I (HEART) The Golden Girls

Picture credit:  http://blogs.villagevoice.com

As a little kid, I remember watching the television show, The Golden Girls.  I (HEART) this show.  I really do.  With YouTube, I'm able to enjoy all the episodes online.   

This show is like comfort food.  It's my comfort t.v. show when I'm sick, feeling blue, need a laugh or just want to watch something.  I've watched the episodes over and over and over.  So much of the ideologies of the late 1980s and early 1990s are reflected in the show, and the show was ahead of its time because it touched on so many topics that are still relevant today.  The writing's funny and the acting is wonderful. 

I'd recommend you watch all of the episodes.  Yet, if you're only interested in some of the episodes, then I'd recommend the following:

1.  This episode makes me appreciate life:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYKHLzIpfro
2.  I love this episode because it has my all time favorite line from this show (it involves "one inch of water"):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhSaDLhQxks
3.  I love this episode because it makes fun of MN (also, there is no city in MN called St. Olaf):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7_x20J_m60
4.  I love this episode because Estelle Getty (who plays Sophia) has some of the best lines ever:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTrhuSi7H78
5.  This episode is just fun to watch:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNSxBb_laNs

My tip, when you do watch on YouTube, is to skip the song at the beginning and start each episode at the 50 second mark.  Let me know if you do end up watching any of the episodes and your thoughts about The Golden Girls.  Enjoy!

Friday's Quote: Jim Rohn

"Either you run the day or the day runs you."---Jim Rohn

 

It's only after 8:00 a.m.  I had good intentions today to run the day.  Yet, I feel as if this day is going to run me.  I got up early this morning with the intent of working out.  I actually went to the gym, but I barely worked out for a quarter of a mile and quit.  Somehow, I can't seem to muster the requisite energy to continue working out.  So I showered and left the gym

I don't know if it's just the oppressive hot and muggy weather (at least today is a bit cooler) or the overcast skies or maybe it's the Labor Day weekend.  I have no energy to do anything and I really don't want to do anything.  I might try and go to the State Fair tonight, or I might just go home and do the same thing I do every night, which is nothing.

It's still early and I can still reign in the rest of the day.  Or at least I hope to.  How is your day so far?  Are you going to run the day or will the day run you?

"I Have a Dream": Fiftieth Anniversary

You can read Martin Luther King, Jr.'s entire speech at the U.S. National Archives:  http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf

Texts From Bennett

I was trying to find another book to read and came across the book Texts From Bennett by Mac Lethal (yes, that's the author's name).  Apparently, the book is based on a blog by Mac Lethal, in which he chronicles the text messages exchanged between himself and his cousin Bennett.

I have yet to read the book, but I started reading the blog.  I found some of the postings funny and endearing.  I also want to make you aware that some may find the text messages from Bennett offensive.  If you're looking for something to read, check out the blog at: http://textsfrombennett.tumblr.com/

Please let me know what you think and if you enjoy the blog.

Crazy Sock Monkey Lady

Once I learned to make sock monkeys, I never stopped.  I even taught my youngest sister how to make sock monkeys and she's been making and giving away her sock monkeys.  (Apparently, it's the gift that keeps on giving because she said that all of her recipients are in love with their respective sock monkey.)

Unlike my sister, I rarely give my sock monkeys away.  I love my sock monkeys and I'm on the verge of becoming the Crazy Sock Monkey Lady.  Right now, I have five finished and two unfinished sock monkeys.  At least I don't give names to my sock monkeys.  I just let them be.  I'm also noticing that my sock monkeys have a certain look to them, as if they were all siblings.  Oh well . . . let me know what you think.

Do you have a sock monkey?  Does it have a name?

Summer Bounty

This morning I harvested lots of tomatoes, potatoes, a huge zucchini, zucchini flowers, eggplants, and turnips.  I have to go back out again to check on my basil and my mint.  Usually I don't pick my basil and mint until I'm ready to use it, that way it stays fresh.

I still have more tomatoes on the vine that I'm waiting for it to ripen.  Otherwise, I need to clean up my garden and start saving my seeds.  I need to figure out what to do with all of this food so it doesn't go to waste.  I'm feeling really blessed to have this summer bounty.

How is your garden coming along?  Did you get a summer bounty of goodness too?

Friday's Quote: William Feather

"Some of us might find happiness if we quit struggling so desperately for it."---William Feather

 

I have been better at finding happiness in what I have in my present life.  In the past, I've overreached and grasped at what I thought would bring me happiness.  This isn't to say that I still don't overreach and try a little harder than I should to find happiness, but I'm finding that I can be happy with what I have or even just changing my perspective a little bit.

For example, I had a friend that I once loved very much.  This person no longer wanted to be a part of my life.  Despite my futile attempts to keep this person in my life, and believing that I needed this person to be happy, this person left my life.  I have my regrets about our friendship and I mourned the loss of our friendship.  Yet, I realize that my happiness does not lie in this person being a part of my life.  Maybe my life could be happier, but I wouldn't know.  Rather than speculate, I'm taking stock of the friends that I do have right now and am happy that I even have friends.  Maybe my former friend may come back into my life and maybe not (I'm sure my former friend knows how to contact me).  For now, I'm finding happiness in the friends that I already have.

How about you?

Canning Tomatoes

Yesterday I visited the farmer's market in St. Paul and bought myself a big box of tomatoes that were grown in MN.  The majority of the tomatoes were ripe so I knew I had to do something with it soon or else it would go to waste.

Only four tomatoes left.  Maybe I'll use these in a salad.

I had so many tomatoes and it's not as if I had a lot of people helping me.  Yet, I guess I knew it was that time of the year to can and prepare for the winter.  This past winter, I really enjoyed eating the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and salsa that I canned.  I guess that was my goal for today, to can as much as I could before the summer season's over.

Tomatoes canned in its own juice, salsa, and tomato sauce.

So today, I spent the bulk of the day canning the tomatoes in its own juice, making tomato sauce, and turning it into salsa.  I told my sisters that I really wished they were here with me, not only to help but to also pig out.  There's nothing like sharing fresh homemade salsa with family.  Well, all in all, it was a busy and productive day.

 

I hope you had a productive day too. 

Puree of Turnip Soup

In my last post, I wrote about the turnips I grew in my garden.  Not knowing what to do with my turnips, I turned to the internet.  I came across a soup recipe and decided to try it.  I know it's summer and I'm eating hot turnip soup, but this isn't too bad.  The turnips have an interesting taste and I don't know how to describe the taste.  There is a slight bitter aftertaste that I'm sure some might not like.  The bitterness is not that strong, but it does remind me of the bitterness in the greens.  Overall, the soup is pretty good.

The following is my take on the turnip recipe that I found:

2 TBL of butter
4 medium turnips
1 medium onion
1 medium potato
1 garlic, crushed
2 bay leaf (optional)
4 C of broth
Salt and pepper to taste

1.  Cut the turnips, onion, and potato into smaller pieces.
2.  In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in turnips, onion, and garlic.  Cook until onion is translucent.
3.  Add potato, bay leaves (if using), and broth.  Stir and boil until the turnips are tender.
4.  Turn off fire.  Take out the bay leaves, if it was added to the soup.  Using a stick blender, puree the soup.  Season with salt and pepper.
5.  Enjoy the soup as is, or you can add cream, milk, or sour cream to the soup.

The original recipe can be found at this website:  http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/pureeacutedsoups/r/turnippuree.htm

Turnips and Turnip Greens

This year I grew turnips.  I've never grown turnips before and I have no idea how to cook it.  I'm going to have to search the internet to find some recipes.  I've read that one can roast a turnip like a potato and eat it.  I might just try that because it sounds so simple and easy.  Yet, I've also been thinking of making turnip soup.  I know summer isn't the best time to make and eat hot soup, but for some reason, I have soup on the brain.

 

Now, the real reason I grew turnips this year, not just because I wanted to try growing something new and different, was because I wanted to eat the turnip greens (a.k.a. turnip tops).   Last night I cooked some of the turnip greens and it was yummy.  All I did was cut the greens into smaller pieces and sauté in oil.  It tasted like the Asian greens that I grew up eating.  There was a slight bitterness to the greens, but I didn't mind.  It really made me miss my mom and her cooking.

Have you eaten a turnip before?  How would you suggest I cook my turnips?

Friday's Quote: Henry David Thoreau

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined."---Henry David Thoreau

 

I love this quote.  There are days when I wake up and realize that things come into my life for a reason.  This quote is here today to give me hope.

Last night was a headache because I began editing my first story.  I had set it aside for the last month and a half.  Now, I'm going back to it.  OMG, does my story suck and does it ever not make sense.  I'm trying to make it make sense.  It's so true when authors say that editing a story is hard and that one better love her story because by the end of it, she's going to hate her story and characters.  Right now, I'm already beginning to hate my story and my characters.  I feel as if I could just gag myself with a spoon if I have to keep going through my story.  Unfortunately, this is my fist edit.  I still have several more edits to go (please gag me now).

However, I will stop complaining.  I must be confident and know that all of this editing is moving towards my dream of finishing a novel.  This is the life of writing a novel and despite all my self doubt, I can't lose faith.

How about you?  Are you moving confidently in the direction of your dreams?  Are you living the life you have imagined?

Mortgage Lifter Tomato

I've only harvested about a dozen of grape tomatoes, but I today I harvested my first really really big tomatoes.  I believe these tomatoes are called "Mortgage Lifter" tomatoes.  I purchased the plant from a green house, meaning I didn't start it from seed.  Anyhow, I can't believe how big these tomatoes are.   The size of these tomatoes are very similar to a beef-steak tomato.  

I'm going to enjoy my tomatoes tomorrow as a snack.  I'm excited to see how the tomato will taste.  On a side note, this tomato has a very interesting name.  If you're interested in how this tomato got its name, Mortgage Lifter, you should check out the following website:  http://www.tomatogeek.com/2010/08/04/mortgage-lifter-tomato-story/.

Are you growing tomatoes this year?  How far along are your tomatoes coming?

Bee Balm

[Taken August 6, 2013 in St. Paul, MN.]

Setting an Intention

Sometime in late 2010 and early 2011, I started to make mediation a weekly practice.  I didn't succeed, but have been trying to make it a more recurring practice.  This also includes yoga.  Unlike meditating, I actually really like yoga because I can feel the effect it has on my body (I feel like butter after a really good yoga class). 

 

Overall, it's all about setting an intention and making time for both practices.  For the last several months, I've been trying to make meditation and yoga a practice again.  I told myself to try meditating for some time each day and that I'd participate in one yoga class a week.  I even went and purchased my own yoga mat today.

 

I will try again.  Have you set an intention to do something?

Friday's Quote: Winston Churchill

"If you're going through hell, keep going."---Winston Churchill

 

I don't know if I've ever been in hell and if I've ever even passed through it.  Yet, I'm sure that there have been moments in my short life where it must have felt like hell.

I don't remember the hunger pangs when I didn't have enough to eat as a child in my native country, although my mother remembers it quite clearly.  I don't remember coming to the U.S., but that must have been one hellish trip.  I do remember the pain and loss of losing my brother.  I do remember the pain and loss I felt from each of my break ups with my beaus.  I remember not feeling alive, challenged, and hopeless when I felt that couldn't further my career. 

Through each of these hellish situations, I received lots of help and support from family and friends.  Yet, I also kept going.  Why would I want to stay in hell if I can keep going?  Especially if I believed that there has got to be a better place and/or a better person waiting for me.  Sometimes, the path may be shrouded in darkness and once in a while I felt a little lost, but I always had faith that there was a better place for me than the hell I was going through.  Of course, I had my moments where I wanted to give up, but I didn't.  So, I continued to push forward and kept going.  There is always a better place than the hell I was going through.

What hellish situation have you been through and did you keep going to get out of it?