Memories

  Do you have memories of Thanksgiving from when you were growing up?  I think everyone does.  I have lots of memories.  My mother was not much of a cook so she developed a system as innovations appeared on the market.

The day before Thanksgiving, mom would make sure the turkey was thawed.  She usually did that by soaking the whole thing, including the wrapping, in a sink full of water.  The night before, mom and dad would make the stuffing and stuff the bird, and prep it for cooking.  When I was little, they used a roasting pan covered in aluminum foil.  Later on they switched to a cooking bag and they used a Turkey with that pop up thermometer to tell them the turkey was done.

At about 3 or 4 in the morning, my mother would get up to put the turkey into bake and go back to bed till 7 when she got up for the day.  She would try to get the meal ready by noon but it was usually around 2 the meal was served.  Dad wasn't always happy because she seemed to serve the meal in the middle of the football game he was watching.

She always made the whole meal herself for the family.  She always made the turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole with the onion rings, raw carrots and celery, cranberry sauce with and without the whole cranberries, pickles and olives.  There were always store bought rolls and of course two to three kinds of pies.

Its always amazing how much food we managed to inhale and how much was left over.  I think we spent the next week eating turkey this and turkey that.  Mom and dad had one of those machines they could make ground turkey with for enchiladas and the bones always provided broth for the soup.

I will not be publishing anything tomorrow due to it being a holiday.  I hope everyone has a great thanksgiving tomorrow.

So True

  I was watching something on television the other night and the episode ended with a quote that seems so true.  The quote "In youth we learn,  in old age, we understand." by  Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach.

Its along the lines of what my father has always said.  He states that when we are young, we know it all, as we age we realize that we don't know.

Its an interesting thought especially if you add in one last quote I discovered.  "Its not how old you are but how you are old." by Marie Dressler.  In this day and age, you can't always judge the age of anyone because people continue doing things as they age.  In fact as people live longer lives, they are taking up activities or continuing activities long past retirement age.

When I graduated from high school, the newspaper from the closest city published the names of people who were over 65 and were graduating from the local college.  They published a biography of each person and what lead to the day they received their diplomas.  The biography shared if one of the wars interfered, did the woman get married, did the man have to provide support for a family?

At 17,  I wonder why someone at 77 would even want to get a degree.  They were dinosaurs in my opinion.  My dad would quote the old " Bachelors at 22, Master by 25, Phd by 30" because that is what he grew up with.  He got his BA in English when he was in his 40's.  It took him so long because he took time out for a military career and raising a family.

I went back to school to get my Masters well past the age of 25 because I had other things going on in my life.   Am I finished taking classes?  Nope but now I'm taking classes I want to.  The last two classes I took this semester were short workshops on paper circuitry.  Next semester, I'll probably take a science class because I want to.

What does this have to do with understanding?  I've come to understand that I have to keep learning if I want to live a long full life.  I have to keep my brain active and I must remain physically active so I'll be like that 92 year old lady who still runs several miles ever day. 

Repeating

 When I was younger, my father told me that fashions always repeat throughout time.  I caught some of Project Runway a few years ago and many of the competitors  used historical fashion as inspiration for their designs.

What about the popularity of corset that originally was a undergarment worn to create a certain shape  Corsets also reinforced the fact that women were under man's control.  Now the corset is acceptable evening wear.  You find corsets in magazines, on high fashion models, everywhere, even when the model has a corset on backwards!

Yes, backwards.  Who ever dressed the model didn't know that all the lacing goes up the back, not the front.  I laughed when I saw that ad.  My eyes were first drawn to the ad due to the skirt but as my eyes slid up the figure, the lacing caught my attention.  If I remember correctly, the ad was designed to sell the skirt.

I was looking through my photos from the fashion exhibit held at the Bishop Museum and noticed that one offering resembled a style of dress I'd seen on a statue.  The statue is on the left and the dress on the right.

It wasn't that long ago I saw students wearing outfits reminiscent of the 1960's hippie era with their flared bottom pants (aka bell bottoms), Nehru jackets, and platform heels.  I think that designers run out of ideas so they look to past trends to tweak and adjust into a "new" offering.

If you stop and think about it, how many of us wear jeans in most situations?  The lowly jean started out for miners so their pants didn't fall apart when digging gold and then became associated with cowboys before finally taking over fashion.  I often wear a pair of black jeans paired with shirt and suit coat when I need to be a bit more formal.  Otherwise, I live in jeans.  In winter, I wear jeans lined with flannel or polar fleece and in the summer, its regular jeans.

It used to be if you went to a meeting, you would never wear jeans, now its acceptable in certain areas of business.  My how things have changed!

Tea and ??????

I love tea.  In fact, I drink tea all day long.  I do not like coffee and discovered I can't drink it because it does something to my stomach but tea?  Ohhh yes!  I adore it but I prefer my tea straight, not flavored for the most part.  In fact, I just made a fresh cup of tea right before I started this entry.  Its a lovely Capital of Heaven Keemun.

I absolutely adore having a fresh hot cup of tea with homemade shortbread.  The richness of the shortbread is countered by the unsweetened tea so its like sitting in paradise while the blizzard is raging outside.  The flavors tickle the tongue that makes me want to melt.

It took me a while to figure out how to make the shortbread so it tasted like my favorite brand.  The recipes I found all called for either granulated sugar or fine sugar but when I used them, the cookies just didn't taste right.  Even the homemade ones I've purchased at Highland games just didn't taste right.  One day, I tried powdered sugar because it was the only type of sugar I had and voila!  The result was absolutely perfect.  I think the powdered sugar dissolved faster and dispersed better than any other type of sugar.

The other food I love having with my tea is not crumpets.  I love scones but not the scones that taste kind of like Bisquick with stuff added into it.  The scones I learned to make when I was overseas were much richer and fell apart.  They didn't taste like a variation of American biscuits.  I seldom buy scones in the United States because they just don't taste right.  So I make my own.

Both shortbread and scones taste so much better with hot tea.  I prefer a straight unsweetened tea if I'm drinking it hot but if its cold, I do enjoy certain flavored teas.  Not the flavored tea that has the flavor put into the tea itself but the varieties with the apple, mint, orange or cinnamon bark mixed with the tea.  Many of those I'll drink cold over ice because the flavors make it more of a tropical experience.

I drink the store brands of tea at work when I don't have time to savor the flavors but when I'm home?  I indulge in the specialty teas so I have an experience every time I drink it.

Right!

I have given more thought on how I'm going to make my dream a reality.  My first instinct is to run out and sign up for various free lancer sites and build a clientele so I can quit my job by May but that would not be a good step for me.   I prefer having a more solid base built up when I take the leap.  Its also kind of hard when you are already working a full time job.  

I know there are people who would make the jump but I am uncomfortable doing that.  I admit that some days' I'm ready to do it but I need the security to be able to ease from one situation to another.  Thus the time line and planning.   In addition, I do not have a good internet signal at home so I'd have to spend time after my normal workday at work to get the work done.

Phases is the perfect way to transition over the next few years and if I get everything up and running fully,  I might quit earlier.  I just have to choose to implement my business in small manageable pieces so I don't become discouraged. Tiny steps, one at a time.

I have been reading a book on writing and two themes pop out at me.  The first is to have some time set aside everyday to work.  Decide if you'll work 5 or 7 days a week.  I need to commit to writing, not just blogging, for one hour ever day.  Just an hour a day to start.   

The second thing emphasized was the idea of marketing. Anyone can write a book but to take it to the next step is to market whatever you publish if it is a book or a blog.   Since I have several books in various stages of completion, those should be finished first.  It seems like I"m always starting a book but never finishing it.  I have to start outlining the idea so I know where the story is going in order to finish it.  I can jot down ideas as they occur for future development.

I am trying to remember who said "Publish or Perish".  I think it dealt with staying a live in academia but it is applicable to establishing a writing career.  Now I just have to start publishing.   I think this is the first step in making my dreams a reality.  

Tomorrow back to nice warm topics......LOL.  I really hate winter with cold temps and tons of snow. 

Money, Money, Money........

    I am like everyone else.  I dream of working for myself.  I dream of making money via my blogs (eventually), via writing books ( many in various stages), via passive income, via free lance writing, etc.  I dream of living my life as I want to.

I go through e-books to find the ones that tell me how to do it and I get them when they are free   I think I'm downloading books faster than I'm reading but I can read them in the future.

You've seen the titles!  The ones that guarantee 30,000 for your first year if you follow all the directions in their 32 page book that includes an offer for taking a class  for more money.  Or the one that will share all the knowledge they learned so you don't have to make the same mistakes they did but making mistakes is part of the human learning process.

Tonight, I had sort of an epiphany!  Well more of a decision.  I need to sit down and figure out how to accomplish my goal to work independently within the next 4.5 years.  Right now, my blogs are a way to improve my writing and get into the habit of writing everyday.They are not for increasing growth at an exponential rate.

One of the first things is to change my attitude so I see this  as a business with a plan rather than thinking of it as this nebulous thing that will happen in the future.  It is important include a timeline so I can make sure  I implement each facet in a step by step manner. 

I have quite a few stories I've started but never finished.  I get these ideas and just write until I run out of the idea and let it hang. These stories have to be finished so I should spend time creating an outline for each story so I know where they are going. It would be advantageous to keep either a notebook or  digital device with me at all times so that I can record my ideas for books, stories and blog entries. 

I really have to acquire a better knowledge of Social Media.  I don't twitter, don't do much of any social media. I do have a facebook page that I don't really use and should probably set  it up so I can use it to help grow my business.  These are all big steps for me because I prefer to be private.  That is for the future.

I feel like I have taken the first step to making my dreams come true.

Bali?

It is cold and nasty out.  There's been fog, snow, wind and when I was outside, it was horrid.  I really don't like extreme cold weather so I've got ways to cope.  I think I've mentioned that I collect cookbooks.  All sorts of cookbooks.

I recently received a Balinese cookbook.  Never having been there, I had no idea what type of food I might get there so when I saw the cookbook, I bought it.   The subtitle is "Authentic recipes from the island of the gods."  Doesn't that sound like fun?  I'm sure Easter Island might disagree with that but I'm not going to argue.

I read through it and found some recipes that sound like they would make a really great meal.  I'd start with Gedang Mekuah (green papaya soup) that sounds really good with the lemongrass and spices.  What is nice about the recipe is I can substitute summer squash if I can't find papaya.  The main dish is harder to decide but I think I'd go with either the  Semur Lidah (ox tongue in sweet nutmeg sauce) or Siap Base Kalas (chicken in spiced coconut milk) if I were into meat.  As far as seafood goes, there is BePasih Mepanggang (marinated grilled fish) or Sambel Udang (shrimp Sambal).  I'd serve yellow rice and Jukut Urab (mixed vegetables with grated coconut) for the reminder of the meal and for dessert, I'd go for Jaja Batun Bedil (sticky rice cake in brown sugar sauce).

In the background, I'd have some Balinese music to help put me in the mood.  The mood being simply that I'm on a nice warm beach with a gentle breeze blowing and I'll eat each item while pretending I'm somewhere else.

Can you see spending part of a day preparing such a meal so you can spend a nice long time savoring the flavors and becoming acquainted with the nuances that are new to you.  I have a nice long weekend coming up and I think I'm going to cook dishes from two different countries so I can get out and experience the world without ever leaving my house.

Has anyone every done something like this when you couldn't just drop everything and head off?  Let me know if you do this.