Made My Mouth Water

 My brother and I were talking on the phone. He lives near Boston and I live in Colorado. We reminisce a lot about our past, current events, television shows, his boat, weather, books and travels. Today he told me about the delicious dinner my sister-in-law had prepared. "We had a tender steak dinner cooked to perfection, a baked potato with a special sauce, asparagus, and a salad with red beets. (Knowing their tastes I am sure they had wine to go with their dinner!)  Everything was perfect and guess what we are having for dessert!" I told him I had no idea, yet I knew it must be something different.

He proceeded to tell me: "For St. Patrick's Day she (his wife) made soda bread and I love the flavor. Today the bread was hard so I decided to make something with it. I tore it into small chunks, sprinkled water on it to soften it. When I put it into the blender it was too thick to blend. I had to scrape it out of the blender and mix it by hand after adding brown sugar, raisons,  vanilla and oil. I thought my experiment would be like a cookie but after she took a look at the dough she said it looked more like cake batter. I put the batter into a cake pan to bake and she decide to make a pudding to pour over it."

As he talked, my mouth began to water. Whatever he had made sounded good and he was proud that out of old soda bread he had made a delicious cake!

This morning I texted them to find out how his concoction tasted. This is her reply: It was too dense, but edible. Vanilla pudding with date syrup over it. Trader Joe's has an organic date syrup that is incredible over vanilla ice cream and swirled in pudding. Too sweet for me. Your bro is down to the last piece.

"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in the world than for bread."

Mother Teresa

A Friendly Child

 A little blond girl sat next to me at church this morning. I would say she was around four years old going on ten. She wanted to spread her "work" between me and her mother. "Would you move your coat?" she asked me in a sweet voice. I pushed my jacket underneath me to give her room. She then handed me a package of stickers and asked me to open them. I smiled and told her to ask her mother. The mother opened the package and returned it to the little girl. She began pulling stickers of Disney princesses and handing them to me. She would then take the sticker from my finger and put it on a small coloring book. Every time she would give me a sweet smile. If I did not respond, she tapped me on my arm. She did this five or six times and I did not have the heart to ignore her.  

Finally, trying not to be rude, I closed my eyes and I heard her young mother whisper to her to not bother me because I was praying. This did not stop the little girl from tapping my arm until I opened my eyes! I thought my morning at mass would make a good blog so I took out my phone and took a picture of her "work" and of the precocious child.

I have no idea if my mass counted since I was "playing" with the little girl through most of the mass. I did tell the mother that she had a very friendly daughter!

"It sounds precocious, but I knew

that I had to listen to my own inner voice

and ignore what everyone else was saying,

even my mum."

Denise Lewis

Sad News

 I heard today that a lady I admire and love passed away on Thursday, March 9, 2022. She is my son-in-law's mother and when I would visit my California family, I would see or talk on the phone with this beautiful lady. She was sharp and had a terrific memory, even though she was ninety-five years old. I knew I would receive a birthday, Christmas or Easter card from her and I will miss her cards. Holidays were extra special as we gathered at her home to celebrate. She enjoyed reading and she and I would discuss many different books.  I knew that if she recommended a book it would be a good book because she had a great taste for books.

Her husband of ninety-eight, I am sure, is devasted since they were together for 69 years. They had five children and I admired the closeness of  the family. I did not know that Christmas of 2021 would be the last time I would see her.  As her family grew with grandchildren getting married it was sometimes difficult to get everyone together, though their home still filled up with many of the siblings and their families. I have spent many holidays with the family and always enjoyed it. Even though sometimes I did not understand their comments on movies, books or politics. They are well versed on many things!

Traveling to California is not going to be the same now that she is gone. I will miss our chats on the phone and seeing her on future visits. The picture is a picture of her family.

"To live in hearts we 

leave behind is not to die."

Thomas Campbell

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And then, on March 11, 2022, my granddaughter told me that their dog, Luna, was going to be put down because she was very ill.  On my Christmas visit, she was still happy, alert and put her head in my lap to be petted. Her actions were a bit different than before because she did not move her head even though I told her I was through petting her.  I now wonder if she knew she was sick and we would not see each other again. When I called my family, they were all together saying their good-byes to sweet Luna because the following she would be put to sleep.

Luna was loved by those that knew her. In the picture she is with my daughter and Finn. The other picture is the whole family walking the dogs.

"Love knows not its own depth

until the hour of separation."

Kahlil Gibran

Mardi Gras Fun

Mardi Gras, also called Fat Tuesday,

 is the carnival celebration before the day of Ash Wednesday

 which marks the beginning of the Christian Lent season.

 Tuesday, March 1, 2022, three of my friends and I celebrated Mardi Gras. After debating if we would cook and share or go out to eat, we decided to go out. Lucile's in Boulder would be our destination. It would be a first for all of us since we had never been to the Cajun Restaurant. The day was beautiful for the drive to Boulder, the sky was a deep blue without any clouds, and the mountains still had white snow on them making it a perfect day for our adventure!

Lucile's is an older home not too far from the Pearl Street Mall. The last time I had been to Boulder street parking was free but now Pay and Park signs are all along the street. After paying for parking, we crossed the street to the older house known as Lucile's Creole Restaurant. There is seating outside at picnic tables but we went inside to the cozy room. Pictures of New Orleans and Mardi Gras hung on the walls, cloth napkins with floral or artsy designs were on the tables, soft Zydeco music played in the background, and our waiter was attentive and served the tasty food with a smile. Two of us ordered Gumbo (one with rice and one without); one ordered a Cajun Breakfast consisting of potatoes, red beans, poached egg with hollandaise; and each meal came with a huge biscuit. The fourth person ordered an omelet and grits and a gluten free muffin.

When we finished our meal, the waiter treated us to a small slice of the King's Cake. To me it tasted a bit like a cinnamon roll. Tradition is that there is a tiny doll inserted in the cake and the person who gets the doll needs to make a cake the following year. Another tradition is that a Fava bean is placed in the cake and whomever gets the bean will be crowned King For a Day.

 

I had taken some props for a photo session and we had fun wearing masks and beads. The waiter was kind enough to take our picture as we celebrated Mardi Gras.

 

"An American has not seen

the United States until he

has seen Mardi Gras in

New Orleans."

Mark Twain