friends – Page 2 – Peaceful Reader

Welcome March!

I hope March ushers in a bit of spring weather-it’s at least light later in the day. No longer do I leave work in twilight. We are still pretty snow heavy making it difficult to drive and while it was bitter cold today THE SUN WAS SHINING!! Wore my sunglasses to Cedar Rapids and back to have lunch with our son. We had pizza together and talked for a long time. Just wonderful to be with him. Wish we could have lunch with the oldest daughter-meeting in Brooklyn takes a few days prep and many miles.

I finished Stay with me by Ayobami Adebayo and loved her writing. This story tells the tale of Akin and Yejide’s marriage through both characters. How they meet at university, fall in love, and begin to break away after trying to have a baby and the problems that arise as their communication fall away. Anyone in a relationship that’s gone sour can relate to how they begin to pull apart. The story is sad yet beautifully told and I liked the backdrop of the political turmoil happening in Nigeria at the time.

And I’ve started Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones; about a family in Mississippi getting ready for a hurricane. This is an author that’s been on my to-read list and I’m glad I’m finally finding time to read her work.

In between chapters I managed to make a little food for my lovely little family. I lovingly created two recipes given to me by friends; a chicken tortilla soup and a corn casserole. Both recipes helped to warm us up last night.

Here is the soup recipe from my friend Kay:

Kathy’s Chicken Tortilla Soup (my notes)

4 chicken breasts halves (buy organic, local, free range when possible)

2 15-oz cans of black beans, drained (I thought ahead and used dried bb, soaking them the night b4)

2 cans Rotel tomatoes with chilies – do not drain (I had one can of diced tomatoes and one can of green enchilada sauce-yes, I improvised so I did NOT have to go out in the cold)

1 can shoepeg corn, drained (I used a bag of frozen)

14.5 oz can tomato sauce

1 cup salsa (I used our homemade)

Optional toppings:

Tortilla chips

Grated Cheese

Sour Cream

Directions:

1. In the bottom of a slow cooker, place the chicken breasts.

2. Open the remaining cans and pour over the breasts.

3. Add the salsa

4. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Just before serving remove and shred the chicken and return to soup.

5. Stir and serve.

Even with my improvisation the recipe was perfect for a cold Saturday night. It was pretty easy compared to other recipes I love. My brother and I were both cooking at the same time in different cities; his recipes looked so amazing I could almost smell them via his texted pictures. His were more labor-intensive but you’ve got to go with what works for you on any given day.

The corn recipe from Amber was just as easy to put together, rich and textured, and that made my day. I’m pretty sure both these recipes are from church/school cookbooks from the 90’s.

Corn Casserole

1 can creamed corn

1 can whole kernel corn, with juice

1 stick butter (soft to mix)

1 cup sour cream

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 egg, beaten

onion and seasonings (opt.)

(In a bowl) mix all ingredients together. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes in a 9 x 13-in baking dish.

Variation: Can put 1 small package of shredded Mozzarella cheese on top and bake another 10 minutes or until melted. (next time I might add goat cheese; I did not add any cheese this time and I added a bit of cayenne and cumin as my seasonings, plus a whole lot of freshly ground pepper)

See what I mean-super healthy!! We have to stay entertained and warm over these long winter months. What are you reading/creating/concocting?

My children continue to grow up…

Our 23-yr-old son is about to graduate from college this weekend. He’s finishing up his last finals and preparing for a new job. It seems like yesterday that I loaded him into his car seat for fishing at the lake or hikes in the mountains. Life goes fast and you really must pay attention every day.

We have family flying and driving in for the event on Saturday and I feel a little crazy with preparations. I have to slow down and remember this is one of life’s big moments yet it won’t be ruined because I don’t have the right cloth napkin at the event. It doesn’t help that I have such crazy standards when I host; I’m against throw away or one-use items and always need to plan in advance to make sure this doesn’t happen. For his high school graduation I purchased all compostable items but this time luckily I had a good friend step up who does catering out of her bakery and she will bring real plates, forks, napkins, and glasses so we won’t fill up the garbage bins in the hotel lobby just for our event.

We are having simple food; a large green salad, fruit, vegan pizza from the Mellow Mushroom in Coralville. My friend is also making a few platters of sushi for all of us to enjoy. Favorite foods, friends and family all happy to be together for this magical life moment. I know I’m going to cry a few times over the weekend because my little boy has grown up in leaps and bounds to become the caring man he is today. I’m grateful for the journey we’ve had together; not always easy yet soul-searching learning experiences for both.

I missed posting this the other day and now the major event has happened and all went off very smoothly.

Inspired food

(Fuji Mama 1-hour bread)

Last week I offered to make a meal for a theatre set designer and old friend who traveled from St. Paul, MN to come and help put his design into action and work with my husband. Because we haven’t seen this old friend for awhile I offered to make him dinner so we could relax and talk together. I made a pasta sauce from one of my Giada cookbooks, a simple salad and this bread from Fuji Mama –Simple One Hour Homemade Bread.

You see I’d forgotten to pick up a baguette to round out this Italian-inspired meal and I knew I needed bread or the meal would feel incomplete to our guest. When I shared my concern with Groovy Girl, she said: “just make some bread!” What!? but of course, I know how to make bread and have many recipes to follow for wonderful crispy loaves yet they all take at least a couple of hours to create. I had less than 2 hours. Her answer to this: “just Google it”. So simple!

After a quick search for fast homemade bread, I found Fuji Mama’s easy recipe and we loved it. It makes 2 peasant loaves that cook in 25 minutes. They were crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, the perfect combo.

Here is Giada’s Bolognese Sauce that I tossed over fettuccine noodles. The meal was delicious, the conversation lively, and ended with another mutual friend’s treat of cookies.

I’m short on time for everything I do this summer. Two grad classes are keeping me seriously hopping. The two books I’m reading to go along with each class are interesting, The Formative Five by Thomas R. Hoerr and Creative Schools by Ken Robinson, but the assignments cause me to think HARD for hours at a time-not my favorite summer activity. I just want to be reading chapter books for school, hanging in my hammock, or cooking.

Not my best week…

I tipped over last Sunday and injured myself. I didn’t trip or fall, I didn’t feel myself go over. One minute I was walking and the next I was picking myself up from the pavement. It was weird. In my right hand, I was holding a glass water bottle which smashed against the pavement and into my hand. My left wrist took the brunt of my fall. It was slightly embarrassing as it was broad daylight (4pm) and there were people around. I’d come out of a play and was saying goodbye, and walking and thinking at the same time. It made me feel a little old and at the same time resilient.

I drove home with a wad of wet wipes in my hand to stave the blood flow from my hand and I made dinner for people that were coming to my house for a cast party. Both hands were in great pain and Groovy Girl was off with friends. As soon as she got home she bandaged my right hand and helped me clean but by that time I had the Mexican Lasagna recipe already cooking. I even whipped up my own fajita seasoning spice mix for the recipe. The kitchen looked like hell as I could just barely open bottles and didn’t have the energy to try to recap and put away. And I’m usually a-clean-as-I-go kind of cook. Everyone enjoyed the cast party and the lasagna. I had someone request the recipe; they’ll have to supply their own blood drips and pain.

I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend. I have a little school work to do. I have a couple of great books to read; I’m halfway done with The Self-driven child, a fantastic life book I wish I’d had when my kids were younger, my book club read News of the world by Paulette Jiles, and from my mom A spool of blue thread by Anne Tyler.

And while browsing around on Epicureous I found this great article about cast iron skillets which I use frequently in our kitchen.

Here’s to a better week ahead!

The simple things in life…

I have quite a few things swirling around in my personal life which are creating this need for me to return to some basic human needs for me; like yoga, meditation, and making bread.

Last Sunday I made 5 loaves of rustic bread. There is something so simple about pouring the four ingredients together. There’s an order to it. You begin with level teaspoons or tablespoons of yeast and you pour cups of soothing warm water over the yeast with a few sprinkles of sea salt. It’s almost mystical as you watch it start to bubble and froth after a few minutes. While it’s heating up I start measuring out cups of unbleached flour. One wooden spoon stirs it all together and then I use my hands, covered in some flour, to knead it around a little. My recipe doesn’t require this step but I like it. Just don’t do it too much. Before you set it aside to let it double in size shake some olive oil around the dough and the bowl. I only kept one loaf here; the rest I gave away to friends at school. Bread makes people smile and think of home. Sometimes people make chili for their family because you made the bread. It’s a win/win for all involved.

Meditation has the same effect. I like to sit on my bed right before going to bed and make some space in my brain. I can do it on my own but I’ve discovered three cool apps to help me as well. I started with Headspace created by Tibetan monk trained meditation teacher Andy Puddicombe. (read an excellent review here @ The NY’er) I like this app and it’s guided meditation with Andy’s British accent. I like that it gives me prompts during the day like “your meditation today can’t wait until you get home” or other little motivational moments to inspire you. This one has free basics but you have to buy a subscription to unlock more content. I probably won’t ever buy more I’ll just keep using free because I like what Andy has to say.

During an online conversation with my friend Erica, she shared that she uses Insight Timer to meditate daily so I downloaded that also. This one is totally free. I love that it gives me a more traditional meditation experience through bells, gongs, and wood blocks to begin and end my session. I don’t love that if I miss a day (which I do) it starts back over. So if I miss one day but have meditated five other days it still logs me as “day one”; I want it to appreciate that I did the five days. It’s still a great app and I’ve become accustomed to using both at different times of the day.

I met with my friend Lori for a drink and I mentioned meditation and she told me she was doing a 21-day thing with Oprah and Deepak so now I have that downloaded as well. These are longer sessions and to be clear I have yet to finish one but my heart is in the right place and I will get to it.

In between, I have been doing some yoga to keep my bones mobile and stretchy. I especially love how my arms feel after a few downward dogs and planks.

What do you do to stay stress-free? Drinking wine can also be helpful especially if good friends are involved. Salud!

Vacation

I have a few great vacation photos to share with you. It fills me with great joy to get together with family and I am blessed to have such an amazing extended clan on my husband’s side. We traversed through D.C., NYC, Brooklyn, and Rochester, NY. Whew. I’m tired just thinking about it and am happy to be home.

Three handsome Holt men, happy to be together, talking politics.

We toured the new National Museum of African American History and Culture and it was spectacular and overwhelming. So much information on 5 floors. I need to go back and look at all that we missed but it was a great first look. Japhy and Sophie enjoyed walking around together.

We made it to the top to view the Lincoln Memorial-it was a struggle and really sweaty (temps were in the 90’s). Anton enjoyed his first look at D.C. and the National Mall area.

My mother-in-law wins the “best” MIL award. She always makes our time together special with food, wine, stories, and lots of hugs. I am very lucky to have Allen and Phyllis in my life. This is our last meal together before we head off to Brooklyn to see Kaylee.

We all enjoyed School of Rock on Broadway as our friend Joel Waggoner (@joelwags85) rocked several roles in this kid-friendly show. We loved our backstage tour, meeting a few cast mates, and dinner with him. If you are headed to NY anytime soon-this is a show to see. Greg and I also saw Waitress, which is not kid-friendly, and was excellent!

Joel and Tristan right outside vegan sushi place, Beyond Sushi. Tristan and I loved this place-the flavors were delicious!

We took a quick side trip out to Coney Island and it was a perfect afternoon. Not too hot, nice and breezy, we enjoyed the beach and the boardwalk before heading back to Brooklyn to meet up with friends at Drummer’s Grove in Prospect Park.

Sunday morning we had a delicious Blessings brunch with live jazz playing right behind us. We loved getting to see Kaylee’s neighborhood and the Gimlet Media office area. We also had a great dinner at Frankies in Brooklyn.

And our last stop was Rochester, NY for a Red Wings game (AA for MN Twins). We loved Rochester and would have loved to explore more.

July is almost over…

It’s been an amazing summer so far! It’s always hard to see summer melt away. And I’m one of the lucky ones in that I have days off to enjoy and sit in my hammock and read.

I met a friend at the farmers market this morning and I bought beets. She had a great time exploring-it was her first time at our downtown market-and she bought sweet corn, a huge tomato, and a berry pie. I’m sure they’ve finished at least half the pie by now. It looked delicious.

I met another friend at the library and we talked books for about an hour and a half. She’s also a librarian and she makes it to Book Expo so she is always far and ahead of me on what is new and great.

Book I finished yesterday:

Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson (2016): An excellent read about three boys who try to make their cancer-stricken teacher have a great last day before she leaves for treatments. Perfect for elementary and middle school.

In my bag now:

The Impossible knife of memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (2014): Recommended by a friend and I love Anderson’s work.

Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn (2017): Read about this one in an article about post-apocalyptic novels and after reading American War I decided this one sounded interesting as well. (RT update-I read almost the entire book in the car yesterday)

The Island of Dr. Libris (2015): Need to read for school, highly recommended.

The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill (2014): I loved Iron Hearted Violet and more recently The Girl who drank from the moon!

Recommended by my friend:

This is how it always is by Laurie Frankel
The stranger in the woods by Michael Fink
We were the lucky ones by Georgia Hunter
Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak
Small great things by Jodi Picoult

I’m excited to check some of these out from the library. After waiting and waiting for a copy of Alex and Eliza to come in at the library I finally downloaded it only to get a notice the VERY next day…#lessonlearned

April Days

Terrible rain storm here tonight, rumbling, with lightning. I enjoyed a walk with friends this afternoon around a large lake and it was cloudy and smelled like rain but lucky for us it held off. It came tonight with lots of rumbling and a light show display.

Groovy Girl and I are dog sitting for a friend and I had to bring the dog back here with me. Her sad yellow lab eyes looked at me through the door and I just couldn’t leave her alone. So we have a doggie sleep over guest who’s had a good time getting to know our house and our two labs.

{Pre and Post-baked shells}

I made one main major meal this week-Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce from Giada on Food Network. My brother made it for GG and I a few months ago and we both liked it. It’s a little labor intensive though so I made it last Sunday afternoon when I had the time. Throughout the week GG was able to eat the leftovers for dinner before dance. Next time I’d leave out the pancetta; I didn’t really enjoy the flavor.

While I was looking through some old blog posts I found this Sweet Potato Black Bean burrito recipe that I love. It is perfect to make and keep extras for lunches as well. Also I found this great recipe for breakfast sandwiches that can be made ahead. I’m trying to make Anton one every morning so he leaves for work with something for breakfast. The recipe says you can freeze these; I’ve just been keeping 3-4 ready to go packaged up in the fridge. It’s easy to take one out, heat in the microwave for 20 seconds, and hand it to him before he heads out the door.

Tomorrow we celebrate Easter with a church service where Groovy Girl will do a celebratory lyrical dance for about the 4th year and after we head to MN to have dinner cooked by my stepmother. I’m very excited to just sit at her table and enjoy the family around me. Blessing abound.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I read many positive reviews about this brand new (2017) book I started following the author, Angie Thomas, on twitter. I try hard NOT to buy books but this time I felt it was a great cause. #weneeddiversebooks

16-year-old Starr Carter lives in two different worlds as she maneuvers between her home and neighborhood and the private prep school she attends where she works hard to be “less ghetto”. It’s difficult separating herself out like that and, after one of her childhood friends is shot in front of her by a police officer, her balancing act starts to crumble.

Through Starr’s eyes we are able to experience what many young people are frustrated with today; police brutality and rampant racism. Starr has a family that supports her, parents that are involved in her education and teaching her what’s right. We can see through her father and his friends how hard it is to make good decisions when you have people inviting you to do bad everyday. Her family has been witness to a lot of tragedy and just like other families they keep moving forward even though the journey is trying.

I loved the language, the cadence of listening to Starr speak in both voices.

“I swallow. I wish I could say yes, but I don’t know. On the one hand, it’s the cops. It’s not like I’ll be telling just anybody.
On the other hand, it’s the cops. One of them killed Khalil.
But Uncle Carlos is a cop, and he wouldn’t ask me to do something that would hurt me.
‘Will it get Khalil justice?’ I ask.
Uncle Carlos nods. ‘It will.”(55)

and

“The drug dealer. That’s how they see him. It doesn’t matter that he’s suspected of doing it. ‘Drug Dealer’ is louder than ‘suspected’ ever will be.
If it’s revealed that I was in the car, what will that make me? The thug ghetto girl with the drug dealer? What will my teachers think about me? My friends? The whole fucking world, possibly?” (113)

and as life gets back to something like normal her family celebrates:

“Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” blasts from the speakers. That’s one song Daddy shouldn’t play. The only thing worse would be that old song “Back that Thang Up.” Momma loses her damn mind when it comes on. Really, just say, “Cash Money Records takin’ over for the ’99 and the 2000,” and she suddenly becomes ratchet as hell.
She and Aunt Pam both go, “Heeey!” to Salt-N-Pepa and do all these old dance moves. I like nineties shows and movies but I do not wanna see my mom and auntie reenact that decade in dance…” (356)

This is an important YA story that adults should read as well. I am excited to read what ever Angie Thomas writes next.

Spring Break Pizza Party!

{photo credit: @sarah_burgart}

While I was in Indiana visiting my lovely friend Barbara, of Marilyn’s Bakery fame, we had a discussion about friendship that inspired me to invite two friends to a pizza party once Groovy Girl and I returned home. Luckily the roads were clear after all the snow and we made it home safely and in good time.

My menu for the gathering:

homemade pizzas

homemade margaritas

In my message to both friends I requested they bring their top 2-4 pizza toppings. We generally don’t make meat pies and we have had people unhappy with our veggie/creative toppings so it makes it easier if we can have a little help in the topping department. After we ate the pizzas the little ones made music and danced in Groovy’s dance room. We were able to sit back and sip.

{Alice, G.G., Macy, me, Mya, and Beth}

They brought:

feta cheese, pepperoni, spinach, pineapple, cheese curds, and shredded cheese.

We had: spinach, grated mozzarella cheese, whole mozzarella, basil, the dough, sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes, and red sauce. And the margaritas of course. Kids had juice and special water.

I have many different dough I’ve used over the years; this time I used the one inside Katie Workman’s The Mom 100 Cookbook; 100 recipes every mom needs in her back pocket. It was very easy to put together. I tripled the recipe in three different bowls so we would have plenty of dough to share.

Katie Workman’s Homemade Pizza Dough

(makes enough for two 12-inch pizzas or four 6-inch)

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsps) I appreciate when they add this in because I buy my yeast in bulk and keep it in a glass jar in the fridge.

1 tsp sugar (I omit this b/c why not?)

1 tsp course salt or kosher

2 T. olive oil, plus extra for coating the bowl

3 cups all-purpose (unbleached) flour

1. Place yeast (and sugar, if you opt in) in a large bowl, add 1 cup of warm water, and let sit until small bubbles form, about 10 minutes. Mix in the salt and olive oil. Add flour gradually, mixing until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 4 minutes (she says, you can use a standing mixer for this part). Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover it with damp dish towel or ~~plastic wrap.~~

2. Let the dough sit undisturbed in a warm place until it is doubled in size, 1-1 1/2 hours. Punch down the dough, divide into 2 balls, and roll out on floured surface. I let it rest after I roll it out so it can rise a bit again. Place it on a pizza stone (hot or not, your choice) and add sauce, toppings, cheese, whatever your heart desires.

Bake at 500* until crust is a little brown. Let rest after you remove from the oven for a few minute before cutting it with a pizza wheel.

{@sarah_burgart; look at those smiles}

Now for the adult beverage part of the celebration. All three of us are hard-working teachers who needed Spring Break to whisk us away even for an afternoon of play. My margarita recipe is from @sjkane11 who added it to our Highland Elementary recipe book a few years back. I’ve made it ever since. I prefer to make things homemade and I like to make cocktails so it was great to say adios to super sweet mixes. I’m sure I’ve shared this recipe before but here it is again in case you lost it.

Margaritas (without the pain)

12 oz. can of limeade (frozen)

12 oz. tequila

12 oz. water

2/3 can or 8 oz of triple sec

1 can domestic beer

Ice and limes as desired

Use the frozen limeade can to measure ingredients. Mix all ingredients well in a gallon pitcher. Add ice and limes. Pour generously into salt-rimmed glass. Enjoy.