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Friday’s Fresh Five! (3/14/14)
A miracle happened. A magnificent flower blossomed under the care of a person who has two brown thumbs. Yes, that person is me. Several years ago a friend gave me an orchid for my birthday....
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (3/21/14)
A morning stroll leads me past a bend of wildflowers. Small spikes of purple lupines contrast beautifully with rounded mounds of orange poppies. One by one, the tightly-wound poppy buds gradually...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (3/28/14)
Take a walk through this photo with me. What do you see? Trees? Yes, what kind of trees? Flowers? How many different colored flowers are there? Looking at the shadows, from what direction is the sun...
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Coconut Curry Chili
He wanted curry. I wanted chili. Lucky for him, I compromised by making a chili dish with an interesting flavor twist. Coconut Curry Chili looks like a typical chili and packs the heat of a chili, but...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (4/11/14)
Posturing and positioning themselves, two blue belly lizards eye each other contemptuously. Using my deck as their battlefield, they crawl around in a strategic circle formation. In a flash the battle...
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Pineapple-Lemon Iced Tea
What? O.C.D. iced tea? I need that! After putting on my reading glasses, I realize that it is not O.C.D. iced tea, but rather O.C.C. iced tea. O.C.C. stands for the Oahu Country Club in Honolulu,...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (4/18/14)
Dozens of long-stemmed red roses sit on my kitchen table. The gift of these magnificent flowers symbolizes love, but for me they also represent a passage of time. I am a firm believer that every...
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Javanese Marinade for Lamb Shish Kebabs
To share or not to share? That was my dilemma. Should I reveal a family favorite recipe or should I keep it a family secret? Recognizing that life is infinitely better when shared and acknowledging...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (4/25/14)
Consider the proverb, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime,” and then consider how it might relate to someone who appreciates...
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Homemade Potpourri with Rose Petals and Lavender
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And if life gives you six dozen red roses, make potpourri. When the heads of my birthday roses started drooping, it was time to say goodbye to the lovely...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/2/14)
What is it about sunflowers that make people feel happy? Is it their bright sunny color or their large happy faces? Is it their petals that resemble rays of sunshine? Or is it their unassuming and...
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The Best Chocolate Cupcake
Make mine dark, sinful, rich and gooey. Make me want to lick my fingers. Make me the best chocolate cupcakes ever. But wait! Don’t use any sissy milk chocolate or not-really-chocolate white chocolate...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/9/14)
Rolls of canvas fabric provide points of interest on an overcast day. Narrow, wide, bold and subdued bands of colors mingle with one another in joyful harmony. The fabric of our lives should be...
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Citrus Gazpacho
A trip to the American Southwest and blistering hot days prompt me to explore the world of chilled soups. After eating at Cafe Pasqual’s, a James Beard America’s Regional Cooking Classics award...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/16/14)
A gust of wind snatches a reprint of a famous painting away from the hands of a tour guide and forces it to tumble end over end across the dusty ground. With the wind behind it, it blows away like a...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/23/14)
The sun gives off a golden glow as it lowers itself in the sky. This glow creates a striking contrast to the mountains, turning them into a dark amorphous shape. With bright light reflecting off...
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Pistachio Shortbread Cookies
A package of pistachio shortbread cookies sits in a basket near a cash register in a New Mexico restaurant. I debate whether or not to buy them. On the con side of the debate, eating cookies goes...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/30/14)
The juxtaposition of adjacent buildings creates an invitation to admire the scenery. The angles of the walls tease me to look beyond the structures, to scan the snow-dusted mountains. After a moment...
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Greek Salad With Orzo and Black-Eyed Peas
Better together? Sometimes marriages work and sometimes they don’t. But magic occurs when two entities come together and bring out the best in each other. That is exactly what happens in the case of...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (6/6/14)
They were everywhere, but nobody knew their name. Pretty trees covered with delicate rose-like blossoms decorated the streets of a town I recently visited. Fixated with their beauty and wanting to...
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