Please consider being a guest blogger on Sharpen Your Knives!
05 Apr 2012 2 Comments
in Marriage, Midlife Crisis, relationships, Someone's gotta say it Tags: blogging, guest bloggers, married life, relationships
This is where women can come to vent about their (past, present, maybe even future?) husbands’…idiosyncrasies.
You know what I’m talking about.
Share your stories, anonymously or not, with other like-minded individuals. Sharp stories, edgy entreaties, and amusing anecdotes are welcome.
It’s easy to be part of Sharpen Your Knives
- Subscribe to SYK.
- Submit your story to kmcwrites@gmail.com.
- Remember to say whether your identity should be kept mum!
That’s it. Complete the above steps and you’re in.
The goal: hopefully by sharing our stories we’ll discover that we are in all in good company with our (minor! oh so minor!) daily frustrations and irritations…and if we dump them here, we can (hopefully) avoid dumping them on our spouses.
Tell your friends!
Keep your submissions around 200-400 words if possible (but shorter pieces are also fine!). As editor, I reserve the right to edit for typos, grammar, and length.
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Oh, fudge!
31 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in (it's all about the) food, education, friends, Karen's Kitchen, local fun, quest for the best Tags: candy thermometer, dessert, fudge, how to make fudge, Wells Adult Education, wooden utensil
Lemon Kreme and Dark Chocolate Fudge
I took a fudge making class through Wells Adult Education last night at the high school. There were about 8 of us present and we had mostly all tried to make fudge with varying amounts of success. We were a mixed group: a few men, mostly woman, all determined to (finally) learn how to make good fudge.
We were sure it involved a candy thermometer.
We were wrong.
It involves exactly 5 minutes of continuous stirring with a wooden utensil with a flat edge. I own every kitchen utensil known to womankind for baking but guess what? When my flimsy wooden scraper broke a few years ago, I didn’t replace it.
Guess what I ran out to the kitchen store to buy yesterday?
The secret to great homemade fudge!
It happens that I actually do own a candy thermometer already, which (alas) shall continue to remain in its original packaging.
Anyone else have any secrets (or secret recipes) for great fudge?
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Back on the Weight Watchers Wagon
23 Mar 2012 3 Comments
in (it's all about the) food, health, Midlife Crisis, Turning 50 Tags: cooking, food, go-to foods, maple groves, points plus program, weight watchers
I decided to go back on Weight Watchers a few weeks ago. My goals were:
- Lose 10 pounds.
- Learn the new PointsPlus Program.
That’s it. Not lofty goals by any means. I lost weight with WW several years ago and wanted to nip the current weight-trending-upward thing I’d noticed over the past year in the bud. I had my few favorite low points value”go-to” foods when I did WW the first time, but hel-lo? They are MUCH DIFFERENT now–PointsPlus values are just that: plus. So the daily allotment is higher too, yada yada, but it means that I had to find all new PointsPlus (hereafter referred to as PP’s) ”go-to’s” in addition to the zero points fruits and veggies we all know and love.
So, always up for a challenge, I did. Here they are:
DISCLAIMER: I am a layperson, not a Weight Watchers Rep. I am figuring this out for myself online as I go along.
- Pistachio nuts, shelled: 16 are 1 PP. Want to live dangerously? 5 are ZERO PP’s. Space them out over your day–say, 3 occasions of eating 5 pistachio’s each (maybe breakfast, lunch, and dinner?) and you don’t have to count 15 at all. You’re welcome.
- Special K Crackers. I like the multigrain ones (have not tried the other kind). 24 are 3 PP‘s; but 18 are only 2 PP‘s.
- A zucchini, diced up and microwaved for 2-3 minutes, then salt and pepper it. ZERO PP‘s. It’s quick and it fills you up.
- Sriracha Sauce. 4 T are ZERO PP‘s. Great on anything that needs a little pizzazz (eggs, cold cuts).
- Salad. A ZERO PP salad can consist of lettuce, shredded cole slaw mix (plain), diced tomato, bell pepper, 3/4 T of Craisins, 3 olives, sliced mushrooms. Maple Groves Cranberry Balsamic Salad Dressing, 1 T. Okay, so it’s not a lot of dressing. If you have points to spare, use 2T for 1 PP, otherwise, it’s a good compromise if you’re hungry but ate up all your points already.
- Lipton’s Cup O’Soup, 1 PP…and a truckload of sodium, but hey, sometimes it’s worth the tradeoff.
- Three slices of deli turkey are 1 PP. Roll them up in a lettuce leaf and douse them with Sriracha Sauce.
Do any of you have any Weight Watchers low PointsPlus food suggestions?
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Souvenirs
20 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in family, friends, health, Midlife Crisis Tags: bucket list, italian cookbooks, italian language books, Italy, map of italy, santa christmas ornament, souvenirs, travel, trip to Italy, turning 50, vacation
I want to go to Italy, but so far have not managed to pull this off (I’ll be a walking cliche and say it’s on my bucket list). Instead, I surround myself with some Italian inspired things.
Souvenirs so far:
- The Amore Dish, affectionately referred to by the gifter as “The Poison Plate” because once purchased and brought home, he (my son) realized that one may not eat food off it. (Note: I am a person who is quite partial to food). I solved this problem by keeping some of my heart rock collection (and other mementoes) on it.
- Coaster, pictured above (also from my son), which I love and have used every day I am at my desk since I received it.
- Gorgeous multicolored Italian pasta, Farfalle, almost too pretty to cook and eat. I love to look at them every time I open up my pantry door.
- A map of Italy, which my husband laminated for me. I hung it on the wall in my kitchen where I look at it every day. I wonder if any of the others in the family even see it?
- An Italian Santa Christmas ornament, which is on my book case in my office. I bought my grandmother one years ago and although this isn’t the same one, it reminds me of her, so I keep it there year round.
- Italian language books and CD’s. I used to listen to them when I was between audio books when I commuted to work. Now I just think about listening to them.
- Many Italian cookbooks. Many. Italian. Cookbooks.
Here’s the thing: I’m getting ready to turn 50 this year, and I suddenly realized that this was the year my friend Karyn and I were going to take a trip to Italy together (if I remember right; see here).
It also dawned on me that the time to complete any bucket listed items is getting short(er). Time to get crackin’.
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Pen pals
14 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in friends, Midlife Crisis, no fear, Turning 50, writing Tags: creativity, culture, friends, Germany, Italy, letter writing, pen pals, relationships, writing
I have a new pen pal! It happened like this: I got an email from a reader of one of my myriad online writings. She took a leap of faith and asked if I wanted to correspond, either via email, traditional mail, or both. She shared information about her life, her family, her country.
She is from Germany by way of Italy, and it is through my love of All Things Italian that we came in contact with each other. I was hesitant at first to say too much; after all, you don’t get to be a midlife woman in New England without hearing all sorts of stories of scammers presenting themselves as Something Other Than Who They Are.
But then a funny thing happened: I decided to take a leap of faith too. As part of my year of turning 50, I had previously decided that,when presented with an idea that appeals to me, to just go with it. No whim will be turned away. So I answered her email.
I have had other writing relationships over the years. When I was in middle school, there was a pen pal in Korea (not sure how I became “pals” with her; probably a school project). When my friend Sheila moved many states away from me (sob!) about 22 years ago, we started writing to ease the pain. We continued, too; even though I stubbornly resisted, we eventually switched to email from legal pads and are still writing to each other nearly every day, all these years later.
Come to think of it, I have many “email pals” among my friends now. We ‘talk’ through texting, emailing, and IM’ing. Since all of us are so busy, it allows me to include my friends in my daily life, friends whom I might otherwise go long stretches of time without seeing.
Hel-lo? In the 22 years since Sheila left, we’ve seen each other in person twice, I think (forgive me if that’s wrong, Sheila, but you know how the midlife memory works–it doesn’t!).
How do you maintain friendships?
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Great audiobook
11 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in (it's all about the) food, books, family, friends, Marriage, Midlife Crisis, relationships, Someone's gotta say it Tags: "My Nest Isn't Empty, audiobook, from real life, It Just Has More Closet Space", Lisa Scottoline, midlife
I just finished this book and I really enjoyed it. Lisa Scottoline,whom I’d never heard of, spoke right to me and many of my issues. Even though she’s twice divorced (nope, not me), she lives with 5 dogs (nope, I live with 3 humans…and chickens!) has 1 child (I have 2), has seen 50 come and go, (nope, I’m currently Staring Down 50), I could see myself in so many of her stories. This book is comprised of just that: many stories from her life. One of my favorites is the one about being a cookbook collector. I, myself, am a Closet Cookbook Collector-well, maybe not so closeted. I love to read them, buy them, share them, compare them. What I rarely do, however, is COOK from them. I have my favorite go-to recipes to which I gravitate toward by default. You know, the ones that I can make without having to think too much? Those. She does the same thing!! I felt so much better after that!! The only reason that I didn’t give this book 5 stars is because I didn’t feel the same way about the chapters that were written by her daughter, Francesca. They weren’t bad; they just weren’t me.
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Get out of your rut
04 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Date night, fitness, local fun, Marriage, Midlife Crisis, no fear, relationships, Turning 50 Tags: chlorinated pools, getting out of your rut, marriage, pool, staycation, swimming, swimming lessons
In the interest of getting out of my rut, my husband and I went away…to the other side of town.
One of the perks was that the facility had a pool. No big whoop for me, because I don’t much like chlorinated pools. My husband does though, so even though it was late (9:30pm is late when you are usually in bed by then), and even though it was freezing out, and even though it was snowing out, and even though we had to walk outside (the equivalent of about 3 blocks, maybe, but still) to get to said pool, and even though I had to put on a bathing suit in February…I went with him.
I took swimming lessons when I was 12, but it never clicked for me. I was always awkward in the water, so do not consider myself a swimmer.
My husband is a great swimmer.
I had planned to sit on the side of the pool and watch him, but he convinced me to swim a little…and guess what?
I swam the length of the pool 3 times! I enjoyed it! I wanted to stay longer! I didn’t even mind the walk back to the room!
Go figure. Maybe there are things that you can do but haven’t you haven’t tried because you keep telling yourself that you can’t.
What if you can?
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Movie free association
28 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in friends, Midlife Crisis, movies, yoga Tags: actors, exercise, friends, movies, romantic movies, Sleepless in Seattle, yoga
I was in yoga class (small group, all women) last week and someone (okay, it was me) started talking about how Sleepless in Seattle had been on TV the night before.
Soon, everyone was mentioning their “go-to” movies, the ones that you have to watch whenever they are on TV, even if you have the DVD already, and even if it’s on Netflix.
Here’s the master chick-flick list:
- Sleepless in Seattle
- You’ve Got Mail
- It Could Happen to You
- The Wedding Planner
- Must Love Dogs
- The Bridges of Madison County
- Something’s Got to Give
- While You Were Sleeping
- When Harry Met Sally
- Say Anything
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Staring down fifty
26 Feb 2012 4 Comments
in (it's all about the) food, family, friends, Marriage, Midlife Crisis, Turning 50 Tags: birthdays, going in circles, milestone birthdays, scrapbooking event, turning 50
I’m going to be 50 this year and have been thinking about what I want to do about it. It seems like a great opportunity for it not to be “just another birthday”. I have had a lot of ideas about how to mark the milestone as well as how to celebrate the day. I started my scrapbook for “My Fiftieth Year” and it’s halfway ready to go. I’ll finish setting it up by or on May 19 (at a scrapbooking event with my friend Susan).
I’m worried though, because as I told my friends (Susan, Deb, Elisabeth) and my daughter yesterday: I’m afraid that I have so many ideas that I won’t commit to one and will end up doing nothing. My friend’s husband celebrated his turning 50 by subscribing to “AARP”. Hmmm…I’ll think about that later.
My friend Deb is also turning 50 this year, and I envy her focus. She wants to take a trip, and even knows where she wants to go. This reminded me that I want to take a trip too! I want to go to Italy, to or near Avellino! But I think I want to be in my home state for my actual birthday. Plus, my husband wants to go someplace else if we take a trip (like Bermuda).
I want to have an Italian birthday cake from La Cascia’s in Burlington, MA, but no one in my immediate family likes this kind of cake. The idea of 50 mini cupcakes (from Somethin’ Sweet in Sanford) surrounding one normal size cupcake (or 6 inch cheesecake?) with an inscription of some sort would be really cool. That way, there would be something for everyone (read: no complaints that ”I don’t like chocolate!” or “I don’t like vanilla!”…minis can be ordered in many flavors). This is my Plan B.
Sigh. I’m going in circles. I saw somewhere that some people make a “Bucket List” of things to do in their 50th year. That might work.
How do people celebrate turning 50?
Anyone? Anyone?
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Decluttering
22 Feb 2012 7 Comments
in (it's all about the) food, Marriage, my one word, Pantry Project, relationships, shopping Tags: clutter, decluttering, family, marriage, Oprah, pantry, Peter Walsh, safety security
In the March 2012 issue of her magazine, Oprah says, “Identifying the cause of your clutter is the first step to getting it under control,” p.31.
Ya think?
Just in case that’s true…I thought about it in relation to my pantry, because food clutter is one of the areas with which I struggle (read: argue about with my husband). I look in my overflowing pantry and see safety, security, love. My husband looks in and sees clutter, chaos, disarray.
It’s a problem.
He is to the point now where he won’t even look in there to see if we have the can of tomato sauce, box of spaghetti, or whatever he needs to make supper that night. He would rather go to the store and buy what he needs, thereby completely avoiding the pantry and hopefully (but not usually) a fight.
Well, Oprah, let’s see if you and Peter Walsh can help us out. I’ll read the article and see if I can be helped. Peter’s idea in a nutshell is to pare down your belongings to basically nothing so they don’t have to be stored, dusted, arranged, etc.
Don’t think so.
My idea is this: get a bigger pantry. Just sayin’.
