It comes early, shades down, not photo-worthy this morning. At 5:30 the dog didn’t even want to go out.
I put Zoe back on the bed and will join her in a minute. I love mornings. My husband would rather stay up to work late into the night.
Guess who’s schedule I’m on? Wrong. The dog’s schedule is mine forever. Carpe diem. Dee
This means my husband’s plane home has a 200 minute delay and growing. Where I grew up (not NYC) a few clouds didn’t change the nation’s air traffic pattern. Where my husband’s family owned a dairy in Texas no weather ever stopped them milking cows when he was a kid.
My husband has a days’ worth of meetings and an entire day’s worth of delays, not flight time, delays. This is irresponsible for the airports, airlines, TSA and everyone at port authorities who make big money because they’re quasi-governmental agencies and do not have to report salaries or bonuses to we, the people, who pay them.
We pay a lot of taxes. We expect the FAA and regulated agencies to perform when a person buys a ticket on any type of public transportation. We expect that when there is a meeting in another state, some form of public transportation (usually a plane) will be available to get to said meeting. Not eight hours of delays for eight hours work.
It may stretch to more hours and my husband will have to stay overnight in another city and not at home with family. He’s supposed to get in at nine tonight but now it’s nearing 1 a.m. because of a few clouds. Get over it. I know you’re flying and doing the more “important” routes before you let my husband board a plane. You’ve probably said the plane had a technical malfunction and will keep people there for hours, you already cancelled two planes for this destination and those folks will go first and the airport hotels will fill up and my husband will have to sleep at the airport. Shame on the FAA, airlines, airports. And the TSA.
Not so cheerily, Dee
A letter to the National Trust for Historic Preservation:
The Star-Spangled Banner is sung at every game in the nation, yet Fort McHenry was deemed unsavable due to a transportation overpass, then saved because Francis Scott Key penned our National Anthem during war. Our National Trust for Historic Preservation is helping historic structures such as Fort McHenry and others including the Amphitheater at Chautauqua Institution, an institution that had FDR’s I Hate War speech at the Miller Cottage, Presidents and world leaders, artists, dancers, musicians play “The Amp.” They did critique the paint and one said “save me, paint me” and did a musical bet over weeks to figure out whether James Galway’s flute would beat a trumpet, then a tuba in the one-minute Flight of the Bumblebees. Galway laid down the gauntlet. I do not know who won but it was a fight for the historic Amphitheater that goes on today.
Please protect Section 4(f) in the Transportation Bill. Your leadership will allow us to save natural and man-made resources that are our nation’s history.
Europe keeps things for millenia, centuries and make things work without building roads through or over them. Think about it. We think 100 years is old and tear down beautiful homes and libraries and think new is better. We have a history as Americans and have a duty to keep our history alive. What’s better than taking a tour with in-laws through the Adirondacks to visit Revolutionary War sites? Remembering Haym Solomon Day in New York, I helped pass that without knowing the family but he helped bankroll our country against the Brits. Please vote for your family’s history, and ours. Respectfully, Dee
We were unable to have kids. We love them and just had two over last night with Grandma to make an anniversary dessert for their parents.
They did so well, I think next time the kids visit I’ll do Pizza Night. That’s always a hit. Italian OO flour, great cheese and about 17 toppings to choose from. I proof their dough first and make all the toppings, then have them learn to make 1/2 batch of dough for us for later on. It’s a great learning experience.
It is a wonderful “class” for me as well to see what the kids like and do not like. Anchovies, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, roasted butternut squash, and the cheeses. Gorgonzola Dolce, great Mozarella. Goat cheese. Sauteed spinach. Artichokes.
My dear Aunt L taught me to taste and ask questions later. I’m taking a bit of a different path allowing kids to follow their taste buds and branch out. A while ago we hosted two kids, age two and six. The six year-old boy wanted simple cheese pizza. The younger girl wanted to taste everything and made great choices. I love her bravada.
The neighbor’s grandkids, C and A, love our dog Zoe. When they visit they actually stand in front of our door whispering her name. Of course her little ears hear it and she runs to the door to announce visitors, vociferously.
We love kids. I hope their parents appreciate the anniversary gift they made. I know the grands do. Thanks, K! Hope they got to bed on time. Dee
Not the usual kind. I’m used to it at work, at home, in the kitchen et al. This was more fun.
Our neighbor’s grandkids came over to make parfaits with graham crackers, vanilla yogurt, blueberries and raspberries. We’re keeping with the patriotic theme.
They made two cups for themselves, two for their parents’ anniversary tomorrow, and two for Grandma and Grandpa. That’s helping three generations, multi-tasking.
They had quite an assembly line going on when Grandma came in to watch (yes, she was not allowed to work but sat on the other side of the counter).
I’m so happy to do things for folks around here and believe that if more did so it would be a community rather than just a place to live. I know many people and our dog makes it easy to do so.
Hey, if you’re single ask to rent a dog. A cute and friendly one. Like bees to honey, the guy will ask you out and women, forget it. The cute guy pets Fido and is over the moon for you. Then you can tell him you rented the dog for a date.
Multi-tasking. See. I just got a good business opportunity out of this! Cheers, Dee
What can I say? We need to get some lunch, and more stuff for our young friends to prepare dessert for their parents’ anniversary and for Grandma and Grandpa.
Thank you for reading. This blog has been a labor of love for several years and I know everyone wants to tweet or do other quick things.
I went from personalized cards, letters written on a vintage 1957 Smith-Corona electric typewriter to a 286, 386, 486 and now an old MacBook with cordless keyboard and 24″ screen. I never un-dock.
The computer I use is at least 8 years old. My husband has installed more memory and I’ve a new battery. My iPhone is just as old and I just have to keep it plugged in most of the time.
Thanks for reading. Please share your stories. They must be way more interesting than mine. Dee
ps Where’s Brazil? Are you OK?
I haven’t been doing that well on balance over the past week but over a lifetime it makes a difference. I do better on the beam than I do on pavement.
Dad is always the optimist, the glass half-full guy. He always told me I could do anything I wanted to do, from president, astronaut, whatever I could imagine.
As we age I always want the best for him and my husband and our extended family.
Please don’t make this a “Hallmark card” day, I just want to thank Dad, my husband and many others for making life, love and balance a part of my life. Thanks so much, reader, for knowing that fathers can make a difference. Dee
Zoe has routines, as a herding dog. Yes, she herds me with a load of laundry, and watches my every move.
She needs Otis-ing (I’m the elevator) to the bed at night then she jumps down and goes UBD (under-bed dog) for a while then whines to get back up. She has no hips so I’m OK with awakening to meet that need.
At about 4:00 am she goes UBD because even if the shades are down, she needs her beauty sleep. She looks better than both of us, together, and she’s 80 in people years.
She has an undercoat and someone leaves fur underneath the bed. That is her evil twin Chloe. Chloe leaves a mess of fur underneath that is tough to vacuum. If I ever meet her I’ll have to give her a talking-to. Texas-style. The fact that I’ve never seen her or walked or fed her is unimaginable. All I do is remove Chloe’s fur from under the bed. Zoe knows nothing about this so please don’t tell about her evil twin. I don’t think they’ve ever met. It must be why she’s so gorgeous, all that beauty sleep. Cheers, Dee
do I see. I can see, both eyes now. We get to have kids over to make a graham cracker/yogurt/berry parfait for themselves, their parents and grandparents tomorrow.
There’s an air show next week that we have great seats for, indoors and free. Well, my husband would deliberate the definition of “free” as I think I’ll grind the meat and make my Texas chili and cornbread a la Lady Bird Johnson circa 1962. Just add guests. Yes, I am a purist, grind my own meat Texas-style and do my own pure spice blend. And what have I said 100 times before? Nanny, tell them. There are no beans in Texas chili.
There’s most of a chicken breast in a lemongrass seasoning marinade, and a raw skirt steak in the frig. It’ll be warm and humid outdoors but cool and tasty in the Magic Room. That’s what we call it for the dog as she hasn’t figured out those words yet. The kitchen is the magic place where her dinner happens. Yes, twice a day she gets her raw food. We love having young people and dogs around. Can’t wait to meet Max, hope this new pup’s owner will trust Aunt Dee with Jake’s family (Jake died last year). Cheers and have a wonderful weekend! Dee
There’s no real recipe here, just a suggestion. There was a baby shower I could not attend last week so I made the family a vegetarian lasagne (see site for 10 Minute Lasagne) and promised a dessert.
I wanted to make a graham cracker “Napoleon” with local rhubarb jam, whipped cream and berries. I was worried that if I made it in advance the graham crackers would be soft and not pretty.
A sage woman friend six weeks younger than me said I should make it interactive for the kids so I did. She gave me plastic cups so two boys, age 6 and 3, could make a parfait and see their progress.
Graham crackers, a gallon bag. Take a few crackers in the bag, pulverize them with a rolling pin or fists (they’re boys) and place crumbs in the cup, top with whole milk vanilla yogurt (kids need calcium and fat is OK) and some sliced strawberries and blueberries, repeat. Check progress through plastic cup (almost like an ant hill farm I got as a kid).
Make them for yourselves, then for your parents. Hopefully Mommy is sitting on the sofa preparing for the birth of your new little brother or sister. This is to motherhood, and giving kids a treat as an homage to my trifle, who everyone everywhere loves. This is Dee, and I wrote a really great piece that was erased so with lemons, comes lemonade. I’ll write it again. Cheers! Dee
Cooking with Dee 