Black Eyed Susan's Kitchen

HIDE AND SEEK AND OWOH ♥ WINNINGS

              Look who came to visit our yard yesterday... Can't see him? Here is a closer look...There is a big old hawk hiding in that tree! Pixie, our very fierce protector(little black cat) alerted me to its whereabouts. Just thought you would like to know that I am well protected.
              Give aways are so much fun. They are especially fun when you win something. The One World One Heart give away from Betty of She's sew pretty blog, had 326 comments, and mine won. I feel soooo lucky! Not only did I win her absolutely adorable Teddy Bear, but she also sent me the nicest kids story book about Barack Obama. Winning something is good, winning something from Betty is fabulous. I thank her from the bottom of my heart. I love the little polka dot bear in one of my all time favorite color schemes. The One World One Heart give away was the brain child of Lisa Sifka of the blog, A Whimsical Bohemian . Last year there was a very big response to her plan to put together crafters with other crafters on a global scale. This years response was amazing. If you have a chance, go by her blog and check it out. For me, it was like visiting the biggest craft show that I have ever attended. The international response was nothing short of magic. Can't wait till next year.
           I'm off to see one of our all time favorite stores in town...Shutters! You can bet that I will return with some gorgeous spring time inspiration.
♥, Susan 

FRIDAY'S FREE FAVORITE PIX....AND AN AWARD

              One of the biggest perks to living by the Jersey Shore, is the town of Red Bank. This is a town that has gone through may changes in the years that we have lived down here. It is also one of the reasons that we relocated our family to this area...the other of course being the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the beaches. Red Bank is now a more upscale, sophisticated town than it once was, and with that came more art galleries and a second theater. It was a trade off. We lost our five and dime store, Woolworths, but gained more restaurants and jewelry stores...including Tiffany's. The real jewel in this town though is the Count Basie Theatre. Last year, before the theaters big restoration, American Express and the theater itself sponsored a series of free movies. We got our tickets immediately, and enjoyed The Wizard of Oz, The Godfather, Woodstock, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and several other classics. This year, there are nine free movies being offered, the first in the series is this Sunday at 2:00 and happens to be one of my all time favorites. Dr. Zhivago, is such a beautiful movie to watch, and the story is full of sadness and hope. It is also a very romantic movie and the cinematography is divine. Some of the other movies to be shown this year include, Citizen Kane, Robin Hood, Cool Hand Luke, Titanic, American Graffiti, and Pretty in Pink. Free doesn't get any better than this especially if you love seeing classic cinema in an old fashioned environment...and one other thing,  the theater has a bar...such a nice thing to be able to enjoy a glass of wine with your movie.

          After the movie on Sunday, of course is the Academy Awards, and just like every other year,  we will not have seen most of the movies up for awards. We will eventually see them though, and we do enjoy seeing how everyone is dressed. I will have to come up with a good menu for the day/evening. Something Russian in the afternoon...caviar and vodka, blinis, borscht ? who knows...for the evening something that will work well with popcorn? Does anyone have a traditional Oscar night meal or snack that they can share with me?

           I need to thank Laura, at Little Orange Kitchen, for giving me this award. It is very special to me because I have not felt particularly creative lately. The fact that she finds my blogging creative makes me feel so much better. When you have a minute, stop by her blog...it is one of my favorites. Now, I know this is not an Oscar, but I would like to pass this award on to a few women who I read regularly. Brenda at View from the Pines, for her extraordinary nature photography. Laura at Shore house Chic, for her always inspiring ideas and decor, and Susan at  The T-cozy, for her ability to utilize her vintage collections in a modern world. There are so many more blogs that I find creative, inspiring, informative and just rewarding to read. I am so happy to be in this time when we can take a minute out of our hectic day and stop in to see what someone else is thinking about. We are very lucky.

♥, Susan     

STILL WALKING MY WAY THROUGH THE FREE BOOKS

                A few posts back, I wrote about walking on the treadmill, and reading the books that I picked up at a yard sale for, well, free. The books were perched on my night table for months, before I finally put together this plan to read my way to better health, and possibly a slimmer figure.
               The second book that I am reading is Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. She is currently, in the book, trying to find herself by eating her way through Italy. I have to say that I am loving this! First of all, while I have been reading and walking, I have also been listening. The blog, Mille Fiori Favoriti, a favorite that I visit daily, has the best music. I enjoy Pat's blog because she writes about New York and things that touch my soul, but also because her play list is just plain wonderful. It occured to me while I was walking today and listening to Giovanni Marradi, and reading about pasta and pizza in Naples, that I may want to go there some day. Not being even a teensy bit Italian, I feel that I have entered an ancient, beautifully civilized world where food and love are synonymous. Where architecture is everything and art is everywhere.

                When I was at the hospital with my husband last week, I forgot to pick up something for dinner. The hospital, of course provided him with a tray.  My darling brother in law was on his way up for a visit and he brought me pizza. Two slices of  New York pizza. Now, I have to tell you that if you have had pizza in New York, all else pales in comparison. Having grown up on this pizza, I have spent an adult life-time being disappointed by pizza in every other state. I know of people in Florida and Pennsylvania who have given up eating pizza entirely because the taste doesn't even come close, and here is Elizabeth Gilbert writing of the best pizza in the world coming from Naples. I can even understand her opinion that eating the pizza in Naples was almost a religious experience for her. Eating the pizza in the hospital in New York, although maybe not a religious experience, was pure comfort for me. Taking the first bite and remembering the flavor of New York pizza settled all of my senses into a soft bed of flannel sheets wrapped in the warmest quilt. It reminded me of my childhood and days with my sister and brothers. When a slice and a coke for the four of us was covered by one dollar. It was just, exactly what I needed at that very moment on that very night. It was a foodie moment that will not be forgotten too soon.

                This plan of walking on the treadmill and reading, and listening to wonderful music is working for me. It isn't costing me anything and inspite of eating the pizza, I have managed to lose six lbs. and have increased the speed at which I am walking. So far, so good. There are 4 other books on my night table and we will have to see how the numbers add up (or hopefully subtract in the case of weight) at the end of this project. I may have unwittingly found the exercise formula that works for me.   

ROCK STARS IN THE HOSPITAL

          

Hospital stays tend to lean toward the less desirable, scary side of life. Having given birth in three different hospitals in two different decades, and having an unplanned operation, not to mention the many trips to the emergency room with my kids, I can attest to the sort of care one can expect to receive at a hospital. This week, my husband was the unlucky recipient of a hospital stay. It was a first in his life, but then nobody plans for that unexpected day when something may need to be fixed in an aging body. As my surgeon told me many years ago, when I asked him why he thought my intestine ruptured, "Sometimes things just break". Fair enough, sometimes things just break, or grow where they should not be growing. or sometimes life just throws you that curve ball that you weren't expecting.
              So, on Thursday, at 4:00 in the morning, we awoke, to be transported by an always considerate and understanding neighbor (and very good friend) into the city...New York City, to fill in forms and be ready for surgery by 8:30. Now, I just need to say, that Beth Israel Hospital has its s..t together. It is clean, neat, orderly, and every single person working there managed to say good morning to us....and mean it. They were as organized as was humanly possible, and put our very nervous selves at ease.
             When they prepared my husband for surgery, an entourage in the most delicious shade of lilac entered the room. I kid you not...they were all wearing these wonderful, purple scrubs that just make you smile. They were also the most good looking group of doctors and doctor's assistants that I have ever laid my eyes on. They spoke to us with authority and dignity...not one person with their nose in the air or one talking down to us. I was pretty stunned and impressed by it all, but mostly, I felt that they knew what they were doing ....confidence is a wonderful feeling when someone is about to take your husbands life into their hands. They all said that "the" doctor would come in to see us before the operation. "The" doctor is one, Mark Urken, a rock star in his medical community. He is, as our local specialist advised us, the go to guy when you have a problem such as ours. He clearly knows his stuff, and is teaching it to others. I cannot discuss the operation itself, as my medical knowledge tends toward the keep it clean, put ice on it, or put a band aid on it end. The kiss it and make it all better side of medicine. What I can say is that somewhere down the line, this doctor figured out that people can come out of an experience like this much better off for it, if they are treated with kindness and humanity. That when confidence is instilled beforehand, everything can go better, much, much better.
                As we spent our Valentines Day, convalescing (him, not me), I had time to relate this experience to the other hospital stays that I had to endure. I just want to say that I wish my other experiences had gone this well....I wish that my doctors had the presence of mind to put me at ease and make me feel confident, but that is all water under the bridge. Now I know that it is possible to make what would be a very frightening experience into at least a tolerable one. Doctor Urken has figured out how to make it into a memorable one and I am so glad that he has that entourage learning from him and working with him, because they will all be medical rock stars one day too. That means that others will come away with their own unexpected, better experience.
♥, Susan

IT'S NEVER WHAT YOU EXPECT...IS IT?

                 This afternoon, I finished reading the book, Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. First, the idea that I would be finishing a book, mid afternoon is pretty unusual, second, I am pretty confident that she did not intend to wow a 54 year old woman with her writing. I had been reading the book while walking on the treadmill every day, trying to kill two birds at once and you know what happens when you are finished, but the book is not...well, those last 12 pages had to be read and the laundry and other things that I should have been doing are still there. So, here is what happened...I decided to read all of the books that I  so graciously took off of some nice woman's hands at a yard sale this summer. It was the end of the day, and she was going to toss them...her request for me to take them was her way of not feeling any guilt. They have been sitting in a neatly stacked pile, taunting me for the last six months. The treadmill, also was sending out the use it or get rid of it vibes and so I combined them and voila...3 lbs. lost through the reading of this book.
              Now, about the book, I think that I enjoyed it more than I expected to. Julie Powell, speaks my language...sadly, even the expletives and there were plenty of them were up my alley. I lived where she lives and I worked where she worked, doing the same type of job. Heck, we probably even took the same trains (subways), but I did it 35 years ago and she was doing it more recently. She is a Texan, transplanted in New York and I am a New Yorker, transplanted in New Jersey. Her project was to spend a year cooking all of the recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I won't tell you more about the book because I think that you should actually buy the book and read it...Feeling a little guilt here as I did not actually buy the book and therefore did not help to support her, so I am suggesting  that you do. She has a way of writing about food that makes it sound better than I thought it should. I have been a liver hater for as long as I can remember, much to my mothers disappointment, but she made it sound so appealing.
               The thing that became personal to me was her decision to write a blog about cooking and her reasons behind it. Reaching 30, lost in a go no where job, she felt the need to do something to find herself. That is the crux of my situation. When I was 28, I left the working world of downtown New York to be a stay at home mother. For eight years I fought with myself over that decision. Picked up part time jobs, and then a full time job back in New York (which I loved), and then a full time job closer to home in New Jersey to have faster access to my daughter who was now in school. Just when I thought I was pulling it all together, my biological time clock went off in a big way. I was approaching 35 and the realization set in that if my daughter was ever going to have a sibling, it was now or never. Well, it was now, and at 35 I delivered daughter number 2 with a son following 22 months later. Hormones are a very powerful persuader to how you will be living your life.
               Here's the thing...after having the three kids, somewhere down the road, it occurred to me that this was what I was born to do anyway. I loved, loved, loved taking care of my kids. I loved being their advocate and making sure that they grew up to be their own people. It was important to me to raise these children to have a great sense of themselves and see them contribute to this world and I believe that I have pretty much accomplished that. I worked, mostly part time while they were growing up, but knew what I was supposed to be doing . So here I am again, just like Julie Powell was and for that matter, Julia Child (she at the age of 37), wondering, what is next? Where am I going from here and will I know it when I get there? Was being a stay at home mom the only soul filling job that I will have or will there be something else? The answer is.... I really don't know. We'll have to wait and see.
                I know that a lot of you have been wondering why I have been writing less often and I can only say that I am working on figuring out my dilemma. I have no intentions of mastering the art of French cooking like Julie and Julia did, but every intention of coming up with a new plan.
              Oh, and just one more thing...today is the 30th anniversary of our marriage. Yup, we have been married for 30 years, and I could not have made the choices that I did without the support of a very loving partner who for the most part agreed with my ideas on raising children. I love him more now than I did 30 years ago, and that is saying a lot!
♥, Susan   

A CHILLING POINT OF VIEW

            From the back deck, this is what I see... maybe not so much a day to laze around on the hammock. As my eye wanders a little farther, I see the holly trees looking as though they've been decorated with icing. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking that mother nature has decided that white might be the new black. She has coated everything with it, and given our little area of the world, a chilling, peaceful feeling.
♥, Susan

THIS AND THAT ON A SNOWY DAY

             Too slippery out there for me today, so I had to take my walk on this... while reading this... which happens to be one of the many books that I picked up while yard sailing this summer. Funny enough, this book (there is quite a bit written about lobster), started a memory of a 10th birthday dinner in New York City at Trader Vic's which was I believe right next to the Plaza Hotel. We are talking 1964. It was all a very big treat, new dress, dinner with just me and my parents (no siblings)and a restaurant that must have been chosen to impress. My first taste of the seriously exotic...lobster thermidor, drink in a hollowed out coconut, tiki hut decor. Fabulous!
           So, what ever happened to the foods of the sixties? I found them here, in this cookbook when I was working this afternoon. One of the books that I was just about to list on ebay, when I made the mistake of looking through it. Full of recipes, right out of my childhood, and just how sixties is this picture with its jadite and danish modern furnishings mixed with other styles, not to mention the ever present philodendron plant.  The picture that really got me though, was this pink kitchen with a caption that asked, "Do you enjoy your kitchen?". Well, heck, who wouldn't enjoy a kitchen like this? Its totally pink for goodness sake! Once again, I may have to hold onto this cookbook.
           Over the past year and a half of blogging, I have gotten involved in a few swaps. I have now narrowed my swaps down to one per year. Dolly, sent me an email asking if I would like to do her Valentine swap again this year and I said okay, being that I love hearts and all. I was paired up with Cindy, who has a blog called Red Door Galleria. She very appropriately loves red. Now, I love red too, but lately I have been in a lavender mood. Shades of lilac and purple have been catching my eye. This is what Cindy sent me..how perfect is this? The box was full of floral items all in shades of violet and lilac. The prettiest salt shakers, vintage valentines and to top it all off, chocolates. Look at that gorgeous heart pin...thank you Cindy... I feel pampered! What better was to feel on a snowy day?
♥, Susan