun of it. He's offering a new book with new stories this year. I just might have to grab it up.

Are these the Three Wise People...I know the one in the middle is definitely a girl. She has pink hair.
I'm liking this a lot...

Oh, the delicious possibilities it offers...

Sight Unseen

We recently returned from Amsterdam and Paris. I just had to visit that boy of mine. Here is one of my favorite images of Rick and me. Sanding in the letter "M".

 Here is the bigger picture. This sculpture is in two different places in Amsterdam: in front of both the Rijksmuseum and the Hermitage Museum.

Vacation photography has really changed. The new thing is to have your picture taken in front of "Famous Icon #whatever." Forever, people were rushing up to something, a painting, a statue and pointing to it while someone took their picture. Then off they rushed to some other famous thing or other. Here's an example:

If they are traveling alone, they take pictures of themselves with their amazing I-Phone technology  standing in front of "Famous Icon # Whatever". This is too funny!

My son tells the story of visiting the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and not being able to get close enough to see the painting but watching someone take a picture of it in someone's I-phone viewfinder. Seriously! Now it's even worse because people hold up huge I-Pads in the air and take photos with them. Walking down the hall at the Versailles, most of what I saw were cameras, I-Phones and I-Pads in the air. Sort of ruins the view. When on the bus, one guy stood up every time the bus stopped and held his camera in the air and did a slow 360 degree turn with his movie camera running. I am pretty sure people don't really spend the time to watch these things later and for sure they are so busy with their cameras, they miss it the first time too. I guess that will insure a revisit. Maybe that's the angle!

Let the Season Begin...

Ah, yes! It was good to back to the Rose Garden. After a summer of speculation, we finally got a chance to see the new team and they did not disappoint.

The starting line-up included Lamarcus, JJ Hickson, Nic Batum, Damien Lillard and Wesley Matthews. That is some speed. I am totally impressed with Damian Lillard. He runs, he shoots, from everywhere, he passes, he seems to control the game. We needed a good point guard.

At the beginning of the 4th we were up by 19 points, against LA, none the less. Seems we've beaten that team 12 of the last 14 at home. Everything seemed right. Free throw guy was there. The Blazer dancers had a few fresh faces. The fans were as loud as ever. Kobe had 5 fouls and so did Metta World Peace. Isn't that an oxymoron for a guy who is just plain mean. In the end, the score board says it all.

116 to 106. The Lakers tried too little too late. Oh well! Whatever! Blazers ROCK!

And down comes the confetti.

Tricks and Treats

I just love Halloween. It's all about kids and costumes and candy and wishing for no rain, at least here in Portland. Sigh! I am not ashamed to say that I do not have a real pumpkin. Sticking my hand in all that muck sort of makes me queasy. This Jack will have to do. You gotta love that he never stops smiling. haha

My favorite decoration is this bat and his delicious invitation...

And then there's the stash. I bought the goods yesterday because I do not trust myself around this many calories. I used to buy early and then had to buy again nearer to Halloween because the hands were in the till so to speak.

I miss that the kids don't tell jokes any more. I make the older ones do so and they always have something in the ready. I probably just slow them down. Too bad... I also miss home made costumes. When I was a kid, my neighbor and I would come up with elaborate costumes. One year we were George and Martha Washington and our joke was a Bill of Rights for students. I spent a lot time making costumes for my kids too. Ninja turtles, witches, pumpkins, ghosts, pirates, whatever. I guess people are just too busy.

Anyway, just three hours to go...