What to do for dinner on hot summer days? Well, if you're like me, you refer to my Summer Super Fast Meals list [see extended entry]! I keep this list which I got from an article published in the NYT food section a long time ago. I've modified the entries over the years as I tried each recipe to make it more flavorful and appealing. They are all under 15 min from start to finish, it does not include eating. The assumption is that you either have these items at home or can pick them up on your way. Bon Appetit!

Update: Sarah K of Mountaineer Musings made a modified version of #41 with great and flavorful success and posts about it here. If anyone else tries any of these and likes them send me an email (see front page) and I'll link back to you from here. more...

Posted by: Michele at 08:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Je pensée à toi toujours. Avez-vous reçu mes prières?

Posted by: Michele at 12:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hey there! Hope youÂ’re all are well. IÂ’ve been visiting my top 50 blogs through my cell and seeing the amusing, fun, interesting, heartwarming stuff you all have posted. IÂ’m still keeping vw, rsm, and a few other special people in my thoughts and prayers as they go through their physical/health challenges. IÂ’ve been through my own this past year, sometimes even double up when I was undergoing chemotherapy while dealing with torn ligaments in my knees that left me on crutches for months. I know it canÂ’t compare to your own personal trials but what I have to share from my own experience is that if you try and hang in there and find inspiration for a positive outlook, youÂ’ll have a greater chance at a more positive outcome. For me Louise Hay was a very inspiring author. From her I found others. So if youÂ’re going through anything thatÂ’s challenging your spirit, I encourage you to search online for positive inspiration. ThereÂ’s plenty of support and resources online so I hope if you need youÂ’ll use them to get through any bump in your road..

As for me, I'm currently back in physical therapy almost 2 hrs per day, in order to finish the rehab on my knee and move back into the gym. Wooohoooo! At the same time I'm busy going through an intensive professional development course which is FRIEKIN AWESOME! Of course the goal-setting workshop kicked my butt this week because I didn’t anticipate that we would be taking THREE DAYS to plan everything I want to achieve in my professional life for the next TWENTY YEARS. Now please understand, I’m psyched about this because these are all my professional hopes and dreams for the next 20 years. And folks, I went out there and dared to dream! This guy is so good I decided to take and pay for a personal development class with him. Unfortunately, I didn’t know it at the time of signing up, but the classes overlap for about 2 weeks. At first the overachiever in me thought: “ahh, I’ll be able to manage.” Now, I’m not so sure I can do both classes justice. All I can do is try because I really want to take these 2 courses now. This guy isn’t always in NYC and the timing for these courses in my life is perfect.

You see IÂ’ve always had a lot of dreams. When I was 25 and diagnosed with cancer the first time around I made a list of the top 50 things I wanted to accomplish in my life. The first 10 or most important to me I decided to accomplish prior to starting chemo. In fact I deferred chemo for 6 weeks because I wanted to have something to think about and feel good about during the throwing up, loosing my hair, not wanting to continue days. Those 10 things were my carrots that dangled before my eyes for my future life.

By age 35 I had accomplished 48 of the 50 goals. When I was 40 I completed the list. This past year, when I was diagnosed with skin cancer in April ‘07, I quickly did a top 10 list of things I wanted to see, do, have, or create in the following year. It was tough at times, especially after my knee injury, but I forged ahead and I recently accomplished my 10th! Wooohoooo! So I knew I needed a new set of goals (or dreams with deadlines) that I wanted to accomplish. And this instructor, well, he dares me not only to dream, but to dream like I’ve never dreamed before. He asks me to visualize my dreams and to see me accomplishing them, with no impediments in my way. There’s more, and the course is a lot more intense, but that is just plain awesome. No one has ever dared me to dream and aim way high! High enough to reach the sky. No one! And so he has shown me that my track record of accomplishing my small dreams are proof that I cannot only dream big, but that I can find ways to accomplish the big dreams too. Which means me eventually leaving NYC (you know I’ve kidded about this before but it’s a dream of mine) and finding a wonderful community to live and work, where I can raise my son to be a happy values oriented kid. Woohooo! Can you tell I’m psyched?

So IÂ’m looking at a schedule that looks a little bit like this:

5:30am – 7:00am – Physical Therapy at home
7:00am – 8:00am – Breakfast (pack lunch) get son and I ready for our days
8:00am – 9:00am – Travel to drop off son at camp/continue on to work
9:00am – 10:00am – Get as much stuff done as possible before Prof. Dev. Class
10:00am – 11:00am – Professional Development Class
11:00am – 4:45pm – Work \hard to get all issues resolved & squeeze in 20 min of PT
4:45pm – 7:00pm – Travel to and take classes then take a cab home
7:15pm – 8:30pm – Catch up w/son, spend time together & get him ready for bed
8:30pm – 9:30pm – House work, meal prep for bkfast, lunch & dinner as I eat dinner
9:30am – 1:30am – Do homeowork for class, shower and crash in my bed

In order to achieve this IÂ’ve had to adjust my nutrition and increase protein, calcium, etc. to support the extra activity. So far so good, IÂ’ve been on this schedule for 2 weeks now and itÂ’s held up well. The truth is IÂ’ve not slept this good, been this driven, nor been this excited about life since before 9/11 and my beloved friends and I were all training for the NYC Marathon.

To what do I attribute all this change to? Your total steadfast support, your unconditional love and you guys cheering for me until I was able to once again cheer for myself and cheer you guys on right back. You have helped me heal in ways I never thought were possible. And the most awesome part of this process is that I am a better person than I was prior to 9/11. God bless you all for being such an integral catalyst in my growth and I promise to be back as soon as IÂ’m done!

Oh one of my personal goals that I intend to put down on my list and accomplish over the next 3 years is to attend at least 1 blog meet and make a few personal visits to some awesome bloggers out there. So, look out! I just may be headed your way by the end of the summer!

BTW, comments are still closed 'cause in this kingdom I choose not to deal with scum of the earth spammers. But thank you for stopping bye, for your incredible support and for sticking by me through the quiet blogless periods.

Posted by: Michele at 10:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's my all time favorite dish in honor of Army Wife Toddler Mom's Birthday. Since I am a pesce-ovo vegetarian, I eat a lot of fish as that's my major source of protein. There are many people out there who don't serve fish to guests because (a) they don't want their house smelling fishy; (b) they don't like eating something that smells very fishy; and (c) they are intimidated by something they are unfamiliar with or that has only a little cook time [NOT AWTM for she is a great chef I'm told, by a culinary authority]. Well, this recipe is fool proof as this fish is neither fishy, nor very smelly, AND you can't go wrong with the cooking time. It can also be cooked on the stove with a grill type skillet [for us city dwellers} or in the oven with a grill type pan.

GRILLED SWORDFISH WITH ROSEMARY-WHITE WINE SAUCE

4 6-ounces swordfish steaks (each 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
6 tablespoons minced shallots
6 tablespoons dry white wine
2-4 minced garlic cloves
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into 8 pieces

Preparation
Prepare grill at medium-high heat. Brush fish with oil. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons rosemary. Season with kosher salt and white pepper.

Combine shallots, garlic, wine and lemon juice in small saucepan. Boil until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add remaining rosemary. Add 1 piece of butter; whisk until melted. Place pan over very low heat; add remaining butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking until each piece melts before adding the next. Remove from heat. Season with kosher salt and white pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, grill fish until opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side on a grill. 5 min on each side on the stove or 6 min per side in the oven. Serve with the rosemary-white wine sauce.

I serve this with fluffy Thai Jasmine rice and grilled asparagus. Since presentation is a key component to serving good food, I create a pattern over the swordfish with the grilled asparagus. Go ahead, live a little and experiment. Folks, its to die for! This is soooo good it should also be posted as an over-achiever post at When The Smoke Clears, so that RSM can try it when he returns. It qualifies as an over-achiever post because this recipe first appeared in Bon Appetit Magazine in the mid 90's and I modified it after trying it, making it thus my own!

Comments are closed because the birthday girl deserves the comments not me.

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Posted by: Michele at 01:41 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The More Loving One ~ W. H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

[Thanks for visiting but comments are still closed]

Posted by: Michele at 10:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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