NO FEAR!

Our Deepest Fear is a quote from the 1994 Inaugural Address of Nelson Mandela, written by Marianne Williamson. It was shared by Lou DiCaprio, president of the Trump Network on Saturday October 16.
I find it very inspiring!

" Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It's not just some of us; it's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending two hours on the Charles River with two of my favorite people: my daughter Morgan and her son Marckenrho. It was a beautiful, bright blue October day, cool, but not so cold as to make it bracing. We were fortunate to have a gift certificate,( Thanks Sheena!) to Charles River Canoe and Kayak, and started our adventure at their kiosk on Soldiers Field Rd.We rented a single kayak for me and a double for Morgan and Marck. We headed upstream against the wind, so that our journey back would be easy. It was great to be on the River, that I usually view from a car window. To be amongst the boats and sculls cruising the river was really fun. We encountered some beautiful waterfowl towards the Watertown end, including Great Blue Herons and Comorants. Even the CREW inspired grafitti on the bridges was beautiful in its own right reminding us that ANYTHING  IS POSSIBLE!

BREAD PERFECT

My wood burning Pizza oven is the center of my universe. We have used it to bake exquisite flatbreads for two years now, after its creation in honor of my daughter Morgan's wedding.

This year, however it has reached its peak of perfection in helping me create the perfect bread. There is no need for any other bread in the universe, this one beats all in texture, crumb and flavor. Thanks to Dan Wing, who instructed me on its creation at a workshop at King Arthur Flour in Norwich VT this Spring. Simply named: 10 Percent Rye Sourdough it has no equal in my estimation.

Last Saturday with the help of my family members, Eric, Marckenrho, and Sue D. we baked 9 perfect loaves. It is Thursday now and there is only half a loaf left. I reluctantly and (unselfishly I might add) have given many of the loaves to family and friends who deserve it. I can't wait to bake again!

CHEESE MISSION

SO excited today because I got to go on a Cheese Mission! My job was to create a spectacular cheese table for a family wedding in two days. I love nothing better than spending other people's money on the food I love! I enlisted the aid of fellow foodie and cheese afficianado Sue D.

The day began in a hot, pre-hurricane stew, as we headed out to Haymarket. Our first stop was Harry's Cheese. Roy, our host, held forth in his tiny closet pantry of a shop. Before long he was issuing thin slices of every cheese we showed interest in, and believe me we were very interested.

He gave us a little description of each cheese. One of our favorite was Drunken Goat, a smooth, hard goat cheese from Spain that is infused with red wine, delicious! Roy was most congenial, and he made it easy for us to select some really great cheeses. As our selections mounted, the prices went down, which is an element of service we would not find at our next destination, Fromaggio, South End.

We made our purchases and bade fare-well to our new friend and moved on to the South End. Fromaggio is an incredible upscale cheese shop, in the trendiest of Boston neighborhoods. Although only about triple the size of Harry's, it is jam packed with every possible thing you would ever want to eat( and drink). We quenched our cheese-scarfing thirst with GUS, GrownUpSoda of the Dry Meyer Lemon and Dry Cranberry Lime order. We also managed to find room for a delightful sandwich of goat cheese, arugula and fig jam.

I had pre-ordered a 6 lb Brie Ermitage, not the most expensive of the Bries, but lovely none the less and perfect for my recipe of phyllo-wrapped Brie with apricot and rosemary chutney. This will be the centerpiece of the Tableau, as Sue would say.

We also purchased two incredible Vermont cheeses, Moses Sleeper and OMA, two soft elegant cheeses, each with their own distinct personalities.At that point, I wanted to crawl inside the expansive refrigerated cheese case, lay my head on a soft-ripened cheese and spend the rest of the day there.

ATTITUDE

I recently came across an interesting comment about attitude attributed to Charles Swindoll:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than sucesses, than what other people say or do. It is more important then appearance, giftedness or skill. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our atitudes!

55 years, 5 months, and 5 days

DEFINITION OF A BLOG: A CONVERSATION YOU HAVE WITH YOURSELF THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN LISTEN IN ON.

I decided to launch my Blog at the exact mid-point of my life. Today is August 11, 2010. On this day I am exactly 55 years, 5 months and 5 days, and I was born in 1955.

While recently on vacation in Vermont this synchronicity of days occurred to me, and I thought: WHO AM I? I know when I die people will say she was this and she was that, hence the name of my Blog.

She was a Swimmer, She was a Skier, She was a Teacher, She was a Landscaper, She was a Chef, She was a Health Educator, She was an Environmentalist, She was above all a Mother.