Come. Sit. Heal.

I recently wrote an article for children about Therapy Dogs. I am already a dog lover, but through my research, I gained an even deeper respect for Man's Best Friend. A dog's ability to heal people goes beyond our comprehension. Mostly because they achieve this through the simplest means. Dogs heal us by just being. I have a dog, a goofy chocolate lab named Lily. Not everyone sees the best in her, but I do. She's like my second child, my shadow, and I can't imagine life without her. She's even chewed up my favorite pair of shoes and an heirloom sewing item that was my grandmothers, but I love her no less. I came across this little tidbit during my research, and I wanted to share it. The author is unknown, but clearly knows dogs. Enjoy.

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can get going without pep pills,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on

you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

If you can say honestly that deep in your heart you have no

prejudice against creed, color, religion or politics,

Then, my friend, you are almost as good as your dog!

The color of my eyes

My eyes had many colors yesterday:  the first day of first grade for my little boy, who will soon be seven and isn't so little any more. My eyes woke up gray, fogged with drowsiness, then quickly changed to green, because it was time to get up and go. A little bit of silver and gold flew in to express my excitement about the big day. While walking to class (we only get to do this on the first day, so I treasure it!), my eyes turned blue when my son announced he didn't need to hold my hand. I reached for it, but was told "that's OK mommy, I'll just hold my backpack."  Ouch. Even though some good friends did a great job of keeping me busy most of the day, my eyes were brown, non-expressive and stagnant. After school, bright yellow as I waited to pick him up, anxious to see his eyes, which would tell me a lot about his day.

My eyes are hazel again, the color they've always been, as we made it through a big day and all in all, it was pretty good.

Your wife is hot, so it's cold soup for you!

There is only a small window of time in which I don't really dig living in Texas. That time is right now, and the reason is the weather. Once the end of July rolls us into August, the heat turns up to high. It becomes smokin' HOT. No rain, no cool breeze.  The pool is hot, the Gulf of Mexico is hot, everywhere and everything is HOT. Even the water that comes out of the hose is hot.

About this time, I start to think about becoming a nudist I begin to give my kitchen the evil eye for even considering that I might try to cook something for dinner. Right now, it's all about not cooking. Great White Hunter has had to live with lots of salads and sandwiches lately, and I can't believe he didn't gripe about the cold soup last night.  Most people think gazpacho when they think of cold soup, or maybe vichyssoise, but I was thinking cucumbers. Probably because our garden spits out about 3 a day, and I'm running out of ways to serve them. So, in addition to some pretty tasty submarine sandwiches (watchout all you Subway sandwich artists...) I served this:

Cold cucumber mint soup

A favorite old recipe from Martha, I used to make this all time but have forgotten how good it is. And so easy! The key is getting the right amount of salt and pepper to truly bring out the cucumber and mint flavors. Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a whirl (in your blender, of course :-) And you can click here for a listing of about 40 other cold soup recipes. Who knew there were so many!

4 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1 small or 1/2 large clove garlic
1 cup plain yogurt, low-fat if desired (I used Fage Greek Yogurt, ridiculously thick and so good)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
1/4 cup water
4 scallions, white and green parts, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1.  Cut 1 cucumber into small dice, and set aside for garnish. Cut others into large chunks. Combine cucumber chunks, garlic, yogurt, lemon juice, and water in a blender, and puree until smooth.

2.  Add scallions and mint leaves, reserving some of the mint for garnish, and puree briefly. Season with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if a tarter flavor is desired.

3.  Chill until ready to serve. Stir well before serving, and ladle into bowls or mugs, garnishing each serving with a big spoonful of diced cucumber and a sprig of mint.

Where two or three are gathered

“Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matt. 18:20)

Our family has been at a crossroads with "religion" for quite some time now. We have been church shopping for way too long, and more Sunday's than not, end up staying home. The problem I have with this is that it becomes so easy to neglect the health of our souls and we begin to replace church with preferring to engage in the temptations of the world. Why has it been so difficult for us to find a place to strengthen and renew our faith? I don't really know, but I will venture to say that "religion" keeps getting in the way; dogma mostly, and beliefs that one faith is superior to another. 

While we have recently returned to our old church (a non-denominational bible-based community church), we do not show up every Sunday. Last Sunday, when we actually made it to church, the pastor said something that really hit home. He said that sometimes, we get caught up in the routine of church and simply go through the motions. As a result, we miss what worship is truly about. 

This morning, due to one reason or another, we did not make it to church. Instead, we did something that was kind of cool, and something we plan on doing on those Sundays when we just can't get it together. We held our own church, outside on our porch, the three of us and our Bibles. We discussed a few Bible verses, read a Psalm, and said a prayer. It was nice, it was contemplative, but mostly it was a time for our family to be still and know God.

If I seem confused, it's because my mind is on vacation

I can't take credit for the title of this post. My seven year old son uttered this phrase last night while we were walking our dog. It was like the child was reading my mind (which has been on vacation for several days now)!  I'm feeling a little wacky lately, something I will blame on hormones, because these days I blame everything on hormones.  In all seriousness, I have felt a little like I'm losing my mind.

Thank goodness I have plenty to do to keep myself busy. Yesterday I went out to pick some figs from our ginormous tree, 

 

and I was greeted by a party of vermin, trying to beat me to the picking. After I put my heart back in my chest (those dastardly squirrels scared me when they leaped out of the tree, cheeks full of figs) I discovered there were a few figs left for us humans to consume. And consume them we did. Wrapped up these sweet little gems in thin slices of prosciutto di parma, sprinkled them with aged balsamic vinegar, fresh thyme and shavings of parmigiano reggiano cheese, and scarfed them down. Delish.

Ratatouille

It happens the same time every year. Everything in our garden ripens all at once, and I'm scrambling to find ways to use our harvest before Great White Hunter cans it all. While canned garden goods are nice, I think fresh is best.

A little over 10 years ago, way before Disney's movie that managed to make rats seem cute and talented, I started making ratatouille. The way this dish was prepared in the movie, more like a confit, layered in a high sculptural form, was the idea of celebrity chef Thomas Keller (the owner of the famed French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley). Julia Child insisted on making ratatouille in a similar fashion: by cooking the eggplant and zucchini separate, making a sauce with the tomatoes, peppers and herbs, then layering in a casserole dish and baking in the oven.

My version is much simpler, and much more rustic looking, as everything is cooked together. Inspired by a Provence recipe, I cook my eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and herbs all in one pot. This is very easy to make, and absolutely delicious. My child devours it - "without the basil please mommy" - but still.

RATATOUILLE

3 tbsp. EVOO

2 cups chopped onion

2 1-lb eggplants, unpeeled, and cut into chunks

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 zucchini, unpeeled and cut into chunks

1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks

1 yellow or green bell pepper, cut into chunks

2 3/4 lbs rip tomatoes, seeded and coarsly chopped

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Heat olive oil in a heavy pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add eggplant and garlic, saute 5 minutes. Add zucchini and peppers, saute 5 more minutes. Mix in tomatoes, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf (you can  also add a dash of herbs de Provence if you'd like). Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until veggies are tender, about 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf, stir in basil and season generously with salt and pepper. This dish can be served hot, warm, or cold, and can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead. It makes a wonderful side dish, or a base for grilled fish, but is also perfect as a light summer main course. Serve it with crusty bread and good wine. Yum!

Create yourself

Inspiration can come from many things. But a dish towel? 

Yes, a dish towel. This adorable dish really spoke to me. 

I once had a bustling career with hopes and dreams of what I could achieve.  Then motherhood hit me, and I gave it all up to spend every waking minute with this miracle that is my child. As time went by, I began  to wonder, what the heck happened to me? I used to have dreams and goals for myself; a career that gave me purpose. Now I'm just living for everyone else.

I recently heard someone say, "Let your children see you have a passion for something. Be a mom first, but don't lose who you are." OK, wow.

For a while now, I've been thinking I may have lost myself and my passion. Then I see this cute dish towel, and it reminded me I haven't lost myself, I just haven't created a new me.

So, who do I want to be?

First, I want to be a mom.  The best mom I know how to be.  As I see it, a wonderful opportunity is given to each of us who are raising children.  Yes, it's hard.  Mentally draining at times, but what job isn't? I'm sure there are other noble professions out there that sometimes make you feel as if you're slowly being pecked to death by a chicken. But how many jobs let you play an integral part in raising good and kind human beings? 

Second, I want to make a difference in the world. The founder of Cookies for Kids' Cancer quoted Gandhi when she said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world." Her son was diagnosed with cancer. She created an organization to help change the future of pediatric cancer research. But it doesn't take ginormous efforts, even the smallest things can bring about change. So with this in mind I will continue to give where there are needs. Raising money for pediatric cancer research. Check. Helping out at the local food bank or nursing home? Check. Trying to inspire others to give back as well? Check. 

Last, I want to turn my creative passion into something worthwhile. Have my own restaurant? Maybe. Open a yarn shop? Hmmm... Become a writer?  All these things are passions of mine, so I'll be searching until I find what I'm looking for. But in the meantime, I'm showing my son I have a passion for something. It took time for me to figure this out, but while I was busy being a Mom, I have created exactly who I want to be.