Maybe you’ve been happily married for many years, and have successfully navigated several Valentine’s Day holidays. Maybe you’ve had some great successes with figuring out what your spouse might like, and then actually being able to deliver it.
One thing that you can do for your female significant other that will almost definitely be well received is to take her out to (read: spare her the chore of making and cleaning up from) dinner.
Varano’s in Wells will have a special Valentine’s Day menu (sorry, no prices included on the website). They open up at 4:30p and really, you can’t get a bad meal at Varano’s.
Duffy’s in Kennebunk (currently hidden behind all of the bridge construction) is offering a 3 course dinner for $29.99 for two that includes a shared appetizer and dessert and two main courses (choose from 3). This is available Saturday and Sunday as well as Monday, so if you are working on the actual day, or just an overachiever who wants to get a jump on things, this may be a good bet for you.
If you are not the most punctual sort of suitor, all is not lost: Angelina’s is having a special Winter Wine Dinner for $65 per person on February 24th at 6pm. Same sort of idea with a fixed menu from which to choose but with wine (hence the additional cost) added. They are also open on Valentine’s Day but no special menu is mentioned in their ad.
So, if going out to eat is your idea of a great date, there’s plenty of choices to entice you to venture out into the freezing, freezing cold dark to get some great food.
I have not had a snow day for quite a while  (the Christmas Blizzard doesn’t count because I was too worried about my husband and son driving home from work in it to enjoy it). I decided to plan ahead for the next one, so I was ready to dive into distraction at a moment’s notice.
Stuff to do:
a.Crack out the crock pot. The big one. Make soup. Here’s a recipe for Minestrone using whatever you have in the pantry and fridge. Whatever is left over can be frozen to bring to work to eat for lunch during the week. Â b.Pull out the frozen gravy, meatballs and sausage from the freezer; place in crock pot. Add whatever odds and ends of meat you have leftover. Supper is almost ready!
No crock pot? Here’s a great recipe from Stephen Lanzalotta (author of The Diet Code, and baker extraordinaire at Micucci’s on India Street in Portland) that uses stuff (once again) that you have in the pantry right now. Really. I’ll wait while you go check. It’s for Tomato and Tuna Soup for one. Not alone (or just really hungry)? Just employ a little math to double or triple the recipe. Done.
Got Netflix? Load up your instant queue so now that the flakes are flying, all you’ll have to do is hit the “play” button.
Bake! You can mix up a bucket of bread dough (keeps in fridge for up to two weeks) so it’s ready when you are. Not much gets those endorphins going like the smell of fresh bread baking.
Read! Got a stack of books by (or under) the bed? A stack of magazines you’ve had no time to read? A Kindle? Go for it.
Write! Keep a file that you toss your little scraps of napkins, post its, notebook paper on which you’ve jotted down ideas that came to you while driving, watching TV, listening to a boring lecture at school so you will always have your own prompts and projects ready.
Got kids? Play Wii! (or Uno, or checkers, or whatever!)
Take a nap. You know you want to.
Virtually visit with friends and relatives via FB or email. In other words…DON”T DRIVE!
I originally thought that this would be one of the worst Christmases ever. It had three strikes against it before it even started:
I had to work late and wouldn’t get home until 8:20PM Christmas Eve.
My husband had to work early Christmas Day, leaving at 5:10 AM, and would be gone the entire day and night.
My son had to work Christmas Day as well. He was home in the morning, which was nice, but then couldn’t come with us to have dinner with relatives.
We tried to make the best of it. The kids each opened a couple of gifts with Dad on Christmas Eve while I listened in from work over the phone. My husband and I had a little time to exchange our gifts Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning, after Bill went to work, I stayed up and baked some bread and then put our traditional Christmas morning breakfast (cinnamon buns) into the oven. We opened up the gifts, then got ready for our (mostly separate) day.
We stopped to see Grammy and Papa before heading to my brother’s house for Christmas dinner…which may well have been one of the Best Christmas Dinners of all time. We played Wii games between dinner and dessert, rationalizing that we’d have more room for tiramisu (was that wrong?).
Then we brought some dinner to my son and his girlfriend Lauren at work. Unfortunately, we didn’t get there until 6:30PM…oh well. The food was worth the wait! My sister-in-law Andrea is an excellent cook!
I took my daughter to Buon Natale, the Italian Christmas bazaar at St. Peter’s Church on Federal St. in Portland. This was something my Italian grandmother always took me to when I was growing up, and it remains a happy childhood memory for me to this day. I wanted to share this with my daughter.
It was at the same site as the Italian Feast was in the summer. It was held inside the church, which usually would be a good thing, since November in Portland is often a cruel month.
Not today though; it was 64 degrees when we arrived about 12 noon. It easily could have been held outdoors. Inside, we were greeted by a nice lady that said, “Did you park in the Rite Aid parking lot? They’ll tow you if you did!” We assured her that we had not, and thanked her for her concern.
There was a “garage sale” room, with tables set up that had been well picked over by the time we arrived. The doors opened at 8am, so it was well more than half over. We browsed a bit in the craft show section, but then we got down to the real business of visiting any Italian venue: the food.
They had a similar menu to what was offered at the feast in the summer. Ziti with meatballs, meatball subs, Sicilian style pizza, eggplant parmigiana sub, and pasta fagioli were the main entrees. After much discussion (and viewing of what other people were ordering) we settled on the pasta fagioli to split.
For three bucks, we got a bowl big enough to fill us both up for lunch. It was the best pasta fagioli ever. 🙂
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For dessert? What else would these two Italian girls get? Tiramisu, of course! We split that as well, but afterward, we second guessed that choice. “We should have both got one!” my girl pointed out. Note to self for next time: to each her own tiramisu. 🙂
I was annoyed the other night, thinking that even though I was lucky to have had an extra day off from work this week, it had been all used up with medical appointments. Deciding to make them, scheduling them, dealing with insurance company in advance to try to make sure they didn’t weasel out of paying for them, transporting to and from them, waiting to be seen after arrival, waiting for test results…
The ocean
That evening, as I was telling my husband how annoyed I was, I decided to stop and change course. Why? As I was talking, I noticed that he was quickly becoming tense and seemed to be losing his good mood. I decided to change course and instead started listing what had been good about the day.
I did not talk myself out of exercising in the morning!
I had time to finish reading book that I was loving while I waited for my husband at his appointment
My daughter told me things about her day that she probably wouldn’t have otherwise while we waited for doctor at her appointment (“Guess what! I’m an alto in the chorus this year!”).
Lunch (Chinese lunch specials from Maple Leaves!) and dinner (Quattro Formaggi pizza from Pizza Napoli!) and dessert (Mocha Mousse Torte and a chocolate chip cookie as big as your headfrom Bread and Roses in Ogunquit!) dates with spouse.
Drove down to say “Hi” the ocean for a few minutes. 🙂
Appreciated having my son around the house more, now that college has started back up again.
After reviewing list, noticed that yoga was missing, and immediately jumped to the floor into “down dog” so I could include it on my list, and in my day.
I realized that my day had actually included many of my favorite things, but if I hadn’t noticed my husband’s reaction to my complaining, I may not have taken the time to stop and appreciate that it had, in fact, been a really great day!
Sometimes, when you try to do something nice for someone else, you are actually doing something really nice for yourself!
Eat, Pray, Love came to theaters in movie form on August 13, 2010. If you read the book by Elizabeth Gilbert (published by Viking in February 2006) like I did, you may have been eagerly anticipating the release of this movie. I know I certainly was. Â
Then I saw a trailer for the movie, and noticed who had been cast to play Elizabeth Gilbert: Julia Roberts, who is one of my least favorite actresses. It’s not just because she basically has one character that she plays over and over; hey, I do like Meg Ryan. I usually do end up liking movies that JR is in though… Â
 So, I reluctantly resigned myself to seeing it even though Julia was playing the lead character and therefore would most likely be on the screen a lot of the time (hello? it’s a memoir; told from the first person point of view). I went with a friend so that it wouldn’t be a totally lost Sunday afternoon…at least I would get to spend time with a friend sans children for a few hours. Â
So, need I say it more plainly? My expectations were low. I thoroughly enjoyed the coming attractions (3 more good-to-see-with-a-friend movies to watch for) so I was in a good mood when the feature finally started.  Â
I am happy to report that the book was great, but the movie was also perfectly fine! It was not a total waste of two hours and thirteen minutes (plus travel time) after all! Of course, I love all things that have to do with Italy so it helped that the first country visited in the story was Italy. Â
Also, the other actors in the film were all appealing, interesting, and (a side benefit) some were pretty easy on the eyes. 🙂Â
What could be better than a great day spent doing fun things with your friends? Not much; especially if it involves good food.Â
friends
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This past weekend, my daughter and I did just that. We started off at The Good Table, a wonderful restaurant in Cape Elizabeth. Sunday brunch is the day to go; that is the day that you can have a cinnamon bun that’s (almost as) big as your head. Even if that’s the only thing you have, you will be very happy you went.Â
Of course, it’s not the only thing that we had. Among us, we ordered an Italian Villa (an egg dish, not a house), blueberry crepes…home fries, toast, eggs, bacon were all present and accounted for. We had plenty left over; too bad I forgot it in my friend’s car! (yes, she saved them for me…). 🙂Â
Next, being happily filled up with an abundance of excellent food, we stopped at Two Lights. We got out, walked around, took pictures of our kids and ourselves. Then we headed over to Fort Williams Park for a drive through…we didn’t have time to get out and walk around because the girls were anxious to get to the Maine Rock Gym. If you are bringing your tween to climb, please note that if they are under 12 then they will need someone to belay for them, so be prepared. About an hour is how long we (my 11 year old and I) usually last at rock climbing.Â
climbing rock wall
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The girls had been wanting to go to Coastal Maine Popcorn in the Old Port. This is a great place to take your kids. They have up to 30 different popcorn flavors, both savory and sweet. Some recent offerings are black licorice, buffalo wing, salt and vinegar, watermelon, Maine maple. You are welcome to try any flavors before you buy them. We tried, then we bought for others.Â
After that, the girls (and of course, the moms!) needed a treat for ourselves. We had an “ice cream vs gelato” debate, and in the end, ice cream won. We headed to the new location of Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream in the Old Port. If you are an adventurous ice cream eater, this is the place for you. Like Coastal Maine Popcorn, they will happily let you “try before you buy”  (lavender? avocado? jack daniels? all these ice cream flavors and many more), like all good businesses do.Â
This concluded our outing. We were tired, but happy. Consider your own “Fun with Friends” day in your own or nearby town.
Okay, so what I’m learning with applying the WF&G (Women Food and Godby Geneen Roth) 7 guidelines is that I’m in trouble right away (for example, I am trying to figure out ways to sync the guidelines with the Weight WatchersPoints system…and somehow, I think that is not the author’s intent…). It is also actually harder to follow all of the guidelines on workdays.
Eating when I was hungry seemed like a “no-brainer’, but if it is true that what I’m hungry for (often) isn’t food, then I really had to stop to consider if I was hungry. This is diametrically opposed to: it’s 12:30; time for lunch! I decided to try to use a scale of 0-10, with “0” being not hungry and “10” being stomach growling non-stop. I would try to eat at the 4-5-6 range.
Not eating in the car? OMG! Does this include Altoids? Tictacs? Gum? Does downing a McD’s caramel frappe comprise an act of eating?
Eat without distractions….this is the hardest one for me. It was a total wake up call too; I had no idea how often I was doing other things while I eat, for one thing. The worst thing though, is that I love to read while I eat, something I’ve been doing since childhood. (Sob!). Plus, on a workday, I often eat breakfast on the way to the gym. It was hard to wait till I arrived at work to eat. Will have to rethink that one.
“Eat what your body wants” I also thought was going to be easy, but here’s the thing: I found out how often what my body is asking for is at odds with what my mind thinks is appropriate. (Example: my body wants a pizza, not a 3 point Weight Watchers meal).
This one isn’t too hard at this point (eating till satisfied).
Not eating anything that I wouldn’t eat “in full view of others” is also not hard for me.
This one: “Eat with enjoyment, gusto, and pleasure”… No problemo! I am Italian, after all!
For now, I’ve decided that gum does not count as food/eating; Altoids and Tictacs might count, but for this week they don’t. Non-caloric beverages (water, black coffee or tea) will not count; caloried ones will (so long frappe). One week down, three to go. Is anyone else working with these guidelines? How’s it going?
Well, so far, so good. After the scary appearance of blossom end rot on two of the heirloom plum tomatoes (Juliets, I think, but since my husband buried its name tag during planting, it’s anybody’s guess, really) that led to me wildly flinging them into the woods, no more have reared its ugly (and I do mean ugly) head.Â
There are 3 varieties of eggplant planted in the garden: the large Italian kind, the slim Japanese, and the variegated slim purple and white. With the exception of that first Japanese one that had the hole burrowed through it, there has been no further defacement of them. Each plant has 2 or 3 eggplants growing on it, except one of the Japanese eggplants has 6!Â
The peppers have (so far) been problem free. No mishaps, like last year, when I mistook the small pepper seedlings I had just planted for basil and snapped off the tops of all but one of them before I realized my mistake. Each plant still produced, but not much. Quelle let-down. This year, they look amazing. Now excuse me while I go knock on wood.Â
I pulled up one of the beets to see if they were ready. They were not. The beet was so small I could barely see it at the bottom of the greens. I will take another peek at them, and at the carrots, to see if they are nearing pickable size.Â
The peas are exhausted, so I pulled those out and threw them in the compost. A zucchini that was growing from seed in a pot took its place. The string beans are winding down but still producing. Speaking of zucchini, those plants are continually producing one or two zuccs per day. It’s to the point that I am grating it into my salads to use it up before it gets to the stage where it is chicken food, vs human food. The yellow squash is a little less prolific, maybe one or two offerings per week.Â
The lettuce is doing okay, but looking a bit bedraggled. I’m not sure what kind of spinach we planted this season, but it had no appeal, and seemed to go right from sprouting to bolting without any edible, pickable stage in between. Note to self: write down names of types of vegetables planted! Don’t count on finding stake with name after husband is through planting!Â
The potatoes and watermelon look pretty good, but that is no indication that they will produce anything edible. My fingers are crossed though.Â
Now, if I could only get some time to pick the blueberries! I priced blueberry rakes, but they cost more than I am willing to pay, so I am resigned to only actually picking a fraction of the berries we have. 😦 There are some wild blackberries snaking a thorny route in and around my blueberry bushes, but no fruit on them yet.Â
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 
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