Easter is one of my favorite holidays, having somehow escaped the drama and bad memories with which many of the other major holidays are fraught for me.
Although the bunny is now known to be Mom and Dad by both kids, we continue the traditions that we started when they were little. We fill a basket (or receptacle of some sort) for each one and have an egg hunt. In the leaner years we used chocolate pirate coins to fill the plastic eggs for the hunt, otherwise we filled them with cash.
In the baskets? Candy, of course, gum, Tic Tacs, beef jerky (for the boy), lip gloss (for the girl), gift cards…things like that. What was not in the baskets? The dreaded plastic Easter grass, banned after the year that Dad was still finding it in various household crevices in December. 🙂
We were lucky to have a nice day weather-wise: sunny and in the low 70’s. The day before and after Easter it snowed! We had dinner with family, got to visit Dad at work and bring him some dinner, and still got home early enough for a normal bedtime for the tween (it was, after all, a “school night”).
Okay, it’s a book (not mine!) title. It occurred to me to apply the philosophy of: “If you build it, they will come” espoused by James Earl Jones and put into force by Kevin Costner in the Field of Dreams movie which coincidently (?!) contained a female lead character named “Karen” (not sure how she spelled it!) played by Amy Madigan.
I decided to build my perfect work day.
Get up–not too early.
Get some exercise. I like Stephen King’s idea from his bookOn Writing where he would take writing breaks and jump on the treadmill that was next to his writing desk (if memory serves). A little bit of yoga couldn’t hurt…
Get some coffee–oh wait! That should be first!
Get some breakfast (ABO…or “Anything But Oatmeal” :)).
Write until noonish.
Get some lunch.
Check email, blogs, FB (you know, all the usual time-sucking suspects) etc.
Read until 4pm. This is when I get to make a small dent in my pile of books, magazines that I am dying to read but have no time to.
Get some more exercise…go for a walk? At the beach! Look for sea glass, sand dollars, unusual rocks and shells. Sigh. Life is Good.
Spring has sprung me–and as they say, better late than never. My cocoon of too much food and too little exercise has cracked open. What I’ve learned this winter is this: the more I eat, the more I want to eat, and the less I exercise, the less I want to exercise.
My wake up call? Well, that’s just it; it hasn’t been just one thing. I had 4 this week:
My husband said that the way I can always be go-go-going and doing so much and having so much energy have so many projects going was something he loved about me when he first met me. Now? Not so much.
My yoga teacher said: “Are your pants on backwards? That little white triangle thing is usually in the front, isn’t it? Well, it’s on your butt right now!”
Those shorts that were loose last spring have not one iota of extra room in them now. Not. One. Iota.
When I unexpectedly had some unstructured time, there were so many things I wanted to do that I wasted some of the time because I couldn’t decide what to do!
I decided first to pause and reflect…this lasted about 30 seconds. Through my indecision I was conscious enough to note that it was 61 degrees out and sunny, and the huge snow banks had (finally! finally!) melted so that it was safe to walk my neighborhood streets again (read: drivers could see me). Before I did what I do best–that is, talk myself out of exercising, I grabbed my jacket, shoes and keys and headed out.
When I got back, I realized that it was time to eat something…not because it was suppertime (although it was: 5:10PM), but because I was really hungry. Usually I have others to cook for and feed, but tonight it was all up to me; I had only myself to please~”Party for one!” as my friend Denise would say. I had a greek yogurt doctored up with frozen blueberries, flax meal, and cinnamon and a big cup of ice water. After I finished, I checked in: yep, still hungry. I slathered a slice of my homemade bread with almond butter and honey. Yum!
Then I wrote this blog post. I wrote a book review. I made and froze some lentil soup for work lunches this week. I edited several pages of my book.
Sometimes by pausing, you get more done than if you just pushed full steam ahead.
I always wonder how best to celebrate my kids’ birthdays. Every year there is some sort of friends’ party and then a family celebration to cap things off on the actual day of birth.
This year, my daughter turned twelve: the last bastion of childhood, the threshold of teenhood.
The friends’ party was at Get Fired Up in Sanford with cupcakes from the Cupcake Fetish Bakery, also in Sanford. Both were big hits with the kids.
The family celebration was trickier this year. My son was working on her actual birthday, but for once my husband and I were both not working. Even though it was a school night, we decided to take her out for supper and let her choose the restaurant. Last year she enjoyed celebrating my birthday at Famous Dave’s in Scarborough that she said, “I want to come here for my birthday too!” and eleven months later, we did.
We had a coupon from the restaurant (Join the Pig Club and you can get one for your birthday too!) for a free appetizer; we tried the new Loaded BBQ Chips. For dinner we chose the Tuesday night special: $6 off the massive Feast for Two… which fed 3 of us with three boxes of leftovers that fed 3 of us the next night too.
I mentioned to the server Seth that it was my daughter’s birthday and at the end of the meal, a chorus of “Happy Birthday!”‘s from the out-of-sight kitchen preceded him carrying over to us a heated brownie with fudge sauce and whipped cream sporting an impressive flaming candle and 3 spoons. (NOTE: she was warned not to try to blow it out, but to let it fizz out on its own if she wanted to keep her eyebrows, which she did; a decision we fully endorsed).
Only two notes: they were out of corn on the cob (for which we could substitute another side order from the menu), which was a total bummer, and the brownie sundae would have been vastly improved by the addition of some vanilla ice cream. I’m just sayin’. The service was great. The food was great. The atmosphere was great. We were so full we could barely move to get to the car and we’d eaten less than half of the food presented to us…and we had an ice cream birthday cake waiting for us at home in the freezer.
Oy!
I may want to return here for my birthday again this year too (you know, if I’m not still full!).
So, week two with the peeps and life is good. Losses have been minimal (despite the frigid temperatures after the balmy ones and a malfunctioning heat lamp). In about 5 months, our egg production should be through the roof. We’re gathering about 30 (or more!) eggs per day now and the peeps are eating and drinking twice as much.
We got about a dozen chicks from Tractor Supply Company, half Comets and half Barred Rocks. A few days later we got about 2 dozen more from Longhorn. This second batch was a mix of White Leghorns, Gold and Silver Lace Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, and a couple of Buff Brahmas (with the feathered feet!). The majority of these breeds are brown egg layers. We’ll get the white and the blue/green egg layers in June~none were available in February.
In June we will also have a first. Our first Italian chickens! My husband’s nod to my love of All Things Italian: Anconas. I can’t wait! I wonder if Ancona eggs will make better frittatas? 🙂
We recently returned to the Hayloft Restaurant in Moody, Maine after a 10 year (give or take) break. We used to frequent this restaurant with the kids but after getting a bad salad (not to be confused with the “big salad” of Seinfeld’s world), we stopped going.
Every summer when my son was small he would participate in their coloring contest and every summer he won. They would mail out a coupon for a free appetizer that we would look forward to using on our next visit.
Until we got the bad salad.
I recently saw a coupon on Groupon.com for the Hayloft, so after consulting my husband (and after learning that they were under new management), I bought it. We arrived, coupon in hand, expectations set reasonably at moderate level, on a Friday night. There were not many cars in the parking lot, but in fairness, we had received almost a foot of snow earlier in the day so people may have just been staying put.
We ordered the special: Fisherman’s Platter for two, which was plenty for the two of us and our daughter to split when combined with appetizers. Speaking of appetizers, we ordered the Buffalo Tenders and the Potato Skins with cheese and bacon.
Rolls were brought out for us after our order was taken. They were hot and crusty with soft interiors, and the three of us agreed that they were excellent.
The tenders did not come with celery, which would have been welcome (as well as a little less breading), but did come with blue cheese dressing. They were good and spicy. The potato skins were cut smaller than I usually see, but I liked them much better this way (they weren’t so overwhelming) and were delicious. The main course consisted of fried whole clams, large scallops, shrimp, and a good-sized piece of haddock, French fries, and about four onion rings. This was great; usually onion ring orders are much too excessive for anyone to actually appreciate them. Four large hand cut onion rings were perfect.
Verdict: the Fisherman’s Platter wasn’t quite as hot as it should have been, but was still good. Both appetizers were served piping hot, which made me wonder if the former was ready first and waiting for the latter. The real surprise was the cole slaw, which our waitress told us was made fresh daily. It was excellent.
Just a note on the soda: it had a nice, clean taste. You know how sometimes you order a Diet Coke and it has a metallic taste? You will not find that here.
For dessert we were persuaded to try the homemade (from a family recipe) hot apple crisp a la mode, which was also very good. We took home a chocolate whoopie pie, made by Laura’s Pastry, for the road. We’ve had these before and know how good they are!
Our waitress, Rose, delivered the best service that we’ve had in any restaurant in some time. She is the reason that (although the food was good) that we will be returning to the Hayloft again soon.
Have you noticed that there has been a span of several weeks with no G-rated (or PG, for that matter) choices for movies? After a long hiatus, enter (finally!) something that my daughter and I both wanted to see: the Wimpy Kid sequel, based on the book by Jeff Kinney, which I thought I’d bought Izzy for Christmas and I also thought she’d read.
Wrong. And wrong.
I took her anyway to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules this past Sunday at Wells Five Star Cinema. This is the movie where Greg (the aforementioned Wimpy Kid) and his older brother Rodrick (read: torturer) work on their relationship to try to make it civil. This is also the movie where Rodrick (much to my surprise) becomes a human. Briefly.
The potty humor for the kids (and–dare I say it?– the men) abounds, but, thankfully, it had more than that to offer. Rachel Harris plays Mom, and many of us (moms) will relate to her asking her kids the quintessential Mom question: “Can’t we all just get along?” The answer is: well, yes…eventually. Probably. Not!
This story is about the brothers’ struggle to coexist, but is also about the Mom’s efforts to guide and support them. With Dad in the background making faces.
For food: we had nachos, popcorn, and M+M’s (her) and Peanut M+M’s (mom) from the gumball-type vending machines they have at that theater. If you’re short the approximately $15 needed to purchase a snack or two at the concessions counter, these coin-op machines can be really a good bet. Of course, you only get about 8 Peanut M+M’s for your quarter, but that’s about all a serving size amounts to anyway (about 1/4 cup), so it’s good for your wallet and for your efforts to keep your current size pants fitting you this week!
…is proving to be no easy task this spring. My husband anxiously anticipated the arrival of the chick catalogues, nad contacted some new (to us) hatcheries for their catalogues, and planned to get some chicks from New Mexico in March and from Texas in June. At the end of February they wouldn’t accept the March order; they wanted to send them the next day, but we learned last year (the hard way) that February in Maine is too early to get the chicks. When he called back in March (two weeks later), there were no chicks to be had…until June. He made some more calls to other vendors and was given the same verdict.
Bummer.
This is the first time this has ever happened since we first started raising chicks in 2006. Next, my husband hit the road to see what the stores in our area were offering.
We were hopeful as we entered Tractor Supply Company in Sanford…but alas, the only “peeps” they had on Monday were the marshmallow kind, just to the right of the door as you enter the store, and the stuffed kind (the ones that actually “peep” when you press on their stomachs~too cute!). On the plus side, this gave me a nudge to get going with my Easter Basket planning. Note to self: go back to Tractor Supply alone (read: without husband who doesn’t get the whole “Easter Basket” concept) to shop for the baskets.
Longhorn? They’ll have them on Monday. Tractor Supply? Has some now, but not any that we want.
The idea of hatching our own is starting to look more appealing…
Anyway, the stage is set (warming lights on, tiny waterers at the ready) in our home-made brooder (which is a 4×4 wooden box). If and when the chicks arrive, we are ready!
I always liked the sound of “The Ides of March” from when I’d first come upon the phrase in my reading of Shakespeare.
In 1998, it took on a new meaning: the day that my father died. He was on hospice so his death was no surprise. My mother’s (who had died 2 years and 2 weeks earlier) birthday was March 13. He hadn’t been eating or drinking much for several days before her birthday, but on that day, he perked up. He was laughing and joking, almost his old self. He sat up in his hospital bed (that was in the middle of the living room) and asked for a fried clam dinner with french fries and cole slaw and dinner rolls and God only knows what else.
So, my brother ran out to get his requested meal, which (as you probably guessed by now) turned out to be not only his last supper, but also his last lucid day. We didn’t think it was any coincidence that it was my mother’s birthday that he chose to perk up, or that 2 days later he followed her and died.
I like to have a fried clam dinner on or around March 15th in honor of my dad, like I buy primrose around February 29th in honor of my mother. The only problem now is…where to get it!
Sauteed chicken cutlets, roasted fingerlings and baby carrots
Cooking from what’s on hand isn’t as hard as I thought it might be.
This time, I had the presence of mind to raid the freezer the night before, so that the meat would have time to thaw before I was going to cook it.
Thawing in the microwave never goes well for me. I invariably wind up with partially cooked meat that ultimately turns out dry and tough. Note to self: It’s best avoid the microwave for thawing meats when at all possible.
In the pantry I found a half a bag of fingerling potatoes and some onions. In the fridge, I found some baby carrots that were no longer appealing to eat raw, but there was still some hope for them…I decided that roasting the veggies was the best way to go.
For the chicken…I came across a recipe years (and I mean years) ago in Pam Anderson’s book: How to Cook Without a Book (Check out Pam’s blog by the way, Three Many Cooks) for cooking cutlets (pork, chicken, whatever) and making a quick pan sauce to go with them that I’ve used over and over and over (the recipe, not the pan sauce)…definitely worth the price of the book just for that recipe.
Find Pam’s technique for cooking the cutlets without a recipe here.
To roast the (tired) vegetables, just put them on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive or canola oil, and roast at 400 degrees for half an hour, then check them, stir them around on the pan, then put them back for another 20 or so minutes, depending on how dark you like them. When done, sprinkle with sea salt and give them a few grinds of black pepper.
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 
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