It’s no. surprise that the older I get, the more I realize how precious time is; time with my family and friends, time doing the things I love and even those times when I choose to do nothing at all. But hands down the most important time is that spent with my mom. When I can free up some time I like to have her over for a mother daughter weekend.
Mostly these weekends happen during the winter when staying inside cooking, eating and watching movies leaves me with no feelings of guilt.
I’m coming off a fabulous, relaxing vacation on the Gulf Coast of Florida. My sister recently retired and rented a condo for a month. It was a fun week hanging out with old and new friends and family on Cayo Costa, Bonita Springs and Captiva. We kayaked through a Mangrove trail, sun bathed on a deserted island and walked along the fluorescent surf under a full moon. A perfect vacation really. Have you ever seen the sunset on Captiva? It’s a must!
Now of course, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking I’ve been away for 8 days so I really should be outside cleaning up the yard, not watching movies with my mom, but then again, the yard will always be there.
So I compromised. I spent Saturday morning weeding and prepping an area of my yard where I want to create a Cottage Garden (and another no-mow zone). I also spent some time cleaning up the patio. Then I showered and picked up my mom.
I love cooking for my mother because she is by far, my biggest fan. Make no mistake, she’ll let me know when she doesn’t care for something. Like the time I made Cajun Catfish, she cleaned the plate except for that beautiful piece of fish. But for the most part, in her eyes, I come up with winners.
While on vacation, I went to a friends for a cookout. Kathleen and Chippy relocated from Woodstock 20 years ago so getting to spend time with them was a real treat. The cookout was classic fair: hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill, potato salad and baked beans. All of it was so unbelievably delicious.
So, of course I now want to get right outside and start grilling. I grill year round but let’s face it, it’s more fun when the weather is warm: the birds are singing, the kids are outside playing and chatting with the neighbors makes the experience so much more fun.
My menu for our Saturday night cookout was marinated chicken thighs, grilled onions, roasted cauliflower and hasselback sweet potatoes with a molasses garlic butter. This is my favorite kind of meal: dinner on the grill.
And of course the birds were singing and my neighbors, John and Carlos, popped over to hear all about my vacation.
Making memories I will always cherish.
Viola is 85 years old and hot ticket. But lately, the more time I spend with her I realize that she may be watching a little too much reality TV. While watching the movie Bridesmaids that evening, she started talking about the rift between ‘Kelly and Michael’. It took me a minute to realize what she was talking about and when I did I just looked at her and before I had chance to filter, “I don’t really care” came out of my mouth. I laughed I off and asked if she didn’t like the movie (I mean, it is Bridesmaids for gods sake). No no, she loved the movie. But ‘celebrity gossip’ kept creeping into our conversations.
Sunday morning I came into the living room to find my mom going through her Tai Chi routine. She goes to Tai Chi class twice a week at the church across from her home. She started, with much prompting from my sister and I, after my father died. We wanted her to get out of the house and be around people. A neighborhood friend, Lynda, teaches the class which gave my mother some comfort.
When my mom finally went to her first class she loved it. Unfortunately, my mother waited so long that Lynda was leaving for Florida for the winter the following week and I had my doubts that mom would continue. But she did. Two years later I see her confidence growing stronger, she goes out to lunch with the ‘girls’ and has them over for tea.
While I was on vacation a group of Woodstock’ers got together for dinner at Lynda’s Florida home. I talked with her about my mom. She was also surprised my mother continued going to class and agreed she has come a long way. I was telling her that my mother makes us all a little nervous because nothing stops her now: she has walked to class in snowstorms when the only people who showed up was her and the instructor. She is that committed. So this morning I watched her do her routine and was amazed at the improvement in her balance.
And then, she started talking about celebrities and I decided right then we were not going to watch a movie that morning. I asked her if she ever watched ’Super Soul Sunday’? She was not familiar with it, so I began to explain that it’s a show on Oprah’s network and she cut in “oh, about the stars that are no longer in the business?’. Celebrities, again. ’No’ I say and turned on the TV and introduce my mom to Super Soul Sunday.
During a commercial, I suggested that maybe she should start her mornings with a little meditation, just two minutes or so of deep breathing to clear her mind? She looked at me and said that she didn’t know how. I’m new to meditation myself so I could relate. I also struggled with how to ‘do’ it.
So, I told my mom to sit back and get comfy, turned off the TV and turned on a little meditation app I have on my iPhone. We sat for 5 minutes through a self-guided meditation of deep breathing and relaxation. She loved it. And I think she gets that she can sit for even 2 minutes at home and focus on her breathing while trying to clear her mind.
Now that we were relaxed and focused, we sat back and watched a couple of Super Soul Sunday episodes with Norman Lear and Iyanla Vanzant. When we got to Michael Beckwith, if your familiar with him you know he has a fast delivery with a lot of inflection. My mom listened for a bit then turned to me: “I’m not getting this, is it too deep for me?”. I laughed and had to admit I may have missed some of his finer points. I hit the rewind on the remote and we watched the segment bit by bit, pausing and discussing each line.
It was awesome experience!
All this led to some deeper conversation about her childhood and growing up, something my mother does not talk about much. It was a very good morning. I enjoyed a different kind of mother daughter weekend, more reflective, more introspective, more intimate.
That afternoon we watched a few movies, cooked some good meals and I even joined in on a little celebrity dish.
THE FOOD:
Saturday Night ~
Roasted Cauliflower:
Cut the stem off a head of Cauliflower
In a small bowl mix a 1/4 of EVOO, salt and pepper
With a basting brush, completely brush the oil over the cauliflower, top and bottom
Put the Cauliflower in a square of foil and wrap loosely, place on indirect heat for 40 minutes
Grilled Hasselback Sweet Potatoes:
Wash and dry 2 sweet potatoes
Thinly Slice potatoes 1/3 of the way through (see the picture)
Place in a square of foil, drizzle with EVOO and salt & pepper
Wrap lightly and place on indirect heat for 30 minutes
After 30 minutes, unwrap potatoes and ‘baste’ with Molasses Garlic Butter, getting deep into the slices
Keep an eye on the potatoes, you may have to move them to the warming rack – but keep basting!
Marinated Grilled Chicken Thighs:
Quarter an onion or two
Place chicken thighs in a gallon sized zip lock bag
Add a cup of Wish Bone Zesty Italian dressing
Throw in the quartered onions
And a couple of sprigs of Rosemary
Salt and Pepper
Zip the bag and mix it up until chicken and onions are well coated
Refrigerate at least an hour, turning the bag over every now and then to mix
Place on indirect heat for 10 -15 minutes for each side
Grilled Onions:
Place the onions on the grill with the chicken
Grill until dark ‘grill lines’ form and onions are soft
Molasses Garlic Butter:
In a grilling pot add:
1/2 stick of butter
1/3 cup of molasses
1 tsp of minced garlic
salt & pepper
Heat all ingredients on the grill, stirring together until melted and smooth.
Sunday Morning Breakfast ~
Scrambled Egg Wraps:
Scramble 4 eggs with 1/4 cup Half & Half, 1/4 cup of water, fresh chopped Oregano & Chives, salt & pepper. Sautéed the Oregano and Chives; add the scrambled egg mixture.
Cook the eggs until desired consistency (wet or dry). While the eggs are cooking, butter and heat two soft flour tortillas until one side is browned. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the warm tortillas.
When the eggs are done, roll them up in the tortillas
Wilted Spinach
Wrap fresh spinach in paper towel and microwave until wilted, not more than 30 seconds. Salt & pepper. Or, wrap the Spinach in foil, sprinkle with a few drops of water, salt & pepper and place on warming rack on grill for a few minutes until wilted.