Heading North Again
It seems that I am spending a good deal of time in airplanes these last couple of months. This is my third trip and granted one of the trips was for a vacation to Mexico, I am still on the road again. My mother is 93 years young and while my sister is away on a well-deserved holiday with her family in Whistler, British Columbia, my brother and I are providing a little family into her life. My daughter Katie, wanted to go and see her grandmother too so I flew up to Manchester, New Hampshire to meet her and to drive to Canada. What we didn’t bargain on was a major bombogenesis storm hitting the Northeast. We decided that we would leave very early on Friday morning to try and get ahead of the worst of the storm. When I arrived on Thursday it was 50 degrees and had been sunny. We flew through lots of bumpy air but it wasn’t terrible. Nothing like what I heard about for folks actually trying to fly somewhere in the middle of the storm. We woke up to heavy snow coming down at 6:00am and at least four inches on the ground. Still determined, we set out and were well on our way by 7:00am. Turns out my nephew and his fiancée were supposed to fly to Montreal from Boston and then out to Vancouver to join his family for a week of vacation – yup this is the same sister as mentioned above. His flight from Boston to Montreal was cancelled but the Montreal to Vancouver was fine. He arranged with me to drive his car back to Boston should they decide to drive to Montreal to catch their flight.
If this sounds confusing you should have seen the guy at the border trying to figure it all out when I crossed the border back to the states, driving a Massachusetts car, while I live in South Carolina and had been in Montreal Canada visiting my mother. I have never seen a border guard laugh the way this guy did. He just looked at me and shook his head – you are from South Carolina, you are driving a Massachusetts car that belongs to your nephew’s fiancée, you have been in Montreal visiting your mother, you drove up with your daughter who lives in New Hampshire, exactly how did you get here and how are you getting home? Suffice it to say he let me through and we both had a good chuckle.
Training Walks Again
The Charleston Bridge walk over the Cooper River is coming up in April so a few training walks are in order to get ready for it. Just to switch things up, we walked from the Port Royal side of our usual bridge walk, took a detour into Cat Island and managed to get in a wonderful 7.51 mile walk and smiling all the way. One of the problems with our usual bridge walk is the traffic. We have a sidewalk but the noise from the traffic and, excuse me, the grit that is often thrown up by the traffic and finds it’s way into my mouth (why? because I am always talking) is unpleasant. Our little detour took us off the highway into a quiet neighborhood where we could look back at the bridge and actually hear ourselves speaking to each other. Bliss!
After the walk I decided to treat myself to a delicious beet Reuben from the Herban Marketplace our local health food store. It is only the second time that I have eaten one and it was just as wonderful as the first time. Love, love beets and they are oh so good for you. I am not a big fan of cookies but I do have to say that these cookies are over the top. Before leaving on this most recent trip, John and I were at a Volunteer show and I went around and visited the different tables with their presentations. Some tables had candy, some had pencils or pens, some had decals, and then there was the table with the over the top cookies. These represent cricket wickets and mallets. This is a very creative person. Just thought I would share with you all.
Spring is coming
It is spring in the low country and the gators are back out. While walking around the island this past week they were very much in evidence. Our pond has two big gators and they seem to be of the opposite sex because we tend to have a lot of babies in the shallow end of the pond. The beautiful Great Blue Herons are building nests in the trees around the pond. We have at least three nests being built. I find it fascinating
Recipe of the Week
Once again, Blue Zones has the winning recipe.
Mageirio – Ikarian Chunky Vegetable Stew
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
2 medium yellow or white onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
3 medium red potatoes (about 4 ounces each), quarter (do not peel)
3 medium zucchini (about 5 ounces each), halved crosswise, then halved lengthwise
3 medium red globe, beefsteak, or heirloom tomatoes, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
3 corn ears, hused, the silks removed, and the ears broken in half (or 1 cup frozen corn kernels)
1 medium eggplant (about 12 ounces), stemmed and cut into six equal pieces
½ teaspoon salt
3 Italian sweet long peppers, such as cubanel or Italian frying peppers, stemmed, cored, and quartered lengthwise
Directions:
Warm the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, until soft but not brown, about 8 minutes.
Stir in the green beans, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, corn, eggplant, and salt. Put the long peppers on top. Pour 1 cup water over the vegetables.
Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, shaking the pan frequently without stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil as a garnish to serve.
