Friday, June 29, 2012

Last nights dinner recipe...

Okay, I know. My blog is usually reserved for books and a seasoning of music.  But since it is my blog I reserve the right to scribble a few lines about anything. This time being food.

It was the morning of January 7th.  One foot on the scale, then the other.  The digital display screamed back at me, "Dude, you need to lose  weight!" So, googling my way through recipes on the web, I wanted to find a scrumptious way to cook green beans.  They say eat your vegetables so green beans is a good place to start.

So last nights dinner consisted of grilled salmon and sauteed green beans.  Someone once said, Simpler is Better, and this little meal took about 15 minutes to throw together.

1 Salmon filet and a handful of fresh green beans
A smathering of Rub with Love Salmon Rub
Sartori Di Verona Amarone ( on a rating system of 5 corks, I give it a 3.5)
Grill provided by George Foreman. 

Cover the filet in salmon rub to a degree of your choosing. You can follow the directions on the jar, but what fun is that?!?!  To cook this meal I covered the filet while the beans were on the boil.  I guess you could marinate it a bit, let it sit in the fridge for a while before you start, but I hadn't thought of that until now.

There's not much to grilling salmon, sure you can cedar plank it, but time management is the key and my outdoor grill isn't conducive to using indoors next to the stove while I sauteed the beans so I called up George Foreman and he provided me a counter top grill. I don't know George but I do know his grill and its very handy for indoor grilling.

So the beans.  Here's the quick, not so sophisticated recipe.  ( I used minced garlic and white wine instead of what the recipe calls for. Basically because I didn't have what they recommended)


All in all, a quick healthy meal.




So, fast forward to this morning, June 29th. The scale yelled back to me "Dude, you've lost some weight!!"  20 lbs since January. For those that have seen me recently, you may not have noticed, partly because I hid myself in my little cubby hole during the winter when I was at my heaviest. Hybernating if you will. (compared to this time last year, I've only lost 10 lbs, but who's counting!)

 So how'd I lose the weight, you may ask?:

Eliminate potato chips, doritos or the salty, fat, snack of your liking
Eliminate fast food
Minimize chocolate
Minimize bread
Eat more fish/chicken
Eat more fruit/vegetables
Eat less and...
Exercise! I try to do something each day. Whether it be a walk to buy lottery tickets ( instead of driving), riding a bike, golf,  ( stationery or otherwise) and weights.

Bon Appetit!

Friday, June 22, 2012

The Three R's and the Lost Years

I've been on a bit of a sabbatical and haven't written in several weeks.  That's not to say I haven't been reading.  So far this year, 38 books in the bank including 11 since my last post on May 2.

May was filled with work ( funny how that gets in the way) and a lost weekend in Memphis and another lost weekend in New Orleans, the second week of June,  which is reserved for another post.  Speaking of lost, have you read The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark? well, more on that later.

Lost can also describe the period of time after a electro  therapy sessions of Carrie Fisher's. She speaks to that in her 2nd memoir, Shockaholic.

 
Surprisingly based on the title she speaks less of that therapy and more on the three R's.

The three R's being, Reflection, Regret and Reconciliation.  She does state that electro therapy was a survival tactic,  lost of hope and yearned for some sort of healing vs. the ultimate escape.

She regrets her estranged relationship with her father, Eddie Fisher, only to reconcile with him and Elizabeth Taylor, the women who "stole" Eddie from Carrie.

Reflects on her love interests and throws a bit of spice into the mix as she describes her sexually charged innuendo  dinner with Ted Kennedy, while her companion at the time, Senator Christopher Dodd sat coyly by.

Then there's her relationship with Michael Jackson. Having spent his last Christmas with him, Fisher opens up on Michael, his relationship with his children and his odd questionable behavior. 

Serendipitously speaking during the time of reading Shockaholic, I decided to catch up on my monthly magazine reading, including, Vanity Fair.  And wouldn't you know it, an article on Michael Jackson's dermatologist appeared in the magazine, a doctor that Fischer wrote about, Dr. Arnie Klein.

There's so much lost here, loss of years not retrievable, relationships no longer mend able and loss of innocence.

Now to Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark.  I'm lost here, lost as to why I've read so many of her books, 17 including 6 with her daughter Carol. Granted they're good but in a soft fluffy thriller sort of way.  Why do I read her, well, the reason escapes me but I remember a time ( 2003 or 2004 ?) when a great friend said, "Have you ever read Mary Higgins Clark?" Whenever someone suggests a book or author I have to read. Read to understand what captured a person's interest in reading the books.

But alas, I reflect back on the last 8 or 9 years and wonder if the time spent reading Clark is just that, lost.