Raspberry + Cucumber are Friends

I had a fresh garden cucumber, Francine's home grown raspberries, plain lowfat yogurt and orange juice kicking around, so I combined them in the blender with a sprinkle of kosher salt and 4 ice cubes. It was perfect. Just remember the cucumber is in the melon family.

Picnic Table + Park Bench

The picnic table is nearly done. I am thinking abut what picnics I want to have to break her in. Our park bench has rotted through and I will try to replace the slats on that, next.

Cafe Bustelo Logo

Cafe Bustelo is sold at the bodega opposite my house for next to nothing. I love to halve it with my Folger's Country a light blend and make a pot of coffee. It is good cold or hot. I love the Cafe Bustelo logo. I can't stop admiring it on my robins egg Formica 1960 counter tops.
Who designed the Cafe Bustelo logo?

Noon

I was starving from walking all around town without breakfast.

I made grilled cheese:
A slice of pepper jack cheese between two corn tortillas heated up in my greased cast iron pan. When golden on both sides, I cut it into 4 triangles, and dipped each bite in Cholula hot sauce. I ate this with slices of red onion and oil cured olives on the side.

The best meal of my life!

Marinating Ruminating

I'm marinating a quartered broiler in yogurt black pepper and salt and fresh garlic, to prep for fried chicken. Stay tuned.


Meanwhile I found this on The Guardian web site:

Strawberry, mint and feta salad

This is the time of year for strawberries. We love this no-fuss recipe, with its unusual combination of salty feta and sweet strawberries, while the mint adds a refreshing touch to the dish.

Twinny Dip, London; twinnydip.com

Serves 6
800g strawberries, washed and cut into halves or quarters
45g mint, leaves only, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish
20g feta, crumbled
60g hazelnuts, lightly toasted
1 tbsp cider vinegar or lemon juice
Salt and black pepper

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Mix the strawberries, mint, feta and hazelnuts in a large salad bowl.

2 Pour the vinegar or lemon juice into a smaller bowl, and season. Whisk in the olive oil.

3 Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and mix lightly. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.

Run for your Life!

Article

Grilled Beets

It's that time of year again. I'm going to grill freshly sliced beets and brush them with soy sauce balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Almond Nut

I love to add toasted almonds to greens and veggies. They are too oily for me to eat alone but combined with veggies they are heaven. My thoughts are on almonds this morning.

Do you remember macadamia nuts? Hello 1960's. Wow, I think of my step father listening to Tijuana Brass and I think of my math teacher's comb over and bell bottoms and Twiggy when I think of them.

Picnic Table

When we first moved in, 19 summers ago, my in-laws bought us a 7 foot picnic table as a house warming gift. The top and benches have since rotted into dust but the pressure treated frame is still good. Yesterday I bought replacement boards from the scrap pile at Beauchemin Lumber on Social Street in Woonsocket. They delivered them and threw in a nailing apron as part of the package. I LOVE wearing nailing aprons as my marsupial pouch for holding Lily's poop bags and dog biscuits. Today we began to rebuild the table. I am so excited. Soon we will be able to dine outside again. I have wanted this for 6 years.

The Wisest Man

The wisest man may be missing teeth.

Cool Character

We've discovered that thin cotton pants are cooler than wearing shorts. This is why you see women in India wearing thin leggings made of cotton. My husband agrees he has spent the summer wearing his thin cotton pants to stay cool too.
I have spent the summer wearing thin long dresses with my black vest and the straw had Ray gave me. I feel like a character from some play.

Chocolate Wafers

I have been thinking about famous chocolate wafers. They are delicious. Laurie Colwin has a recipe in my favorite book of hers HOME COOKING. I normally don't care about sweets. I would eat turkey sandwich or second helping of vegetables rather than sweets any day but once in a while I have to have chocolate wafers.
recipes.

Stanley Kunitz

It is out of the dailiness of life that one is driven into the deepest recesses of the self.
-Stanlet Kunitz, poet.

Double Rainbow

Last night I made tostadas, something I find to be very meditative. When I finished there was a double rainbow. I ran outside and cheered on the corner with all of the neighborhood kids.
Leo asked me if we can have a tea party today out on the sidewalk. All we need is hot water, he said.
I have a teapot, and a folding table, and a tablecloth, I said.
I can bring the bags, he said.
Do you know the story of Alice in Wonderland? I asked.
He smiled.
I'll be the Mad Hatter, I said.

Tostadas and a Double Rainbow

I made tostadas. It is very meditative to boil the corn tortillas in hot oil. After I finished, there was a double rainbow. I ran out and yelled and cheered with the neighborhood kids.

Jon Frankel

Jon is one of my favorite writers. We also went to high school together in Larchmont, N.Y. He is a poet, novelist, reader of everything and a great cook. When Jon writes about food I go crazy. Read his latest post on steamers here.

Jon read everything and as a kid who had been severely restricted to approved reading material, I was inspired. His mom Marge, was an amazing lady too. She let me hide out in their big house when I was running away from home. I remember thinking one of the window fans in the house had "gone crazy" but it was their neighbor starting up his helicopter, to commute to NYC, 17 miles away.

Around the World Continued

Sunday afternoon we returned to Onisie's church picnic festival.

We met Laurentiu Rotaru, a Romanian opera singer whose wife is from the same little town in Transylvania as Fr. Onisie. He's performing La Bohème in a few weeks. I love opera!

We met Father Anthony Perkins from St. Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox onion-domed church on Harris Ave. They are still rebuilding from the fire.

Then my lovely niece Rose and I walked down Edgewater Drive to Harris Pond so Lily could swim.

After delicious Romanian picnic leftovers Bill and I watched Bored to Death and laughed until we cried.

A great day. And an amazing weekend.

Around the Block, Around the World

Yesterday was a magical day. Father Dennis Reardon from All Saints Church came down the street to meet Father Onisie Maror of Saint John the Baptist Romanian church at this weekend's outdoor church picnic. I have been telling them about each other and how I wanted them to meet to help the neighborhood. It was a great moment to see. They hugged and talked. They both care about the neighborhood and they are both mesmerizing story-tellers. They laugh when I tell them that my family religion was psychiatry.

We need to continue to heal the 'hood through good connections to improve the lives of the residents. We need to educate the landlords. We have had a lot of incidents requiring emergency assistance from the police force and the fire department, most of which could've been prevented had there been some adult supervision.

Our library is the living room to the City for so many residents. It is summer camp and daily free lunch for the kids and an oasis for the seniors. It is a place to get warm and have community in the winter as well. The librarians are all helpful and kind and passionate about their work. Books are salvation. My wish is that we could expand the library further, expand what works well in our city. My fantasy is that we could add a community pool where kids can learn to swim for free, and learn to lifeguard too. We could add a community kitchen where we can teach cooking of all nations. Maybe we could even have the animal rescue adoptions building here too. If I was a philanthropist I would work to make this happen.

At dusk I gave a copy of Sol A Sol to the owner of the Dominican Mini Mart across the street from my house. She was sitting out front with the other mothers and the gang of five-year-olds. She does not speak much English and I can't speak Spanish but she read the poems aloud in Spanish and the titles in English! I feel like I should learn Spanish as a gift to the neighborhood.

Today I met Tom Thipphavong in the parking lot of the Elks Club when I walked by with Lily. People were dressed up carrying bowls and baskets of food and flowers into the hall. Monks were dressed in orange. He and his friends invited me to join the festivities at noon. They are Lao-Americans and their Buddhist temple is on Railroad Street. Today's celebration was special, so they had rented the Elks hall. I told him about Fathers Dennis and Onisie meeting at the festival yesterday. I ran home to get Bill, and we went to the hall in time to have a delicious lunch and meet a lot of new people. They blessed us with chrysanthemums dipped in holy water.

The most amazing Woonsocket weekend of going around the world by just going around the block continues . . .

Stuffed Cabbage

A healthy comfort food recipe with a great photo.Read

Shared Dumplings

I have been inspired by my new neighbors a family running the Dominican Mini Mart across the street. This week I bought their Goya brand empanada dough and made empanadas. First I pan fried them and that was okay after I climbed on the chair to dismantle the smoke alarm, but last night I baked them and they were fantastic, like little portable pies. My husband loved them too!

The possibilities for empanadas are infinite, as the world has already known for millenia. Every culture has their dumpling, and their song.

I am new to the planet. In high school I used to say,"I just got here" feeling like I fell to earth.

If we shared dumplings and music we wouldn't waste our precious time with war, there would be no reason to.

Dumplings of all nations, and world polka. Rock on!

ps

I need to learn belly dancing.

Brain Age

We are in the dawning age of brain research.
Interesting article on creativity madness and the brain.
Here.

In A Beautiful Mind, her biography of the mathematician John Nash, Sylvia Nasar describes a visit Nash received from a fellow mathematician while institutionalized at McLean Hospital. “How could you, a mathematician, a man devoted to reason and logical truth,” the colleague asked, “believe that extraterrestrials are sending you messages? How could you believe that you are being recruited by aliens from outer space to save the world?” To which Nash replied: “Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way that my mathematical ideas did. So I took them seriously.”

Some people see things others cannot, and they are right, and we call them creative geniuses. Some people see things others cannot, and they are wrong, and we call them mentally ill. And some people, like John Nash, are both.

Tanzanian Teen Astronaut Propelled by his own Potato Salad

Article

A Literate Passion

This is a book of letters between Anais Nin and Henry Miller. I read it 20 years ago. I am off to find a copy. A great book!

Dolmades

Here

Cherries!!

Fresh black cherries from the Northwest. Life is a bowl of cherries, this week at least.

Featuring Aunt Stella's home made Baklava

This weekend Father Onisie's annual summer picnic outdoors on Elbow Street Woonsocket featuring Aunt Stella's home made Romanian style baklava.

Fried Chicken

At dusk, the gang of five year olds at the corner were eating fried chicken in their wooden chairs on the sidewalk, chucking the bones into the street. I kicked the bones down the storm drain so Lily wouldn't eat them. Now I am obsessed with the idea of making my own fried chicken. We'll eat it on the back stoop, and chuck the bones into a bucket out of Lily's reach.

I Love Eggplant

I love eggplant and Chinese style cooking. See this!

Video

Terri Kirby Erickson Poem

Ice Cream Truck

by Terri Kirby Erickson

From blocks away we heard the mechanical
music the ice cream truck chimed all over
the neighborhood, calling to kids like the Pied

Piper as we darted into our houses begging
our parents for change to buy Nutty Buddies

and banana popsicles, orange pushups
and ice cream sandwiches. Once the truck

stopped on our street, we swooped like seagulls
around the open window so the ice cream man
could take our money and hand out whatever

treats we asked for, which were always better
than we remembered from the last time his boxy,

hand-painted truck rolled around—the cold,
creamy confections freezing our tongues and

sliding down our parched throats as fast as we
could eat them—the taste of summer lingering
just long enough to make us wish for more.

- Terri Kirby Erickson, from A Lake of Light and Clouds. © Press 53, 2014

Good Omen

Yesterday I found three hundred dollars on the ground in joss paper and five dollars in Monopoly money.

Raymond Carver Poem

What the Doctor Said

by Raymond Carver

He said it doesn't look good
he said it looks bad in fact real bad
he said I counted thirty-two of them on one lung before
I quit counting them
I said I'm glad I wouldn't want to know
about any more being there than that
he said are you a religious man do you kneel down
in forest groves and let yourself ask for help
when you come to a waterfall
mist blowing against your face and arms
do you stop and ask for understanding at those moments
I said not yet but I intend to start today
he said I'm real sorry he said
I wish I had some other kind of news to give you
I said Amen and he said something else
I didn't catch and not knowing what else to do
and not wanting him to have to repeat it
and me to have to fully digest it
I just looked at him
for a minute and he looked back it was then
I jumped up and shook hands with this man who'd just given me
Something no one else on earth had ever given me
I may have even thanked him habit being so strong

"What the Doctor Said" by Raymond Carver, from All of Us: Collected Poems. © Harvill Press, 1996.

Bread for Poems

My new hobby is cleaning the Streets of Paris. Did you know Woonsocket is the Paris of New England?

I was out trimming my bushes this morning. It was quiet and the air was clean. I felt like I was giving the Tasmanian Devil a haircut.

My neighbor Eddie crossed the Street and told me a few jokes. We laughed our heads off, a great way to start the day.

Then he ran home to get three new poems he had written and read them to me. They were excellent.

I ran inside to get with one of my fresh baked baby breads, a sourdough wheat oat cornmeal bread with poppy seeds and sunflower seeds.

"Bread for poems," I said, handing him a loaf.

The House that Sweaters Built

Article

It's Contagious!

Good inspires good. It's contagious!

Just to show you how my mind works, I'd love to have a mini dance marathon for the ten year olds on my street, with live accordion music played by Bill and me, and a dumpling buffet, made up of empanadas, pierogis, egg-rolls, knishes, and spinach pies. A dumplings-of-all-nations dance party and a Mary Poppins sidewalk chalk drawing day. I am still an idealistic 12 year old at heart.

This can become the most magical corner in the city. Woonsocket does not have big-city problems, we are a cute small city. There's nothing we can't heal.

Cabbage on Call

I love cabbage. I used to tell my parents that I must've been adopted because I love cabbage and opera but grew up with neither.

At Price Rite I bought 3 baby-head sized cabbages, one Asian napa cabbage, and a savoy cabbage.

Yesterday I just started chopping because a friend was coming to lunch. I made an Asian style stir fry with the napa and the savoy cabbages and added rooster sauce, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and soy sauce to the oil. I defrosted boneless chicken breasts and added them in. I chopped carrots and added them too, and some leftover beans. It was spectacular!

Before bed I chopped more cabbage. I filled two gigantic containers and said to my husband. "It's cabbage on call!" The next morning I added buttermilk and mustard to make coleslaw, another favorite food.

Summer Tea

My husband starts the day with hot black tea and a blueberry Celestial Seasonings herb tea mixed in. Today I took the leftover brewed tea and added sugar ice and orange juice for a refreshment after my walk.

Tidying Up

We rarely entertain since we go to sleep at 8PM, we don't drink, and we have a house that is our office. But once in a while we have to make sure someone comes to visit just so we clean up.

Empanadas using Masa

I am ready to make empanadas. I have a tortilla press made of cast aluminum although glass pans work well too, and I have a big bag of masa harina. I am still tryng to decide on the filling. Company is coming today.

I love this blog. Mexico in my Kitchen

The Deli Delicious in Cranston

Saturday night we played as a duo for a 70th birthday party in North Smithfield. The event was catered and the food was so amazing. I had to peek into the kitchen and find out who they were and make a note. Every bite was memorable. I can't recommend them enough! If you are having a wedding or party, call them!


The Deli, Delicious
in Cranston, RI

phone (401) 461-4774

A bit about The Deli, Delicious
The Deli Delicious! is a caterer/deli creating specialty foods as well as Middle Eastern Cuisine. We are an established business with a store in the center of Cranston, Rhode Island . We have made a commitment to purchase locally grown products whenever possible. Our food items are made fresh daily. We serve items such as hummus, baba gannoujj, falafel, yalanchi (rice stuffed grape leaves) as well as classic deli fare. We are a full service caterer with a focus on party planning to make every event spectacular. We also provide party platters for pick up or delivery. We participated in seven farmers markets throughout the state this past summer as part of our mission to introduce ourselves and make friends throughout the state!

—Stephanie Masoian, Tracy McDonough

Aunt Stella's Baklava

This weekend! Aunt Stella's baklava at the Romanian Picnic at St John the Baptist on Elbow Street, Woonsocket, RI.

Lazy Lasagna

My new fad is to simmer my homemade tomato sauce with 6 of Jamie's hot Italian sausages. In the morning I layer the sauce and raw lasagna noodles in two glass Pyrex baking dishes alternating with layers of my favorite raw vegetables. I like fresh spinach, eggplant slices, (pre salted, sliced, and drained) and fresh sliced mushrooms. Layer with pepper-jack sliced cheese and bake at 350 until done. This takes about an hour or more.

My sauce is three cans of Price Rite crushed tomatoes, one small can of tomato paste, I can of black olives chopped, 4 -6 stalks of celery chopped, chopped onion if you feel like it, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic, red wine if you have it, salt and pepper as needed.

Simmer at 225 degrees in slow cooker overnight. Be sure there is ample liquid in the sauce because the lasagna noodles will make use of it.

Dream Castle

I ate my home made leftover eggplant lasagna for breakfast this morning. It was very satisfying. I ate with my fingers too. We were rehearsing in the living room when I had a fantasy that maybe we could play at the Castle Luncheonette as a duo outside. This is my dream. The Castle is the HEART of my neighborhood. Perhaps I will ask them and maybe we can play for our supper! I would love that.

Elaine Stritch

As the prostitute once said, It's not the work that gets you, it's the stairs.
- Elaine Stritch

Banana Trees

My neighbors in the green-pea-soup-colored Happy House had a yard sale last weekend and they were selling mostly baby items. They had three tablet style cell phones laid out for sale.
How much? I asked.
Ten dollars, Sherry replied.
I only have six dollars, I said.
For you, six, because we like you, Sherry replied.
People laugh at me because I've never owned a cell phone before.
How do I work it?
Press the button to turn it on.
Bruce stepped forward and touched the screen.
You know YouTube he asked? You can go to YouTube.
He touched the screen again and stuff started to move.
My stomach flipped over.
I'll have to take Dramamine to work this thing cuz I get motion sickness looking at the motion on the screen.
Really? Beth asked.
Yup, it's true, I said.
I am from another time.
Whose paying for it? I asked
It's the internet, it's just in the air, Sherry said.
Really, are you sure?
You'll need a charger from the dollar store, and it's only 35 dollars or 55 a month for phone service unlimited, Beth chimed in.
I don't have 35 dollars.
I took out my six dollars from my Emily the Strange - Change Comes from Within change purse and handed it to them. I've carried this six dollars around for six months. I laughed.
Thanks I said.
I was already having buyer's remorse and I hadn't even crossed the street. Was this a misspent six dollars? I was sure it was although it seemed worth the conversation, I told my husband.
Then I let it sit on the kitchen counter.
The next day my change purse was in the foyer on the floor. I must've dropped it on the street and someone must've picked it up and pushed it through my mail slot.
Boy, am I lucky.
I had no idea it was missing.
I went over to tell the Yard Sale family, thank you for dropping off my wallet.
It wasn't us, they said.
Well it's a mystery then.
I noticed the tree towering over their backyard. What a big tree I said. That's a banana tree, Bruce said.
It's a catalpa, I said, smiling.
I was told it was a banana tree, Bruce replied.
Not here, maybe in Jamaica though.

Walkabout

Last night at 7PM I walked to the pond hoping to meet Doreen and her newly adopted rescue dog, Ranger. She wasn't home but I ran into other folks and their dogs. I met a newly adopted puppy Bella the Portuguese water dog on Ethel Street, and Macy the gray mastiff, and Riley the retriever, both on Edgewater Drive, and one mop-headed Pekinese on Miller Street. I got home at 9:30 PM and chatted with Ed and Marlene who were standing around out front. We chatted and laughed, telling stories about why none of us could ever become president due to infractions from our past.

At moments like these I want to block off the street and have a lasagna party with all the neighbors. Maybe we can do it without blocking off the street traffic. A sidewalk buffet, with dancing and live music!

Yesterday Leo and his cousin were dancing a tango out on the sidewalk. I was at my drafting desk and spotted them on the sidewalk below. I smiled as did everyone else who was watching. They are only ten years old, but had all the dance moves, including turning their heads sharply back and forth and Leo dipping his cousin back. She wore a colorful dress and they were having a blast.

Later when I saw Leo I said "You're a great tango dancer!" He was surprised that I knew he'd been dancing. "We just made up the dance," he said. "Well that's how it goes," I said. I suggested we have a dance marathon for Autumnfest, or better yet right here on the sidewalk. "Tomorrow?" Leo asked.

I walked on Social Street and cut over to the garden on Clinton Street, and then went back again when my library books arrived. Later that night I went to Harris Pond, both trips just wearing my flip flops with my dress. (We called them thongs back when we were growing up). It was a five mile day.

I woke up at 2:30 AM unable to breathe. I was dreaming I was to play in a band at RISD with the Talking Heads' Tina Weymouth. She asked why I wasn't playing sax. I told her that I couldn't breathe so I'd have to play snare drum.

Back in real life Bill ran down and got an antihistamine and a decongestant for me. My nose opened and the antihistamine knocked me out. When I woke I was sure today was Sunday. It knocked me to Sunday!

I had my annual physical a few days ago and I said I felt good for 54. The doc said, "You are not 54!" I said "Really?" He said, "You are 53." "Thanks for the extra year," I said, smiling. "The greatest miracle I've performed all day," he replied.

Ask a Farmer to Barter for Bread

There isn't a vegetable I do not like! I am no gardener though. I'll gladly bake my sourdough bread and trade with any farmer for veggies any day. Just let me know.

Lost and Found

This morning I found my wallet inside my house mail slot. I didn't know it was missing! I must've dropped it yesterday afternoon while walking Lily. Someone saw my license address, and put it in the house mail slot. Thank you kind person.

Today I went to the doctor for my annual checkup and told him I was 54. He said "You are not fifty four, you are fifty three."
"Thanks Doc, you just gave me another year!" I said, and we both laughed.

Painter Francis Bacon

When one is right inside the work … it’s very stimulating and exciting, because that’s when you bring things nearer to the nervous system. You must understand that I don’t paint for anybody except myself. I’m always very surprised that anybody wants to have a picture of mine. I paint to excite myself, and make something for myself. I can’t tell you how amazed I was when my work started selling!
Francis Bacon, painter

The Girl who Married a Bear

Here.

Computer Crash

Dear Friends, Acquaintances and Readers,
I write about 800 e-mails a week. My computer is Windows 98. LOL. It finally crashed and I lost all of my addresses. Please write me here if you have not heard from me.
Thank you,
Emily

Baby Breads Rising

I have two dozen mixed-grain sourdough breads rising in the proofing oven. Yesterday there was no room in the fridge so I set the dough on the bench in the piano shop and . . . out of sight out of mind. I totally forgot. I came back after running a chore and it had exploded out of the big clear plastic pickle bucket overflowing onto the bench and my husband's maps and the carpet. As my friend Teddi says "Bread is always a story." Stay tuned.

Dominican Style Empanadas

The bodega is making empanadas! I am inspired.
I found a recipe Here.

Suzy Homemaker

Today I feel like Suzy Homemaker I am sewing, baking, reading, writing, cooking, vacuuming and loving it.

Craving Spinach

My new habit is buying two bags of bargain Price Rite baby spinach each week. I love spinach and I love Popeye! This morning I slept late--and got up at 5AM. I've been on the monk's schedule; falling asleep at 8PM and waking to write at 3AM.
Anyway I got up at 5 today Saturday, and at 6:30 made coffee adding a dollop of vanilla ice cream and home made cocoa sauce floating on top. By 10:30 I was hungry for a hearty cowboy breakfast.

I sauteed onions and garlic and added tons of fresh spinach and 6 eggs, soy sauce, Adobo seasoning, and Cholula Mexican hot sauce, and freshly ground black pepper. We ate at the round oak dining room table eating from my little blue Pyrex luncheonette plates with my home made circle breads toasted.

I had seltzer "Jewish champagne" for dessert.

Now I am eying Italian Spinach Pie recipes to bake tonight.
Here's a great recipe and post from the blog Amiable Life.

Salty Crunchy Tangy Moist

We went shopping last night at Price Rite. I bought a stack of corn tortillas --five pounds for 2 dollars! I decided to deep fry them one at a time, in 2 inches of corn oil heated in my slow cooker. This is a new pleasure and a ritual I find very meditative. I fried a bunch. Then I made a quick vegetable salad of chopped red onion, tomatoes, avocado, cukes, defrosted corn niblets, sliced black olives and freshly squeezed lime juice and salt, as a dressing. The veggies and tortillas made a perfect marriage of salty crunchy and tangy moist.

Our Munroe Dairy Band Plays our 11th Bristol Parade

We had a fabulous parade yesterday at Bristol's Fourth of July. The cool cloudy weather made it perfect for our three miles of music making. There were ten of us playing dressed as milkmen in our whites, 8 point hats, and black bow ties. We got rained on as we lined up rendering our outfits translucent. But we had anticipated this and told everyone to wear white underwear!

The always gentlemanly milkmen loaned us their yellow Munroe Dairy wind breakers and dry towels so we could dry off and warm up before we had to play.

We had the best parade ever. My former next door neighbor Lucille handed me a bottle of cold water and I handed it to Bill just as he was in dire need of a drink. Thank you Lucille!

The thunder and lightning and torrential rain arrived after we performed. Not everyone was so lucky. There was a lot of wet wool.

When we got home I simmered a pot of homemade tomato sauce using Jamie's fresh hot Italian sausages, olives, eggplant, celery. The aroma was magnificent when we woke up. This morning I decided to cook pasta. I made two trays adding spinach and pepper jack cheese for an improvised lasagna. My Aunt rose and Aunt Florence are smiling from heaven.

My spotted cow dress and white tights and black leather Mary Jane's and all of the wet towels are drying in the sun.
Thanks to the guest musicians, Maureen's amazing turkey and chicken salad roll-up sandwiches, the adorable milkmen Jay and Victor, it was an exceptional day at Munroe Dairy Summer Camp.

Cold Food + Wet Towels + Lots of Ice!

I made German potato salad and it was delicious on a bed of spinach with iced lemon lime seltzer. I have had cold food and cold drinks for weeks now to fend off and tame the hot flashes. I sleep with a wet towel!