Sunday, May 13, 2012
This lovely chicken salad makes a great topping for crackers or in a sandwich. It fits in perfectly with a Mother's Day brunch.
"Love, like a chicken salad a restaurant has, must be taken with blind faith or it loses its flavor." ~Helen Rowland It's Mother's Day and like most of us I'm sure your plans revolve around visiting with the women in your life. And eating. Don't most of our plans revolve around food? I am having my family over tomorrow for an afternoon of laughs, food and celebrating the moms in the family (we have big family so there are quite a few). Since the weather is going to be so beautiful we'll be outdoors, grilling. The usual suspects will be in attendance; hot dogs, hamburgers, various salads, chips and dips. I am also making a great curried chicken salad to serve with crackers. This chicken salad is light and tasty, with just a bit of punch …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
There are all kinds of Moms in the world but figuring out the kind of Mom you want to be can take you on fun ride.
The first few years I celebrated Mother’s Day it was all about the TLC. In other words it was all about me. I looked forward to it with such anticipation you’d think nobody ever did anything nice for me. I couldn’t wait to see what my husband would cook up when the kids were tiny. Cute cards, a special breakfast and a day off from everything a Mother does in a day. As the kids got older we took the day a bit further and went out to brunch where the kids would show off their best manners and Mommy would sip champagne and look at their beautiful handmade gifts. Now as I sit here wondering what tricks the kids and their Dad have up their sleeve for this Mother’s Day, I start to think about what they are celebrating. What kind of Mom do they…
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Chicken Marsala is a delicious, easy to make at home dish. A little chicken, a few mushrooms, some wine...piece of cake.
"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." ~Luciano Pavarotti One of my favorite Italian dishes is Chicken Marsala. For some reason though, nine out of ten times I end up ordering something else when I go out. The same scene plays out every time; I whittle my choices down to the Marsala and one other dish and that other dish always wins out. Because of this, I tend to make Chicken Marsala quite a bit at home. Don't let the fancy pants name deter you from trying your hand at it...the dish is quick enough to whip up on a weeknight, yet elegant enough to serve at a dinner party. It is also easy to change up. Add some cream to the sauce or throw …
Thursday, May 3, 2012
"We cannot write an amendment to the Constitution every time there’s an unfavorable decision."
In the infamous words of Michelle Obama, paraphrased by me only a little, “This is the first time in my adult life that I have been proud of Town Meeting.” In fact, I am very proud that TM defeated two articles disguised as righteous and protective of the little guy. First was Article 2, the Historical Commission’s brazen attempt to “rope in” ( its word ) about 2,700 additional Winchester homes under its protective umbrella. I will opine about this another day because the real unbelievable action concerned Article 6. Article 6 was truly diabolical. It asked TM to petition Congress to pass a Constitutional Amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United decision. This obviously invites TMMs to debate every Supreme Court…
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
In this day of texts and emails having time carved out to talk as a family is increasingly important.
We held our first family meeting recently and my kids groaned at the mere mention of it. I was taken aback by their lack of enthusiasm because I didn’t think they knew it to be anything more than a gathering of family members. For all they knew we could be meeting around the outdoor fireplace making s ‘mores. Then I realized the context in which I declared it and thus realized family meeting mistake number one, don’t demand one while sending a kid to time out. Next time I will make it when everyone is calm and happy and hope for a better response. Until then, I was stuck with sour puss faced kids and a husband that was just going with the flow. “What are we talking about, Mom?” declared my daughter. A laundry list of things came to mind…
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Give this creamy tomato sauce a whirl on your next pasta night.
"Everything you see I owe to spaghetti." ~Sophia Loren I was tired of the same spaghetti and meatballs dinner last week so I searched around for a new pasta recipe to try. I wanted it to be pretty basic and easy to make and still be based around tomatoes. After weeding through dozens of pasta salad recipes and about a million spaghetti and meatballs recipes, I came across one that sounded pretty darn interesting. It called for a bit of spice, a bit of sweetness and a bunch of cream. I was sold. I've never met a cream sauce I didn't like. We were pretty happy with the outcome and it'll now get thrown into the dinner rotation. If you prefer a spicier sauce use hot sausages and more red pepper flakes. Or you can leave the hot flakes out …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
A week in the life of a Kindergarteners lunch box can go from joyful optimism to disheartened frustration in the snap of a lid.
This is not an article about public school lunch options, pink slime or how to pick the trendiest lunch boxes for your child. This is an article about the ups and downs of what you put in your child’s lunch box day in and day out and the roller coaster ride that ensues. It’s Monday morning and I’m ready! A restful family weekend has renewed my spirits and I am ready to tackle my daily dilemma; what to pack in my daughter’s lunch box. I have a refrigerator full of interesting and healthy things and my creative juices are flowing. I smile at my daughter with a sense of determination. I am going to get it right today! Her lunch box will come home empty I am sure of it. With an article about creative ways to fill your child’s lunch box in …
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Looking for an interesting appetizer to bring to a party? Look no further! Try making these easy delicious egg rolls.
“It may be the way the cookie crumbles on Madison Avenue, but in Hong Kong it's the way the egg rolls.” ~Robert Orben Every couple of months a group of girls known as "The BBs" get together to eat, laugh and catch up. I am lucky enough to be a part of this little crew and though I love to get together I always find myself a bit stressed as to what to bring. I consider myself to be a decent cook but for some reason I always bring food to the BB conventions that is pretty lame. To the first gathering I brought a brie-phyllo dough debacle. It turned out sort of Hot Pocket-esque (meaning it was hot on the outside and freezing in the middle). Ugh. To the second gathering I brought a dip that was just plain boring. For the rest of our get …
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Earth Day is an excellent opportunity for our schools to teach kids about our precious Earth and all we can do to help her stay healthy.
I love Earth Day. Maybe it is because I love a good cause or maybe because I love an easy opportunity to teach my kids something valuable. Easy because Earth Day is such an obvious way to teach kids of all ages about our great planet. It doesn’t matter how much or little you know about all the ways we can help Mother Earth (that’s what the internet is for) because even the smallest things can help. And kids don’t really care as long as they feel they are helping they will enjoy this chance to spend time learning, doing and making a difference. The opportunity to teach kids about helping our Earth extends to the classroom and I was happy to learn about all the ways our schools are teaching kids about our great planet. I think many of us …
Next week Town Meeting will consider a resolution similar to one co-sponsored by State Rep. Jason Lewis that calls for the ratification of a constitutional amendment to restore First Amendment free speech rights to the people.
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Wednesday, April 18
Almost since the founding of our democracy we have struggled with how to limit the influence of money in politics. We have long understood that money has the potential to corrupt our government, but that we must also respect the First Amendment right to free speech (which has been defined to mean that money equals speech). One longstanding principle, however, is that corporations and other legal entities like unions do not have the same free speech rights as individuals. In January, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission in a 5-4 decision that corporations should have the same First Amendment free speech rights as individuals. This momentous decision overturned a century of jurisprudence which…
Townie
3:29 pm on Wednesday, May 9, 2012
You are concerned that others have too much free speech? What is the proper amount of free speech that somebody or something should have? Do you measure free speech in words or dollars? If people agree with you should they have more free speech? This all seems silly to me, as I tried to point out, let everyone have as much free speech as they want. You may not think the rest of us are smart … more ›