Marinara Sauce
I like the word, that is why I call it that. I understand it interprets as Mariner’s Sauce. I prefer Marinara. This recipe is one I threw together some years ago for a summertime dinner and I liked it so much I racked my brains to remember what I put in it and have been making and canning it every summer since. It is rather simple and very tasty. I now make it in triple and quadruple batches but sometimes I am puzzled by it and am beginning to think it is best in small batches. Probably my imagination. Doubling the recipe will more than double the time it takes to simmer to the proper consistency. One batch – half an hour, 2 batches – 1 1/4 hours, triple batch – 2-3 hours, etc.. The Parmesan cheese is a Must! it is only just OK without...
Storytime, August 28, 2011
Today felt like a failure to me. In the storytime department that is. All I can say is, Notes! Notes! Notes! Make some for goodness sakes! A week and a half ago, on a Tuesday evening, I had [mostly] planned out the following Sunday’s storytime, before I put two and two together that I was not even going to be at church that Sunday due to our somewhat short notice visit to Connecticut. I did not write any of my ideas down, instead relying on my fickle memory (I sure hope this doesn’t get any worse as the years progress!) and happily lived last week with the thought that I had this Sunday all planned. Oh dear, yes I remembered the hazy outline of the story I wanted to tell but that was it. I could not recall the flow of what I had been thinking, could...
Lucky Girl
My son wanted to stand on the back of the bench in front of us while we stood to sing in church today. This is not unusual, but normally it is his Daddy who holds him balanced there. Today it was me. As we stood there with his arm clutching tightly around my neck and he leaned against my head for added stability, my ear was pressed to his chest and I could hear his heart beating. I glanced up at my young son, watching him follow the words of the song on the wall and suddenly I saw him as he may be 20 years from now. Tall, strong and handsome. And it will be someone else’s little girl that he holds close to his heart. Some other woman who gets the privilege of hearing his heart beat and feeling his protective arm around her. There was a catch in my throat as...
A Weekend in CT
We spent the past weekend in Connecticut with Al’s parents. The beach in Waterford is a very nice place to go to, It was mostly overcast but still a great place to play. We (I) also discovered Mystic this weekend. I loved that town! I could have spent more time just walking, browsing and enjoying! If you ever saw the movie ‘Mystic Pizza’ this is where it was filmed. Al says that restaurant doesn’t have the greatest pizza though, it certainly looked nondescript enough. We had a nice time and mostly I will just let the pictures tell the story. It took awhile to corral them but I finally got them all in one place and edited. Traveling Thursday evening. I love this bridge. Makes me feel all tingly. Do bridges do that to anyone...
A for Effort
We have a game going on at our house, well, sort of a game. In an effort to encourage positive behavior, we have a column of tally marks on the chalkboard called ‘Effort Marks’. Throughout our days when I see particular effort put forth to be kind, or not hit someone, or take initiative, etc… I occasionally award a mark. When we reach 10, we do a special activity that all [reasonably] enjoy. We hit the 10 mark once again last Thursday, but since that was the day we were leaving for CT for the weekend (that is another story that needs to wait until I get all my pictures in one spot), we waited until today to do something about it. Al’s car being in the garage, he had the van for the day, so we were ‘grounded’ and couldn’t...