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Saying Thank You, Saying Goodbye

It’s coming up on five months since my mom-in-law passed away; the loss still feels new. Jim and I have been a couple for 30 years now, so the relationship between Mom and I was long enough to be parent-child like, but mostly ours was a dear, long-time friendship. She liked to tell people that we were unique among mothers and daughters-in-law because we got along so well and so peacefully! Mom was someone who was always interested in the details of life– what my day had been like, who I had spoken to, what was dinner, what the children were up to, whatever cute thing the granddaughter had said or done, what was happening in the garden. Her fascination with daily events was extraordinary. She cultivated relationships through that love of news and that caring connection.
Continued…

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By 20 Minute Jan – March 3, 2010

We have a Dozen Words for Snow: #7 “Snow Shower”

(20-Minute Jim) I was driving to work last week, just after a big snowfall. The roads were clear but not all the sidewalks had been dug out and the snow plows had made huge mountains of snow alongside the road. As I came up on an intersection where I intended to turn right, a pedestrian was standing smack dab in the middle of the right turn lane. Given those piles of snow, it would have been very difficult to locate, let alone excavate, the curb.

But what was most interesting to me was not where the woman was standing but what she was holding, namely an umbrella. It was snowing, of course. All that extra moisture in the air from the climate crisis has made it snow at least a little for days. But there was something poetically just about the kind of snow that was falling that made it seem appropriate to use an umbrella. The flakes were falling straight down without the wind scattering them – so it wasn’t a “flurry.” The number of flakes that were falling was steady but hardly a “storm.” It was clearly a “snow shower.”

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By 20 Minute Jim – March 2, 2010

Fish on Friday: The Knights of Columbus, Dexter, MI

(20-Minute Jim) If it’s Friday and if it’s during Lent (the season leading up to Easter observed by many Christians), then Jan and I are likely eating fish for supper. It’s not a religious practice for us; we’re strictly tourists but for about the past five years, Jan and I have been attending the various Fish Fry dinners hosted mostly by Catholic churches and Catholic-flavored charities. How we got started is a story in itself but one for another time. Tonight we attended the Knights of Columbus in Dexter, MI and, boy were we impressed.

First of all, the fish was incredible. As is common, it came both baked and fried, but the fried fish was pan fried not battered and deep fried. This was some of the best cooked fish I’ve ever eaten, truth be told. It was tender and moist and since there wasn’t a thick coat of batter, I felt I was getting more actual fish. Both the baked and pan fried were excellent but I think I preferred the fried, which just re-enforces my suspicion that everything tastes better fried.

The fish at a fish fry is obviously important but personally, it’s one of the traditional side dishes – macaroni and cheese – that is the hardest to pull off. (I still prefer the kind Jan makes.) The mac and cheese in Dexter was solid but not stellar. The sauce was ample and cheesy but the noodles were a bit too soft for my preference. Make no mistake, I still asked for a double scoop on both the plates I ate.

That’s right I had two plates full of food and I could have gone back for more. It’s kind of funny I suppose that Lent – a time traditionally associated with “giving up” something – also is the time of these fantastic, frequently all-you-can-eat dinners.

The Dexter K of C had a few other special touches. There were fried shrimp which were nothing spectacular on their own but a nice addition. And there were baked potatoes in addition to the french fries. I skipped the fries but Jan says they were excellent. Incidentally, I recommend dipping french fries into tartar sauce: I’ll never go back to ketchup. Desserts in general aren’t my thing but Jan reports there was a very good selection that included many homemade treats. I did notice that since the Knights of Columbus have a members only liquor license that some folks were enjoying a beer with their meal.

I scanned the room of round tables and it was easy to remember what had attracted Jan and me to these Fish Frys in the first place. There were a couple hundred folks – seniors, families, teenagers, other middle aged couples like Jan and me. We didn’t know a soul but it felt like we belonged here. We felt welcome. Certainly, it’s nice to know that the K of C is a charitable organization and the money raised from the tickets goes to help people in need. But what keeps Jan and I searching out places to have fish on Friday is that sense of warm, common humanity that we found in Dexter.

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By 20 Minute Jim – February 26, 2010

Growing Onions from Discarded Onion Bottoms

Jim sent me this link from Lifehacker, which was a post from the Instructables site on how it’s possible and easy to grow onions from old onion bottoms.

Sounds like a dare, doesn’t it? Sure, I’m game. Since it will be a couple months still before our soil is ready for digging around in, we’ll try growing some onions inside using the method suggested.

Rather than fishing for said discarded onion bottoms in the compost bin, I decided to play sous chef and chop up 6 or 7 onions at one go in order to have the bottoms to plant. I rarely prep that way in the kitchen, but when I was shopping at the big grocery store last week, I came across quart-sized pre-chopped onions in the produce section. Hey, thought I, that container of onions costs waaay too much money for the convenience, but I bet it would be handy to have some onions always ready to roll. So far, it has been easy to toss a handful of onions into the pan when making eggs or Jim’s savory oats– a step we’d likely skip in those cases, if the onions hadn’t been all ready ahead of time.

We had a planter of soil in the house from a previously unsuccessful winter-time growing experiment, so I only needed to add a little more soil and work some water into the dry dirt. Once the pot was dampened, I pushed the onion tops into the dirt and covered them up.

Now I’ll wait and see what happens. To be continued…

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By 20 Minute Jan – February 24, 2010

Delicious Desktop

Jim recently reset his computer desktop to a picture from last summer’s garden.

The colors and textures are so stunning that I’m surprised and delighted every time I sit down at the computer and see the picture. On the big computer screen, the tomatoes are slightly larger than life-size; our 3 year old granddaughter insisted they were pumpkins! It’s an inspiring reminder: yes, spring will come; yes, edible things will grow in our garden; and yes, it will happen soon.

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By 20 Minute Jan – February 20, 2010