We are in “The City”. John has a board meeting and I am along for the ride, sort of. He is on the board of Red Canoe Foundation that supports Camp Wabun and other entities that promote outdoor experiential education opportunities for students of camping age. I am on their Marketing arm maybe because I know something about computers. It is a wonderful group of people who are totally dedicated to offering the opportunity to kids from all back grounds to experience a summer in the wilds of Canada or some other locale that gets them away from the daily grind and back to nature. We whole heartedly support this belief. We have seen it in our daughter who was a trip leader for 10 years and her unending love of the outdoors and we see it repeated in our grandson and granddaughter as they fall in love with the lakes and rivers of Northern Ontario and unplug from the world that captures them the other 10 months of the year. In its own way, the experience has taken us out of our comfort zone and exposed us to the world of nature found on Lake Temagami in Ontario. We love our trips up there that have evolved over the past 20+ years and look forward every summer to hauling our boat and a full week’s supplies from Quebec to the big lake. We are honored to be here and to support the work of this new foundation and its goals.
Occasionally I read something interesting about a food and the benefits of adding that food to your diet. Recently I came across an article about pistachios. I have known that they are good for – most nuts are but not always in unlimited quantities. Here is what LifeLine has to say:
Pistachios are very nutritious, with a 1-ounce (28-gram) serving of about 49 pistachios containing the following (2):
- Calories: 159
- Carbs: 8 grams
- Fiber: 3 grams
- Protein: 6 grams
- Fat: 13 grams (90% are unsaturated fats)
- Potassium: 6% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
- Phosphorus: 11% of the RDI
- Vitamin B6: 28% of the RDI
- Thiamine: 21% of the RDI
- Copper: 41% of the RDI
- Manganese: 15% of the RDI
Notably, pistachios are one of the most vitamin B6-rich foods around.
Well I knew that and besides if you eat them, un-shelled, you take up time shelling them so don’t eat as many as you would if they were un=shelled. It actually drives me crazy when John eats them but that’s another story.
So recently I discovered that they are full of melatonin – the hormone that helps with sleep. If you are anything like me, you probably have a rather varied sleep pattern. Some times I sleep like a baby other times I am up half the night or I sleep for 5 hours then awake for 2 hours then back to sleep for 3 hours. Don’t you just love getting old? So my interest was peaked when I read about pistachios. The study was done by the Pistachio Growers but it is enough to get me to try the things and see if it makes a difference. I’d rather use food than artificial supplements whenever possible. So, onto the experiment. I suggest not eating them early in the day or you may nap the day away. Stay tuned.
Our HGTV Update
We made a little progress this week. The girls, Katie and Libby, now have closet inserts custom built for their closets. This was far more complicated than I thought and perhaps on second thought we should have looked at California Closets but too late now. Katie is pleased with hers, Libby not so much but then I am pretty sure a 14 year old isn’t pleased with much anyway. We met with the “foam guy” to get on his schedule to do the foam insulation in the ground floor area which includes our bedroom, Jack’s bedroom and our bathroom and laundry and the entry way to the house. He was wonderful and gave us all kinds of information and advice. Good price too. Once we get the foam done (it is environmentally green) and the new windows (made in Maine) we should almost not need heat in that part of the house. Wishful thinking!
John and I had been sleeping in the section of the first floor that is designated as Jack’s room/guest room but after a night of having to wear a hoodie to bed and covering our heads with pillows, we decided to move into our future bedroom/suite and not sleep right under the very leaky windows. We slapped a piece of sheet rock on the studs between the two rooms so our pillows wouldn’t fall off the bed, put up some pictures on the outside wall studs, figured out a way with extension cords that we could have electricity, put a rug on the floor and moved rooms. As always, my beautiful Newfoundland quilt made it feel just a little bit better than it really is. My head was not frozen the next morning.
We continue to be very comfortable in the house, especially during the day time and cocktail time when John allows that we might have a fire in our beautiful fireplace along with a glass of something that we both enjoy. The dogs even stretch out in front of the fireplace. Usually it is after a big long walk in the woods and romping in the snow. The snow has not gone, we got about 3 inches and it has frozen solid. However, we have been out every day, did one walk through the scary bear woods but otherwise have found a new and not so scary route. They and I love it and we come back refreshed and ready to take on the day. So much of what is part of our daily life is so very good that I almost don’t even think about the fact that I am sleeping in a room without walls. We are getting there.
The snow taught us one thing. You don’t want to leave a car outside if you don’t have to. Kate gets up early to drive Lib to school and then herself to work. There was so much ice on her car this week that she borrowed my car to get to work. Her garage is full of work shop stuff for the duo who are doing all the construction work. However, our garage is big enough for three cars, if you are clever. John is clever. We backed my car out of the garage, moved a bunch of boxes around and stored others in the attic and he used a back and fill method to get his car horizontal in the garage. There is plenty of room for my car and Kate’s car to come in at a regular angle. But how is John going to get his car out you might ask. He is not. We are retiring it for the winter. It is only a front wheel drive car and he doesn’t need it for the winter. So it is off the road for now. He can share mine with me and Katie has her car. When she travels we can use her car so if needed we will have a second car. I thought we were pretty creative solving this problem and now the duo can keep on using her garage as a workshop.
While in New York, we went to see The Book of Mormon on Friday and on Saturday, since I was on my own for the day while John was at meetings, I went to see the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall with the Rockettes. It was fabulous and I loved every Christmasy minute of it. The dancing was superb and the whole atmosphere was just plain fun. Must have been a 1000 kids there as it was Saturday morning. Spent Saturday afternoon at The Apple Store getting my iPhone battery replaced and then was surprised to find one of my oldest friends who lives in Santa Fe New Mexico was coming into New York for a visit. We met for drinks and dinner and had a wonderful catch up. Rosemary and I met 49 years ago on December 3rd while having our first babies. We have been friends ever since. I had no idea she was coming to New York and I didn’t mention it because it was sort of a last minute thing for me to go along. What a wonderful surprise.
This week we brought out the recipe for Chili once again. It’s just that time of the year. I prefer the vegetarian version so will share it again here.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1-3 tablespoons chili powder (more will be spicier)
2 tablespoons of cumin (don’t skimp, this is awesome stuff)
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 – 2 teaspoons of chili flakes (the more chili flakes the spicier it will be)
2 bell peppers, diced (I used red and yellow, not green as they are hard to digest)
2 medium carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 – 28oz cans of whole tomatoes and their juice (I used chopped)
2 – 15-ounce cans of beans, drained and rinsed (I like kidney and white beans, yup I did 2 cans red, 1 can white)
2 cup of frozen corn (you could use fresh but frozen is easy and works great, I used the whole frozen package)
Salt, to taste (I like about 2 teaspoons)
Directions:
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and chili flakes and stir for about 30 seconds.
Add the peppers, carrots, and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, or until they just start to soften. Add tomatoes and their juice and bring to a simmer. Once the chili begins to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low. You want the chili to be at a low simmer with the lid off. (I used the slow cooker)
Continue to cook the chili, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add beans and corn and let the chili return to a simmer. Cook for 5 more minutes or until the corn and beans have heated through.
Generously salt to taste.
Optional toppings: sour cream, cheddar cheese, cilantro, diced avocados or green onion.
