Coconut Lime Berry Cake

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

Berries are in season! So I decided to make my dessert for my friend’s and my Memorial Day get together utilizing some of nature’s bounty. I clipped a recipe for a Coconut Lime Berry Cake a while back from Martha Stewart, and this seemed the perfect time to make it.

I used three very full cups of berries, one each blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, and here it is ready to go in the oven.

It wasn’t a cake that browned very much except around the edges, but it did take a bit longer time than the recipe specified, which I checked twice with the standard toothpick in the middle test.

The cake turned out well, and was very moist. It’s all butter and includes buttermilk, so it’s hard to go wrong on that count, and the berries got soft and mushy, dropping through the batter. Although the grated lime and fresh lime juice gave it a nice tropical kind of kick, I am thinking now that I might like it even better with lemon instead of the lime. And there’s always more time to bake with berries in season.

Be the Change …

/ still a dreamer / 12 Comments

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandi

It sometimes strikes me how often we complain about one thing or another or see behavior we can easily criticize. The world is rapidly changing, and with more and more people involved with texting and their iPhones, etc., it sometimes seems like a less and less friendly world. Certainly, it can seem like a less considerate one.

But really, this is just the current manifestation of what sometimes looks like the breakdown of civilized society. It’s taken on many different faces over the years.

About 16+ years ago, I moved out to this side of the state of New Jersey to a far kinder and gentler life. My county is highly agricultural. There’s still lots of open space, both fields and woods, and it’s inhabited by a lot of people who still have a connection to the land and to nature. It’s a very different mindset than the bustling city, cool as that was when I lived there, or even towns in the suburbs, which still have a very active lifestyle, as did mine.

In my little newfound town in Western NJ was something that, to me,  epitomized the gentler mentality out here … a one way railroad trestle underpass. The trestle is over a well-traveled two-lane blacktop connecting the areas south of it to the very busy Route 78, a mile to the north, which runs across the state, just about into the Hudson River and NYC. What I so loved about this spot was that everyone took turns when they were coming or going under this little one way underpass. “After you.”  “Go ahead,” they waved. Civilization at its best.

Then they started building the McMansions.  With them came a whole lot of people in a big hurry to get to Rt. 78 and their hellish commute to points East. And there went the civility. The motto of these people was “I’m going to get me mine.” And they pushed through, ten cars at a time, if needs be, to make sure they did. But the good thing?

We “locals”, as I suppose we are, didn’t go that route. We kept on waving the next car through the narrow passageway.  If we didn’t get to pass for a few cars, so be it. And I still do that every time I get to that train trestle. Some of the oncoming drivers look surprised. Most wave thanks, just as we all always have. Do those of us who support this small kindness make a difference?There’s no way of knowing. But I still see lots of people taking turns.

What is true, is that by joining the ranks of the inconsiderate and rude, nothing will change for the better. So we can be the change we wish to see in the world, or add to the problem. I believe that whatever we do positive in this world does make a difference. So feel free to wave me on when you get to the underpass, and I’ll do the same for you.

Today, Memorial Day, we can all be a change we’d like to see and it just takes a second and a show of appreciation.  Thank a vet.

The Bridges of Madison County

/ still a dreamer

This story by Robert James Waller is a wonderful, short novel – the depiction of a romance, an affair, between two people whose paths crossed in a juncture in time and space which neither expected. The thought that seems to stay with me about the author’s style is that he writes with the heart of a woman, but the pen of a man. This is not a criticism, but rather a compliment. He tells the story of  Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson with the lush feel of romance that a woman knows in her heart, yet without a touch of cloying sentimentality. Waller writes with a rich, but simple and straightforward style that I would generally attribute to a man. It’s a great combination and makes The Bridges of Madison County a fast and engrossing read.

The gentle unfolding of this once-in-a-lifetime experience for the two of them and the simply told background of both characters made them especially real to me. I also really appreciated how the loose ends were tied up in the discovery of Kincaid’s belongings and Francesca’s letter after her death to her two adult children, then followed by an interview with a jazz musician in Washington who’d come to know Kincaid before he died. It was all beautifully done.

The romantic affair that lasted for four days while Kincaid was on assignment for National Geographic and Francesca’s family was away for the week at the state fair was the focus – and gem – of the book. Who wouldn’t be sent dreaming a bit after reading this novel?

As for the movie, I added it to my Netflix queue, but I must say I have my questions about Meryl Streep, brilliant as she is, as an Italian. I know Clint Eastwood plays Robert Kincaid, but I see Clint Eastwood as a bit more hard-edged than I saw Kincaid. He’s an excellent actor, but I’m not imagining that wild romantic streak of Kincaid. I guess I’ll just have to see on that one. I’m always ready to be surprised.

Here is the video and song that Robert James Waller created based on his book. Quality not great, but the song is fantastic. What a talented man.

Grilled Cheese Strikes Again!

/ still a dreamer / 10 Comments

When you want some veggies but don’t feel like salad or even like putting too much energy into your meal, the occasional grilled cheese with some healthy additions is always good. So here’s my latest grilled cheese. (Apologies for focus on the photo; I wanted to eat my sandwich while it was hot and rushed a bit on the picture taking!)

Grilled cheese with simple veggies

I’m using The Baker bread again, this time whole wheat and bran. On that I have sliced tomatoes, lots of shaved sweet red onion, and a mix of 50% reduced sharp cheddar and fat free Feta. Although I do love butter, I don’t always make my grilled cheese sandwiches with it. This time I used organic Smart Balance to keep the fat content in check. Still comes out quite good, but in my opinion, butter is ALWAYS better. And on the side, Dude Ranch Tortilla Chips from Early July.

Enjoy!

I See You Everywhere – a Novel

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass was another selection from this year’s annual county library sale. Why did I pick it up?

Several reasons. One, I loved the title. All you can see at the book sale are the titles in the way they are arranged. That title drew my attention because of the many possibilities of what it might be about. Two, I was totally drawn to the cover, with this magnificent pitcher of crackled turquoise glass and the seashell. So simple, and yet so arresting. And, I just realized as I write this, each of these two objects may symbolize the two main characters.

Three, the storyline. I was intrigued by the story of two sisters, four years apart, so totally different and how they grew both individually and in their relationship to each other over 25 years. (I also picked I See You Everywhere because a fellow writer has a middle grade novel of two sisters, twins actually, and I thought this might be helpful to her in her characterization.) So an unknown book and author that can appeal on numerous levels right off the bat? A good thing!

The story starts when Clem is still in college and Louisa graduated and beginning a career. Louisa is the conservative and conscientious sister who yearns for a career in art, a good marriage and a family. Clem, 4 years younger, is a rebel who takes on adventurous assignments working with animals in faraway places, daring, and not one to settle down with any one man. Louisa’s and Clem’s stories are told in first person, present tense, alternating between the two sisters. How they move through their lives and their feelings about each other reveals their own personal issues, their challenges, their sisterly resentments, jealousies, and compassion for one another.

I found this to be a very well-written novel. I’ve never read Julia Glass before, but she has a National Book Award behind her for Three Junes, and has written another novel as well. Her use of language is lovely, and I enjoyed that immensely. I was able to identify more readily with one of the characters, though both are entirely relatable, and that character – Clem – drew me in more perhaps for what wasn’t said than what was. This was a good read.

The only thing I noticed, and this was probably only because I just finished How to Save A Life by Sara Zarr, is that I felt I was always reading the author’s voice, not the individual character. What really wowed me about Zarr’s YA novel, also two females, (teens), written first person, present, is that whether you read Mandy or Jill, you always felt they were writing their own chapters. This is no small feat, and I was truly impressed.  In I See You Everywhere, although I was reading Clem or Louisa’s thoughts, it seemed the same beautiful language either way. Happily, it is beautifully written, but following on the heels of Sara Zarr’s book, it was something I noticed.

As for the story, I did enjoy it. I cared about Louisa and Clem. I enjoyed watching them grow, deal with heartache and pain, challenges, successes and failures. The story takes a twist at the end that I never saw coming, and I’m still not sure how it’s sitting with me. But that the author has me thinking about it after I’ve moved on to my next read … well, that says something about a good storyteller.