What better way to begin a peaceful Sunday than with this wonderful video of Sarah Chang performing “Meditation de Thais” by Massanet. This lovely piece always sends chills up my spine and peace to my soul. Please enjoy and don’t forget to take time for yourself today! Do something wonderful just for you!
On The Radio
Join me as I have a lively conversation with Dayna Caldwell, curator of the wonderful Kessler Collection at The Mansion on Forsyth Park in Savannah. Dayna is passionate about her work and has beautiful things to share with us all!
Finally Friday!
In my post yesterday I promised some slow cooking recipes. This is one of my favorites! The aroma of chicken with shallots, white wine and figs is indescribable! I think you’ll love this! Prepare a crisp salad of winter greens…perhaps a baby organic kale salad with toasted almonds and a light vinaigrette. A nice pinot noir would be perfect and crusty bread if you’re not avoiding gluten. The day someone creates a delicious, crisp baguette that is gluten free will be a blessed day for me! Enjoy making and eating this wonderful meal!
Magic Skillet
Slow Cooker Chicken with Figs and Blue Cheese
1 whole chicken cut into serving pieces
2 tablespoons Golden Isles Garlic Olive Oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 medium shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
4 fresh thyme leaves
3/4 cup dry white wine (cook with wine you would drink)
2 tablespoons fig balsamic vinegar (also available at Golden Isles Olive Oil)
1 tablespoon fig preserves
12 dried Black-Mission figs
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
fresh organic arugula for garnish
Sprinkle the chicken pieces with sea salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and fry the chicken, three minutes on each side. Add the chopped shallots to the pan and toss to coat with oil. Pour the chicken, shallots and any oil into the slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and thyme to the pot. Stir the wine, fig balsamic and preserves together and pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours making sure the chicken is tender and clear juices flow from it when tested with a fork. While the chicken is cooking soak the dried figs in hot water for about an hour. When the chicken is finished cooking, remove it, discarding the bay leaves, and place on a serving platter. Heat the remaining cooking juices in a large skillet, bringing to a boil. Add the figs and and cook over high heat until the sauce reduces by half. Pour this mixture over the chicken pieces, sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and arugula. That’s it! A deliciously easy meal that pleases everyone!
Slow Cooking!
Yes, I have been accused of being a “food snob”. Having spent years in the kitchen, both of my restaurant and my home, makes that almost inevitable! And for many years I considered having a “crockpot” or what we now term, a slow cooker, was never going to happen in my world! But necessity prevailed and testing the waters became important as my life got busier. A friend told me about a wonderful Hamilton Beach slow cooker with three sizes of pots for cooking more or less…whatever works. I love this machine. It has made my life easier when I use it on busy days. And I’ve learned so much about making really good food in this little pal of mine!
Searching for cookbooks that would guide me on my quest came next. I began my journey through Google and found three cookbooks I’m treasuring. Of course, I’m always altering, adding and changing, but the basics of each of these books by cookbook authors, Deborah Schneider and Michele Scicolone, have paved the way for many delicious meals that are ready when the family gets home in the evening. The whole house smells warm and inviting with hints of onion, garlic and fresh herbs as we come through the door. Dinner together is a very important ritual in our life. It’s the time we share, discuss and connect. Having a wonderful one dish meal with a good glass of wine completes the deal.
I love The French Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone. Her recipes taught me the method of browning meats, veggies and beginning sauces before putting everything into the cooker. This makes for a visually appealing dish as well as a delicious one!
And Michele’s book, The Mediterranean Slow Cooker, is another winner. We love the flavors and variety of this particular cuisine. This book does not disappoint!
Finally, The Mexican Slow Cooker, by Deborah Schneider, offers up soothing south of the border comfort foods for chilly evenings.
I’ll be sharing specific recipes with you over the next couple of months while the weather is cool.
Going With The Flow….
I received a little sign as a gift last year that I am reading and re-reading. It says “I’m Not Sure If Life Is Passing Me By Or Trying To Run Me Over”. I have mixed feelings about this statement, especially since I pride myself on being an “eternal optimist”. But I have to say that lately, I have resonated with that little line a bit more than I’d like too!
So in order to get myself on track I’m spending time each day breathing deeply and saying thank you for the opportunity to be in my wonderful life. With palms outstretched I ask for blessings to be bestowed; for abundance to shower down on me and trickle down to whoever else I come into contact with to receive as needed and asked for. I’m asking for goodness, mercy and forgiveness as well.
But at the top of my list is to stop RUSHING! I recently read that rushing is a symptom of stress, that it actually creates fear and the feeling of not doing enough or being enough. The morning I truly became aware of my tendency to rush I was getting into the shower, my mind buzzing with thoughts of what I had to do that day, where I had to go, who I would see, what I should wear….on and on. I literally gave a silent scream of “STOP!” as I applied my Wen hair products and took my favorite bar of “Sea Island” soap from Amelia Bath & Body in hand, lathering up a scrubbie.
I actually caught myself rushing to get into the shower, get out, get dressed and get going. Instead I stopped, after the silent scream, and took a long, deep breath. I thought about this beautiful island I am so very thankful to live on. I closed my eyes and continued breathing deeply as the hot shower water beat down on my body, savoring the feeling, the very experience of the aromatherapy from the products I used that day and feeling so grateful to have the time to enjoy this moment.
It is, with firm resolve, that I now promise myself to take my time. Why rush down Frederica Road just to get to the grocery store, or to anything for that matter. Why rush when we can absolutely live on island time. How amazing is that? Think about it! So I’m now stopping the rushing thoughts just as they begin, focusing on the here and now, taking a few deep, cleansing breaths and saying thank you three times with deepest feeling! I invite you to try this the next time you feel the daily stress of life bearing down on you! What have we got to rush around to do? We need to take the time to enjoy each day, to experience the goodness of, to appreciate our loved ones and to be grateful for everything….yes, everything. Even the hard times make us stronger and point out what is truly important. Take that long walk, alone or with someone special you enjoy spending time with. Think about what would make you happy each new day. And then do it! If you need to make changes in your life get started! Don’t hesitate….time’s a wastin’….as my Granddaddy used to say!
Here’s to life…to experiencing and loving it….embrace this new year and make it your best one yet!
For Posterity
George Tames
The Ritz has a wonderful photography show on display during the month of January. “Presidential Pathways” shares the work of photographer George Tames who became known as “Posterity’s Spy” as he snapped photos of United States President’s from Roosevelt to George H.W. Bush.
Mr. Tames’ daughter, Stephanie, has kindly offered the photographs taken by her father for all of us to enjoy. He captured the essence of each President in unique ways I have not seen before.
My favorite is this photograph of John F. Kennedy. I feel the burden of his responsibility when I look at this….what a time in history it was!
All of the photographs bring back some sort of memory.
I also found this photograph entitled, “Widow’s Walk” to be filled with emotion and the stark reality of those our troops leave behind.
These photographs are all important to our nation’s history. I highly recommend taking your children and grandchildren to see this show while it is here.
Mr. Tame’s work with The New York Times spanned five decades during which he recorded valuable moments with each President in this collection. Thank you to Heather Heath for putting this exhibit together!
Another Weakly Post
I’m sharing another one of Bud Hearn’s wonderful “Weakly Posts” today. I don’t think there is anything weak about Bud’s writing. His sense of humor and quick wit are always right there waiting to be shared with us all! Bud’s message about living now and living well is one I thought you would all enjoy!
The Weakly Post
The Loan Is Due
Years are loans. Time, that shyster among us all, is the banker, ever loaning, never giving. Its credit is conditional.
Today, December 31st, our loan for the past 365 days comes due. Payment is demanded, like it or not. Such is the way of all loans…they mature.
We dance around due dates. So soon, we lament. We squander the year’s remaining resources in profligate carousals and the pagan idea of buy now, pay later. We choose to spend the last pennies of our credit line on wanton celebrations and manic revelry.
Who can blame us? Living on somebody else’s largess is easy. But all bankers keep ledgers. Debt is hard as iron on our balance sheets. Our assets are soft as marshmallows. We run, we pretend, we rationalize, but the deadline always looms. Time’s bill collector is a relentless pursuer.
Loans are not earned income; hence the cliché, ‘easy come, easy go.’ We’ll pledge our first born to get Time’s easy cash in our palms. We’ve had 365 days of reprieve to plunder the treasury, to pilfer the vault that overflows with Time’s specie. Now it’s due. What’s to show for it?
We check our diaries, our calendars. They’re filled less with thoughts than packed with action. But just sand nevertheless, ever flowing through our hour glass. Nothing retained. Palms empty. Where did the time go, we ask?
What if banker Time, as a condition of loan renewal, required evidence of how we spent our days? Would it discover how we squandered the use of our allocated assets of time? How we wiled away gold talents in wild schemes and mad pursuits?
Most loans contain a clause that in the event of default the loan is due ‘on demand.’ That was a foreign concept to me until I signed loan documents. The day remains a black spot on an otherwise lackluster career of credit.
We were assembled around a large conference table. The banker, his lawyer (where there’s money, there are lawyers!) and me. Lying in neat windrows around that colossal table were stacks of forms written in letters so minute they would qualify for a used car contract.
Leo, the lawyer, asked, “Do you have any questions, son?”
“Uh, well, only one, sir. What exactly is in these documents?” I asked.
Leo grinned at the banker. “Nothing that’s good for you, my boy. Sign here.”
Like dogs, loans appear harmless. They mostly sleep until they’re hungry. Like excessive loan interest, they’re voracious eaters. It was the ‘on demand’ provision that bit me!
Time has an ‘on demand’ clause. We remain here at the forbearance of the Banker. The loan can be called due at any time. Fortunately, tomorrow, for most of us, the loan will automatically renew. Fear is the vigorish we pay.
Last Sunday on the coast we had an early spring. I sat on the steps leading to the beach. The well-trod pathway of summer, a white sandy trail, lay in front of me. Close to the water grew a desiccated clump of sea oats, a barrier to the trail’s straight-line continuation.
The trail diverged into a ‘Y’ to circumvent it. A dilemma was created. Which route to choose? Right or left? I weighed the options. It really didn’t matter. Both trails led to the same swirling sea. Maybe Darwin was right all along.
As I mulled over the alternatives, a lone butterfly, obviously a leftover from the fall migration, flittered by. I watched it float effortlessly over the granite riprap. It seemed to be in contemplation also.
It landed on a wilted, yellowed flower whose loan from the Banker had come due. Disappointed, the butterfly then lit on the sand at my feet, apparently considering its preferences. It chose the rocks as a refuge. We all choose something.
**********
The poet, Louise Gluck, chose a fortune teller, and writes:
“Great things, she said, are ahead of you, or perhaps behind you; it is difficult to be sure. And yet, she added, what is the difference? Right now you are a child holding hands with a fortune-teller. All the rest is hypothesis and dream.”
So, is this what we’re left with as we face 2015…a memory of yesterday and a dream of tomorrow?
Friends, just renew the loan, buy the ticket and take the ride. Happy New Year!
Bud Hearn
December 31, 2014
Simple Sundays
A new year has come….a clean slate….a new beginning. How exciting! I have so much hope for 2015. I look forward to sharing more history of our area with you as well as more on the arts and humanities, interesting people, places and things! I found this lovely video on-line and thought it would be a great way to begin with the first Simple Sundays post of this new year. Pour your coffee and relax as you listen. Take a moment to be quiet and visualize what you want to accomplish, experience and be. Wishing you all the happiest of times in the days and months ahead!
On The Radio
What a pleasure to have time to talk with Michael Hulett and his wonderful manager, Joe Polezoes. Join us to hear all about Michael’s singing career, how it all began and the many positive things that are happening as Michael’s career continues to blossom.
Finally Friday!
The new year is underway! In trying to decide what to take to the celebration we attended at our friend’s home here on the beach I thought of many different things I could prepare. Ultimately I chose three of them and made a platter of finger foods that turned out to be yummy and perfect for the occasion! I’m sharing what I made as well as the recipes. This was a great trio of dishes to present on a large platter for friends to enjoy! Let me know if you try any of these……I think they are divine!
Roasted Chickpeas
Bleu Cheese Pecan Ball
Mediterranean Palmiers
Roasted Chickpeas
This simple recipe comes straight from Martha Stewart Living. I have heard of roasting chickpeas and intended to try it way before now. I had the ingredients in hand and thought it would be the perfect little crunchy accompaniment to the rest of the dishes. I was not wrong!
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and patted dry
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cumin seed (I used powder and it worked perfectly)
Coarse salt
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pour olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven until oil is hot, 3 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine chickpeas, cayenne pepper, and cumin. Season with salt and toss to combine. Place chickpea mixture on hot baking sheet and spread in a single layer. Bake until chickpeas are crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and let cool slightly. Serve warm.
Bleu Cheese Pecan Ball
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 dashes Tabasco hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
dash of ground white pepper
6 ounces Buttermilk Bleu Cheese
1 shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
2 teaspoons brandy (optional)
1 cup toasted pecan pieces
Water crackers for serving
Place butter, cream cheese, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt and pepper in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix to combine. Stir bleu cheese and shallots into the mixte, add brandy, if desired. Form a ball and roll in toasted pecan pieces. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Mediterranean Palmiers
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
1/4 black olive tapenade
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot finely minced (1 tablespoon)
1 cup finely sliced crimini mushrooms
1/2 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
2 tablespoons capers
Parmesan cheese shavings
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll the puff pastry dough as thin as possible to form a long rectangle, do this on a floured surface to prevent sticking. Spread the dough with the tapenade. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add the shallot, mushrooms, tomatoes, artichoke hearts and capers. Saute for about five minutes. Spread this mixture over the tapenade. Top with shaved parmesan cheese. Roll the two long sides toward the middle of the piece of pastry, until they meet. Slice 1/2 inch slices and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes. Remove and bake 17 – 22 minutes or golden brown.
