Kingfisher Cove

Mainelife’s Awesome, Decadent, and Yes, FATTENING Mac & Cheese!

But now and then we deserve something so damned good, don’t we? I can justify it because I’m really not into sweet stuff, so in lieu of dessert calories, I prefer the cheesy/creamy/buttery calories!*

My blogging/Twitter/Facebook friend, Melissa (who lives in Maine!) gave me this recipe and I cooked it up last night for dinner. (Then today, John and I had leftovers for lunch!) It’s the best mac & cheese EVAH!!

I did halve the recipe from Melissa’s original (since there are only two of us). I also couldn’t find any chipotle powder so I used red pepper flakes instead. I’ll keep my eye out for the chipotle powder, though — maybe Trader Joe’s? Also, I wish I’d taken a photo when it came out of the oven. It was pretty!

Fleming’s Chipotle Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese

1 C. pasta (curly or cavatappi) (with elbow, use 1-1/2 C.)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. corn oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 stick butter
1-1/2 Tbsp. flour
1 C. heavy cream
1-1/2 C. Half and Half
1 tsp. Kosher  salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper (ground)
1-1/2 C. smoked cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 C. cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 Tbsp. corn oil
1/4 tsp. dried chipotle chili powder (or red pepper flakes)
1/2 C. panko or bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, bring water and 2 tsp. of salt to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-9 minutes. Drain pasta and cool under running water. Pasta should be slightly firm. Toss drained pasta in oil and set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add diced onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1-2 minutes but do NOT brown. Add cream, Half and Half, salt and white pepper, and bring pot to a simmer. Cook until sauce is thick, about 5-6 minutes. Add both cheeses and blend into sauce. Stir in cooked pasta and place into a 12 x 9 inch baking dish. In a sauté pan over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp. of oil and chipotle chili powder. Heat for 30 seconds until pan starts to smoke. Remove from heat and quickly stir in bread crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over the pasta and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until slightly golden brown and crisp. Cool slightly before serving.

*Actually, I really can’t justify it…but oh, well.

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: Mac and Cheese,recipe,cooking

Did Two Things Today I Haven’t Done in a Long Time

It seems sort of silly (considering that I’m unemployed and becoming increasingly alarmed about it), but I realize that I’m probably “hearing” my mom’s voice in my head. The truth is, she really did support and encourage my enjoyment of writing. But when I started having some poems published in small press journals several years ago, she wasn’t nearly as excited about it as I was — because there’s no money in poetry. *Sigh.* And it’s true, there isn’t. But it wasn’t about money for me, and I don’t think I ever convinced her to see my point of view about that. It is a shame that it isn’t particularly valued. But, that’s just the way it is. For me, it was a thrill to have several of my poems deemed “good enough” to warrant being published, even if “payment” meant a few free copies of the publication and that was it.

I haven’t written a poem in years. I don’t know why, exactly. Well, actually I probably do. Writing poetry most often accompanies rather dark moodiness in one’s life, and my most prolific times were the worst of times in that regard. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

A few years ago, not long after I started my blog, there was an online meme-sort-of-thing that was flowing through the intertubes. It was a challenge to take George Ella Lyons’ poem “Where I’m From” and make it your own. After reading Lyons’ poem, I couldn’t turn down the challenge. Here is the original, and I think you’ll find it compelling:

 

So…this is what I came up with, in order to make it my own:

 

Where I’m From
by Tonya Watkins

I am from briny beach agates,
from tiny crabs captured beneath
overturned barnacled rocks.
I am from huckleberries
gathered in Tupperware tubs.
(Red-orange, with tiny scampering spiders,
they puckered my tongue).
I am from the rhododendron, from wild trilliums,
and daffodils inserted in chicken wire
to gussy-up the parade float.
I’m from Dungeness crab and clarinets,
from Grandma Vi and Granddad Howard.
I’m from conservative-turned-liberal
from clean-at-all-costs
and from not-too-old-to-spank.
I’m from shared distrust
of God-speaking white-haired men,
harsh in judgment while coveting collection trays.
I’m from the shadow of Mt. Rainier,
from homemade bread, fresh sliced strawberries,
and reviled canned peas.
From sawdust and cigarette ashes
filling my father’s pant cuffs,
from the hot scent of my mother’s sewing machine
humming on the kitchen table.
The old photographs are staged,
black and white, curled,
frozen smiles enunciating “cheese” for all time.
Scattered, in disarray
I begin to sort through
where I am from.

The first thing I did today was submit this poem for the annual Writer’s Digest writing contest for non-rhyming poetry. It was a bit of a tricky submission, because I wanted to make certain it was understood that I wasn’t actually purloining Ms. Lyons’ poem! So under the title I indicated it as an “exercise in creating George Ella Lyons’ poem as my own,” with a link to her poem. Who knows, it might be disqualified because of that. I wanted to be honest about it, though.

The second thing I did, which kind of blew me away, was that after making my submission, I had a hankering to write a poem. I haven’t felt that hankering for an awfully long time. Gosh, it was fun. The cigarette died in the ashtray without me knowing about it. That never happens.

 

RENEWAL

What is that?

Like a bubble, like a butterfly trapped, like the first stirrings of life in my belly—something I haven’t felt for a very long time.

Blue water shimmers between the splayed fingers of the tree limbs
and the distant buoy bobs over the wake sliced from a kayak.

I breathe.

Damp, green, soulful, island spring day,
it feels so good to inhale the salty air and the mossy path and the scattered fir cones;
to hear the chaotic chorus of finches and sparrows and hummingbirds
and the giant rustle in the brush that sounds like a beast
but is really a towhee.

What is that?

I blink in the spring sun, shade my eyes.
It is warm with cool fringes.
The grosbeak sings a lovely, sophisticated song from the feeder perch
and the sun through the lattice awning casts polka dots across my belly
—my belly that hums like a cat purr.

Yes, it’s golden times, and my nest is empty.

But I know what it is.

 

 

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: poetry

A List Will Do

• I am joyful that Health Care Reform has finally passed! (In fact, just moments ago the House passed reconciliation! wOOt! Gee, has Armageddon begun yet? Didn’t the GOP say the sky would fall? Bring on those “death panels!”)
• Actually, in my opinion, I think that if “the sky falls” it’s going to be on the part of the GOP egging on the right-wing-nut-jobs, inciting violence.
• We have fired our second architect on the Harstine house. *Sigh* What is up with people who won’t do the job they’re hired to do?
• So…John is going to design it (which he’d started to do anyway). Did I mention that he is MacGyver? In every way.
• Yesterday, it got up into the 70s. Broke records right and left. Today? Pouring down rain, windy, and the pet door is doing its yabbidy-yabbidy-yabbidy thang.
• Mojo is not happy.
• Just finished a book: “Arcadia Falls” by Carol Goodman. I’ve read a couple of other books by this author and while they are pretty good, they are definitely “Gothic.” A bit of eye-rolling ensued.
• Yesterday I watched two of the most recent “Parenthood” episodes on Hulu. I like this show a lot — but I always tear up at some point or another. I believe it’s directed (or maybe produced? Both?) by Ron Howard. Opie.
• That is all.

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: health care reform,GOP,violence,Harstine house,Mojo,Arcadia Falls,Parenthood,Opie

It’s Spring!

Sitting here at home in my sweats, unshowered (SO NOBODY HAD BETTER WANT TO SKYPE) after heading home early from Harstine since the weather turned ca-ca. That ca-ca happened late yesterday afternoon in a blink of an eye; it had been such a wonderful, beautiful day of yard work, beach walks, agate-finds, and chasing deck shade to keep the glare off my laptop. And one bathroom visit later, the wind howled, the clouds rolled, and the trees swayed. Summery Spring one minute, back to typical March Spring the next. Holy scramble-and-haul-the-shit-inside, Batman! So, the nice salmon filet ended up baked instead of grilled. It was still good, though. I’d rather bake a salmon than have to pan-fry steaks. (We had grilled steaks the night before and they were HEAVENLY, along with shish-kabob veggies and what a great idea that was! After skewering them, I brushed on some olive oil and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder and wow!)

 
The veggies could be just about anything, really, but this was a super-good combo. Yes, we’ll be doing that again!

So, home we are.

It’s a Big Day! They finally vote on Health Care Reform tonight and it looks very good for passing! Yay! Oh yes, I could say sooooo much more about the tinfoil hat brigades and 1950s-era racism that has all has led up to this. For now, I’ll just say that I sure am looking forward to witnessing Faux News’ “fair and balanced” reaction to this historic occasion. Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: Spring,Harstine Island,HCR

Sometimes All You Need Is To Hear A Voice

I talked to my son Monday night for over an hour-and-a-half and then I talked to my dad yesterday morning for quite a while, too. Both conversations made me feel much better. Dad sounded perky (cracked a few one-liners). He actually spent longer in the hospital than I originally thought, mostly being poked, prodded, and scanned. Obviously no test results yet, but they are pretty sure he experienced a TIA (transient ischemic attack) which is on the lesser scale of a mini-stroke. It’s like a several-minute-long brain fart; he spoke in vocabulary salad to his lady friend, who was obviously very alarmed and called the EMTs. Dad said he was fully aware during the episode that he was behaving oddly, but he couldn’t control it. Now that I know he’s OK, I can consider that with some intrigue. While he was experiencing confusion and the inability to speak coherently, another part of his brain was fully rational and engaged, as if it was standing back and observing. He clearly remembers everything that happened. He’s been taking baby aspirin for many many years (I didn’t realize they still MADE baby aspirin because of Reye’s Syndrome!) But it’s probably a good thing because it likely kept his blood thin enough that he didn’t have a full-fledged stroke. He is now on a prescription strength blood thinner.

My conversation with Nate started out a little rocky, but improved from there. He was lamenting some dumb decisions he’s made lately, and probably expecting me to lecture him. “I just haven’t grown up. I’m blaming it on my undeveloped prefrontal cortex.” (He was joking, but there is some truth to that—the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until the age of around 25, and it’s where judgment and empathy are fostered). I mentioned to him that being aware of that just means it’s important to stop and think a little longer about decisions and possibly even do the opposite of what your judgment is telling you to do. (I was joking too. Sort of). At any rate, I think I was successful in pointing him forward instead of stewing in the mistakes he’d made. It’s not like they’re undoable. (Could be much worse!) But it is true; he has some growing up to do, and I sure hope that happens before he makes an undoable mistake. In spite of everything, it was sure good to talk to him.

Received our Census today! Completed our Census today! Gosh, it only took about two minutes, tops. (Didn’t they used to be longer?) I can just imagine in this wacko political climate these days that a certain segment of the population will consider the Census as a Big Government Socialist Conspiracy.

Uhm. Yeah.

Today Mojo is scarce because it is sunny and warm and beautiful outside, but yesterday was typical bi-polar March; rain, wind, crazy. So Mojo “hung out” all day:

Never ceases to amaze me how innocent he can appear.

~~~~~

Happy St. Paddy’s Day! The corned beef simmering in the crockpot smells heavenly!

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: TIA,Census

Generational Bookends

It’s an odd, and not an easy, place to be. Of course, no place in life is particularly easy (unless you’re an oblivious infant, and even then it must be hard with all that gas and lots of reasons to cry). When I think about it, suddenly finding myself smack-dab in the position of having an aging parent and a young adult son (with attitudinal issues) is probably not as difficult for me as it is for them. Twenty-something and seventy-something are tough times. So maybe I ought to stop whining.

Except that as a “book” being squished between those bookends, I worry. And that worry is not an easy thing to carry within my “dust jackets” (ahem), because I love them. We’re talking about my dad and my son, after all.

I just learned that my dad was hospitalized over the weekend, and the doctors think he had a mini-stroke. He’s fine, and no apparent after-effects, although they are awaiting the scan results. As my brother said, it’s scary because this could be a pre-curser to something a lot more serious down the road. Dad’s medical issues are a complex web, with treatment for one negatively affecting the treatment for another. The balancing act is a high wire. I’m awfully thankful that his lady friend is there for him.    

And the son? It’s an ongoing lack of communication, including ignoring my attempts to communicate with him. For weeks now, the only words from him have been ambiguous and often disturbing Facebook posts about “hating his life” and dealing with weekend hangovers. So much for the Navy forcing him to grow up. I worry because he is predisposed to depression. I worry because I desperately want for him to feel content. (And ditch the self-centeredness). Yes, mom-things. We never, ever, ever stop being moms. In many ways, it’s harder when they are adults because they are not fully formed and yet we can’t be there to help them up when they’ve fallen down. Nor should we, I suppose. But it’s such a helpless feeling. (Plus, I miss the brat).

Actually, I’d also like to stick him in time-out or take away his Gameboy for a week, if you know what I mean…

And so, I was very encouraged to see this on Facebook this morning:

Whoever you are, Christopher, thank you.

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: son,dad,health,aging,maturing

Blogiversary and Other Stuff

OK. I’m pretty frustrated with trying new recipes and having them turn out crappy. Tonight it’s going to be a couple of sirloin steaks cooked on the ol’ George Foreman grill and I’m calling it good. (So there).

Hey, I missed my Blogging Anniversary! It was March 5th, 2004 that I started doing this silly thing. It’s kind of strange to go back to those old posts, because I don’t even remember writing some of them! Six years ago, Nate was just 17 and soon to be graduating from high school. It’s spanned two jobs and two stints of unemployment. And lots of Harstine Island. (We had just purchased the property about three months before I started blogging). Kingfisher Cove is my ol’ friend.

So, that said, I don’t have a whole helluva lot to say! Some job-hunting, lots of laundry, and doggy baths pretty much sum up my day. I swear I get wetter than they do:

A few listy things:

• Saw some snowflakes on Monday! They were wet and mushy and short-lived. BUT…they were snowflakes! First ones all season.
• I’ve begun eating breakfast. (This announcement truly does require “Fanfare for the Common Man.”) I HATE breakfast. Throughout my entire adulthood, I have never eaten breakfast. Well, except sometimes on the weekends when bacon/eggs/hashbrowns sound darned good around 11:00 a.m. But I’ve been having a small bowl of Total with Raisins each morning this week — albeit around 10:30-11:00 a.m. (I keep hearing over & over again that it’s an important meal and I’m hoping that it’ll keep me sustained enough so I’m not inclined to snack later in the day. We’ll see. So far? Maybe).
• Haven’t heard much a’tall from Navy Nate.
• Continuing to Zumba my ass off. (As if).
• Somewhat up-for-air after being on a reading binge. Some good, some not. “Shutter Island” by Dennis Lehane (yup, the movie’s out in theaters) was excellent! Highly recommend. “The Girl She Used to Be” by David Cristofano, not so much. And thanks to Margaret, I’ve discovered the recently late Dick Francis and I’m really enjoying his well-written mysteries. Any good recommendations out there? I hear “The Help” is really good…

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: blog,Harstine Island,breakfast,Zumba,books,cooking

Saturday in the Sun

This is the first time in quite a while that we’ve come down to Harstine two weekends in a row. Today is GORGEOUS!

(See Mojo checking out the water? Click the pic to embiggen)

The gorgeous-ness is not supposed to last, though. Sounds like tomorrow and the foreseeable future will be pretty nasty, including the possibility of SNOW in places! Argh! Thumbs are in my ears: LA-LA-LA-LA-LA! I’m really good at denial.

At the feeders today: Towhees (lots); Junkos; Sparrows; Stellar Jays

Also? Rocky the Raccoon obviously paid a visit last night and dumped one of the feeders, splashed around in the bird bath and dirty-fied it, and ate basically ALL of the sunflower seeds. It’s been an ongoing issue.

Oh, and also? We are once again inundated with those teeny tiny black sugar ants that attack our home and Harstine every spring! NOTHING gets rid of them! We’ve tried everything. The problem is having no clue what the source of entry is — it’s like they just magically start appearing. I don’t know how many hundreds of them I’ve squished. It’s not like we have sugar lying around everywhere! (And yes, we’ve tried those “Ant Hotels” and the ants won’t go near them). Gah!

Considering a long weekend to San Diego to visit Navy Nate in April. I’m a little hesitant about it, being unemployed and all (and who knows…maybe by then I’d have a job? Heh. Right.) The thing is, it might be our only chance to take a few days to get outa Dodge because once I do go back to work I likely won’t have much any vacation for quite a long time. San Diego would be a fun place to visit! Wouldn’t mind going across the Mexican border and picking up some pharmaceuticals — stock up on some of my skin care stuff that is killer expensive/requires an Rx in the States, and isn’t covered by insurance. (Folks: secret to considerably less wrinkly skin when you’re 50-something, besides sunscreen — Retin-A used every day. Been using it for a decade thanks to my mom getting it for me from Mexico when they’d visit from Yuma, AZ.)

I find that I’m bored with the same ol’ tunes playing on our mp3 player, even though there are hundreds and hundreds of them…

I’ll leave you with a nice little pile of agates (recently collected; about 1/100 of what we’ve collected over the years…):

(Also beach glass!)

~~~~~

Hey, Update: Looky here! Seattle’s King5 News featured my tweet about our beach walk with Mojo (top picture, above):

  Pretty cool!

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: Harstine Island,agates,San Diego,Retin-A,Mojo,spring

In Which I Talk to Navy Nate And Get Some Of My Hairs Chopped Off

I “Zumba’d” last night and today I’m pretty much recovering from that. Jeesh. Getting old is not for wimps. I really paid, too, because I missed it last week since I had to attend a meeting for unemployment that cut into my Zumba time. I was really sweating like a fire hose struggling by the end of last night’s session. Guh. Thank God the cool-down finally comes around.

As I suspected, I’ve been in acute Olympics withdrawal, missing the sounds of those cowbells, skates scraping on the ice, and even Bob Costas’ voice. Throughout the Olympics I’d been following Apolo Ohno on Twitter (what a nice, positive guy he is!) and I’ve continued to do so. He posted a picture today wearing ALL of his medals — it was taken with his iPhone during a photo shoot and it turned out very dark, so I brought it into Photoshop and lightened it up a bit. I assume those medals are heavy. Right? They aren’t just “dipped” in gold/silver/bronze, are they? He’s going to be on Leno tonight, and I may just have to stay up and watch.

John and I are happy to have Jay back at 11:35! Conan just never did it for us. That silly, goofy kind of humor was never chuckle-worthy, in our book. For a while there, I didn’t want to admit that I was glad Jay was coming back because of all the ugly hoopla over “I’m With Cocoa,” and people being pretty vile on the internets about the whole mess. I do hope something good comes Conan’s way because he seems to be a nice guy. It really was an unfortunate situation.

So…Nate called me last night! I do believe that’s the first time he’s called since he left after the new year. He doesn’t have internet in his building down there in San Diego (which I just can’t wrap my head around!), so about the only contact I’ve had with him has been when he’s posted something on Facebook. Usually silly or cringe-inducing. That was how I learned about his tattoo. He said last night, “I forget that I can call you!” I don’t feel comfortable calling him because I don’t know his schedule and I certainly don’t want to call at a bad time and get him in trouble. We do text back & forth sometimes. Anyway, he’s about 2 weeks into his “A-School” training, which is the initial nitty-gritty school for learning about being a sonar tech. He should finish up with it the end of April, then he’ll move on to even deeper nitty-gritting training. It’s weird, because the information he’s learning is “top secret” so he has to leave his notes and stuff in the classroom, then come back to the classroom at night to study. None of the information they are learning can leave that classroom. He didn’t sound overly jazzed about it, and that’s too bad. I was hoping he’d be passionate, but I do know that studying has never been his forte. I think he lives for the weekends when he has liberty and can bust loose with a buddy or two. I just hope he does well, because that will open a lot of doors for him — and it does sound like he is doing well. I think the San Diego weather is getting to him, too! It has NOT been stellar. I believe it’s been warmer and even drier up here in Washington! It was so good to hear his voice. I forget how FAST he talks!

It felt good to get my hair cut today! I’d colored it a couple of weeks ago with a “golden” color, and I just hated it! It was brassy and just not me. So the next day I picked up some new color and did the deed again, and even though it toned down the brassiness, it didn’t completely cover it. Today’s cut got rid of those fried ends. And yes, probably tomorrow I will be coloring it YET AGAIN in an attempt to kill off that brass! Ugh! Also? Not all that jazzed with how she styled it, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to do something with it in the morning!

~~~~~

Update: After some more chemical processing, I believe I’ve finally whipped that brassiness:

~~~~~

Technorati Tags: Zumba,Olympics,Apolo Ohno,Leno,sonar,Navy