I suppose like most grandmother’s I waited for the day my daughter would tell me I was going to get a new title other than “Mom”. When it finally did happen I cried and laughed and probably jumped up and down a bit.

The nervous anticipation of my first grandchild’s arrival is now a memory neatly tucked into my minds scrapbook. It’s hard to believe that almost two years has passed since I learned I was going to be someone’s “Mom Mom”. Tomorrow we turn another page, my Charly Girl turns one…

I love this day of technology where I have the opportunity to tell Charlotte Rose how she has changed our lives forever.  Perhaps this seems like one of those things that is better written in an intimate note that she can open on her 18th birthday…I think not.

I want my words in a place where she can access them any time she needs to know how much I love her as she grows up, a place where my daughter and son-in-law (the best you could hope for) can come back to read how they brought a small little angel into the world that changed so many lives for the better, a place where her other side of the family can read how grateful I am that they are able to be her caretakers while her Mom and Dad are off working, a place where my words and my love for her will never be deleted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Charlotte Rose,

I remember the day that Mommy and Daddy came to my house to give me a gift. It was a small wrapped package that contained a bib that said “I Love Grandma”. I remember standing there in disbelief thinking “could this really be true?” When I realized it was, I laughed and cried all at the same time.  Doone just kept repeating “Ahh that’s GREAT!” and Mommy showed us your ultrasound picture. A small arrow pointed right to where your tiny beautiful baby heart was beating.

Your beautiful tiny beating heart...

Mommy made me call Uncle Ian and Aunt Haley from a friend’s house and tell them to “Come right home!” (They thought they were in trouble for something, Tee Hee)

Uncle Ian came in first. I said “I just wanted to show you what Jackie and Jason brought me today…” That is when I turned the little bib around for him to see.  I don’t think he got it at first… He said “Awww that’s cute”, then his eyes popped out a bit and he asked “really?!” He kept smiling until Aunt Haley got there.

When Aunt Haley came in she asked me why I wanted her to come home so quick.  Your Mommy told her she just wanted her opinion on the gift she and Daddy bought Mom Mom, showing her the bib.  Aunt Haley jumped up and started screaming “Yeah that makes me an Aunt!!!”

You made me an Aunt, I love you precious baby...

It also makes you the first grandchild on both sides of your family.

A few weeks later Mommy had another picture of you taken and that is when we found out you were our “Baby Girl Deitch” or “BGD” as you were referred to until your birth.

You were smiling even before you got here and haven't stopped since.

We had lots of fun planning for your very special arrival…Mommy and Daddy picked furniture for your room, hung pretty satin drapes and Mom Mom came and painted little pink bubbles with ruffly edges up in the corners. Your Mommy’s favorite bear has always been Winnie the Pooh from the time she was a little girl, so Mom Mom painted a small scene from Classic Pooh books onto a canvas that now hangs over your head as you dream at night. We cannot wait until you recognize and talk to the characters…

Classic Pooh just for you.

The next few months of preparation included buying baby items and clothing for our precious sweet girl…Grandmom Alice bought you the most adorable little shoes, we could hardly believe how tiny they were. She gave Mommy some shirts she had made herself when your Daddy was little. What wonderful gifts for such a wonderful baby.

A few weeks before you arrived, Mom Mom, Grandmom Alice, Grandpa Al, Aunt Haley and Aunt Julianna threw a baby shower. It was so much fun. Grandma Alice found a terrific spot and we made lots of special foods, a fancy punch and Mom’s best friend Hillary helped us decorate in lime green and orange. There were vases with lime green gumballs and BIG orange gerbera daisies on the tables and we made a clothes line to hang your little things on. Aunt Haley and Aunt Julianna blew up balloons and Grandpa Al helped with just about everything that day! He had a smile a mile wide on his face ALL…DAY…LONG. His baby girl would soon be here.

We had a second shower after you arrived for Mom Mom’s side of the family. They live far away and you decided you wanted to come a little early since there were so many people waiting for you.

I remember so clearly the day Daddy took Mommy to the hospital. It was sooooo long for all of us that were waiting to meet you.   When Mommy called me she started to cry because her baby daughter had finally arrived safe and sound in her arms. I could hear your cry in the background you sounded like a little lamby, just like Mommy did 28 years before when they placed her in Mom Mom’s arms. Mom Mom, Uncle Ian and Aunt Haley rushed over to the hospital to see you and Grandmom Alice, Grandpa AL and Aunt Julianna were there too. We were ALL so happy.

YOU were the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. They were still checking you out when we arrived so I got the chance to whisper in your ear and tell you how perfect you just made the world…

Today you made the world a better place

Over the past twelve months you have brought us joy beyond what any of us could have ever imagined. You are a sweet, sweet baby. You are affectionate and loving to everyone. You ALWAYS smile and at times are quite the actress, feigning cries to get what you want…its rather funny actually. You sprouted several teeth and are a big girl at the table. You learned to roll, sit up, stand and walk with your baby doll stroller which you never let the baby ride in.

You love your stuffed piggies (like your Mama) and the laughing baby from Uncle Ian. You wave hi and bye, point to your nose and ear and if coaxed will lay your head down cuddling when someone says “Awwww”. When I ask you “who is my sweet girl?” you point to yourself…and you are correct.

You do some things that we think are quite funny. You feed Pumpkin your food and when she is not around you bark like her and wave food over the edge of your chair as if you are going to throw it down for her until Mommy says “No Charlotte”. When giving Doone a big wet kiss on the nose you decided to blow hard instead, making his eyeballs bulge! We laughed so hard. You love playing pat-a-cake with everyone and jumping monkeys on Doone’s lap.

Tomorrow is your birthday sweet little girl and you will be one years old. We are decorating the house for your party and I speak for your whole family when I say we are feeling very blessed to be a part of your life.

Happy First Birthday Charlotte Rose!

Love, Mom Mom

Posted on February 26, 2012 by | 3 Comments

As I left for work this morning a beautiful site caught my eye.  A large patch of daffodils had bloomed overnight. I stopped for a minute just watching how they swayed in the morning breeze, waving hello…its February when cold weather and sometimes ice are the norm here in the south, a time when normally all we see are the dried remnants of the glorious fall colors that have been left behind. I buckled up and took in the small miracle that occurred in the side yard one last time. I wonder who else saw daffodils this morning to start their day off on the right foot. I wonder how many stroll by them without even as much as a second glance. I wonder if in fact they have been here for a few days and I too, have been missing them…

On my way to work I realize the trees also have burst forward with a surprise morning song, shining their pink happy faces like a baby that just woke from an afternoon nap.

I believe that sometimes our lives run at such a clip we forget to look for signs of peace and hope in the small everyday miracles that occur right before us. Just as we are given memories that we may see roses in the winter, our great creator gives us these daffodils in February as a warm sign of hope in a harried world, telling us to not worry as better days are yet to come. If you are feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, rushed, tired, down and unrewarded, look for the daffodils, they are Angels of hope.

Hello Sunshine!

“Remember to treat your friends like family and your family like friends!”

Posted on February 22, 2012 by | Leave a comment

There is no doubt about it, change is HARD…for some, excruciating…but on the other side of the coin, without it we would never be so inclined to improve those things that drag us down.  Lately I have had many health issues to deal with. Actually it’s been going on for quite a long time and  it’s only recently that my body has screamed so loud I am unable to NOT pay attention.

There is nothing like chronic stomach pain, heartburn, nausea, vitamin deficiencies, skin rashes, exhaustion, cloudy mind, huge weight gain, insomnia, anxiety, (and for good measure let’s throw in depression) as well as a plethora of other aliments to make you stop telling yourself that “nothing is wrong”.

The more doctor’s I visit, medical material I read, test’s and biopsies that I have done, the more frustrated I become. I just spent another week doing all of the above. Oh yeah, and in a week or two I will receive a medical bill for my portion, which in and of itself is enough to make me sick all over again.

Funny, I went to a medium (don’t roll your eyes it was cool) just over a year ago who patted her stomach in the middle of a very emotional session and asked me “what my trouble was here?” I looked at her with confusion and said “no problem”… all she said was “yes there is”…I should have listened but there is nothing more dramatic than an emergency right? RIGHT! I think bleeding ulcers and four days in the hospital via the emergency room is enough.

This is an emergency, actually a crisis of national interest and one I want to talk about very frankly with all of you. Remember the old saying “you are what you eat?” Well I guess that makes me an inflamed biproduct of wheat and sugar. You heard me right, that wasn’t your wine glass talking!

Look, I promise not to go all crunchy granola on you if you promise to hear me out.

You all know by now good food is one of my favorite things in life just under family and friends. I have always tried to bring to the table, organic food when possible, simply because it “seemed” like the right thing to do for my family. At the very minimum I will tell you that the idea of pesticides in my food literally freaks me out. I don’t care what kind of degree the idiot has that tells me “after the chemical dries, it’s fine”.

Did I go completely organic? Nope! I checked out the price difference a few times during a tight budget week and said “meh, same dif!” and threw things into my cart that I shouldn’t have. My pantry is loaded…

Vegetables were a different story. For some strange reason eating a non-organic vegetable (I just typed the word organic and no lie, it came out cognac! Freudian slip perhaps? LOL ) felt like I was taking the poison in a shot, straight up. Crazy I know. Though somehow cruising through the store looking for dinner inspiration must have taken my mind off of the fact that all the crap in the boxes, bottles and cans on the shelves was twice as bad for my health and those I was feeding at my table.

Hey man we all do it…some more than others but no one is beyond being guilty of ignoring the nutrition panel on the label.  Anyway here I sit tonight trying to make light of a serious national epidemic in hope that you will somehow see some truth in what I am saying and along with me make some very important “Simple Changes”.

This mark on the label insures it's organic

To start, look for this label when you shop and buy organic products as much as possible. I know they are more expensive but the bill I will get for that endoscopy I just had after insurance will be in the neighborhood of $800.00. I think that’s enough to offset the organic food budget for the year don’t you think?

Honestly I don’t know what the end results of those tests will be but what I do know is #1) it is definitely food related…how do I know this? Because shortly after I ingest whatever it is that has me feeling this way, almost all of my symptoms return enraged like angry post Christmas shoppers on December 26th that can’t find their correct size. #2) I have read every possible article I could find on all of these same debilitating symptoms and diet is always the main culprit. And #3) Seriously? If you can’t pronounce it when reading a food label and you wouldn’t buy it and put it in your cupboard for dinner, why the hell would you eat it?

(Soapbox Speech)~last one for this post!

Our whole food system has been so over processed that our bodies are revolting against us. Take for instance a friend’s elderly mother. She was buying store bought prepared roasted chicken because she had a limited food budget and could eat for 2-3 days for the $6.00-$7.00 it cost to buy one, she wound up in the hospital for tests due to tummy trouble…the result? Her doctor wanted to know what other physician had put her on antibiotics because her colon was completely filled with them…the cause? Meats pumped with hormones and antibiotics. Antibiotics have a purpose but they also wipe out the good bacteria your body needs to digest food and absorb all the nutrients.  Healthy animals don’t need them or hormones for that matter…and eighth grade girls don’t need double D cups either!  Why does this happen? Because there is so much money in the food business that just like any other political arena, lobbyist get in bed with the food industry and everything goes to hell in a …grocery cart??? Anyway  I could go on and on but I found a good article that you should read. Here is the link, this is only the tip of the iceberg. More to come later because its dizzying being up on this soap box!

http://www.anh-usa.org/gluten-sensitivity-why-is-fda-dragging-its-feet/

So what do you say we take this blog in a little different direction? I will continue to write stories and post recipes. The difference? I will post my progress and the small dietary changes you can make in your household BEFORE tragedy strikes. Give my words some thought and maybe try of few of my suggestions and let me know how you make out. I promise not to make it too painful.  This is not a diet, its my internal GPS “recalculating”, we are no longer following the direction of those that do not have our best interest at heart. Quite simply “the closer to nature the better”.

This doesn’t mean nothing good will hit your plate or snacking is over, how about we just stop using our bodies as a garbage cans?

One of the things we have been doing in our house since the holidays is drinking lots of soda so my very first “Simple Change” is a recipe and video “how to” for Natural Orange soda.  This is something you can make from any citrus fruit or fruit you can juice easily. The best part is you can control the amount of sugar and wein yourself off the tremendous amount of processed ingredients.

So what do you say we start with health first and the weight part will come later.

Recipe for Natural Orange Soda

Healthier Natural Orange Soda

Juice of two (hopefully organic) oranges, my favorite are valencia

The beauty of Nature

Juice of 1/2 to 1 whole blood orange, if available, if not just go with 2 regular and add more of the same if needed for taste

Simple syrup to taste. Simple syrup is sugar and water boiled until its reduced by half thus making it a syrup. Use organic sugar.

Look at the difference in color between the organic sugar and the refined white sugar. I used organic so my syrup is slightly brown but it tastes great!

Seltzer water, I buy cans and find I can get two to threes soda from one can

THAT’S IT!

First step juice the oranges.

Choose you weapon!

There are many different juicers you can use (see pic above) and they all work just fine so use what you have.

Healthier Natural Orange Soda

Now in a tall glass with a few ice cubes pour in a small amount of simple syrup (about 1/2 to one inch). Then pour your juice in and next the seltzer.Watch out it’s…. BUBBLY! Easy Right?

Lemon lime

Next time try lemon lime.

Experiment with different combinations

From left to right, grapefruit, blood orange, orange, lemon and lime. The possibilities are endless. Drink up to better health!

AND just to show that I have a sense of humor despite all my whining…

Remember to treat your friends like family and your family like friends…

P.S. Here’s a quick video on the soda making process. Enjoy!

First FNF video :)

Posted on February 14, 2012 by | 3 Comments

The not yet seen on T.V. “Patio Panini Press”

Posted on February 5, 2012 by
Seasoned peppers and onions

This gallery contains 15 photos.

I love a good sandwich, especially a panini. My daughter bought me a panini press this year for Christmas and I have been waiting for the right time to use it.  Its pretty amazing that she was able to find … Continue reading →

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Is it still monkey bread if it has chicken in it?

Posted on February 4, 2012 by

Since this weekend is Superbowl Sunday, I thought I would post a recipe for the big game that the Buffalo Chicken lovers in the crowd might enjoy.  This is a new spin on an old favorite.

A new twist on an old favorite

When I was first married I attended a party at a neighbor’s house.  One of the treats on the table was monkey bread.  For those of you who have no idea what that is, it’s canned biscuits rolled into one inch balls, coated in cinnamon sugar, dipped in butter and dropped one by one into a bundt pan.  Once baked, the pan is flipped over onto a platter and the bread can then be picked apart by your guests in small bite sized pieces. It can also be drizzled or served with a sugary glaze.

Recently my daughter made a very creative version of this bread that she got from a website.  In the new version a pizza dough was used to wrap pepperoni slices and mozzarella cheese into one inch balls, dipped in garlic butter then dropped into a bundt pan. She served it with a bright marinara sauce. It was awesome.

When I eat something good for the first time I create a challenge for myself to develop my own version of it. And so…this is my twist on an old football favorite.

A few pointers right up front:

One, just because you are incasing the ingredients inside the dough does not mean you need more than that one inch round ball to start.  The more dough you use for each piece, the doughier (is this even a word? I don’t know but it fits!) it gets when baked.  This is o.k. if you are looking for doughy but in this recipe too much dough absorbs the zing from the buffalo sauce and taste of the chicken.

Two, go easy on the butter you are dipping it in.  I think I had a little too much on each piece and when I turned the pan over, they all fell apart. Some would consider this a FAIL but creativity told me to serve them up like they were supposed to be that way and no one know the difference! On another note, I am thinking it could have also been that I turn them out when they were still too hot and the butter had not coagulated yet. Now there’s a word! Sounds healthy huh?

Three, it takes time to wrap all the pieces so if someone offers to help, let ‘em!  Form a production line and get it done.

Start a production line

You can serve this with extra hot sauce or blue cheese dressing to dip it in. I mixed some hot sauce with the dressing and honestly 50% of us liked it.  Next time I would try some hot sauce in sour cream.

Anyway the instructions are below for Buffalo Chicken Pickin’ ( Buffalo Chicken Monkey Bread didn’t sound so appetizing, seriously…“Buffalo’s, Chickens, Monkey’s, oh my!” It just didn’t cut it.) ENJOY!

Super Bowl Sunday Buffalo Chicken Pickin’ 

Ingredients

- 2 large chicken breasts, pounded thin and sautéed in a little olive oil,  butter and seasonings(I used salt and pepper)

- 1 wedge of blue cheese, if you are a blue cheese lover go with Maytag

- 2 packages of pizza dough

- 1 tablespoon of butter

- Hot sauce, I used Frank’s brand

- 2-3 tablespoons butter (for final dip)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sautee two chicken breast in a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter that are seasoned with salt and pepper until browned and cooked through. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, set up a work station on the counter.

Sprinkle a little four on the surface so the dough doesn’t stick.

Take 1 tablespoon of butter and melt it down with approximately a tablespoon of hot sauce and set aside. Cut chicken breasts up into one inch pieces and toss them in the butter hot sauce mixture and set aside. Cut blue cheese into small chunks, maybe ¼ inch or so and set aside.

Start ripping off small pieces of dough, approximately 1 inch and flatten into small rounds. Top each round with a piece of chicken dipped in the hot sauce mixture and a small piece of blue cheese. Pull the sides of the dough up and pinch together to form a small ball.  Drop the ball into the hot sauce-butter mixture consisting of 2-3 tablespoons of butter to 1 teaspoon of hot sauce and drop into the bundt pan. Continue until you have used up all your ingredients.

Dip in a little butter hot sauce mixture

Drop into pan

Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes, or until it is browned on top. Everyone’s oven varies so keep an eye out and don’t over bake.

35 minutes in a 400 degree oven

Serve with extra hot sauce or blue cheese dressing.  I mixed them and liked it but not everyone did, it’s a matter of personal taste.  Like I said next time I will try sour cream and hot sauce.

Posted in cooking, Family, friends, Games, Super Bowl, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment