Take Action in the Fight Against Cancer: a Sponsored Video

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the American Cancer Society. All thoughts and opinions, however, are my own. I am so glad to share my own experience, in hopes that it might somehow be a catalyst toward helping win the fight against cancer.

See the beautiful woman on the left?

My Mom and me, five months before her death.

Have you ever seen a mother-of-the-bride look at her daughter with more love?

She died of a cancerous brain tumor, at the age of 69.

Papa and my firstborn.

See the handsome man holding the precious little boy?

He retired following the death of his wife, determined to enjoy life to the full, in part because losing his wife awakened him to the finiteness of life. He bought a boat, went mountain climbing, rappelling, sailing, and travelling. He died of prostate cancer at the age of 76. 

Both died, too young, and far too soon, leaving me and my siblings as orphans, my kids without grandparents, and me with the knowledge of my unfortunate genetic predisposition toward that dreadful, deadly disease. 

I'll bet you have similar stories in your family, or among your dear friends.

Despite tragedies like these, we have a friend and ally in the fight against cancer.

The American Cancer Society will turn 100 years old on May 22, 2013. Did you know The American Cancer Society is a nationwide but community-based volunteer health organization? It works not only toward the prevention and early detection of cancer, but also by helping those who have received a cancer diagnosis, by helping support the work of finding a cure for cancer, and by rallying lawmakers and our communities to join together in the fight against cancer.

Did you know, for example, that the American Cancer Society has contributed to a 20% decline in cancer death rates in the US, since the 1990's? That comes to nearly 1.2 million lives saved.Their work has also helped lead to a 50% drop in smoking since the 1960's, which has also led to an overall  drop in lung cancer rates, as well. 

Silence is what allows cancer to grow. Speaking out and taking action? That's what will help The American Cancer Society to continue to contribute to research that will help find the cure. That's what will help them provide screenings for people who need them, but who can't afford them. That's what will help them continue to provide free places for patients to stay while they are receiving their treatment, and rides to get there.

I am so impressed by the volunteers who lend their hearts and their hands to help those who've been diagnosed. I am so impressed by those who give their time and their money to aid in this fight.

Please watch this video. And then, do more than be impressed and inspired. Take action.

This post is sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

How to Refresh and Maintain a Sourdough Starter

Pin It I've been baking sourdough bread since January, so in this series of posts, I'll be sharing with you what I've learned over the last four months from baking my own.

Slicing into a beautiful loaf of bread you've created yourself is really rewarding!

In my first post, I gave you an overview of the process in general, with a few perhaps somewhat  deflating truths: what to expect in general, and some things I think you should be prepared to deal with if you want to give this rewarding process a whirl.

In the second post, I explained to you WHY it's important to only use the ingredients specified in this recipe, and also mentioned specific tools you will need.

Today's post is the third in this series.

WHAT THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT:

Unfortunately for some of you, this post is NOT about how to begin your very own starter. There is a simple reason for this: I have never done it.

There ARE books that will tell you precisely how to do this, and the one I'm reading and loving right now is called Local Breads, by Daniel Leader.  After checking this book out from the library, I knew it was important and informative enough that I actually wanted to own it. So, that's a pretty high recommendation. I'm looking forward to trying quite a few of its recipes.

Here's how I stumbled into unintentionally owning (but not making) my own starter.

I was given my starter by a neighbor who had ordered it for herself, but who upon receiving it,  then realized the level of involvement one needs to be a good sourdough parent, and who (happily, inasmuch as it concerned me) asked me if I might be willing to adopt. I jumped at the chance, produced my first "meh" loaf of bread by following the directions that came with my King Arthur starter,  and began my journey toward making truly wonderful sourdough bread.

 My search took me to Cook's Illustrated, with whom I have a wonderful track record of finding scientifically satisfying and accurate answers. Using the King Arthur starter, with the directions that I obtained from Cook's Illustrated, I've achieved the kind of simple sourdough loaf I hoped I might be able to produce.


My search goes on for different varieties and uses of sourdough, and so far, I've found I can make a scrumptious sourdough pizza crust, and wonderful waffles using my sourdough starter. I've also discovered that there are some phenomenally bad sourdough recipes out there on the internet, and that you can't trust every recipe you run into, no matter how yummy it sounds. But at least I don't have to make THOSE cinnamon rolls again!

WHAT THIS POST IS ABOUT:

What I will give you in this post are the directions you need for refreshing and maintaining a sourdough starter.

So the very first thing I want you to understand is that these directions have very little to do with actually baking a loaf of bread.

This is just the necessary background work you have to do so that you CAN make a great loaf of sourdough bread.

This is NOT a recipe for sourdough bread.

That will come in the next, and last post in this series.
In other words, these directions, for refreshing and maintaining a sourdough starter, while NECESSARY, are not SUFFICIENT.

Once you have obtained a sourdough starter, (and you can obtain one like I did from King Arthur, if you like), you will need to follow the package directions for getting the starter active, (a one time process), THEN you will follow these directions so that you can be ready to make your first loaf of bread. Following these directions for refreshing your sourdough starter involves around 36 hours, total.

So if you want a couple of loaves of bread on Wednesday, you'll follow the "refresh the starter" process for 36 hours, beginning on Sunday night, and you'll be ready to begin the bread baking process on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday, once the bread dough is kneaded and prepared, it needs to enjoy a nice, slow ferment overnight in your fridge on Tuesday night, and then you'll be ready to let it do a final rise on Wednesday outside your refrigerator, and then, you'll be ready to bake it.

It's involved, I know.

But two big loaves of sourdough bread last us for a week. I generally serve it when we have time for a nicer sit down meal together. (And we're pretty busy these days, with activities scheduled for 3 nights out of each week.) If my menu doesn't lend itself to a loaf of bread on the night I've baked my loaves of bread, then I freeze the uncut bread, and then I have beautiful loaf of sourdough bread available for a special meal when guests come over.

Do you know how great the bragging rights are when you can tell someone you made that wonderful sourdough bread they are enjoying?

Huge! :-D

If you want to be ready to bake bread any day you like, you CAN omit refrigeration of your starter, and store the starter out on your counter, but if you choose to go that route, you must refresh it daily with flour and water. That will cause you to go through a tremendous amount of flour, pretty quickly. But it will give you more flexibility in terms of being able to start a loaf of bread at a moment's notice. If you need to bake bread pretty often, because, for example,  you have a large family, storing your starter on the counter and feeding it daily might be your best bet.

I took this picture in the early days of learning to make sourdough bread, to show the type container I was using to grow the starter in, and the height in the jar that the starter reached before it was refreshed. Also note that the weight of the starter doesn't change: I just didn't have the lid on the jar in this picture .
Very important: please note that I was using the wrong type of flour, because I am pig-headed, and slow to learn.

See how much my starter grew overnight? Look how high it got in the jar. (Note that the weight didn't change: it's just that after I took the last picture, I added the jar lid.)

Here, then,  are the directions you need for refreshing and maintaining a sourdough starter, if you plan to refrigerate it when not in use.

Refreshing and Maintaining a Sourdough Starter:

INGREDIENTS:

Sourdough starter
Bottled or filtered water
Unbleached, all purpose flour with 11 to 13% protein content

INSTRUCTIONS:

How to refresh your starter:

Begin this process in the evening, two days before you plan to begin the recipe to bake bread.

Stir the starter well to recombine any liquid that may have gathered on the top. Measure out 1 c. (9 oz.) of starter, and discard remaining starter. (I dump mine down the sink. You also, however, have the option of giving what you would have discarded to a friend who is interested in trying sourdough baking.) Place measured starter in a glass bowl or container with at least 1 1/2 quart capacity.  Stir in 1 c. (8 oz.) of bottled or filtered water, until combined. Then stir in 1 1/2 c. (7 1/2 oz.)  flour, until evenly moistened. The mixture will be lumpy, like pancake batter. That's just fine. Cover with plastic wrap.

Let stand at room temperature for 8 - 12 hours.

Now repeat this process two more times. The first time will be the next morning; the second time will be the next evening.  (For example, if you start refreshing your starter on Sunday evening, you will refresh it a second time on Monday morning, and the last time on Monday evening. You will be ready to USE the starter you have refreshed in a recipe on Tuesday morning.)

Now that your starter is refreshed, you can use the amount specified in the bread recipe that you are baking. Return the unused portion of refreshed starter to the refrigerator for a week. At that point, you will need to give it another feeding.

Long term starter maintenance:

If you don't plan to bake for a while, you can store your starter, covered, in the refrigerator, even up to several weeks, and revive it the next time you'd like to bake, following the steps given here. It is best to feed it weekly, however, even if you don't plan to use it that week. Just stir it up, and follow the directions given for one feeding (discarding excess, and adding the prescribed amounts of flour and water). Leave it out for 4 - 6 hours to allow some bubbling to occur (that means the yeasties are doing their thing), and then return it to the refrigerator.

Please let me know if you have questions, or if anything I've said is unclear.
I recommend that you either print out these instructions, or pin them to a Pinterest board. Please feel free to share this on Facebook or Twitter, as well.

"Time": a Review of Rod Stewart's New Project

Pin It Rod Stewart is one of the best selling musical artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide. He has spent FOUR DECADES of his life as a successful professional musician. That's a record that few can match, considering how difficult it is to stay relevant over the long haul in the music business.  This album,  his newest effort, entitled "Time",  was written on the heels of him penning his 2012 memoir, "Rod".   It's his first album of new material in almost 20 years.

It's almost as if sorting through all those memories in order to tell his life's story unblocked the log jam of his creativity, and the songs began flowing. So, in a sense, "Time" is very much an autobiographical music project. 

The album cover.

As a writer, I find it to be true that tapping into one's memories and examining them sometimes unlocks a flood of more memories. As any writer knows, re-living memories and the feelings associated with them are the stuff of good writing.  And I think musically and lyrically, Stewart has created a strong project.

In Stewart's own words:

"Suddenly ideas for lyrics were piling up in my head," he says. "Next thing I knew, I had a song called 'It's Over' about divorce and separation. And now I was getting up in the middle of the night and scrambling for a pen to write things down, which has never happened to me. I finished seven or eight songs very quickly and I still wasn't done, and it became apparent that I would eventually have a whole album of material to record."

Several of the cuts on this project harken back to the days of his early career-making song, "Maggie May", utilizing a mandolin and a driving, steady beat. Since Maggie May has always been my favorite song of his, that means these new songs, like "She Makes Me Happy" and  "Can't Stop Me Now" suit me just fine.



But "Live the Life" reminds me the most musically of Maggie May. Give it one listen, and you'll know why: the mandolin, the fiddle and the whole groove are very reminiscent of that earlier hit.  "Live the Life" also contains what I think may have been the hookiest hook of all his songs: "Love the life you live, live the life you love." (I kind of wish I'd written that one.)

The song "It's Over", inspired by one of Stewart's divorces, expresses the deep sentiments of pain and loss that anyone who has watched a marriage crumble might relate to.

"Beautiful Morning" is anthemic in nature, and another hard-rocking tune. The title words are repeated again and again, making me want to sing along, and reminding me to celebrate the life I've been given.  I do kind of wish he'd left out the part of the lyrics where he sang about the hotel south of "Frisco": (since nobody who lives there actually calls it that), because it left me teetering on the edge of being disappointed that I don't have my own room in that hotel, with a four poster bed and a sea view...but I digress...

Stewart co-wrote every song on this project with the exception of "Picture in a Frame", which was written by Tom Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan. This song is so poignant, so touching, and has grown on me to the point of becoming one of my favorites. It should have been in a Toy Story movie: that's the vibe I'm talking about. I was thrilled to discover that Stewart had recorded a Tom Waits song, since he's a favorite around our house.

Rock on, Rod.

I can't not mention that a couple of these songs seem to have been written especially for his children, which I relate to on a very personal level, and they are "Live the Life" and "Pure Love". I found these lyrics from "Pure Love" especially touching, since I have a son who is about to leave for college:

"There may be oceans in between us now
But I think about you every living hour
No don't forget me now that we're apart
Just open up that great big loving heart
You'll always be, you'll always be
You'll always be a part of me

Don't ask me now where all the time has gone
I've loved you since the minute you were born
So many times we have laughed and cried
I see you now, it fills my heart with pride
You'll always be, you'll always be
You'll always be a part of me. "

~sniff~

While there were a few songs that didn't float my personal musical boat,  all in all, I can truthfully say I'll be listening to this project again and again. I love the energy.

Glad you're writing again, Rod!

Rock on.

I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the CD to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

To Be Loved: A Review of Michael Bublé's New Project

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I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the album to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

The album cover of Michael Bublé's latest project: To Be Loved.

This week I received the new album by Michael Bublé, entitled To Be Loved. Because my husband produces and writes music, we're kind of a "tough crowd" around here. Not easily pleased.

But there's a whole lot to love on this album. It's a mixture of old Sinatra-esque standards, a few Motown classics, with some adult contemporary numbers thrown in for good measure.

Canadian Michael Bublé has sold more than 45 million albums worldwide. Let's just stop and ponder that number for a moment, shall we?  45 million. Holy cow. He's also been awarded three Grammys. "To Be Loved" debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts, making it Bublé's fourth consecutive number one album.

He must be doing SOMETHING right.

Michael Bublé says this album came out of a place of deep contentment in his life, and it shows. The songs largely give off the vibe of a man in love, happy in his marriage, and looking forward to the birth of his first child.

He cleans up nicely, too.

I've been aware of his music, of course, and, listened to some of his songs, but after listening to this album carefully enough to write a review, I think I can say that Mr. Bublé might just have won himself a new fan. His voice is agile, his technique skilled, and he shows it off to great effect on both the classic Sinatra ballads, "You Make Me Feel So Young" and "Nevertheless", the tunes which start and end the album. His treatment of these songs is so smooth and easy it reminds me of straddling a highly polished bannister in a great big mansion, and gliding down it with nary a splinter to spoil the ride.

Another strong track is the second one, "It's a Beautiful Day".  It's a perfect example of why he's been so successful in the adult contemporary music genre. "It's A Beautiful Day" is of the happiest little break-up songs you'll ever hear: finger-snapping, toe-tapping, bubbly fun. Bublé co-wrote this song, and it's my favorite of all three of the songs that his writing efforts added to the album.

The third track, "You Don't Know What It's Like", is an old BeeGees tune. I liked this so much: dare I say it? I liked it better than the original. The orchestration and production reminded me of some old Sam Cooke tunes that I've loved. Very elegant, very soulful. Nice.

I have always been crazy about the Motown sound, and I really enjoyed the way Bublé covered "Who's Loving You?", a tune penned by Smokey Robinson. It's been covered by not only Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, but also The Temptations, The Supremes, and possibly most notably by the young Michael Jackson, when he was still a part of the Jackson Five. I liked Bublé's treatment of the tune a lot, but I fell in love with it when I listened to this live performance of it, recorded in the New York Subway.



In this clip, you'll see him surrounded by Naturally 7, the group that stepped in and took the place of Elvis' Jordanaires on not only this tune, but on "Have I Told You Lately?". I love the way the super polished Bublé cuts loose and growls this tune straight from his gut. There was possibly more soul in this live recording than on any of the rest of the project. I'd love to see Mr. Bublé cut loose even more in the future, and pull the music out of the depths of who he is, with the passion and soul that you see here.

In the meantime? On this album, what he offers us for the most part is sweet, skilled finesse.

Which is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Are you a Michael Bublé fan?
Have you listened to this new project?

Sourdough Bread Baking: Ingredients and Tools

Pin It This is my second post in a series of posts on how to make sourdough bread.  In my first post, I gave you an overview of the process, with a few perhaps somewhat  deflating truths: what to expect in general, and some things I think you should be prepared to deal with if you want to give this rewarding process a whirl.

There are some critical things that I've learned in regard to the ingredients that one uses to make sourdough bread,  as well as a few must-have tools that will enable you to have an excellent outcome with the recipe that I'll be sharing in an upcoming post.  In this post I'm going to be sharing precisely why these specific ingredients and tools are so important.

If you've spent any time at all reading recipe reviews, you'll notice that people very often give a recipe a poor review or a low number of stars, but if you examine their comments closely, you may notice that the person who had a bad outcome substituted critical ingredients, or  that they went about preparing the recipe in an entirely different way than was outlined in the recipe. And then, they blamed the recipe for their failure.

Let it not be so with you.

WHY THE TYPES OF INGREDIENTS YOU USE MATTER:

The number of ingredients in a loaf of sourdough bread is small.
Flour, water, sourdough starter, salt.
How hard could that be?
What's the big deal? Why be so fussy?

As it turns out, this teeny weeny list of ingredients contains some critical adjectives/qualifiers. Qualifiers that will make all the difference in the kind of result you have.

Flour:

The flour needs to be unbleached, all-purpose flour, with a protein content of between 11-13 percent. Each element of that description is important. I want to specifically address the issue of protein content, as it is not one that is familiar territory to most home bakers, and an issue that you might be tempted to roll your eyes at as unimportant.

But I assure you that it IS important.

Yes, the type of unbleached all-purpose flour you use actually matters.

I admit to initially being a skeptic on this point.

I am frugal. I like to use store brands if they're just as good, They help me save money. Sometimes, their product is just as good as the product made by a national brand. National brands tend to pour more money into advertising and then jack up the price of their product.

But the question arises:

Is the store brand of unbleached all-purpose flour every bit as good as, say, King Arthur flour? 

Comparing the labels on a bag of Publix Unbleached All Purpose Flour and White Lily Self-Rising Flour.
Note the difference in the grams of protein per serving.

The answer to that question is found in the protein content of the flour.

The sources I've been studying have all agreed on the importance of the percentage of protein content found in the flour that one uses to bake bread.  So I began to wonder precisely why this is such a critical issue. It turns out, there is a very good scientific reason for WHY your choice of flour matters, and it's not just because they're trying to sell you the more expensive flour.

You'll note that the flour I mentioned has a protein content that is 11-13% protein content. Most store brand unbleached flour is 10% protein content, or lower.

You can find the level of protein content on the side of your bag of flour. Most labels say that a serving of flour is 30 g of flour. If you scan down the label, you can find the grams of protein in each serving. For example, looking at the store brand of flour at Publix, their unbleached all-purpose flour has  3 grams of protein in 30 grams of flour. You divide 3g by 30g, and you come up with a protein content percentage of 10%.  White Lily flour, the flour that I use for making biscuits, is milled from a soft wheat flour, and has an even lower protein content. There are two grams of protein to thirty grams of flour which equals 6.6% protein.

King Arthur flour, which has 4 g of protein in a 30 g serving comes out to having a protein percentage of 13.3%. Clearly, it has significantly higher percentage of protein, and it meets the requirements specified in the recipe.

Pointing out the higher level of Protein in a serving of King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

Why is the level of protein in your flour so critical? Protein is what allows gluten to form. Gluten is the magical elastic substance that enables bread to rise. It also helps bread retain moisture, so a higher protein content means your bread will stay fresher, longer.

So: if you want your bread to have a nice, high rise, and to stay fresher, longer, take the time to be sure that the flour that you use has a protein level of between 11 and 13%.

Water:

Now what about water? Why does my recipe specify the use bottled or filtered water? Put simply, the chlorine that kills bad bacteria in your tap water can also potentially hurt the yeast in your sourdough starter. Use water that won't discourage what you're trying to facilitate the growth of. Got it?

I use water that comes from our kitchen's reverse osmosis water filtering system, but I've read of some people who use a Brita water filtering system, others who use their refrigerator's filtered water, and others who buy distilled or spring water. I'd just avoid your local tap water, unless you know exactly what you're dealing with chemically.

Sourdough Starter:

I'm not going to tell you how to make a sourdough starter for this simple reason: I've never made one. My starter came from King Arthur, . Click the link in the name King Arthur, to check on their product and you can decide if you might want to order a starter from them as well.

TOOLS:

This is a picture of the Oxo Scale I use, and love, and the sourdough starter.

Scale:
In my opinion, the most important tool you can buy to help you make great sourdough bread is a scale. I really don't know how you will successfully navigate the breadmaking process without one I have an Oxo scale. It is awesome. I'm not selling them. I just like them that much. If you only use a measuring cup, 1 cup of flour can vary in weight tremendously, depending on whether the flour is scooped or spooned into the measuring cup, and on whether the flour you are scooping from has been fluffed recently, or has settled. Use a scale, and worry on these points and how an incorrect amount of flour will affect the outcome of your bread (in terms of stickiness of dough if too little flour is used or heaviness, dryness, and density of bread if too much is used) will be eliminated.

Baking stone:
I use a large circular pizza stone that I ordered years ago from Pampered Chef. A baking stone that has been pre-heated will conduct heat instantly and efficiently into bottom of the loaves you are baking, producing what professional bakers call "oven spring".

Spray bottle:
Any type will do, but you will want to be able to spray a large, fine mist over the loaves of bread, several times, after you have placed them in the oven. This helps your bread get that glorious crust that is so prized in artisan loaves. I use a Rubbermaid Heavy-Duty Spray Bottle, that I keep set aside for this purpose only.

So that's it. I hope I've convinced you that ingredients and the tools that you gather together to make sourdough bread can and will make all the difference in the results that you'll have.

In my next post, I'll explain to you what I've learned about sourdough starters.

Were you aware of the important role that the percentage of protein plays in baking bread?

Please feel free to pin this post on Pinterest, or share it with your friends.

Grilled Trout with Browned Butter, Caper and Pine Nut Vinaigrette

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 Interested in a RIDICULOUSLY EASY AND DELICIOUS vinaigrette/sauce for the next time you grill some fish? I thought you might be! Well, I found it, and let me tell you, this one, you have GOT to try! The secret to the deliciousness of this vinaigrette is the browned butter.



My husband went fishing again up near lake Michigan and came home with a few (but not nearly enough!) steelhead trout. They're a delicious fish, but this recipe sends them to WAY-Over-The-Top Super Deliciousness with this astonishingly easy vinaigrette. With the right ingredients, ANYONE  can do this, I promise you. My husband and I have decided we're going to try this vinaigrette on salmon next, and I know it will be RIGHTEOUS!

Curious as to how you make a browned butter?  Browning butter is just about what it sounds like: melting the butter in a sauté pan over moderate heat, and then continuing to heat and stir it until it just starts to turn a medium  brown. Depending on how hot your flame is is, it only takes two to four minutes, so just watch it carefully, keep stirring it while it's heating, and remove it from the heat when it's tan in color. It will continue to brown for a bit even after you remove it from the heat. What you're wanting to achieve ultimately is a nut brown color and a toasty aroma. You stir it while you're heating it because the milk solids in the butter will sink to the bottom of the pan and burn if you're not careful, so keep that spoon of yours a-moving.

We grill the fish, and then spoon the vinaigrette over the fish and the rice. Really hard, huh? If you doubled the vinaigrette recipe, it could go over the arugula salad, as a dressing for it, too. But since I had a little leftover vinaigrette from the last time I made my yummy Spinach and Butter Lettuce Salad, I just sprinkled that leftover vinaigrette over my arugula, and used a vegetable peeler to cut long thin strips of Parmesan to decorate the top.

My husband was so hungry last night and ready to eat that we rushed the picture taking, and forgot to sprinkle the dish with the toasted pine nuts, and the salad with the Parmesan. But trust me when I tell you that we added both before we ate, and they are important finishing touches of flavor and texture to this dish.

Here's some pictures to give you an idea of this process:

Before the trout heads for the grill.

Food around the corner.

Shhhh...we're resting.

Here comes the browned butter vinaigrette!

This picture actually makes me salivate.

Grilled Trout with Browned Butter, Caper, and Pine Nut Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter
1 T. olive oil
1/4 c. finely chopped shallots
2 T. white balsamic vinegar
1 T. drained capers
1 t. chopped fresh rosemary

Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 c. pine nuts

2 lbs. steelhead trout fish fillets

Preparation:

Toast the pine nuts in a small sauté pan. That should only take a couple of minutes. Watch them carefully and stir them when they start to smell good, to try to toast both sides evenly. If they start to brown too quickly, remove them from the pan quickly onto a saucer to cool them down. Reserve.

Prepare barbecue (medium high heat).

Cook butter in a small skillet over medium heat until brown, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in oil, shallots, vinegar, capers, and rosemary. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Brush the fish fillets with a little olive oil, and then sprinkle them with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill the trout, flesh side down, unti brown, about 2 minutes. Turn trout over; grill until cooked through, about another 2 minutes. Transfer trout to plates.

Spoon vinaigrette over trout, and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. (I put the vinaigrette over the rice that I serve on the side, too.)

Basking in the glow of the golden sunset.

Please, feel free to share this on Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter.
Let me know how much you love it!
Because, you will!

Long Overdue Thank You Note

Pin It To the alert Bible School Teacher who took me aside and told me she was worried about my four year old son, because he always ate his graham crackers in such a way as to form the shape of a "gun", and then pretended to fire that gun?

To that same woman, who scared the absolute bejeebers out of me, because SHE'd raised a son who didn't do that with HIS graham crackers?

To the same lady who thought that maybe my son might be obsessed with guns and violence and who told me she worried that he might grow up to be a school assassin or some other kind of social deviant?

Thank You.

You were right.

But it might be worse than you thought.

Borderline Hipster
Would you trust this guy?

My now 19 year old son is a Borderline Hipster.

Despite possessing a hipster's tendency toward musical snobbery, my hipster-like son is kind, gentle, thoughtful, sensitive, a deep thinker, loved wherever he goes, and a whole lot of fun.

He won a debate scholarship. And he's never debated. Except with his dad and me.

But no matter how much his dad would have liked it, he didn't want to go hunting. Just wasn't into it. (Not interested in killing things, so much.)

I've never forgotten the words you spoke to me, oh Well-Intentioned Teacher of my son, warning me of the darkness to come.

And now, I have a few words I'd like to share with you, fifteen years later. In the words of Agent Maxwell Smart:



What you DIDN'T know, Teacher, was an earlier story from my son's life, that might throw a bit more light on the situation. You see, as a young mother of one son (at the time of this earlier story), I tried very, very hard to shield my son from all violence. I didn't want to scar his tender psyche. I may not be the only young mother in history who has ever embarked on such a noble endeavor.

Historically, many mommies have treasured their sons before me, and attempted to shield them from the evils of this world, as well. It's our JOB, to protect our offspring, after all.

So, by the time my son had reached the tender age of two, he had not seen one single gun, nor one TV show, nor cartoon, with a gun. Because I was GOOD at my job. Or at least, I was good at the task I'd assigned myself.

One day, my friend Rachel and I went for a walk to Radnor Lake. It's a lovely spot, where mothers can push their babies in strollers on the road beside the lake, with no traffic whatsoever to molest. Rachel took her son, Austin on our walk. Austin was two and a half years older than my two year old, and my son's idol. My toddler worshipped the ground Austin manfully strode upon. At four and a half, Austin was what my son called, "a big boy".

Rachel had given her son one of those huge G.I. Joe green plastic machine guns as a toy. Austin knew a walk in the woods is a valuable place to have a gun, so the gun came with. I pushed my two year old guy in the stroller, while Austin acted as our little group's scout, charging bravely ahead to "shoot" at any danger that might (in his vivid imagination) be coming our way.

My boy watched with a fascination usually attributed to mesmerization.

Midway through our walk, he could stand it no longer.

"Mommy, what does Austin have in his hands?"

My world screeched to a stop as the very moment I had held at bay for two long years, finally arrived. Inwardly, I had a few choice words I wished I could offer to Big Boy Austin, for having stolen my baby boy's innocence.

But dang it all, I would NOT be beaten in my endeavor to preserve purity in my two year old's life, by a FOUR YEAR OLD!!!

So, being careful not to lie to my son, after a few beats, I answered,

"Well, son...it's a green stick".

He thoughtfully considered my answer for a moment, and then looked at me with a lust in his eyes I'd never before seen, and replied with all the heartfelt earnestness that a two year old can muster,

"Oh, Mommy! I WANT a green stick!!!"
Proving, dear readers, that a Mom can do what she can do, but she can only do so much.

So, dear Well-Intentioned Bible School Teacher: thanks for trying.

But despite both of our tireless efforts...

my young man is who he is.

And, oh, how I do love who he's becoming!