Right Brained Gal

Sunday Scribblings - Kitchen

The day I was proposed to, the first thing I thought was, yes, now someone will throw me a "Kitchen Shower."  How I longed to have my very own kitchen, replete with every gadget, pot and pan to ever grace the pages of Gourmet Magazine. And better yet, having hundreds of people anxious to fill my every want and need.   

My love for cooking probably started in utero.  My mother was a Nurse who had little to no interest in cooking other than to fuel your body with nutrients.   My father was a better cook than my mom, but only if you could exist on fudge and popcorn. The whole time she was pregnant my mom prayed for a daughter who would be her sous chef, dishwasher and table setter. Her wish was granted. I don't know if it was out of self defense, but I started cooking at a very early age and my parents could not have been happier or encouraged me more.  While other girls my age were getting toys, I was given a timer, cookie sheets and spring pan.  One Christmas I decided I was too old for dolls and got a pizza making kit, miniature baking oven and cookbooks instead.  All my classmates were in shock at show and tell. Unfortunately for my parents and sister, my specialty was tuna noodle casserole and I think I made it every chance I could.  When I was ten years old, I whipped up a banana cream pie from scratch and all my mom could say was "beginners luck"!

I was so excited when I got pregnant, because I would have another mouth to feed. I was the type of mother who very seldom bought jars of baby food, choosing to make my own by throwing everything I could into the Cuisinart with love.  My daughters hardly ever had to settle for store bought cookies and developed a taste for olives, pickles and white cheddar cheese before they ever had a hot dog.  Speaking of hot dogs, I felt so guilty feeding them to my kids, that I insisted they wash them down with cottage cheese.  To this day, one of their favorite comfort foods is hot dogs with cottage cheese.

Although I have never had anything close to my dream kitchen and most of them had less space than my car, I have produced banquets fit for a king.  Throughout the years, I have mastered French cooking in my first year of marriage, learned to make authentic lasagna, produced an apple pie from scratch quicker than you can say Martha Stewart, thrown a party for 100 plus people numerous times, and more times than I care to admit, made homemade dog biscuits. I have tested over three hundred recipes for a Junior League Cookbook, made rice crispy treats on a weekly basis and nothing ever curtailed my love affair with cooking.

To me, my kitchen is my studio, my shrink, my entertainment center, my social center and my best friend. I feel more comfortable in the kitchen than I do in bed.

This is my entry for Sunday Scribblings.  Be sure to check out all the others. 

Illustration Friday - I Spy

The topic for this week's Illustration Friday is I Spy. I think a certain female has changed the face of a spy and I hope will change the course of history.

Sunday Scribblings - Inspiration

I love this weeks topic for Sunday Scribblings, and even though I can't compare to the talented people who have posted their stories already, here is my list of things that inspire me. 

1. The ocean - every time I see the vastness of the ocean I feel spiritual. It calms me and makes me feels so small and puts life in perspective.  I am hypnotized by the precision of the waves. To me the ocean is the best place to meditate and absorb all that I possibly can.

2. Music - touches my soul and makes me feel alive. It can enhance a happy mood and a reinforce a melancholy one. Music is like a history book for me, each song from my past representing a moment in time that I can never forget.

3.  The Internet.  I can spend hours, and I do, searching for inspiration.  There is so much to see on the Internet, I don't remember what life was before cyberspace.  When I used it for the first time many years ago, I had no idea how addicted I would become and how it would change my world. 

4. People - people who make me want to love what they love, just by their enthusiasm.  Their talents  inspire me to try harder.

5.  Museums - I love the fact that people have left behind a magnificent part of themselves for everyone to enjoy for eternity.

6. Beauty - I see beauty in everything.  Books, magazines, nature  - everywhere I look I see a design. It is as important to me as the air I breathe.

Inspire Me Thursday - Feminine Art

I am so happy to participate in Inspire Me Thursday again.  The topic this week is Feminine Art.

24 Things I Thought Were Going to be Fun, But They Just Weren't

One of my all time favorite Blogs is Schmutzie's Milk Money or Not.  She had the greatest blog entry titled 24 Things I Thought Were Going to be Fun, but They Just Weren't.  She encourages people to do their own list and I just couldn't resist.  Here it is:

1. During a teenage slumber party, calling a cab in the middle of the night for the grouchy old ladies next door, and watching a crippled cab driver climb the stairs to knock on their door at 2 a.m.

2. Putting up a For Sale sign in my parent's front yard, just for the hell of it.

3. Going to the Rose Parade with two children under 8 years of age.

4. Getting together with an old boyfriend I hadn't seen for twenty years.

5. Going from California back to Pennsylvania in March, for a surprise birthday party.

6. Picking out wallpaper while drunk.

7. Going to the Notre Dame - USC football game last November.

8. Letting my daughters draw on the front sidewalk with my oil based pastels and having their drawings become permanent fixtures.

9. All you can eat Sushi.

10. My then husband and I joining his brother and new wife on their honeymoon in the Bahamas.

11. "Borrowing" my mother's new car before I had my driver's license.

12. Taking my kids to see the movie Howard the Duck.

13. Decorating a dorm Christmas tree with tampons after a wild college party.

14. Working at a department store during my Christmas break from college and volunteering to be placed in the cards and wrapping paper department, the day after Christmas.

15. Spending a week with then husband and 4 and 7 year old daughters at another's couples (with two kids) cabin in Colorado with no indoor plumbing.

16. Having a Halloween birthday party for my daughter and 20 of her female classmates, taking them all trick or treating and having an overnight (cause Catholic schools get November 1 off) ANNUALLY!!!!!!

17. Having a pool party for the other daughter's summer birthday and her classmates, ANNUALLY!!!!

18. After high school graduation, joining in with classmates, burning the principal in effigy.

19. While at a slumber party, going horseback riding with all my girlfriends in our pajamas, in the middle of the night, and running into some very surprised policemen.

20. Inviting my ex-husband and his wife to our daughter's birthday/engagement party at my house and having the sprinklers go off accidentally while people (including his wife) were seated at tables in the back yard.

21.  Going to the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona with my daughter and some of her Notre Dame classmates. Actually, the game was the only miserable part.  Remember, Renee and Sara?

22. While married, being at a party with husband and inviting all of his law partners and their families over for a swimming party the next day, waking up and not remember doing it, and having most of them show up. Doing that more than once!

23. During the summer I was nineteen, visiting a college friend at her parent's house in Michigan on Lake Erie, and along with four other college girlfriends, taking her parent's  boat across the lake to an amusement park in Ohio. After parting all night, deciding to return back across the lake the next day in spite of a thunderstorm and a broken compass. 

24. Joining the Junior League of Pasadena and working on cookbook for three years, with thirty other women, testing and sampling every recipe before it was published.  Gaining 15 lbs in the process and loosing my desire to cook ever again.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Illustration Friday - Eclipse

Topic for Illustration Friday is Eclipse.
First thing that came to mind after Total cereal (thanks Madison Avenue) is Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart.  At the same time it was also the total eclipse of my marriage.

Spring is in the Air

Spring has arrived in Los Angeles with 99 degree weather and all the spring plants are dying of heat stroke. I grabbed some azaleas from the shrubs before they are gone as their season only lasts for a couple of weeks. They are really beautiful, but here they come and go faster than a tax refund.

I was feeling creative last night and decided to use the cans I had planned to cover for Christmas, for spring instead. Hopefully my spirit will lighten up also.

Art Makes My World Go Round

It was an exciting weekend for me with all the art exhibits happening in Pasadena.  First off, there was Art Night Pasadena which is a bi-annual event sponsored by the  Pasadena Arts and Cultural Commission. It is one of the best things to happen to Pasadena and is becoming more and more popular. It  reminds us that we live in a community that is blessed to have so many great museums, galleries, art schools, talented artists and musicians in our own backyard. I was able to stop by Art Center College of Design, a place that is near and dear to my heart.  It was amazing to see the student exhibit and see how far along they have come since I was a student there twenty years ago. I don't think I could have even gotten in today, the people are that talented.  I wish I could show photos of some of the work, but photography isn't allowed for a good reason.

On Saturday I went to an Opening Reception at the Tirage Gallery in Pasadena, one of my favorite places.  Even though it is small, they always have the best selection of art and go out of their way to promote local artists.   My friend Patrick Harper was exhibiting in the latest show, Foreign Shores, Recent Artworks of International Locals, and he had some exquisite painting of graveyards from his trip to Ireland. He gave me permission to take the photo and put it on my blog.  Thanks Patrick. I have been watching him for years and he is a true artist who constantly draws, sketches and lives and breathes art.  I am so happy for him. Be sure to check out some of his other work. And, no, he did not paint the shirt he is wearing!

It was an inspiring weekend to say the least.  I reminded myself that I should take advantage of all this art on a weekly basis, and especially for the Artist's Date that I try to participate in every week. The hardest part for me is to let myself be completely inspired without feeling inferior and beating myself up in the process.

Illustration Friday - Wired

The topic for Illustration Friday is Wired. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't wired to all my girlfriends. How did we survive before cell phones?

You Reap What You Sow

When I was growing up, I always had a garden on the side of my parents house.  Every year I grew carrots, lettuce, beans, tomatoes and even corn. Everything I planted miraculously  grew, and what the rabbits didn't get, we actually ate.  Since I've lived in California, I have always had an herb garden which lasts all year long, but I haven't ventured beyond that. 

Lately at the market, I have noticed that lettuce and cucumbers are each $2.00, and one tomato is the price of a Starbucks latte. Since I eat an enormous amount of salads, I am going broke. I decided this is the year I am going to start a garden and go back to my roots.  No pun intended. Hopefully the state will not have run out of water by then. 

Move Over 7-11

I have never been a big fan of 7-11 convenience stores.  I hate paying three times the going price for milk and other staples, so I only go there as a last resort, or to buy a lottery ticket.  The Slurpees are the only thing I will consume, and their prepared foods always look like they are five minutes away from the garbage bin.  When I see someone eating one of their hot dogs, I want to slip them a pepto bismol shot.

Now they are faced with some real competition.  The Japanese retailer Family Mart has created a US mini-mart concept called Famina!! and they are testing them out in the Los Angeles Area. They are popping up everywhere.

So far they seem to be thriving, and not just with Asians. They really put 7-11 and AM-PM stores to shame. There are  many healthy alternatives including sushi, salades, steamy Chinese buns, bottled drinks other than soda, fruit and organic toothpaste.  The stores  cater to the upwardly mobile individual, and many people frequent them for a quick lunch or dinner-to-go because of the convenience. I can spend hours in there just looking at all the selections - American and Japanese. I especially love the red bean paste steamy bun and the panini.  If there is one in your area, be sure to stop in, and remember to take your check book with you.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of people seeking my help via the Internet. Not a day goes by that I don't get at least three emails from perfect strangers asking for my assistance. These are not selfish requests at all, because they offer me a substantial financial reward for my time and effort.  So far I have been approached by a nursing engineer in the military in Iraq, in need of someone to help her move $15 million out of the country, a princess from the Republic of Nigeir who needs help in securing the $5 million her father, the King, left her and an attorney who is asking me to claim to be the next of kin to someone who died in a plane crash because he is in charge of the money and needs someone to give it to before the Russian government takes it.  In every situation, they are going to deposit the money in my account and I get to keep 20 -30% for my trouble. They stress how much they need someone they can completely trust, and what better way of finding that person, than through a random email?  After you send them some pertinent information, they will contact with you with further details. Like which bank account to deposit the money.

The first few emails were amusing, but now they are reaching epidemic proportion.  It really makes me mad that they are getting through the junk mail filter, so it almost makes them look like a legitimate email.  I am the last person in the world who would relinquish any information, but I wonder if there are some poor suckers who would actually fall for this scam.

Not only that, but I am also winning millions every day. Just this week alone I won $315 thousand in the Euro-Afro-Asian sweepstakes, half a million in the Euro Lottery and a cool million in the UK National Lottery.  I have been buying California Lottery tickets for years and have never won, but now I am winning lottery's I never even knew I entered.  Maybe I just won't buy a ticket for tonight's big lottery because I have a better chance of winning if I don't.

Illustration Friday - Hide

My entry for Illustration Friday. There are days when I wish I could just hide from the world.  Lately,those days are fewer and farther between.

It's Girl Scout Cookie Month

Every Lent I play with the idea of giving up sweets, and I manage for a while, but then the inevitable happens.  Girl Scouts in green uniforms, come out of the woodwork, pushing their cookies. I remember selling them myself years ago when I was a scout, then again with my daughters, so I feel a debt to society and end up buying at least five boxes a year.  After all, isn't this where a young girl gets her first taste of capitalism and learns how to not take rejection personally?   I don't know any girl scouts at this time, but I'm not  worried, because they make it real easy by setting up shop outside of every supermarket, every weekend, for the next few weeks.  I will be buying thin mints, the sugar cookie with fudge in the center, carmel delights and shortbread. Lucky for me, I don't like peanut butter!

A friend of mine stopped by on Monday and surprised me with a box of thin mints.  He and I then proceeded to eat half the box, and I finished the other half tonight.  Oh well, at least they don't have trans fat this year and I'm not even going to look at the calorie content on the box.

I had a great time in the Girl Scouts as did my daughters, so at least I am supporting a good cause and it's only once a year.  No matter what they say, they don't freeze very well and believe me, I have tried. It makes me wonder, if the Girl Scouts sell cookies, what do the Boy Scouts sell?