to be heard when the words have lost their music
and every breath rails against the air
to be seen when the light has lost its brilliance
and the edges dull and blur
to be held close when the wind begins to howl
and the storm reaches the shore
is to be remembered when the road dead ends
is to be loved for evermore
empty rooms with billowing pillowcases
caught in the breeze of moving bodies
as they tote the boxes out
bubble wrapped time worn memories
held suspended between sheets of dotted air
and corrugated paper
stacked like silent watching sentries
positioned back against the wall
of missing frames
This week, friends were lost.
And whether a long illness, or an act of senseless brutality, all losses are painful.
You weep, and flail against the silence. You gasp for air, and feel the bite of the bitter chill in your throat. You want to hold the pain close to you, knowing it is the last thing you will feel for that loss. You cling to the pain…until a moment slips in between the pain and doubt, and you find the strength to lift your head, breathe deep, and shake off the cold chill. You start to seek out the things you remember were always there to help you move on, or remind you of the good you once felt.
For me, it is the ocean. There is something magical about the ocean for me, whether it is because my father loved it so, or because I managed to find it on my own terms, it has always been a place of healing and renewal. I went to the coast this past week for a change of attitude. I went to breathe in the salt air, to remember old friends~ now gone, and to find new ones. Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that I am my own best friend.
Here are the pictures of these past few days. It all started with a kite ~
Friends and family, below is a link to Encyclomedia.net where they are holding a contest for the most popular non-profit video concept. The winner will be given a $50,000 video shoot for they non-profit organization. Living Room, Inc. is my personal favorite. Not just their video concept, but what they do as an organization. There is a lot of heart in this group. They give unselfishly of themselves 24/7. I would love it if you my friends and family, would check out the site and maybe cast your own vote for Living Room, Inc. Know that which ever non-profit you choose, it is for a worthy cause and everyone is a winner here.
Go to: http://encyclomedia.net/nonprofitcontest/encyclomedia_nonprofit_giveaway/vote.html, click on entries and you can view the concepts there, or click on vote and vote for your favorite, or mine : )
Thanks!
Here is the second marinara recipe I mentioned. This is a spicy marinara and goes well with chunky pasta like shells, farfalle, fusilli, or gemilli. This one is better served chunky, but as always the flavor remains even if you wish to smooth this out in the blender. This recipe makes four cups.
This one is good also as a base for pizza. Lots of flavor here!
Ingredients:
3 ounces or 86 grams onions, minced
2.7 ounces or 76 grams klamata or black olives, chopped
1 ounce or 26 grams capers, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 28 ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes (you can use plain or italian seasoned for this recipe)
1 tablespoon dried Italian Seasonings (or 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 1 teaspoon thyme)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Method:
Heat EVOO in large sauce pan or sauce pot, until fragrant, add onions and cook 3 minutes. Add olives, capers, red pepper flakes, and italian seasonings, and cook 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook uncovered 20 minutes on med-low heat. Do not cover.
This sauce freezes well.
Yep, this is a real recipe. Not a haiku about marinara, though that might be fun! Not a poem about Italian food, however, if you would like to send me to Italy to write about the food, be my guest!! This is just a recipe that has served me well over the years. Thought I’d share it with the net.
Marinara is a handy thing to have around the kitchen. So much can be done with a basic marinara, from using it as a base for spaghetti and meatballs, to spicing up appetizers, and creating edible nuggets out of leftovers. I make a large batch ~ being single, anything more than “serves one” is a large batch :) ~ then freeze single servings in freezer zip style bags, as the smaller servings thaw quicker than full batches. This is my recipe for basic marinara. It will make four cups.
Ingredients:
5 ounces or 140 grams ~ white or yellow onions
3 ounces or 86 grams ~ carrots
2 ounces or 56 grams ~ celery
1 large clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 32 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes with juice (can’t find the big can? That’s okay little cans recycle just as easily),
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Method:
Chop onions. Chop carrots. Chop celery. Chop garlic. The trick for consistent cooking is to make your pieces as close to the same size for each vegetable. If you are planning to “smooth” out your sauce in a blender after cooking, don’t worry about how small you get the pieces, just chop them all to be about the same size.
Heat EVOO in a large pot (I used a 3 qt pot, because it’s all I own ~ very versatile) over medium heat until fragrant (there is nothing better in the kitchen than the scent of warm olive oil, except maybe warm chocolate…). Add onion and cook 10 minutes or until translucent. You may find you need to reduce the heat to keep the edges of the onion from burning. Once onions are cooked, add carrots, celery, salt and pepper, and cook another 10 minutes. Once cooked, add tomatoes and the juice from the can, garlic, and bay leaf. Turn heat to simmer (low) and let simmer for one hour. Do not cover, you want the liquid to thicken. When cooked, remove bay leaf.
From here you can pulse or blend to smooth out the sauce if you prefer smooth over chunky. I like the pieces to be big, but that is just me. This marinara freezes well.
I use this sauce with spaghetti, but it is also good for Italian Open Faced Egg Sandwiches (see below), or a fun little dish is to take stale, or almost stale french/sourdough/italian bread and break into chunks. Put the chunks in an oven proof dish. Pour sauce over bread, and grate cheese over the top. You can use mozzarella, cheddar, romano, asiago, even fontina works well. Set oven to 350 and bake until cheese melts.
As this is a basic sauce, it will take whatever spice you like to add when warming up the sauce. I will post a second recipe for spicy marinara that goes really well with chunky pasta like shells or farfalle.
Italian Open Faced Egg Sandwiches:
1 slice of French or sourdough bread
Basic Marinara Sauce
Fried Egg
Assembly:
Spread sauce to desired thickness (go ahead slather the thing!) on slice of bread. Top with fried egg, salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
Folds of scented skin
Warm taste of sex on wet lips
Lovers embracing
Veil of gray shadow
Salted tears no longer fall
Eternal repose
GL Roberts Books 