My son has a favorite birthday dinner:Â marinated lamb chops.
Here’s the recipe for the marinade:
3/4 lb lamb meat
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons rosemary, chopped
3 tablespoons mint, chopped
2 lemon slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Combine all ingredients and let marinate 8 hours or overnight.
R.I.C.E. = rest, ice, compression, elevation
B.R.A.T. = bananas, rice, applesauce, tea
I made a joke tonight about how my life has come down to 2 acronyms. I sprained my ankle while hurrying down our hill to take the kids to the bus stop this morning. They continued down while I struggled back up to home base to R.I.C.E my ankle. Yeah. Luckily I had an ice pack in the freezer and my Aircast from the last time I sprained this ankle on Thanksgiving, 2005. Yes, it is a bum ankle. The doctor advised I proceed from here on wearing hightops. Keds as prosthetics? At least they come in cool colors.
This school year’s winter was challenging, too. Everyone catches some illness from someone during the winter months. And every so often the stomach flu is it. Hence, B.R.A.T. These are the acronyms of a mother’s life with young children. Memorized so we can assume auto-pilot at the first sign of a symptom. Because if we don’t, whatever we last fed the ill child WILL come back to haunt us until it is purged from their system.
Just some advice I have found necessary in my life. And remember to maintain the stash of non-perishables and water for when I am down and out and they have to pick up where I left off. And they did – admirably!
I write this blog because I eat: in and out. And when I eat I remember things. To hold strong a memory, I believe it should involve all my senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, sound.
A meal with my family around the table has all these components: my partner engaging our inquiring children, the garlic and chocolate from our meal. If you desire a memory to hold true for years to come, create a complete picture involving all of the senses and live in its moment with your whole self. The memory will always find a quick path to your present.
Shawarma is marinated meat cooked vertically on a rotisserie and sliced into strips. Add sauteed slivers of onions, a freshly rolled and baked pita and you have a delicious taste of Wrap & Roll. Wrap & Roll is a Mediterranean cafe in Sunset Square. When you walk in be prepared for the door chime: DING DONG. It took me by surprise and made me wonder if I was the brunt of a joke. Oh, well, so what, it wouldn’t be the first time. The space is small and long, but with a wall of windows is very light. Walls of periwinkle, light gray IKEA chairs and round tables edged with a blue mosaic all with a view.
Max was kind and asked if he could help me (I was staring at the long menu for a long time trying to make up my mind). I wanted to know how I could have 1 of everything, but just a small portion. What would I like? The turkey shawarma, the falafels, the hummus, the vegetable pancake, the pita bread…he smiled and said, ‘No problem’. While I waited, he served me a plate of 3 side dishes: spicy carrot salad, red cabbage and tabbouli. It’s so easy to tell if something came out of a jar or was made fresh, and the foods I ate here today were FRESH and flavorful. And there was more than enough to feed 2 hungry parents. Thumbs up to Wrap & Roll; the north side of Bellingham has Mediterranean just as the south side does with Mediterranean Specialties Cafe.
Next to the movie theatre in Sunset Square. 734 1917
There are people who always help me feel happy. Their disposition is just naturally sunny (I even think they glow a bit).
Take for instance, my daughter’s kindergarten friends, Zoey and Kylie. They are just soo nice! They are great friends to my daughter and they really manage to get along. And they’re nice to me, too!
Community Food Co-op is a shining example of people who are sunny and/or above board helpful. Erin is the best because she knows how to stick it to me and I don’t even know it – that’s major talent from a girl from Ohio. My NY sarcasm is never lost on her, merely lobbed back like a birdie – bing!
And there are the Trader Joester’s I like so much. They never look at me cross-eyed regardless of my comments and requests and returns: Cynthia with her fruit and fish earrings, Katie who remembers me even on a bad hair day with a hat pulled down over my head and Jessica (she glows a bit and I think it’s because she’s a new Mom) and all her helpful gluten free ideas.
Even the Costco sample servers don’t mind my seconds (it helps if I buy the product being sampled). They smile and nod their heads with hair wrapped in netting; offer hints on receipes. The Costco people are ever ready to guide me through the store in search of THE item I want or dissect the ingredients on a package for me.
And although the only connection to food is they sell See’s Chocolate’s for charity, Kathy and Tami at Wee One’s Rerun’s are fantastic!
I almost forgot everyone at Super Supplements. They employ gurus of health there.
The Bethany’s of the Library, the Bev’s of the Museum, the Lance’s of the Aquatic Center, Sportsplex and the myriad hockey rinks within a 100 mile radius of Bellingham, Border Crossing guards (joking – too tough a job for smiling) – to these people and many other strangers I engage with daily I offer the following:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao]
Powered by WordPress