Blog Book & Winter Break!

I recently printed my entire blog into a hard cover book. The cover is black with the above photograph of South Cape Beach and the title "Life as a Cape Cod Baker".

 I've shared it with a few friends and they seem to like it. My favorite response is when I showed it to my daughter Sophia. She took it and sat on the couch reading it for about an hour then we chatted about the different stories, photos and recipes. Years from now I want my children to enjoy it as they flip through the pages. It's a good record of daily life at our Cape Cod house for the past few years. I've thought about printing a second copy to share with the Falmouth Library.

As for Winter Break, the kids have been home this past week. We didn't go anywhere except the one day I took Sophia into Boston to visit the Aquarium and do some shopping at Faneuil Hall. She loves taking the train so we drove half way into the City and took the Red Line in from there.

My daughter Bella is still recovering from her Ankle surgery. She's still non weight bearing on her right foot so we decided to keep things simple  and do fun things from home.

And I helped her to set some goals so she'd have something to look forward to when she is fully recovered. Between the ice and the snow and the cold anyone can feel discouraged. Yet I think it becomes even more depressing when you're immobilized. One thing I did to help her  feel  more comforted was throughout the week I cooked some of her favorites: Angel Hair with Parmesan and Pepper with roasted red peppers, Chicken Enchilada's, Blueberry Pancakes and Summer Salad.

 The salad is simple and delicious and I am sure if you do a blog search you can find my recipe for it already posted here. We made the summer salad partly because making and eating it helps us remember that summer will return again soon.

Blizzard, 2013!

     I lived through the Blizzard of 1978. I was only ten. I have good memories of it for the most part though. No school. Sledding with neighborhood kids for hours. Hanging out with my sisters. I can't imagine all of it was good though. It was a tough time. It was cold and there was snow, down power lines and tree branches everywhere. Snow drifts were huge.
    Memory can be like that though. Once time passes we often remember more of the good than the bad of what remains. Having woken up in Falmouth today to the remains of Blizzard 2013 it hasn't been easy. My house was cold, there were no comforts like hot water to shower, heat to warm my body or electricity to brew the coffee.
  My first thought was to cry.
 I soon realized that tears wouldn't clear the driveway, get the coffee made or warm my house. I decided to take a deep breath and do what I could instead.
I gathered wood and made a fire in my kitchen fireplace. I found a metal grate to fit over the logs and used a small sauce pan to boil water, a skillet to grill a bagel. After coming in from a solid hour and a half of shoveling in the snow that simple cup of coffee and warm bagel felt like the most satisfying bit of breakfast I'd ever had.
And I have to say I'm blessed to have some of the most wonderful neighbors around. They called to check in on me, invited me to use their oil stove if I needed to cook again or to stop by if I just simply needed some company. It hasn't been the most pleasant day overall. I've been cold for most of it and shoveled lots of heavy snow. And simple tasks have taken on a more challenging dilemma- I couldn't run the dishwasher or finish the load of laundry downstairs.
And I had to cancel plans I'd been looking forward to.  I didn't get to take my daily walk-something that brings me a little bit of peace every day either.
 But I have a feeling that what will most remain in my memories from the Blizzard of 2013 is not the minor inconveniences but the ways that I found the courage to take care of what I needed to. And finding  a fresh perspective to solve every day simplicities like how to get that cherished cup of morning coffee.