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Darkness & Light
For four months this fall we lived on the brilliant paradise of Whidbey Island. We arrived by ferry in August, the perfect, late summer, Puget Sound weather surrounding us. Warm, dry days, huge, blue sky, sunlight for hours and hours and hours. The kids went back to school in September and I got busy writing and learning. Since both kids have been in school full time I have taken every advantage of the long spaces of quiet to work. Writing every day, learning about blog design and promotion, and practicing my photography.
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Mini Cassata Cakes
My mom absolutely loved to entertain. She often reminded me of The Barefoot Contessa, cooking and decorating and making people feel special with her food and kindness, and making it look so easy. When we lived in Denver my parents entertained a lot. They set their tall, old ice box up as a bar, fitted the dining room table with the extra leaves and filled it with scrumptious appetizers and finger foods, my dad’s paté, smoked salmon, warm bread dip & anti-pasta trays. So many choices. I loved it when the house began to warm up with friends and neighbors. More often than not, snow drifted down outside on a chilly fall or winter…
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Weekend Breakfast Love
I love weekend breakfasts, absolutely dreamy-stars-in-my-eyes in love with them. They are some of my favorite meals ever. Before we had kids, Greg and I enjoyed weekend breakfasts together, side by side on the dining room bench, with our amazingly rich cups of coffee, while trying to conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, the Merl Reagle Crossword. I made Greg hold the pencil because he always answered way more than I ever could. Unless, of course, it had to do with literature or French. It’s a little amazing to me the things that stick with us and the things that remain out of the grasp of memory. I can…
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Gather Around the Table
I have a a new essay up on Her View From Home, in the kitchen section about feeding a family in an enjoyable way. In the scheme of things my essay is not that important compared to what is going on in the world right now. Bombings, nasty politics, child abuse, domestic violence, rape, drought, flooding, human trafficking, racism, hatred, fear, police killings, killings of police officers, any killings, the list could very well be endless. No, my recent, minuscule contribution, How to Simplify Weeknight Dinners & Please Everyone is just about one of the mundane aspects of parenting, getting dinner on the table. A lot of parenting is just that, mundane,…
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Putting Our Kids Out Into the World
After a crazy summer that included getting our house ready to put on the market, selling our house, packing up our house, some crazy family vacations, being in limbo for two weeks before we could move into our rental on Whidbey Island, and enjoying the heck out of our new town, the kids are finally back in school. Whew!!! Can I say that again, Whew! I’m exhausted, absofuckinglutely exhausted. Who am I kidding, I’m exhausted after getting both kids to school on time. And I only have two mini-dictators. My essay, “Tiny Oh-So-Important Moments” appeared on The Good Mother Project yesterday. Greg and I spent so much time contemplating this move…
