Mine’s Blue

There is still time to get into the running for this fabulous ice cream maker. Mine’s blue but if you win, you can select a brand new one from a wide variety of colors: orange, red, plum, lime, black, white and, of course, blue like mine.

All you have to do to win is tell me what  your favorite ice cream flavor is. That’s it. Just post under “contests and giveaways” – You Scream – I Scream.

Then go ahead and subscribe because you’ll never know what you might miss. Gardening tips, mouth-watering recipes, great summer reading picks and quite possibly another contest or two! After posting, click on to home site (top left corner) and you’ll see the subscribe box.

Entries for the ice cream maker will be accepted until midnight July 31 and a winner will be picked at random (even you, Tammy Coker Smith, who is the number one post will have a chance). Invite your friends to join the contest and who knows, they might invite you over for some dessert. One comment per person please.

I’ll reveal the winner on August 1st.

I love my ice cream maker – I’m sure you’ll love it too!

breaking the FB habit

I’m watching you …

I’ve been off Facebook for over a week now and I have to admit there were withdrawal symptoms. Like any habit, I knew this one wasn’t going to be easy to break. I liked looking at posts from my friends – how their family is growing, where they’ve been, beautiful photos from gardens and trips, and even the occasional check-in. And I liked to add things to my timeline so my friends could keep up with my adventures.

I was somewhat annoyed at political and religious comments that, God forbid, you may not agree with and if you decide to actually post a different point of view, watch out. You can loose friends quickly. How about those who like to tell you about their great cup of coffee and bowel movement - every morning! Okay, I may have gotten a little to personal myself,  but these were easy enough to scroll through and ignore.

What I couldn’t ignore, however, was stalking. I don’t mean weird “I’m going to follow every movement you make” type stalking, I mean the ones from people you don’t even know who now seem to have every opportunity to keep up with your everyday life.

Oh, I know the chant … change your security settings. I did. Friends Only. But that didn’t seem to stop strangers from peeking under my skirt.

It all started innocently enough when I happened to comment on a post from one of my friends which started a chain reaction of more posts. All of the sudden, a guy, who I don’t know and don’t want to know, mentioned how my comment came from Amsterdam. Yes, I was in Amsterdam but you wouldn’t know that unless you could see my page. So this guy must have visited my page and got a birds-eye view of everything I had ever posted.

How could that happen? I never “friended” this guy. So I started an experiment and randomly clicked on people I never met. Sure enough, I could see their entire timeline, photographs of their family, political point of views and so on. It was a little creepy.

Facebook started innocently enough. You had to invite people into your life back in 2006. Today, the world can see your every move. Don’t be fooled, my friends, with security settings. Something you posted will come back and bite you in the butt. You won’t know where or when, but once you’re out there, you’re out there. And so are your kids (because we all know we can’t hold back from talking about our kids).

Yes, I admit I was a FB junkie and I miss hearing about all that you’ve been up to. I guess I could create a new page, a new identity and not really post anything private about myself. I can just look at your life. But if I don’t share my life with you, wouldn’t I just be a stalker?

As hard as it is to break any habit, I’m going to do my best and try to stay away from Facebook. It get’s easier every day and I’m actually more productive.

Until then, if I want to hear about your life or you want to know about mine, we’ll just have to pick up the phone and call each other.

St. Paddy’s Day ~ it’s not all about green beer and corned beef

I love St. Patrick’s Day. He is, of course, my patron saint and I love how he is known for driving the snakes out of Ireland and I always like how everyone is Irish that one day each year.

My Welsh Irish heritage gives me a slight advantage when claiming that culture and I like to celebrate that part of me with my family. Not that any of my four boys were big fans of corned beef and cabbage (but they did latch on to the beer drinking part as they got older). In an effort to somehow “punch up” the bland menu I’ve tried adding several other dishes to the plate over the years. My one experiment with asparagus was a disaster and I believed turned all of the men in my life away from one of my favorite vegetables.

So this year the corned beef will be center at my dinner table along with a fabulous halibut dish my husband creates but I found a fabulous website from an Irish American gal in Kentucky who has a couple of great recipes I will be trying. A few green decorations placed about the house and I’m ready to go. Oh… and I’ll be asking someone else to bring the Guinness.

Ingredients for Cookbook:1-2-3-4 Cake. From left: Plain flour, eggs, milk, butter, sugar, baking powder. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

IRISH SODA BREAD - 

5 C all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting kneading surface)

1/2 t salt

1 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

4oz butter (1 stick)

3 T white sugar

1 c cranraisins

1 egg

1 1/2 c buttermilk

1/2 c plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter or clean fingers rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Add the sugar and cranraisins and stir to distribute throughout the flour mixture.

Stir the beaten egg, yogurt and buttermilk together in another bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the liquid ingredients. Mix together with a wooden spoon to form a dough. Using your hand, lightly dusted with flour, gently knead the dough into a ball.

Transfer to dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently into a round form about 9 includes in diameter. Do not over knead. This creates a tough bread.

Transfer to a lightly greased 9 inch baking pan. Score the top of the loaf with a cross shape to create four distinct quarters. Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes more. The loaf is baked when the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. If the bread starts to brown too much early in the cooking process, cover it with a tent of aluminium foil.

Remove the bread from the oven and the baking pan. Wrap the bread in a clean dish towel and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Served sliced with butter.

IRISH (SPONGE) CAKE- made easy with a touch of California 

Prepare a yellow cake according to directions on the box. Use two slightly dusted 9-inch round baking pans. Once baked, set cakes on wire rack to cool.

Whip 1 cup heavy whipping cream until thick. Add 1 T of confectioners’ sugar to sweeten if desired. Spread strawberry jam on the inner surface of each cake. Place one layer on a plate, spreading cream over the jam. Sandwich the cream with the upper cake.

Decorate by sifting a fine layer of confectioner’s sugar on top and add sliced strawberries. Slice to serve.

Spring ~ a Season for Change

emblem of the Papacy: Triple tiara and keys Français : emblème pontifical Italiano: emblema del Papato Português: Emblema papal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Did you hear we are getting a new pope?

Benedict made it what…. 8 years? He did have a hard act to follow with John XXIII changing things the way he did in the sixties with Vatican II. Then came Paul and the two John Pauls. Not counting the first John Paul who went out early the way most popes do by dying after only serving 30 days, JP II kind of brought back the dynamic in the pope-hood.

Of course, the Catholic Church has been riding some pretty rough tides lately that even JPII couldn’t have calmed. There has always been grumblings about the church and its money and its power, but all that is nothing compared to the priests and child abuse charges that started surfacing some decades back.

Disgusting, contemptible, unbelievable, shameful, heartbreaking, life-altering ~ I can’t think of enough adjectives to describe my feelings. But I’m not here to debate the handling of that mess. My brother and many of the boys in my neighborhood were altar boys. They say nothing happened to them. There are those who are fighting this fight. I support them.

But what of the Church now, in the 21st century? Is it time for a Vatican 3?

I have debated this subject with family, friends and even the parish priest and I have to say I am torn. I never considered myself, or anyone in my family, one of the “good” Catholics. Sure, we went to church on Sunday, attended parochial school and received all the Sacraments. With nine children, my Catholic mom and non-Catholic father did their best to pay for the schooling and keep us in line with its teachings. But we never said grace at meals, we never really had any religious statues or a crucifix in our home, we even stopped going to Mass on Christmas and Easter because my mom said it was too crowded.

But I always loved the traditions, the celebrations, the music, and the mystery surrounding the church. Vatican II changed some of those traditions by taking away Latin Masses, dressing down the nuns, turning the altar around so we could see what the priests were doing during the service, and even allowing non-priests (lay people) to give us Communion and girls to become altar servers. Big changes for the traditionalist in all of us.

So do we now let priests get married and allow women to take on this traditionally male role? Do we build stadiums with flat screens and coffee bars instead of cathedrals?

There is probably room for some much-needed changes and hopefully this new pope can turn things around but from me, this “not so great” Catholic, I can’t say the church needs to get with the times because times will always change. There will always be that new religion right around the corner designing itself to please the masses. And that’s okay because if it makes you a better person, that’s good for all of us.

But I think there is a reason the Catholic Church is still here and getting a new pope is big news. And although I do not attend mass on a regular basis, I know when I do it’s a safe and comfortable environment for me.

Bottom line is I think we really need to look deep into our souls and ask ourselves what we need to fill our spirit and live a good life because it’s all pretty basic ~ treat all with love and respect.

All the rest is just trimming.

I’m rooting for an American pope. Americans have always questioned authority and I believe the newest pope will need to address a lot of issues.
Besides doesn’t the name His Holiness Sean O’Malley have a nice ring?

Island living (if just for a week)

The first time my husband suggested we charter a boat and cruise the San Juan’s, I wondered why he wanted to go to Puerto Rico. I’m ashamed to admit as a native Californian I had no idea there were islands off the Washington state coast. But I’m finding out many others have no idea where these island clusters are located.

Map of the San Juan Islands (highlighted) and surrounding region.. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My husband and I did cruise the San Juan’s and had such a good time that I thought my sisters would enjoy a little “island time” on our annual Mother’s Day getaway.

For those who do not know, I’ve been taking little Mother’s Day trips since my fourth son was born. Back in those days, my friend Sue and I would book a nice room in Palm Springs,  enjoy a massage and some quiet time before returning home in time for dinner with our kids.

Sue moved back to Wisconsin and I took up traveling with my mom and my sisters. Mom passed away several years ago and my sisters and I just kept up the tradition. We’ve been to Charleston, New Orleans, Idaho and even a motor home camping trip on the coast of San Diego. It’s been a great tradition. This year it was my turn to plan the trip and I thought – the San Juan’s.

The San Juan Islands are composed of more than 100 land masses just off the coast of Washington. Some of the islands are private or state parks while others are bustling little cities of their own. Friday Harbor, for example, is the county seat and probably one of the busiest of the islands. This is where my sisters and I would set up camp for a week in May.

While I consider myself a quiet, read-a-book kind of island dweller, my sisters like agendas and want to explore. From Friday Harbor this would be an easy combination of the two. Thanks to a good friend who moved to Friday Harbor several years ago, I was able to rent a home  on the northern tip of the island – Roche Harbor.

We all took separate flights into Seattle (two from LAX, one from San Diego and another from South Carolina) and managed to make it there about the same time (12 noon). After renting an SUV, the sisters spent the night in Seattle enjoying all that this big city offers – from fresh fish and vegetables at Pikes Market to a wonderful meal complete with Washington State wines at the Capitol Grille. The next morning we loaded up with some more groceries in Anacortes and boarded a ferry to Friday Harbor. A short drive to Roche Harbor and we settled in our rental home surrounded by majestic pine trees, wandering deer and playful sea lions (or were they seals? don’t know).

The view was magnificent.

Once we unpacked groceries and suitcases, we barbecued our fresh fish from Pikes and popped open the first of many bottles of wine. The sun doesn’t really set in the Pacific Northwest until 9:30 – 10 so we had long evenings of talking and reflecting

Our agenda was full. On Friday Harbor we visited an alpaca farm and a lavender farm, lunched with friends and enjoyed a little shopping trip (mostly to dress up the youngest sister).

Two days were dedicated to Canada – Victoria to be exact. We took another ferry to Sidney Harbor and a short cab ride to downtown Victoria.

That day was spent at Butchart Gardens. I have to say these gardens should be on everyone’s bucket list. Built by Julia Butchart in the area surrounding the home she shared with her husband  - Mr. Burchard owned Portland Cement and mined a huge quarry near their property. The cement business was booming in the early 1900s and the Butchart’s lived a good life.

Once all the limestone was acquired, Julia decided to reclaim the quarry. Soon the entire property was overtaken with blooms and bushes and treesBelieve it or not, May is not the high season at the gardens. Roses were not in bloom, but tulips were everywhere. Every year over one million bedding plants in 700 varieties are used throughout the Gardens to make sure there is not any uninterrupted bloom from March through October. Close to a million people visit the Gardens each year.

The sisters loved Victoria – the food, the people, the flowers and the souvenir shops! Traveling was easy but definitely not on our side for this trip. We missed busses, almost took the wrong ferry, almost missed getting off the ferry at our stop (we fell asleep) and were hassled by the TSA in Seattle (a first for me).

But our Mother’s Day trips are the best. Four sisters spending a week together can be draining – yes there are tears and arguments – but how lucky are we that, in the long run, we enjoy each other’s company.

Where’s your Easter Bonnet?

An Easter bonnet in a shop window in Conway. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Believe it or not, going to Mass on Easter Sunday was an exciting time for me growing up in the 60s. It seemed as if the entire church was magically transformed. Gone were the dark cloths covering the altar and crucifix and up were the beautiful white lilies and joyous music.

Even the faithful were transformed. Little girls proudly displayed their new Easter dresses and hats while their moms wore white gloves and heels and their fathers looked just a bit taller in their suits. We used to fast in those days before Mass so there were no Easter egg hunts or Easter baskets until we came home from church. But that was okay as we were so excited to have these pretty clothes to show off.

More than anything I wanted one of those already made up baskets I would see in the stores. You know what I’m talking about – wrapped in colorful cellophane, the baskets had an array of little toys and candies that I was just sure I needed. I didn’t believe her but luckily for me, my mom said she couldn’t afford them.

Even with limited resources and nine kids, my mom always seem to provide some amazing baskets for us at Easter. Of course, we had those dreaded peeps that stuck to the fake grass (sorry, peep fans. just don’t like marshmallows with a side of plastic pink grass), along with some of the eggs we colored the day before and a chocolate rabbit. And because my mom believed Easter should resemble some sort of religious significance, we usually had a holy card or a saint’s medal tucked inside.

I have to appreciate my mom’s dedication to her beliefs. So much so that as I prepared my own kids’ Easter baskets I always included a little religious reminder – usually in the form of a St. Christopher medal.

Now that my boys are grown and starting families of their own, I still like to make up “family” baskets for them. It’s fun to buy girl stuff for my daughters-in-law and I try to add a little bit of religion in those baskets, but after four boys and one adorable grandson, I will soon have a granddaughter to spoil and one thing is for sure – I’m buying that new granddaughter of mine a pretty new Easter bonnet.

Can’t wait….. Happy Easter!

sick, sick, sick

I hate colds! (Photo credit: Robert S. Donovan)

I’m sick. Been sick since Tuesday. Started with an earache and sore throat and bam! before I knew it, I had a stuffy head and cough.

Sure, I realize I am not alone. Everyone, it seems, has been dealing with this weird virus making its way through our neighborhoods. I can look back and remember how happy I was to have energy, feel peppy even, when dealing with my husband’s cold and those of my friends. I thought, “gee, I feel sorry for them,” and then out the door I would go, happy not to be in their shoes.

Okay, so that was a little snotty and karma has found me. Now I’m drinking Robitussin, eating Sudafeds, swallowing Tylenol and attempting to make home-made chicken soup (which, btw, was gross because I didn’t have egg noodles and threw in some lasagna noodles and left the crock pot on warm instead of high).

So I washed my hair this morning, took my grocery list to the store and stocked up on more meds and a six-pack of Chardonnay (it helps me sleep, okay?). More than $400 later, I’m not sure what I bought and nothing looks all that great because I’m not hungry.

But I miss writing. I miss hanging out with my friends and I’m sick, sick, sick of just about every thing of TV (and I have 1000 channels). Luckily I did Easter last weekend with the kids so I’m finishing out this cold/crap and I’m coming back into the world.

Time for an exciting giveaway. And a fun one, so stay tuned. To my faithful readers (all four of you) – I promise it will be good!

3 years old and it’s raining

Today I have my grandson. For the entire day! And it’s raining.
We’ve been up since 6 a.m. Made french toast, watched toones, fed the dogs in the garage and it’s only 8:30. Thinking about giving him a bath. After that…. I’m open for ideas.
anyone?

Top Movie 2012

OMG - What Movie is Taking Home Gold?

The Oscar goes to ….. by Cheryl Phillips

The Artist, The Descendants, 
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, 
Hugo, 
Midnight in Paris,
Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse.

With Hugo and The Artist leading the nominations with 11 and 10 respectively, I feel comfortable saying that these two will probably split the technical awards. We will see them walk away with Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound and most likely Best Director. Both of these films are what movies are all about – pure entertainment – a visual delight. But will either take the big prize???

So far The Descendants, The Help and The Artist have each picked up a win at the other award shows, so definitely these three seem to be the front-runners. A recommendation on The Tree of Life – Don’t bother. When every reviewer around writes, “What the hell was that all about?” it’s pretty much a given that you might want to skip this one. Here is a sentence from a review on Indiewire.com: “The repeated shots of trees, water, clouds, sky and figures haloed or backlit by intense, almost heavenly light would seem to indicate that, yes, there is a God, but uncertainty permeates the entire story, if indeed there is a story – and this, too, was the subject of debate.”

What???? I think this is the new generation’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. You may have needed to take drugs to appreciate it. I confess I did not see War Horse. I am not a big fan of Steven Spielbergʼs melodramatic films than run 2 and a half hours long. I tried to force myself to go, but the more I heard from friends that did go, I wasnʼt willing to give up the time. Donʼt think this has a chance of taking home the oscar gold.

Midnight in Paris might walk away with Best Original Screenplay for Woody Allen, but this will not win the Best Picture award. It was one of my favorite movies last year and I recommend it to all who may have missed it at the theater. Did it even come to the SCV?

The final two: Moneyball and Extremely Loud.……..were both exceptional films. Moneyball was a fascinating story about baseball that wasnʼt really about the game, and I saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close twice in the past few weeks just so I could share this heartfelt movie with more friends.

The envelope, please……… I have to go with The Artist for the Best Picture, but deep down in my gut I can see The Help surprising us all. Weʼll see.

I want to thank Cheryl for her review of the Oscars. Cheryl has amazing insight into the movies and now I find she has some pretty amazing history! btw Cheryl, my pick for top movie – Hugo (which I didn’t see but the Academy loves Scorsese). And I’ll bet 10 cents.

and the Oscar goes to …..

Oscar gold

I think I’ve only seen one movie up for an Academy Award this year (“Midnight in Paris”) but my friend Cheryl is my go-to gal when it comes to all things about movies and books. I knew she was a school librarian but had no idea why she was such a movie fan until she sent me her latest post.

Turns out Cheryl’s grandfather, aunt and dad did all the shooting for the actors in Annie Oakley with Barbara Stanwyck in 1935. They also worked as sharpshooters in the Howard Hughes’ 1930s film Hell’s Angels. Every since the age of 8, Cheryl has never missed an Academy Awards show. Fun food, engaging conversation, breath holding and finger crossing was the way Cheryl describes Oscar nights in her home.

She continues this tradition Sunday with her sister and her daughter Amy, as well as Amy’s best friend Tyler, food, drinks and Oscar ballots. Each win, she says, is worth 10 cents. (Not much, but it’s the win that’s important, right Cheryl?). Of course, the girls all love the pre-Oscar shows so they can rate the dresses and jewelry.

If you are like me and haven’t seen many of these movies, Cheryl gives us a little insight with her picks for Oscar night.

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO ….. by Cheryl Phillips

Best Supporting Actress: OCTAVIA SPENCER – The Help

Here are the other  nominees: Bérénice Bejo – The Artist, Jessica Chastain – The Help, Melissa McCarthy -Bridesmaids, Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs

Last fall I wrote a review of The Help on this blog and predicted Jessica Chastain would be nominated for her role as Celia Foote. Chastain was nominated and she did an amazing job of portraying Celia, but neither Chastain nor any of the others will beat out Octavia Spencer as Minnie in The Help. She has won the Golden Globe, the Critics Choice, the BAFTA (British Academy Award), and her peers gave her the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award. Iʼm feeling pretty confident in predicting a win for Octavia in the Supporting category.

Best Support Actor: CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – Beginners

The other nominees are Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn, Jonah Hill – Moneyball, 
Nick Nolte – Warrior, 
Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  (I will never understand how Jonah Hill got on this list and Ewan MacGregor in Beginners and Albert Brooks in Drive are not.)

Anyway, again all but the above mentioned did a great acting job in their respective films – Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier did an amazing job, as did Max Von Sydow in Extremely Loud….his body language was absolute perfection, but it is Christopher Plummer as a 75-year-old widower who comes out of the closet to his son that will take this award. Over the years Plummer has given us so many great performances and there is no doubt his peers will want to honor him. Since Beginners was a small independent film that was out last summer and, of course, did not play in Santa Clarita, thought you might like to see a bit of his acting before the awards Sunday night.

Best Actress: VIOLA DAVIS – The Help

Both the Best Actress and Supporting Actress nominees gave us stunning performances this year. Last week I saw Meryl Streep in Iron Lady and, as always, she never lets me down.  Her depiction of Margaret Thatcher in appearance, speech and demeanor was flawless. She captures the aging process and respectfully deals with Thatcher’s dementia with dignity. But it is Viola Davis as Abilene in The Help that’s my  prediction for the win in the Best Actress category. Davis didn’t have any news footage to review, speeches to listen to,  or people to interview to prepare for her  fictitious character.  She only had her mom, who was a real maid in the pre-Civil Rights era South. Her mother’s painful memories and feelings of oppression are very real to this day, and she has yet to see her daughter’s portrayal of a maid in the early 1960s. Maybe that’s why I believed Abilene. I felt her silently swallow her pain each day. In her eyes I saw  her sadness and loss, her love and tenderness.  She was the quiet part of the movie with all the noisy Southern girls going on and on and on. She made the movie better. I hope she wins. (cinderellie side note: loved Davis in Doubt).

Best Actor: JEAN DUJARDIN – The Artist

This will be one of the more exciting calls of the night. The other nominees in this category are: George Clooney – The Descendants, Brad Pitt – Moneyball, Demian Bichir – A Better Life, and Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

So far Clooney and Dujardin have split the awards. Clooney took the Critics Choice award and Dujardin has won the BAFTA and the SAG award. They both received a Best Actor Golden Globe for Musical and Drama. There is word out that Brad Pitt could be a possible spoiler in this category, so this will be the envelope to watch. Iʼm going to go with Jean Dujardin only because his peers gave him the SAG and they will be the ones voting here. Or maybe, George. I do love George………………….

BEST MOVIE: To Be Announced – There are a lot of nominees.

So here’s a head start via Cheryl. You still have time to run out and catch one of these performances. It always makes Oscar night more fun when you know what movie they are talking about.