Books and Daily Affirmations

Motivational Monday…A lesson on traveling?

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Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. ….Mark Twain

God bless you Mark Twain…another justification of why I travel!

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Home & Food

Foodie Friday…Turkey and Sweet Potato Cannelloni

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Guest Post….Taylor and Dan via Cafe Delites
T&D made this a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it, so I asked them to share the recipe…which they adapted from the website Cafe Delites
chop, chop, chop

INGREDIENTS
Filling:
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 pound extra lean ground turkey mince
  • 1 medium sized sweet potato (about 10oz) chopped and roasted until soft
  • 2 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ bunch fresh kale (about 4-5 cups), shredded
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable stock powder
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves (optional)
  • 1 box dry cannelloni pasta tubes
  • (30 tubes)
  • Store bought tomato sauce (there’s a recipe on the original website, but we just used a jar (there’s also an optional bechamel sauce that we didn’t do)
  • ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 390F.
Filling:
  1. Cook the onion in a pan sprayed with cooking oil until translucent. Add the ground turkey and garlic powder, breaking up the turkey with your wooden spoon and cook until browned. Add in the sweet potato and the kale, and stir until leaves begin to wilt. Add in the herbs and set aside to cool slightly.
  2. Mash the sweet potato with a fork and mix through the turkey

Cannelloni:
  1. Stuff filling into each cannelloni tube until full. Repeat with all cannelloni and arrange into an oven-proof dish in a single layer. Pour the sauce evenly over the cannelloni, turning them slightly to coat in sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

  1. Cover the tray with foil and bake the cannelloni for 20-30 minutes, or until pasta is soft. Remove foil and change oven settings to grill/broil for a further 10 minutes, or until cheese is golden.
  2. Serve the cannelloni with extra tomato sauce from the baking tray and garnish with fresh herbs.

Thanks Taylor and Dan for the FAB recipe…and it’s weight watcher friendly!

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails! 

Adventure/Life/Travel

A Day of Culture

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I thought I walked a lot on Monday, but I think if I had a fit-bit it would have said I walked more on Tuesday…and I loved it! On the agenda..St. Paul’s Cathedral, a walk across the millennium bridge to the Tate Modern and then wherever my feet would take me until 7:30, when I was seeing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time at the Gielgud Theatre.
It was a gorgeous sunny day and I wasn’t planning on taking any public transportation…mission accomplished! St. Paul’s Cathedral is gorgeous…you know it from the movie Mary Poppins song “feed the birds”…. where the woman is on the steps of St. Paul’s feeding pigeons.
From there it was a beautiful walk across the Thames on the millennium foot bridge to my 1:30 appointment at the Tate to see an exhibition of Sir Elton John’s photography collection. It was spectacular! I love photography and he has some iconic pieces, from the tiniest, 
1.6×2.2 inch Underwater Swimmer by Andre Kertesz… to one of the most famous,
Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange, evoking the Grapes of Wrath and the great depression. It was only a very small part of his huge collection and included a short video of Sir Elton sharing his apartment, with nary a wall untouched, explaining his passion and how he started collecting. I hope Sir Elton loans it to a U.S. museum too some day!
Neal’s Yard
Time to wander….along the Thames, up to Neal’s Yard at Covent Garden,
The National Gallery…
this one by Renoir is called “The Skiff” so I had to take a picture!
…and this one by Van Gogh called “Two Crabs” has such gorgeous colors
…and then off to see Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time…recommended by my sister and cousin and it didn’t disappoint. Nothing like all those British accents up on stage to make you feel uppity and cultured! I’d recommend…and I’d recommend the book…my only complaint is that the theater was ridiculously hot, which made me a little sleepy and my head started bobbing, which is just embarrassing.
 home via the tube…and quick to bed for a good night’s sleep….I’m going to the Cotswold’s for my birthday!
You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!
Books and Daily Affirmations

Motivational Monday…memories

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IMAG0927_1
The pic above is from a treasured memory in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland.

A treasured memory is the lasting gift of time well spent…Tim Fargo  

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Travel

A Proper English Christmas….and Boxing Day

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WOW…I woke up around 7:15 and thought, what the hell, it’s still dark out?! I looked up “sunrise in London” and it came up as 8:05…WHAT??..then looked up sunset and it was at 3:55…WHAT?? So, basically there’s only about 8 hours of daylight and it starts getting dark-ish. It’s great, though, in the morning… I slept in every day!
Christmas shoes!
Knowing I’d be in London for Christmas by myself I had to plan something to make it a bit special, since I wouldn’t be with my family. I booked a 3-hour lunch cruise of the Thames. Festive, beautiful, relaxing! The tube and public transportation in general doesn’t run on Christmas so I took an Uber over to Westminster pier, on the water right next to Big Ben and Westminster Abby. It was so cool seeing those iconic landmarks so close (although scaffolding was up around the Abbey so that spoiled the pics from the water) I was so excited and the cruise started out magically, with a cool view from the water and my charming dining guests, who were from Sardinia, Italy. BUT….the lunch took forever, was just okay in taste….and in the end I would definitely recommend a cruise, just not one that includes a meal. It reminded me of the time years ago in Paris when I was given this same advice when the was-band and I went for a cruise on the Seine…do the cruise, skip the meal..so much better.
A few weeks before I was to leave, one of my friends, Verinda, was over for our weekly mahjongg game and was talking about her London trip. She has lots of family there and I basically asked if I could crash her Christmas dinner…ballsy!??
She, very graciously, said “Absolutely” and said I would be treated to “A proper English Christmas dinner.” So immediately after the cruise I took another Uber over to her husband’s cousin’s home and it was a lovely, yummy evening.
Their home was so beautiful, with a big open kitchen with red accents, decorated for Christmas and the food was amazing…lamb; roasted potatoes; roasted veggies; mushroom/cheese pie, that I loved; homemade gravy; brussel sprouts; and homemade yorkshire pudding that was light and fluffy and delish! There were 21 of us at the sprawling table festooned with those fun poppers that contain little paper hats, jokes and surprises..kind of like a cracker jack box.
It was so much fun seeing the kids open their gifts with such excitement….there were gift opening sessions about every hour or so…FUN! It was such a treat to be part of a beautiful English/Indian Christmas and they made me feel so at home.
It truly was a special “proper English Christmas dinner” that I will remember always! I was too pooped to stay for dessert so no pics of that, but I’m sure it was just as fabulous as dinner.  I had a big walking day ahead of me…..
 ….Boxing Day
So, I went to bed really late…for me that means midnight…and slept until 9:00, which was awesome, but so weird at the same time. This was my wandering day and I didn’t care. I was in Camden Town (home of Camden Market and Camden Lock) by 10:15 and if you’ve ever been to Canal St in NYC it’s like that, on steroids! I went from booth to booth thinking it was a lot of touristy things…until I hit upon a couple of awesome shops and, not planning to, bought some funky, fun things.
you can tell what’s being sold at the store by the 3D display above each…it was wild to see!
Camden Lock…outdoor food market with an eclectic array of food choices…sitting right on a canal. Those are canal boats lined up.

After walking around for over an hour and having some coffee and a little snack at Camden Lock I ventured on to my next destination…Covent Garden and Trafalgar square.

Verinda’s cousin, Manjeet, had recommended I walk along the canal (instead of a busy commercial street) to make my way towards Covent Garden and what a great suggestion it was. It was so nice just strolling next to the water, seeing the locks, …the wandering is always the best part! After surfacing to the street, I found little alleyways and eventually made my way to Scarfes Bar in the Rosewood Hotel to sit down and read. I had done a little research before I left, googling “cozy pubs to read with a fireplace” and Scarfes was on the list. It’s actually quite large, but still felt cozy, and was so quiet when I arrived, I was seated in a little nook near the fireplace right next to bookshelves. What is it about a wall of old books that makes you feel like sitting and staying awhile?
unfortunately they were having a hard time getting the fire going
I sat there for almost 2 hours enjoying a glass of wine and a FAB book. It felt so
quintessential Dickens Christmas and the artwork is a rotating selection of cartoons…really funny…
check out this one with Donald Trump accosting Prime Minister May
I continued my stroll around Covent garden, slipping in alleyways, walking to Trafalgar Square to see the fountain, Christmas tree and large menorah.
It was Monday and I thought to myself “hmmmm, pizza Monday, I should find a cute little Italian place. I’m not kidding, I looked across the street from where I was standing and there was an adorable place called Cicchetti…that is Kate’s mom’s maiden name!
What are the chances?! Kate said she’d never come across anything with that name when she was in Italy during college. Of course, I had to have pizza Monday there! I tucked myself into the corner of the bar to people watch and to enjoy the chef orchestrate the food in the large open pizza oven.
yummy prosciutto and funghi pizza
I’d pretty much been walking all day…time to take the tube home and go to sleep…another 11pm evening! My feet were tired!
You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!
Travel

….a little lost in London

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After a bit of a flight delay, I landed in London around 2:30pm….and, after the long customs line, arrived at the apartment I’d rented around 5:00pm. I had dinner plans with my cousin, Beth, and her husband, Paul, the birthday boy, who happened to be staying in London on their way back to the states. Beth had made reservations at the coolest place, The Booking Room at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel to celebrate Paul’s birthday…and Christmas Eve. It was such a cool venue…an old train station turned into a hotel, with restaurants and bar…and the train still operating right outside. We had a leisurely dinner in the historic venue and then headed our separate ways around 9:45.
My place was only 2 stops on the tube and I navigated that part beautifully….and then I exited the station. I turned on my cell phone gps to navigate me towards my apartment, and, thinking I was going in the right direction, turned it off to conserve the very low battery. I just instinctively turned the wrong way out of the train station. After walking 10 minutes it just didn’t feel like the same route I took when I went to dinner?? I looked at the gps, turned around and tried to follow the screen map…..and then I ran out of battery…IN THE MIDDLE OF LONDON!!!  UGH!! My apartment was on Crondall Ct…and I knew there was also a Crondall Street. To make a long story short, I asked at least 5 people where Crondall Ct was and nobody knew and, after roaming around thinking I was SOOOOO close I finally unlocked the door to my apartment at 11:35….WTF!!

my cute apartment

It was a bit reminiscent of my Montreal trip…arriving late, no idea where you are and need to get in touch with someone RIGHT NOW!! For this excursion I knew my phone would be charged and I’d have no problems…..uh, NO! I have three phone chargers scattered about my house and just grabbed one….the one that doesn’t really charge very well! I tried to charge it on the plane to no avail.
….but  had a little sense of relief knowing I had an external charger….which wasn’t charged!  Basically both didn’t work very well and I was screwed….
The moral of the story…make sure the place you stay in a foreign country is in a safe neighborhood, in case you need to wander a bit after dark…and don’t panic..you’ll get to your place eventually! …OH, and make sure your phone is charged or you have an external charger that you can use as a backup. I knew in London and Montreal that I’d be fine walking around, but it can still be a bit stressful at 11pm!
great statue at St. Pancras
You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!
Books and Daily Affirmations

Motivational Monday…Happy New Year (one day late)

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Today is the first blank page of your 364 page book. Write a good one!

How will you make the most of 2017?

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Books and Daily Affirmations

Motivational Monday…A few thoughts as we end 2016

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I’m going to miss this man…& his wife….

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.”…Herman Melville/Moby Dick

“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.”…Ayn Rand/Atlas Shrugged

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Adventure/Travel

Movie Reviews…Arrival…& SING

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I was all packed and ready for my trip to London for the holidays and had a few hours to spare yesterday, so decided to see the movie SING!  ….but it was sold-out 🙁 which isn’t surprising given that it’s in the top three at the box-office, since it opened on Tuesday! I had heard that Arrival was good, so went to that instead.

Delightful, FUN, poignaint, FUN…and who doesn’t love a bunch of animated animals singing!? Oh, wait, that would have been my review if I had seen SING…’cause I know I’ll love it! Okay, Arrival…I really liked it. I’m not a big fan of sci-fi futuristic movies, but this was so much more than that. It’s about communication and world peace with a lovely family story thrown in. It was engaging and interesting…and it stuck with me for a bit after I left the theater..always a good sign.

So, that’s my quick review of Arrival. Go see it….and go see SING, because I know you’ll love it too!

Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Be the joy you wish to see in the world…. xo…jeanine

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!