Adventure of the Day: Disturbing the Aquatic Dwellers

What caused me to awaken at 6 in the morning on a Saturday? Well, they say the early bird gets the worm, and do you know what worms get you? FISH!

That's right, today's great adventure was a fishing trip with my family on the Connecticut River with our 16 ft fishing boat fondly named the U.S.S. Unchtabba (after a silly word my Dad and his brother made up as kids.)

A view of the river from the U.S.S. Unchtabba!

The waters this morning as we set off on our voyage were placid and murky, dusted with cool fog that drifted in such an eery way that the river appeared to be haunted by ghostly beings. That combined with the sky's leftover gray haziness from last night's storms made a rather chilling
scene to begin our day. It was beautiful, nonetheless.

As we neared our fishing hole, the fogginess gave way to sunlight, and the water, now choppy with the crowds of brave fisherman and their vessels, sparkled with fragments of shattered sun rays hitting the water at every angle, setting a brilliant glare off the water. It became a picture perfect fishing day after all!

The view of the Connecticut River just before heading out to fish.

Now, let me take a moment to brag. Me, an amateur fisher-woman (and even using the word amateur is far too kind a way to describe my fishing skills), who has not gone fishing more than twice in the past three years, who does not know a thing about bobbers, sinkers, lures, trolling, jigs or spinners, who takes great pride in the simple fact that I was able to cast my own line today; this fisher-woman had the most catches of the entire boat (which my father and brother greatly appreciated, I'm sure.)

Today I brought in six pumpkin seed sunfish, and two small perch. As much as I pretended I was using some kind of grand strategy, or had some magic knowledge as to what I was doing based on my hours spent watching River Monsters and Swamp People, I think today was just my lucky day. I did get a few snapshots of my own little River Monsters before setting them back into the wild, or as I used to say when my Dad would take me fishing as a toddler, "Back to their mothers."

First catch of the day! Pumpkin Seed Sunfish!

Just before my thrilling encounter with the rare and frightening River Monsters of The Connecticut!

 Now, do not be fooled by my grand accomplishments on the water today. There is another side to the story.

You see, while I was busy pretending I was some professional fisher-adventurer-one-with-nature-and-wildlife-survival expert,  my Dad and brother made my seafaring daydreams possible by doing the one terrifying and repulsive task I refuse to do: baiting the hook! Of all the insects and bugs God has put on this earth, worms are my ABSOLUTE least favorite. I wish I could explain why those atrocious squirming dirt-eaters strike me in such a way, but it is just a part of me that my fishing partners and I have learned to deal with. I blame this fact for the hindrance of my oh-so-promising fishing career.
 

Matt, exhausted after his fishing adventures

And so, after a gorgeous day on the water, we brought our boat back into the dock. The  sun now shining bright, and our family bringing in our vessel with new inside jokes in mind and fresh smiles on our faces, we all silently agreed it had been a fantastic day on the river!

Favorite Quote Fridays: 20 July 2012

Okay, I admit it-- I love Taylor Swift!! This song, "Long Live," always reminds me of high school, and remembering all the things we did. But more importantly, it reminds me that the moments I'm living right now will be important memories for years to come. Makes you live differently when you think that way.

So important to remember...

I tell myself this daily. It's old and overused, but so true!

I love Audrey Hepburn!! This quote is a great reflection of my girly-girl side!

During Basic Training, my roommate shared this Bible verse with me, and it helped us avoid fearing the unknown, and the crazy conditions we faced throughout training. 

Adventure of the Day: Bostonian Froyo and my Best Friend

Let's be real though-- I did not journey into Boston just for the frozen yogurt. I went to see my best friend, Izzy. Izzy and I have been best friends since the seventh grade, and have formed the closest of sisterhoods over the years, despite living apart for five years of our friendship. Izzy is taking classes in Boston, so I promised her I would visit during her lunch break.

Izzy and I in the beginnings of our friendship years ago!

Izzy and I today. Do you think we've changed a bit?

Today I traveled 2 hours from my home, via car and train, for some frozen yogurt. Yeah, I love it that much. In fact, it reminds me of a quote from the movie "The Help," where Minny says, "Fried chicken just tend to make you feel better about life." Insert "froyo" where "friend chicken" is, and that might as well be my new personal adage.

My favorite part of the T ride into Boston: the Charles River! What a view!

So, I took the T into Boston. Although it the cause for many headaches and hassles, I love that filthy and hectic underground railway. It is the vascular system of Boston, filled with  thousands of traveling souls you would have never crossed paths with under any other circumstances than the fact that you are both going somewhere. Being a writer, I love seeing the eccentric mix of people that commute on the T, and guessing at their life stories-- it fascinates me.

























And so, after a long T ride, I finally arrived in Kenmore Square. While I waited for Izzy to meet me at Zinga Frozen Yogurt, I took in the sights of one of my favorite cities in the country:











Finally, once Izzy got out of her class, the moment I'd been waiting for-- FROYO!! I have to say, I was impressed with Zinga. I've tried several frozen yogurt places, and Zinga had a great flavor selection, and a great variety toppings that were labeled and kept in separate containers that avoided the messy mixing of toppings that usually occurs in self-serve joints. After arduous strategics and grueling decision making, I came to my frozen masterpiece: fat-free vanilla bean and fat-free salted caramel pretzel yogurt topped with vanilla wafers, peanuts, and a single cherry:

Yes, it tasted just as good as it looks, if not better!

Izzy enjoyed her concoction too. Honestly, I have no idea what crazy combination of toppings and flavors she chose, (and I'm not fully sure she knew either), but, needless to say, it was not long before our once filled-to-the-brim froyo cups were nothing but empty, sticky paper containers.




                                     

After devouring our frozen treats, we ventured to the Barnes and Noble across the street. That book store is a place I could live in and be perfectly happy. I rarely find myself buying much, but just being among the books and taking in the smell of fresh, word-filled paper and Starbucks coffee wafting through the air is quite enough. It's the little pleasures in life!

Today was another one of those days where I did not purchase any books, but I did compile a list of hopefuls for after I tackle my already long reading list (and get more money!):

Izzy had a recommendation for me too

 


After that, it was time for me to go home. But it was a beautiful day in Boston, and I was glad to spend among the things that I love: books, frozen yogurt, and my best friend.



And what about you? What are your favorite frozen yogurt flavors? Any book recommendations? Feel free to comment and let me know!

Recipe and Story: Super Easy Lasagna and Neighborly Love

18 July 2012

Now, normally when I show someone neighborly love in edible form it is through my personal forte: baked goods. However, tonight's culinary project was different as it was the joint project of two chefs: my mother and myself.

My mother's area of expertise is Italian food. She has been trained by my grandmother, whose mother immigrated to America from Italy, so it is more than just dinner to our family. It is tradition and pride. You can tell when my mom makes any Italian dish-- her focus is unshakeable, and her resolute movements around the kitchen speak of her wisdom. These are the things I secretly notice while we cook that make me love the experience.

The occasion for this endeavor? The first family I ever met when we moved here three years ago is in a time of need, so what better idea than to send Rachel with a hearty tray of lasagna to the rescue! You see, the mother of the family is in a wheelchair due to a broken hip after taking a nasty fall, so, needless to say, making dinner is not as easy a task as it was before.

So, here it is: the super-easy lasagna recipe so you can spread the neighborly love too!

Spread the Love Lasagna 

**Note: As this is a family recipe, it has not ever been formally written down before. (Yeah, you're just that special!) So, measurements are approximations-- we tend to just "eyeball it."**

Make in the Morning Sauce: 

• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1 lb of ground pork
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 large cans of tomato paste
• 1 large can of tomato sauce

1. Sautee diced onion in about 2 TBSP olive oil in large sauce pan
2. Once onions are very lightly browned, cover with water and add the ground meats
3.  Add the cans of tomato sauce and paste
4. Rinse the tomato sauce can with water, and add the tomato-ey water to the mixture
5. Add 1 TBSP of salt, 9 bay leaves, a pinch of cayenne red pepper, and cover the entire pan with garlic powder (mints after this meal are a good idea... we like our garlic!)
6. Mix well, bring to a boil, and then lower heat and simmer for 8 hours

 The Lasagna Itself:

• 1 lb box of lasagna noodles
• 1 tin of part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 bags of shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 tin of grated Parmesan cheese

1. Boil the lasagna noodles by following the box instructions. Rinse with cool water, and prepare for lasagna assembly!
2. Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a deep 9x13 pan (it stops the noodles from sticking), and lay three noodles lengthwise to cover the bottom of the pan.
3. There are two kinds of layers you will use in this lasagna. Alternate them until you run out of noodles (the top layer will be different from the body layers... more on that later!) 

Layer #1 (pictured on top) is ricotta cheese mixture (which is made from the tub of ricotta cheese, 1 egg, and a generous sprinkling of garlic powder), sauce, and Parmesan cheese (in that order).  Layer #2 (pictured on bottom) is sauce, Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese (again, in that order). Use only one package of mozzarella when making the body layers (the other package is for the special top layer).

 




So, once you reach the top, you get to make the special top layer, or as I like to call it Layer #2.5 .  In reality, it's not much different than Layer #2, other than the fact that the entire second bag of mozzarella is used on this layer alone (as is shown in the super cheesy masterpiece below).
 


Now to bake it! All it takes is 45 minutes to 1 hour (or whenever the cheese on top is melted) in a 350 degree oven, and mama mia! you have yourself a delicious tray of lasagna to share!


**Chef's notes (or little tid bits my mom adds when I try to make this thing on my own):
• Be generous with all the ingredients when assembling the lasagna, but the most important ingredient to pile on is sauce. Nobody likes a dry piece of lasagna!!
• You will have extra sauce to use as you please. We put it on spaghetti squash, which makes a great, healthy alternative to spaghetti. Yum!
• You can freeze the tray of lasagna, and just pop it in the oven once it's thawed, making this dish especially practical. I can always remember my mom making it in advance before guests came over, then just popping it in the oven once they arrived.

Enjoy!!

The Legend of Shooting Stars

18 July 2012

I don’t care what anybody says—there is magic all around us. You don’t believe me? Gaze with me at the night sky, at the sparkling fragments of diamonds and gems that have scattered the blackness. Wait patiently, and you will experience the rebel star that refuses to dance in its divinely designated place on the heavenly dance floor: he is called the Shooting Star. He races through the others, and they are quite taken aback by his borderline-rude disregard for the way things were set up. He does not care, for he knows his purpose. He stands for what the other stars cannot.

He is the life-changing spark of creativity a Parisian artist had while sitting in his dim apartment and gazing at the atmosphere for some inspiration. He is the simple hope of a child clutching his mother’s hand as she tells him to make a wish on the otherworldly glimmers his young eyes widen at. He is the tear drop of a young, tired lover whose passion has turned out to be an utter disappointment and waste of time. He is the laughter of an elderly man living alone in his nursing home as he realizes that there are still simple joys in this life to be had, even in being alone. He is the high school dropout’s fierce yearning for significance and to travel far away from the suburban imprisonment he was born into. He is those moments that are born in fire, that define the impossible-to-predict course of our wild stories. 

The constellations may be noble and comforting in their stance, in their orderly drifting across the universe to a rhythm that will always be. Yet, the miracle of the shooting star is what humanity really needs; the legend of the shooting star is all the unexplainable messiness of life, and the irrational hope that anchors our hearts to our dreams.

Adventure of the Day: The Wild World of My Garden

Call it lame. Call it corny. But my adventure of the day is weeding in my garden.

Before you judge, humor me for a second.

It was a 99 degree day, and I decided to tackle one of the tasks on the long list of housework my  mother offered to my brother and I. That task was weeding the vegetable garden that sits below my breeze way window. Although that small plot has yielded some great homegrown ingredients for our dinner salads and veggie omelets, it is overwhelmingly plagued by weeds; so much so that you cannot see the soil that they spring up from.

At first it was a drudgery. I was dripping in sweat after just minutes, which turned the dry soil encrusted on the skin of my arms and legs into mud. Not to mention I was sore from the back workout I did earlier that day. But then I stopped my internal complaining and started to notice the little things as I worked:

The vibrant greens that surrounded me.

The satisfying crunching noise of the weeds as I uprooted them.

The overwhelming mercy of a tree casting a cool shade over me, or the occasional gentle breeze to dry me off.

The centipedes and spiders crawling in and around my hands as I dug through their home, realizing that my small garden was their massive universe, and all they would ever know and explore in their short insect lifetimes.

The miracle of growing something from next to nothing.

The fresh scent of tomato leaves.

The disorderly melodies of mismatched notes that the birds sang to one another; that they are the most mysterious composers of a musical genre humanity has yet to fully understand.

How God's creation both humbles and empowers!

Doing that very simple chore today taught me that no matter what nasty conditions you are in, no matter what tedious task or daunting challenge you are faced with, you have the secret power to create something great by  noticing the little things. That is something no one can take away, because it comes from you and you alone!

Beginning to Inspire

Here it is! My first post. One of my dreams in life is to be a writer. In any way, shape, or form, read by a few, or read by millions, for money or not. So, I will frequently be posting from my personal journals, short stories, poems, or whatever I decide to jot down and share. 

This one is very special to me personally. I wrote it a few days after I got discharged medically from the Air Force Academy, which was one of my dreams at one point in time. It helped me figure out what it really was that I wanted out of this life, and maybe it will help you too.



20  July 2011

What do you wish to say at the end of your lifetime?

Will you boldly boast of brave accomplishments and daring feats? Will you calmly let the wisdom and experience you've collected as tokens all your life flow from your aged lips? Will you gleam and glisten as you find you cannot tell of your life without joy and laughter? Or perhaps you will only be able to offer solemn anecdotes of the hardship that proved a bittersweet companion during your days on earth?

It may not matter what combination of said and unsaid possibilities you will find yourself confronted with at the end of days, but I pray one possibility remain absent: that you will feebly admit that you have nothing to say, nothing to pass on, nothing but a dry whisper of unfulfilled dreams, ungranted wishes, and regret.