Shipwreck – a metaphor for ❤️ & 💔

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“I’m old. What that means is that I’ve survived (so far) and a lot of people I’ve known and loved did not. 
I’ve lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can’t imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here’s my two cents…
I wish I could say you get used to people dying. But I never did. I don’t want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don’t want it to “not matter”. I don’t want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. 
Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can’t see.
As for grief, you’ll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you’re drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it’s some physical thing. Maybe it’s a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it’s a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive.
In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don’t even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you’ll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what’s going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything…and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life.
Somewhere down the line, and it’s different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O’Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you’ll come out.
Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don’t really want them to. But you learn that you’ll survive them. And other waves will come. And you’ll survive them too. 
If you’re lucky, you’ll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks.”
Author unknown

•No WONDER I have always loved the sight of a beautiful shipwreck❤️•

Chicken Kiev

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More time consuming, than difficult, this one’s started on top of the range, but transferred to the oven to complete.

INGREDIENTS

4 whole medium chicken breasts (3 lbs.)

2 tablespoons fresh-snipped parsely

1 to 2 tablespoons chopped green onion

1 stick of butter, chilled

⅓ cup all purpose flour

1 beaten egg

1 tablespoon water

½ cup fine dry bread crumbs

Cooking oil or shortening for deep-fat frying

DIRECTIONS

Skin, halve lengthwise, and bone chicken breasts. Place 1 piece of chicken between two pieces of clear plastic wrap. Working from center to edges, pound lightly with a meat mallet, forming a rectangle about 1/8” thick. Remove plastic wrap; sprinkle chicken with some parsley and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Cut chilled butter into 8 sticks, each about 2 to 2 & 1/2 “ long. Place 1 of the sticks on each chicken piece. Fold in sides; roll up jelly roll style, pressing all edges together gently with your fingers, to seal.

Place flour in a shallow dish. in another shallow dish combine egg and water. Roll chicken in flour to coat, then dip in egg mixture. Coat with crumbs. Cover, chill at least an hour.

Heat an additional 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet. Fry chilled chicken rolls on all sides about 5 minutes or until brown. Transfer to a 12×7.5×2” baking dish. Bake ina 400 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes. Spoon pan drippings over individual servings.

Serve over buttered noodles with a green vegetable.

| LAST IMAGE is prior to being baked for 15-20 minutes | Finished dish’s photo got interrupted by a self imploding watermelon 🍉 on the counter. 😂😂

iFilmed the Eclipse 🌙

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I apologize in advance for the bouncing video, but I CAUGHT the eclipse – using the glasses held in front of my iPhone’s camera lens – during a Facebook™ LIVE session 😎

The birds were so confused … the sky turning dark as it did, disoriented them so that they were swooping down and flying erratically. I suppose they are typically where they’d roost for the night, when it turns to dusk.

Thinking you’re alone, only to hear the eruptions of cheers by your (unseen) neighbors was really an unique experience.

My husband and I were sharing a pair of glasses, so I had to wait for the safety of totality before I could film.

But I got ‘er done. ❤️X💯 Still image is my favorite from our area.

Chicken with Walnuts – Stirfry

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My first ever stir fry dish came from a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. To this day it remains a favorite.

Everyone I’ve served it to asks me for the recipe. It doesn’t call for red bell peppers but I love the color they add to the dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/3 pounds whole chicken breasts

3 T Soy sauce

2 t cornstarch

2 T dry sherry

1 T grated gingerroot

1 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1/2 t crushed red pepper

2 T cooking oil (I use peanut oil)

2 medium green peppers, cut into 3/4″ pieces

4 green onions, bias-sliced into 1″ lengths

1 cup walnut halves

Hot cooked rice

DIRECTIONS

Skin, halve lengthwise and bone chicken breasts. Cut chicken into 1″ pieces. Set aside.

In a small bowl stir soy sauce into cornstarch; stir in dry sherry, gingerroot, sugar, salt and red pepper. Set aside.

Preheat a wok or a large skillet over high heat; adding cooking oil (watch it as it spatters). Stir fry green peppers and green onions in hot oil for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from wok or skillet. Add walnuts to wok or skillet; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until just golden. Remove from wok or skillet.

(Add more oil if necessary) Add half the chicken to the hot wok or skillet and stir fry 2 minutes. Remove from skillet. Stir-fry remaining chicken for 2 minutes.

Return all chicken to wok or skillet. Stir soy mixture; stir into chicken. Cook and stir til thickened and bubbly. Stir in vegetables and walnuts; cover and cook 1 minute more (I never cover it). Serve at once with hot rice.

Notes: Use a long-handled spoon or spatula to lift and turn the food with a folding motion. Be sure to maintain high heat so the food cooks quickly —

Panzanella – 🍅+🍞=🥗

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Italian Tomato & Bread Salad

INGREDIENTS:

½ baguette (about 12 inches long)

1 large garlic clove, mashed

Olive oil for brushing

6 medium to large tomatoes, cut into large chunks

½ medium onion, chopped

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

½ cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Split the baguette in half lengthwise. Rub the cut side of one half very well with the mashed garlic. Brush liberally with olive oil. Cut the garlicked half in half again lengthwise, and then cut those strips into 3/4 “ pieces. Place the croutons on a baking sheet, crust side down. Bake 30 minutes, until dark golden.

If croutons are made in advance, put the tomatoes in a large mixing bowl a bit before you intend to mix the salad, then drain off and discard any juice that may accumulate.

To serve, add the croutons, onion, and basil to the tomatoes. Whisk together the vinegar and oil for the vinaigrette. Pour over all and toss.

Fresh 🍅Tomato 🍜

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I wasn’t expecting much but I absolutely ❤️ this recipe. Doesn’t need the cream at ALL, so I left it out. Perfect consistency using the #Instapot and an immersion blender.

Homemade Tomato 🍅Soup via Instapot pressure cooker

Prep: 15 min • Pressure: 15 min • Total: 45 min

Pressure Level: High • Release: Natural

INGREDIENTS:

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin Olive oil

1 large red onion, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled & chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 pounds high-quality ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth

kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup heavy cream (optional – I left it out)

fresh basil for garnish (optional)

Parmesan cheese, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat the Insta pot by selecting Saute

Once hot, add the oil followed by the onion and carrot. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.

Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste and broth. Season with salt & pepper. Secure the lid.

Select MANUAL and cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes.

Once cooking is complete, let naturally release for 10 minutes. Release any remaining steam.

Add the cream (optional – I left it out). Use an immersion blender to puree the soup or carefully puree in batches in a blender. Strain soup if needed (I didn’t bother, it was perfect after using the immersion blender). Add more broth if a thinner soup is desired.

Taste for seasoning. Serve with fresh basil and Parmesan (optional).

I prefer tiny saltines.

To make dish Paleo, leave out the sugar, Parmesan and replace cream with more broth.

NUTRITIONAL INFO Calories: 239. Total carbs: 22g Saturated fat (with heavy cream): 6g, Trans Fat: 0g; Fiber: 6g; Protein: 5 g; Sodium: 225g

🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

3 lbs. tomatoes yield 3 pints soup. Although I thought I would can these, any reference to Fresh Tomato Soup mentioned “fridge for 5 days or freezer for 6 months”

Bo Derek’s Playboy™cover chamois 👙

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Closet tales🚪 – Chapter 2 (or “did I ever tell you about the time Bo Derek scooped me on a swimsuit?”👙😎)

It was late February or March of 1980, and I had purchased an OUTRAGEOUS beaded and feathered chamois swimsuit from Michigan Avenue’s North Beach Leather Boutique, located in Chicago’s Water Tower Place. (Which also happened to be the “scene of the crime” for that fringe jacket purchase😎)

I KNEW I shouldn’t have spent that much on a 👙swimsuit, but I was dating a musician🎸 that had actually played at Woodstock, so it was either *that or the fringe made me do it😇. My heart was still racing from the “crime” of the purchase, as I headed back to work, stopping at a 📰news stand along the way, to pick up the just-released issue of Vogue magazine. It’s a busy stand (corner of Michigan & Chicago) so while I waited, I see the bundled stack – not even cut free yet – and it’s BO DEREK wearing the EXACT SAME suit on the freakin’ COVER of PLAYBOY??!?!😱In that instant, I knew that

1) that suit didn’t fit my then (stick <–haha!) figure, and

2) it would never see the light of day

Painful then💸 (because of what I spent and it was not returnable) but funny as HELL, these 35 years later😂😂😂. ESPECIALLY if you knew me in the day… Twiggy had more meat on her bones ::::::chortling::::::

(this one’s for sale on the app known asPoshMark)