The Northern Lights

~ MaryG ~ 40 Comments

I think a lot of people in the Northeast (including me!) checked off “See the Northern Lights” from their buckets lists last night. This was especially rewarding for those of us who missed seeing them in May. Who knew our once-in-a-lifetime chance would come twice in one year?

The Northern Lights from my very own neighborhood last night around 7:15pm. I was on my way to choir practice and happened to look up.

This feels like a lot of things.

Remembrance

The lights and colors in the sky last night reminded me of my close friend from college, Carla, who died in 2022. She had brain cancer. She really wanted to see the Northern Lights before she died, but was too sick to travel, so her friends and family found a way to project them onto the ceiling in her bedroom in Santa Fe. It was beautiful.

A Sign

I know I’m not alone in feeling a lot of anxiety about the state of the country and the way it feels like we’re never going to go back to “normal” — no matter who wins the election. I’ve never in my life been afraid of a US election, but I’m afraid of this one.

Similarly, I never once saw the Northern Lights as a kid growing up in Massachusetts, but this year, many New Englanders saw them twice! A little girl standing near me last night said, “this is God.” Maybe so. Or maybe it’s a sign of transition to a new era—an era where completely new things happen.

Unknown new things are scary and I have a strong urge to “circle the wagons” and try to protect the ones I love. (I think to myself, “please stay in Massachusetts where you’ll maybe be a bit safer from gun violence, flooding, dangerous reproductive care, crappy public schools, etc.)

But I know that’s not really possible.

My new granddaughter will hopefully live into the next century. She will live out most of her life in this new era, whatever it may be. I want her to feel free, adventurous, and safe to explore the world beyond her home state.

Living in the transitional time

An activist friend of mine left for New Zealand yesterday. She’s staying until the end of the month. She said she just needed to get out of the country for these last few weeks before the election. I can relate. In some ways, it’s all just too much.

Maybe seeing the aurora borealis is the reminder some of us needed to center ourselves and live in the moment. Humans have been around a long time and have accomplished many great things and many terrible things. Even though it sometimes feels like end times are upon us, there’s a decent chance that something great is just around the corner too.

Final thought: just breathe

Related post:

Northern Lights II

Food

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments

Which relationship has taught you the most about yourself?

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Since food and I have had a good relationship for decades now, I sometimes forget about the early years. In my teens I was was pretty obsessed with being thin. Back then, there was a lot of interest in dramatic cases of eating disorders, especially Karen Carpenter’s death from heart failure due to anorexia nervosa in 1983 (my senior year of high school), but the casual use of Dexatrim (over-the-counter speed), starving yourself and occasional self-induced vomiting was no big deal. All the supermodels had protruding hip bones and thighs that did not touch. That was the goal. I remember a gym teacher talking to me once about being too thin. (I was 5’8” and about 118 pounds.) I thought I looked great. So did my boyfriend.

Thankfully, I mostly quit dieting in college and eventually got into swimming and was a pretty normal eater. I dabbled in vegetarianism, but I ended up consuming so much cheese that it elevated my cholesterol and I also developed lactose intolerance, which thankfully resolved. (Imagine a life without ice cream!) I now take a daily statin to control my high cholesterol, which I blame on my genetics. My parents both take statins, but at 87 and 92 they’re still traveling and eating whatever they want, so I’m not gonna worry about it.

I really love to eat good food now. We have a great relationship. Sometimes I try fancy recipes from the New York Times, but more often I make a few standbys that have like 4 ingredients and always come out great.

One of those is crockpot lemon chicken. A friend of mine once shared this recipe on Facebook and said “this sounds good” —and so it was. I’ve made this recipe dozens, if not hundreds, of times:

Crock Pot Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3–4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thirds
1/4 cup butter
1 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing/seasoning mix
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper, to taste


Directions

1.) Rinse the chicken pieces with water, then lightly coat them in flour. Set aside.

2.) Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted, add half of the flour-coated chicken pieces. Avoid overcrowding the pan; you will cook the chicken in two batches.

3.) Season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken for 3–4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. You are not cooking the chicken all the way through at this stage, just creating a golden-brown crust.

4.) Remove the chicken from the skillet and place it in the crock pot.

5.) Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. Cook the remaining flour-coated chicken pieces for 3–4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place it in the crock pot.

6.) Sprinkle the Italian dressing/seasoning mix evenly over the chicken.

7.) Pour the fresh lemon juice and chicken broth over the chicken.

I use these packets to make the broth

8.) Cover with the lid and cook on LOW for approximately 3 hours.

My crockpot works as a nonstick skillet too, so it’s literally a one-pot meal for me.

9.) Serve the chicken pieces whole or shredded, topped with the lemon sauce and broth.

Sometimes I serve it on rice. Other times I serve it on cholesterol-free (no yolk) egg noodles

RIP Karen Carpenter. I loved her voice so much. She was one of the greatest altos of all time. If only she hadn’t had such a fraught relationship with food, she would have been 76 now.

A woman-owned small business

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments

If you could start a new business right now, what would it be?

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I’m retired and have no plans to start a business. However, I’m super proud of my daughter who has turned a passion into a career.

She is a professional astrologer with her own successful business—lunarxluci.com—and a large following on social media, particularly TikTok and also Instagram. She has been featured in publications such as Good Housekeeping and has endless excellent reviews from clients.

In addition to written and video readings, she recently created a downloadable, self-paced Astrology 101 course. It includes 10 in-depth video lessons (about 7 hours), companion workbooks, PowerPoint slides, and 3 celebrity chart breakdowns. By the end, students will understand how to read a birth chart and have the confidence to interpret their own and others’ charts.

Link in bio

So, if you have a new or longstanding curiosity about Astrology and how it can empower you, please check out my daughter’s offerings. A reading or the new Astrology 101 course would also make a great gift for someone in your life who likes Astrology and wants to learn more. You’d also be supporting a hardworking young woman entrepreneur (and mom) with her own small business.

Use the code THANKYOU for a 15% discount on any order.

Thank you!

😊

Mary

♊️ ☀️ ♏️ 🌙 ♑️ ⬆️

(Gemini Sun, Scorpio Moon, Capricorn Rising)

Deer me

~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments

What are your best healthy eating habits?

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So far, the dreaded Nor’easter (windy rainstorm) has not been too bad here in non-coastal Greater Boston. Our power is still on. Most of the Bosc pears are still clinging to our tree.

The deer have been enjoying the ones that have fallen. And since I’ve never seen a fat deer, I’m going to go with “eat a lot of fruit” for my best healthy eating habit.

Mom is unconcerned with paparazzi. Bambi is a bit skittish.
Chewing
Those pears are so good, even Dad finally came out of the woods to try one.

Knock on wood that the storm doesn’t get too much worse and that coastal dwellers stay safe.

Photo credit to my husband on the last two photos and the video. He got a new phone (Google Pixel 11 XL Pro) and it’s got quite an impressive zoom feature in the camera.

Basic stuff

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments

What are some life hacks that you practice?

1.) Set-up the coffee the night before so you only have to press start in the morning.

2.) Pre-made, roll out pie crusts, specifically these:

3.) If a British lady sits next to you on Day 1 of an adult watercolor class and announces to everyone that she has ADHD and then demands so much attention from the teacher and others that you feel like you’re being pranked, move your seat for the next class.

Dog karma

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments

Do you believe in karma?

You know how people always say that you can tell if someone is actually a good person based on how children and dogs feel about them?

Well, I don’t love that, because I’m not a big fan of dogs. Does that make me a bad person? (I’m great with kids, by the way.)

Well, last night, I had an experience that improved my dog karma (I think). There was no actual dog present (yay), but I felt the dog’s spirit.

A wonderful church friend in her 80s had had to put her beloved dog Grace down earlier that day. At choir practice, she told us the meaning behind the dog’s name and a bit about her personality. (Apparently Grace disliked men, but was a peacemaker amongst dogs.) My friend then asked us to sing two different versions of Amazing Grace in honor of Grace the Dog.

It was so moving. I have honestly never heard our choir sing so beautifully. I’ve never sung so beautifully. There were tears, even from one of the men Grace constantly barked at while she was alive.

We sang all three verses of the song over the two renditions, the last one a cappella. Then we silently closed our hymnals and moved on with choir rehearsal.

It was the perfect way to honor a dog.

Image from Pexels

Another baking post

~ MaryG ~ 18 Comments

How do you write what people actually want to read?

One of my recent posts was selected for “Freshly Pressed” on WordPress and I got some nice comments and a few new subscribers. It’s a post about baking a Dutch Pear Pie with fruit from the trees in our yard. So, welcome to anyone new here. I assume you love dessert like me.

I post about a variety of things, including baking, but mostly I just talk about whatever’s on my mind, including whatever the WordPress “daily prompt” elicits from me. I like the community here on WordPress. Most people are very kind and supportive.

We finally harvested some of the Bosc pears on our tree because a big Nor’easter (windy rainstorm) is expected this weekend.

Over 15 pounds of Bosc pears harvested and there are still many pears left on the tree.

The Bosc is the last of our fruit trees to ripen (we also have a Winesap apple and an Asian pear) and honestly, I think we should wait a bit longer to pick the rest of the pears. I don’t think the ones we picked are fully ripe yet, but that didn’t stop us from trying out another new recipe.

This recipe—for Pear Cobbler—is one I found on YouTube. I was able to screenshot the relevant information. (I’m sorry I lost track of the original creator.)

FRESH PEAR COBBLER

Pear Filling

• 4–5 cups diced pears

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons corn starch

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Batter

• 1 1/2 cups flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups milk

1. Combine the diced pears with the sugar, corn starch, water, and cinnamon.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk until combined.

3. Set the oven to 350°. Melt one stick of butter in a 9×13 baking dish.

4. Pour the batter over the melted butter (do not stir), then spoon the pear mixture on top.

5. Bake for 1 hour.

6. Serve with ice cream.

VERDICT: Very good. It think it’ll be even better next time with riper pears. We were wondering how this cobbler was going to “cobble together” since you don’t stir it, but it actually does. It’s definitely a bit of a pain to peel the pears, but you really have to with Boscs. We used a potato peeler.

Related post: Stress baking

Going solar

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

Sometimes in long marriages you develop certain “areas.” For example, I do all the travel arrangements. My husband is the vegetable gardener. I dealt with the teachers and most of the school stuff when the kids were growing up. My husband deals with the household technology (WiFi, etc). Somehow, I relinquished much involvement in his longstanding interest in buying (not leasing) solar panels for our home. I know I agreed to have him “sign for me” when the contract was finalized. It all sounded good in the 15-30 minutes I spent thinking about it. I mean, it’s a LOT of money to pay out at once, but we will allegedly get it all back in savings within 7 years. And clearly energy prices are not going down anytime soon with Orange Dipshit messing up the entire Middle East (and everything else).

But now the day has come. The guys are on the roof. It’s happening. I mean…I knew it was coming, but it feels a bit “spontaneous.” Like, are you sure you’ve thought this through?

I guess my one day of peace and quiet is all I get after our return from very loud Brooklyn.

The banging, drilling, etc has begun.

I need to go find my earplugs now.

“Made in Philippines”

Brooklyn

~ MaryG ~ 25 Comments

I have returned from a busy weekend in Brooklyn—the borough of NYC from which my mother’s parents hailed. They left Brooklyn for another great immigrant city—Worcester MA—long before I was born, so I had never been to Brooklyn before. All my prior trips to NYC were Manhattan only.

We were there to celebrate the marriage of a beloved nephew in his early 40s and got a glimpse into his life there. A very urban life.

Due to Amtrak cancelling our train, we had to drive from Massachusetts. A last minute detour sent us over the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, from which we could see the Statue of Liberty, which was very cool. It almost made up for all the traffic we hit in Connecticut.
This part of the Brooklyn waterfront is called Pebble Beach. There are great views of both the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges.
Manhattan Bridge
Blue steel is a feature of the Manhattan Bridge
Jane’s Carousel, built in 1922
View of the financial district from under the Brooklyn Bridge. That’s the Freedom Tower with the black spire.
Lady Liberty in the distance
A bison puppet in Brooklyn
A herd of bison puppets 🤷‍♀️
My son and his girlfriend in front of a chain link fence with a heart on the Lower East Side/Chinatown (Manhattan), where we went for an interesting dinner
Both jellyfish (top) and chicken feet (bottom) were served as appetizers. I tried both.
I couldn’t bring myself to try the “live fish” because I was too afraid of getting a bone stuck in the back of my throat, which happened to me once as a kid.
The happy couple sharing their absolutely beautiful vows 🥹
Weather was pretty rainy so this lovely patio area was a bit soggy, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

We made it back to Massachusetts in much better time. (The traffic gods were with us.) But my ears are still ringing. Brooklyn was loud. From the constant sirens to the extremely noisy restaurants and bars, I’m happy to be home and can’t say I’m dying to head back to NYC anytime soon.

Stress baking

~ MaryG ~ 43 Comments

I gotta say, this whole situation with the midterm election (and Trump’s plan to undermine it), the mess in the Middle East, inflation, AI coming for us…and on and on…is…STRESSFUL.

Baking with fruit from our own trees is a good counterbalance to the news.

A friend’s trip to Germany inspired me to try making apple strudel for the first time. My husband cut-up the last of our Winesap apples and we used a recipe I found online.
I have very little experience baking with puff pastry. It turns out the timing of when you take it out of the freezer is a key.
There were dots of butter under the top sheet of puff pastry, which I brushed with milk.
After 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven
Amazing. No ice cream needed.

The midterm elections have begun. VOTE like your life depends on it, because it does. VOTE early if you can.

Find voter information here.