Honey Mustard Fish

This recipe from Moosewood Low-Fat Cookbook is SOOOO gooood. And thanks to Marylyn for serving it to us!

4 fillets
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c bread crumbs or 1/4 c cornmeal
1/2 tsp thyme
Salt and pepper

Mix the honey, mustard and lemon juice. In a separate bowl mix the bread crumbs and thyme. Dip each fillet in the honey mustard mixture and then the bread crumbs. Bake on oiled pan at 375 until fish is tender (12-30 minutes depending on thickness.)

My Blog Vacation

Yes I am on a BlogVacation. Spring and Summer offer plenty to write about but little desire to sit still inside! More later.

Change I'm Believing In...

I don't think George did anything like this. Take a look at this slideshow for "candid" photos of BO's early days in office. Clever pics, family and a sense of life in the White House. Some are dignified, some artsy, some funny enough you wish you could submit a caption.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/28/Delivering-on-Change-an-Inside-Look/

Share the Love....

Check these websites/videos out - way cool:

http://www.youtube.com/user/PlayingForChange and for the whole scoop and more videos go to...... http://playingforchange.com/. (Thanks Ali.)

And to make yourself smile and maybe give hugs a little more freely check out: http://www.freehugscampaign.org/ .

What If Love Knocked At Your Door?

Would you be ready?
What if love knocked at your door?
Would you let it in?

I happened upon Romancing the Ordinary by Sarah Ban Breathnach and opened it to a entry that asked "What if Love Walked in Your Door". It was delightful. I mused over it though several walks on the beach and lulled myself to sleep several evenings.

The premise was: what if ____ unexpectedly was at your front door...your mother, your neighbor, a high school sweetheart, Barack Obama...would you be ready to put meaning in the moment? Would you still be in your pajamas? Would you be joyful? Would your house be in order? What could you whip up for tea? What would you do to build a lasting memory?

We are not talking romantic love (though I suppose we could be...) but of agape love, of building memories, touching lives, finding beauty in the moment.

It entertained me to think of an array unexpected visitors and what would make those moments memorable.

Yes, I would answer the door.

This Years Eggs

This year we nixed Paas and aimed for more artful eggs. Our successful potions included red onion skins, turmeric, blueberries and spinach leaves. The turmeric is especially spectacular. We used two months (about a cup) of dried red onion skids and 2 Tbsp turmeric - each with 2 tbsp of vinegar and 4 cups of water in separate metal pans and simmered them for 15 minutes. We then added uncooked eggs and boiled 15 minutes. The lighter eggs in the photo were hard boiled ahead and soaked overnight in the onion skins, turmeric and mashed berries. We also tried spinach with ho-hum results. Online there were other suggestions:


Blue/purple
Canned Blueberries
Red Cabbage Leaves (boiled)
Purple Grape Juice


Brown or Beige
Strong Coffee
Instant Coffee
Black Walnut Shells (boiled)
Black Tea


Brown Gold
Dill Seeds


Brown Orange
Chili Powder


Green
Spinach Leaves (boiled)
Liquid Chlorophyll


Greenish Yellow
Yellow Delicious Apple Peels (boiled)


Grey
Purple or red grape juice or beet juice


Lavender
Small Quantity of Purple Grape Juice
Violet Blossoms plus 2 tsp Lemon Juice
Red Zinger Tea


Orange
Yellow Onion Skins (boiled)
Carrots
Paprika


Pink
Beets
Cranberries or Juice
Raspberries
Red Grape Juice
Juice from Pickled Beets


Red
Lots of Red Onions Skins (boiled)
Pomegranate juice
Canned Cherries (with syrup)
Raspberries


Violet or Purple
Violet Blossoms
Hibiscus tea
Small Quantity of Red Onions Skins (boiled)
Red Wine


Yellow
Orange or Lemon Peels (boiled)
Carrot Tops (boiled)
Chamomile Tea
Celery Seed (boiled)
Green tea
Ground Cumin (boiled)
Ground Turmeric (boiled) or Saffron

Artful Bra's

Thanks to Sue S for sharing this link to thoughfulness and fun. Click here to see some amazing unmentionables from the Artful Bra Project.

Leave It To Trader Joe's

Jill, Eric, Nancy and Mom at Trader Jones in Oceanside (photo by sissy Kathy)

My siblings and I were in California last week to celebrate my sister Jill's fiftieth birthday. It just so happened we flew out on my birthday. We had to wait until four to check in, so we stopped by the Oceanside Trader Joe's.

The greeter - Eric, somehow caught that we were from out-of-town. Do Midwesterner's stand out that much??? When he learned that we had two birthdays he presented bouquets to my mom, Jill and I. He asked us to stand in front of the store and invited everyone in the store to wheel their carts up to sing us happy birthday over the store loudspeaker. Wheel they did, and in chorus showed their "warm California love" in song.

What a hoot! Thank you Eric!

The Big View

My dad always encouraged me to take a course in Philosophy. Of course, being an independent soul, I never followed through. Instead art and science dominated my attention. I delight that there is so much to learn still today. I like the concept of more then one lifetime, if only to allow more time to take it all in.

If you are looking for an engaging website, check out: http://www.thebigview.com/contents.html .

North To Alaska

Nic is heading for Craig, Alaska. He is home for a day to drop off a pile of stuff (hey, wait a minute...) get organized and give his mom a hug.

What an adventure. Nic has been to Alaska twice before and finds peace in quiet places. This will be quite a transition from Chicago though! I am excited for him - it sends me back thirty years when I moved to Ely, Minnesota. Ely wasn't as far from home physically, but for all practical purposes was even more distant. I could have never dreamed of affording the airfare, internet didn't exist and google chat wasn't there to let you have virtual breakfasts together.

Another interesting chapter...

Ars longa, vita brevis...

"Art is long, life short.

We live on borrowed time."

Hippocrates

My Favorite Photo

Ali and I scanned family photos from 1981-2001 while she was home on break. This one is my favorite. Davyd is one day old, Nic thirteen and Ali eleven.

Mud

It's not hard to find beauty in a wildflower. It isn't even that hard to take a photograph that captures at least a fraction of that beauty.

This past weekends thaw nudged me into seeing beauty in mud. As I walked the trails and beach I was captured by the colors and textures of....mud! The combination of melting snow and ice, decomposing leaves, mud and sunshine made perfect compositions for just two short days.

Later, I stopped by a quilt shop and couldn't help but collect a few mud colored fabrics. Taupe. Tan. Black-brown. I can also imagine watercolors and graphite drawings of the same. In the meantime, I share my photographs.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?

Short Films

These are a barrel of fun. Some made me laugh out loud:

http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/one_page_screenplay_competition_II.html

Hey the guy in Man Down looked like he had on HIS lucky underpants!

Lucky Underpants

Are you wearing them???

Encouraging Ali through her mid-terms reminded me of another gem of wisdom.

I am reading Hero's of History by Will Durrant - but no, this advice isn't from Confucius or Leonardo da Vinci, but from a four year old. Davyd that is. When he was four he used to wear his "lucky underpants" for his soccer games. I suppose we all need a pair or two of our own.