I got the idea for this blog post from an author talk with Jennifer Braunfels and Jen Dupree that I attended at The Wells Library recently.
Jen Dupree mentioned the blog entitled “Writers on Not Writing” and right away I thought, “Hey! I am a writer who’s not writing!”.
I thought of it again today and then I thought, “Hey! I could change that!”
So, here I am, changing that.
Today, I am a writer who is writing.
Why not control your own food supply by planting a garden? Planting a garden of any size (including a potted tomato on the patio) is an act of defiance against that plan. You can plant seedlings instead of seeds to give yourself a little head start, in case you live in a state with a short growing season, like I do.
In the background of this photo are the squash plants we put in this week.
The asparagus bed took a few years to get going but now it’s thriving. This was the second bunch that I cut this week!
I find it’s best to cook it the same day, if possible, because otherwise time gets away from me.
*Note: If it’s very hot out and you don’t want to put your oven on, you can do this by pan roasting the asparagus on the stove.
What’s your favorite way to cook asparagus?
I’ve seen different versions of this quote that is usually attributed to Henry Kissinger:
To me, this suggests that it may be more important than ever to make an effort to grow some of your own food.
Planting a garden is nothing new for us. We have planted vegetables, herbs, flowers, and more, for years. Most of the credit for this goes to my husband. He is the gardener–but I am the eager apprentice. 🙂 I am notorious for over-planting, putting in way more plants than I have time to take care of. I especially can’t be trusted with purchasing tomato plants without supervision. This year I was allowed eight plants. I bought seven, because there is always one that I wish I had room for once the planting is done.
Every year’s planting is a little different. Here’s what we put in this year:
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Cucumbers 🥒
Japanese eggplant 🍆
7 kinds of tomatoes 🍅 (Sungolds, Early Girl, celebrity, Brandywine, Lemon Boy, sweet 100, and Roma)
Annual herbs: Basil, Cilantro, Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Rosemary
Lettuces
Spinach
Already established:
Asparagus
Strawberries
Blueberries
Cherry Tree
Apple Trees
Pear Trees
Herb garden
Flashback to 1998. Dad was dying of lung cancer. The living room was dominated by the hospital bed sent by hospice once it was clear he could no longer manage the climb to the second floor bedroom. He had been in and out of consciousness for several days when he suddenly became alert again, like himself. This day also happened to be my mother’s birthday. She had died two years prior of cancer.
After he had been turning up his nose at solid food for days, he said he wanted to eat. What do you want, Dad? Whatever it is, we’ll get it.
He wanted fried clams and french fries from (the famous!) Kelly’s Roast Beef in Revere. So, my brother drove to Revere (not so very far from where we were) to get him what he wanted.
And then he fell asleep, drifting into a coma from which he would not awaken. He died peacefully two days later on March 15, 1998.
Every year, I have fried clams on March 15th to commemorate this experience and to celebrate my Dad.
This year, at the recommendation of my friend Stephanie, we tried a new place in New Hampshire, Petey’s Summertime Seafood and Bar.
It was definitely worth the trip!
So maybe I expanded on the fried clams…Dad loved ice cream sundaes, too, and I am my father’s daughter. 🙂
And he loved martinis, dry, with two olives…but that’s a different story.
**Disclaimer: This is my memory of this experience. Other’s remembrances may differ.**
I was with my little son last night, a toddler in his stroller.
I went up to the register, placed and received our order, and then pushed the stroller up to a table. I left him strapped in and turned my seat to face him. I opened up the bag with our food in it and extracted a french fry.
He reached for it and started munching. I only gave him one at a time, because mothers of toddlers know this truth:
Now, this was just a little treat for us in a typical day when I was a young mother, taking my little one out for lunch between errands. The only thing is that I am no longer a young mother. I am a midlife mother.
And my son is no longer a toddler. He is a twenty-six year old man.
The thing is, in the dream last night, I was that young mother again, and he was that toddler.
It felt every bit as real to me as if it did just happen yesterday, and not twenty-three years ago.
The experience of this dream is one of the reasons that I believe it.
What a wonderful gift this was to me, this dream.
Every so often, I work on Thanksgiving. This is one of those years.
I am a nurse. It happens.
This year, I had plans to get my go-to working-on-Thanksgiving-quick-and-easy-dinner menu items, but then I got sick with the worst head cold of my life. I didn’t feel like going anywhere to buy anything for any reason. Even food. (I know! I was really sick!)
I had a Plan B: Make turkey soup in the crock pot.
I had some of what I needed, by my delivery of the rest of the ingredients I expected last night fell through.
Like any good nurse–and like any good Italian!–I made the most of what I found in the refrigerator.
Ladies and gentlemen! May I present, Italiano Thanksgiving Dinner for One:
Chicken Parm Sub
Buon appetito!!
I recently had the pleasure of travelling to meet hundreds of like-minded individuals and as part of this adventure, we all went out for dinner together (I know) at a restaurant that (I daresay) is not used to receiving parties of this size routinely.
We blew them away.
The kitchen went under in about thirty seconds. We learned that the staff that was desperately trying to prepare our food was all brand new.
Talk about trial by fire!
As a former restaurant manager and former graduate nurse, I was no stranger to this sink or swim indoctrination into a new job. It’s no fun, but one silver lining for both employer and employee is this: it often works. You know pretty quick who is cut out for the job and who is not.
Anyway, I was so proud of my group! We could see how hard they were all working to serve us, to keep their heads above water. How hard they were trying to get us what we needed as quick as they could under what was probably the most adverse conditions most of them had ever encountered on the job.
They didn’t think about themselves. They thought about us.
A friend, Chris, pointed out that this reminded him of a quote:
BE KIND, FOR EVERYONE YOU MEET IS FIGHTING A HARD BATTLE. –Socrates
All of us were kind, patient, and used one of our secret weapons, humor, to keep this evening fun and productive. (Spoiler alert: We didn’t starve!) They kept at it until everyone was taken care of. They did their best, and isn’t that something we all aspire to? By them giving us this gift, we all received another gift.
The gift of community.
As we in the ‘audience’ observed and discussed ‘the performance’, we all learned more about each other (not to mention about ourselves).
Today’s actionable: “Give everyone the benefit of the doubt today…” ~Lori Deschene, Tiny Buddha’s 365 Tiny Love Challenges
Also, I have to say that I had one of the best bowls of soup I have ever had in my life at that restaurant!
Here are some other photos from the dinner:
Okay, I am home and supposed to be writing, but I need to eat. I want something that I have here already so here’s what I’ve got:
Egg salad (Here’s my recipe)
Mix it all up.
Eat it with some chips (I am currently eating Cape Cod Salt and Pepper Kettle Chips *subject to change without notice*).
Back to writing.
This podcast by Jodi Flynn (Women Taking the Lead) with Joe DeSena caught my eye because 1. I love Jodi’s Podcasts and 2. My nieces and nephew just completed a Spartan Race (not the first for some of them).
Much of the conversation really resonated with me! I was shocked, because whenever I hear about the Spartan Races, I move right along. I mean, it’s nice for some people…people who like to get all sweaty and dirty and gross. Not bookish, ‘indoorsy’ type people like me.
😀
I could completely relate to Joe’s talking about the topics of ‘concrete, (something else I can’t remember), and ravioli’ (#itsallabouthefood) in the Italian neighborhood where he grew up. That pulled me in, but when he talked about one of the strategies for success is telling everyone you know what you are going to do (“commit publicly”), that was it! I use that strategy all the time! Like, when I lost weight with Weight Watchers (Hey, everyone! I’m counting points today!) and when I write a novel every year for NaNoWriMo (Hey, everyone! I am writing 50,000 words this month!).
Now here I am, thinking about me and Spartan Races in the same thought.
Which brings to mind another thought that I have used for years to keep myself from having to be athletic: How can I do a Spartan Race? I wear glasses! They might fall off and then what would I do?!
NOTE: I have never pretended to be the ‘outdoor type’. 😀
I hope you all had fun with me this week. In addition to the week of cakes, my daughter gifted me with a cake today, bringing my total to eight for the week, and this is the one with which we celebrated with singing and candles.
Here is today’s cake from Wells IGA: Caramel Sea Salt Cake!
Here is a slideshow of all seven cakes in the BirthdayCakeWalk2017.
For my actual birthday today, I did more than just eat cake, if you can believe it! I ate whatever I wanted. A chocolate bread from Boulangerie in Kennebunk for breakfast. Sausage Flatbread with a salad from Pizza Napoli in Ogunquit for lunch. So far, that’s all. Oh, and the Salted Caramel Cake from my daughter!
And I tried to include things I love (besides food!) in my day. Connecting with my family and friends! Lilacs! The ocean! Reading! Writing! And of course, a visit to a bookstore!!
Now, for the point: It is my birthday wish that all of YOU have a day like this, too. Why wait for your birthday to be kind to yourself? Do it now. Today.
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 
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