Today has been one of those days.  Filled with a particular sorrow that I haven’t experienced except when dealing with the loss of a loved one. Pure grief.  The desire to crawl into a small dark place, curl up in the fetal position and let the world and its worries just proceed without me. Some might…

Hi all, We’re in for a long day and evening tomorrow and let me recommend some real comfort food for your table. The vegetable soup described below was created by Alton Brown and is a 5-Star, To-Be-Counted-On-Everytime-Everywhere recipe filled with colorful vegetables cooked in lightly seasoned chicken broth with a hint of fresh lemon and…

I love collecting recipes and this one came from a recipe box I bought at an estate sale several years ago. The box is made up of two long file drawers in a small oak cabinet and each drawer is crammed full of the owner’s favorite recipes clipped from newspapers or magazines, along with hand-written…

Yep. Still here. Sitting with Ray in the Airstream, listening to KUSC broadcast  Beethoven’s 7th Symphony while we munch on blue corn chips and swig agave-sweetened ginger ale. Could I be any happier? Hard to say. Probably not. Maybe if my grandkids were here, but they are coming over tomorrow night for a sleep-over so…

After working a day that literally started at 6 am and ended at 8:30 tonight, Ray drove us up to Ojai to the orange grove. The wind is balmy and gentle, the sky clear and sprinkled with bright stars and the quiet that is enveloping this place is peaceful. I am so happy to be…

I have two icons of St. Mary holding baby Jesus that are in the cabinet next to where I am sitting here in the living room. The icons are both gifts from our priest, Father Ian Elliott Davies at St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood. In both, Mary is looking right at me, as if she…

On Sunday night, we had dinner tonight at Liz’s boyfriend’s parent’s house in Hollywood. Ron made a homemade pizza dough from a Bobby Flay recipe, and cooked it on the grill. Cindy, Ron’s mom, made a homemade tomato sauce. Then there were loads of toppings to choose from including smoked gouda and mozzarella cheese, red…

One of the challenges of writing is overcoming the negative self talk that can paralyze creativity.  Below are 25 different thoughts that often surface and a method that I’ve discovered that combats these negative messages. Why I shouldn’t write today: 1) I am boring and so is my life. 2) Why would anybody care about…

Let me congratulate all my students who have worked their rear-ends off to finish their early decision and early action essays and supplemental questions several days before the November 1 deadline. Some of these seniors have been working since mid-August on the multi-layered components in their applications and it is no joke to say they…