Smoke & Mirrors

He came to my apartment to pick me up and I was NERVOUS.  I was a single mother at the time so I made sure the kids were with a trustworthy babysitter...because I was going on my first 'official' date with Adrian Garcia. (I could have SWORN he said Garza the night I met him, but who cares?  HE WAS HOT)

I don't even remember where we went to dinner.  I'm sure it was nice, but apparently uneventful.  I know we were enjoying each other's company, though, because when we got back to my place we decided to go upstairs and play cards with my ex-roommate, who is now Adrian's step-sister.  (Yea, I know, but that's a story for another blog so stay tuned)  
Now at the time, I was a smoker.  (GASP!)  Smoking is HORRIBLE for you - I get it - and I no longer do it.  But I like to think while I was a smoker, I was a very cool smoker, because I smoked those really long (for the purpose of the story, you must know they were REALLY long), super-thin cigarettes called Capris.  So Adrian sits on my little futon in my little apartment next to my friend while I decide to 'have a ciggy'.  I was being cool, after all, and had to impress this hot guy on our first official date.

I lived upstairs and had a balcony, and as a responsible mother, I dutifully headed for that balcony to smoke so as not to allow smoke in the apartment where two small children lived.  
I opened the sliding glass door.  I put the cigarette in my red-lipstick-covered mouth (just trying to impress, Ladies and Gentlemen), and lit it - I was so sexy!  I turned toward the balcony to step outside, in a very cool and sexy manner, of course.  There's no other way to tell you what happened next except just to tell you.  I had forgotten to open the sliding screen after the glass door and with the cigarette (sexily) in my mouth I walked right into it.  Now, that's embarrassing enough on it's own, but not too bad.  HOWEVER COMMA, when I walked into the screen the (very long, skinny) cigarette was pushed straight up and the lit end landed on my forehead direct-center.  And it BURNED.  You could even hear the singe of skin.  My date and my friend had no recourse but to laugh, which left ME no recourse but to (fight through the pain) and laugh with them.

Now hang tight here, Folks, because it's just getting good.

I fall back onto the futon between the two giggling hyenas, trying to be the cute girl on the first date who can laugh at myself, too.  As I am laughing (and my forehead is smoking), I PASS GAS.  Well, we all know flatulence is funny at every corner unless you're stuck in an elevator with a big guy who ate beans and cabbage for dinner.  Adrian looked at me, eyes widened and lookin' like an owl, pointed right at me, and proceeds to laugh so hard I thought he would wet himself.  Of course, my friend joined him.  And I just sat there, with my burned forehead, holding a broken cigarette, in my own pew.

Luckily, the story doesn't end there...that was part of the beginning.  He called me again for a second date.   But that's a story for a different day.  

BE YOURSELF TODAY.  Look in the mirror and remember you're human like everyone else...and SOMEONE is gonna love you for it.

A Yolk with No Punchline

My friend came over this morning to have a lovely cup of organic coffee and a veggie frittata I made for us to share.  I hardly ever get to see her or talk to her.  (There's a ton of you out there that share a similar relationship with me, and for that I apologize.  You know who you are)  But when I do see her it's like we were never apart, and that's a good friend.
We hugged, prayed, had some small talk, laughed, and then shared some interesting conversation.   She shared about how her  pregnancy is coming along (she is radiant)  and also how her husband is doing.  He suffers from sleep paralysis and a benign tumor on his pituitary gland and has been working very hard to get his health in a good place. 
Recently, I had a dear friend lose her husband in the military.  They have a small child.  She is one of the strongest people I've ever known - and so graceful in her mourning, but of course, struggles as a now-single mother to get their life in a good place.
Here I sit, sometimes feeling so sorry for myself with all the attack we've been under, and yet I hear these things and I am reminded that someone else is always going to carry a greater or heavier burden and I should be grateful for what I do have - because our health or even our life could be taken from us at any time.
We are so strong and so delicate at the very same time.  For Cameron to have the accident he had and still be alive shows the strength in us; and the friends I've mentioned who suffer in very different ways show how fragile we are as well.
It's like the eggs I used to make the frittata this morning.  They break so easily, like us.  But as I cooked them, they got stronger - harder to break.  I think when we suffer, it's God's way of 'cooking' us and making us stronger.
How eggsellent!! (Couldn't help myself)
PS: Quick & Easy Frittata for Two
6 sliced mushrooms
1/2 yellow bell pepper, rough chopped
1/2 seeded and finely chopped jalapeno
About 1/2 cup parsley, rough chopped
4 eggs
1 slice cheddar cheese
Pour about 1 tbs (you can just eyeball this measurement) extra virgin olive oil into a small pan.  (I use my cast-iron skillet because it's non-stick and oven friendly and also makes for a really cute presentation, but you can use any small frying pan and just put foil over the handle when the time comes to put it in the oven)  heat the oil over medium heat and then put all the veggies into the pan.  cook them for about 5 minutes or until just soft.  While the veggies are cooking through, take the four eggs and whisk them in a small bowl.  Add about a tbs of water and put aside.  (Slightly) salt and pepper the veggies and stir (wait until this part to salt so the moisture doesn't come out of the mushrooms), then add the eggs.  Lower the heat to medium-low and let the eggs and veggies cook together for about 2 minutes.  Meanwhile, turn the oven on to 350 degrees.  Break up your slice of cheddar and carefully place the pieces on top of the egg mixture and do not stir.  Pop your frying pan in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, checking it to make sure it doesn't over-cook.  Take it out and let it sit for about a minute or two.
I sprinkled a little fresh thyme over it, sliced an apple and put a few pieces on each plate, and served the frittata by cutting it in half at the table.
It was nummy and that's no yolk.  HAAA!

I Heart Leftovers

Some people think leftovers are the thing to avoid.  They just can't do leftovers.  I've never been that person, but I do get it.  I grew up with meager means, to say the least so my personal panic button is thinking about wasting food.  With the boat we're in now, in order to make sure it doesn't sink, I have to find a way to make leftovers appealing and not like leftovers at all.
So there are the chicken teriyaki skewers I made the other night.  They were DELICIOUS and easy and super inexpensive.  I just took chicken tenderloins and marinated them in soy sauce, hoisin, and a little bit of sesame oil.  (Now these are all things I have on hand minus the chicken pieces so that was all I had to buy.  To me, if you've got a little Asian salad dressing in the fridge, just use that!)  I then soaked my skewers while the chicken marinated.  So I sprinkle a little Kosher salt and some pepper on both sides and pop them in a 350 degree oven for around 20 -25 minutes.  A simple salad on the side and you've got an inexpensive, healthy meal!  
Now...on to the leftover part.  I've got enough chicken skewers left to send with Adrian (AND Cameron) for lunch and then some.  So he's had them for supper.  He's had them for lunch.  LAST thing he wants is to have them for supper again!
What to do??  
I took some flour (unbleached organic for us for health purposes, but any kind of all-purpose will do), yeast, olive oil, honey, warm water and a little salt (all lying around the house dying to be used!)  I made pizza crust from scratch (SO easy, recipe to follow), and poured some barbecue sauce we had in the cabinet (organic, thanks for the gift, Karen Merritt!) over it, and sprinkled the leftover chicken on top.  I sprinkled a little shredded cheddar we had lying around on top and popped it in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  VOILA!  Barbecued chicken pizza!  (Adrian and Cameron both took the pizza for lunch the next day!)
Let's talk this through: Two packages of the chicken came to about $8 and I used pantry items and staples for the rest.  I made dinner and lunch and dinner and lunch again, two different ways.  I fed three people.  So four meals and three people comes to roughly (and for all my math OCDs out there, I do mean ROUGHLY) a dollar per meal per person!  
Every morning I get to wake up, I remember I'm leftover from the day before.  I try to remember that when it comes to my food and fuel, and the respect it deserves for the role it plays in mine and my family's life.
(Getting past the serious stuff and moral of the story...here's the quick and easy pizza crust recipe!)
2 cups flour
1 pkg (or 1 tbsp dry active yeast)
3/4(ish) tsp salt
1 cup WARM water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey
Pour flour into a large mixing bowl.  Add yeast and salt.  mix well.  Add water, oil, and honey and mix well.  Cover and place in a warm spot for 10 - 15 minutes to rise.
Punch down and press into a greased 14-inch pizza pan (or 10-inch for thicker crust)  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
YUM.

Races, Hammers, & Snowballs

When you're running a race and you get to that place - you know that place, the one where you get a sharp pain in your neck and your side as though someone is shankin' ya - and you wonder should you stop, slow down, or just plow through it?  But at the very same moment it goes away, and you decide to push harder - all because you felt that breakthrough.

You have a hammer and you're pounding a nail into the wall, determined to hang that picture, and you hit a beam - or stud, if you will - and it feels like you can't go any further or the nail will just bend or break.  You wonder, "Should I just keep hitting the nail harder or try to take the nail out and hang this somewhere else?"  Just as you're wondering this, the hammer hits the nail in a little further so you decide to hit harder - because you felt that breakthrough.

You probably think this is going to be all cheese and lollipops about persevering and to keep going until you hit that breakthrough.  Well Folks, it isn't.  (Well, it KIND of is)  I am comparing it to constant trials in our lives. Being whacked over and over with the devil's proverbial snowballs.  He keeps pounding and pounding while you try to stand firm until he finds himself wondering if he should slow down or even stop.  Just as he is wondering if you're too strong for him, he feels a little crack in your igloo armor (staying with the snowball analogy here) and decides to plow through and hit harder.  I know this for a fact.  Today felt a little like I was abdicating my igloo. But now that I've come to the realization that the enemy looks for that breakthrough moment I've decided I won't give him his shining moment - not today, anyway.