Writing as an Escape

 It's a crazy world now, there is no doubt about that.  And just in general, my life is full of ups and downs.  I am sure many of you have the same experience.  I want to start writing again.  Creative writing.  I believe that it will be a good escape for me.  I think that we all need some place or some way to escape from reality for a while. And that is absolutely fine. For me, it will be a form of self-care, and I am a huge proponent of that!

I want to create a place of goodness to escape to.  Not that there isn't goodness in the world today.  There is, it's just not always obvious.  What I am talking about is creating a place that, while some may find mundane and boring, would be beautiful to me.  I look back at television, books, etc. to the places that spoke to me.  Places that made me want to live there.  Where there were problems, but people handled them with the help of others.  Where a sense of community was often more important than the individual.  These places could be funny and touching.  There would be serious moments when people came together to get through.  A community.

Here are some of the types of places I want to pull from:

Mayberry - "The Andy Griffith Show"

Star's Hollow - "The Gilmore Girls"

Prince Edward Island - "Anne of Green Gables"

Lake Wobegon - "Prairie Home Companion"

This might seem silly to others, but to me it is going to be a way that I survive the next few years of my life. That is all. 

Recipe of the Week - Easy Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels

 If you need a really easy appetizer, here is a good one!  I found this online and tried it.  It was simple yet very filling!  Hope you enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels

1 cup shredded chicken

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup hot sauce

2 green onions, sliced

4 8" flour tortillas

Combine the first four ingredients.  Spread one quarter of the filling on each tortilla.  Roll the tortilla up and slice*

*I like to refrigerate the rolled-up tortillas for a few hours before slicing.  It makes them easier to slice.

Enjoy!

My Little Golden Book About Betty White

 

When I was a young child, I enjoyed reading from the My Little Golden Book Series.  Back in the days before personal computers, cell phones and cable television (yes, I'm that old) children often had to amuse themselves by reading a book, especially if it was raining and you couldn't go outside to play! Grandmother had a lot of these books.  Many of them were holiday books but they were still wonderful.  I remember one about a boy who earned 5 pennies and bought things to help his friends with. It was always wonderful to sit on Grandmother's lap and have her read these stories to me or I would read them to her.  Grand memories.

I have collected some of those books over the years.  I didn't get any of Grandmother's because I did not have children and others did.  That was only fair. But every now and then I will see one at a great price and snatch it up.  Several years ago for Christmas, Michael gave me the My Little Golden Book about Betty White.  This one is nonfiction and covers her life story. It's a sweet book and remarkably accurate on her life.  I have a small Golden Girls collection, and this has definitely added to it.  I know they have done other biographies for MLGB such as Dolly Parton, Queen Elizabeth and Lucille Ball. 

I look forward to finding more of these books on my shopping adventures and sitting down to read them.  Good times!

Generic Brands

 As an adult, product labels do not mean nearly as much to me as they did when I was a kid/teenager. Back then, the important labels were mostly items of clothing like Reebok sneakers, Levi jeans, Members Only jackets with maybe a few food items thrown in like Coca-Cola.  As an adult...not so much. While I do like well-made clothes and definitely enjoy a good cold Coca-Cola when I can, now I am on the hunt for quality alternatives. 

When I go into a department store, that is when I can find a department store these days, I will go straight to the clearance rack. Now, this does not mean that I will not find well known labels there because I definitely have in the past.  What it means to me is that things that are not popular right now and they simply need to get rid of can still be well made and satisfactory.  But in the end, I could really care less who made the item. If it's well made, it's well made. I'm no longer interested in paying for someone else's name. This is just me.  If it makes others happy, then by all means go for it!

This is also true for me when I am grocery shopping.  And we all know how much I love that.  When I have specific items on my shopping list, my first thought is to search for the store brand.  It is often just as good, if not better, than some big-name brand.  And most often it is only a fraction of the price. Food Lion is my preference when it comes to grocery shopping, and I love their house brands. I have not really had anything with their name on it that I have not enjoyed.  And my bank account has enjoyed it as well.

The point being is that the older I get, I am more concerned with quality and getting my money's worth as opposed to who made what.  Don't get me wrong, I am willing to pay for quality if that is what is required. But often, I can find a replacement just as good and at half the price.  Welcome to adulting! 

Proverbs 27:5-6

 

There's always something interesting in the cabinets

 It's interesting the things I find when I'm going through each drawer and cabinet.  There is always something that I forgot I had and think "Oh, that's where that has been all this time!"  Not like it is anything vital to my day, but it is usually something interesting.  When I was going through one of the kitchen cabinets, I reached up to the top shelf as I could see a plastic bag, but not what was in it.  I pulled it down and it was a bag of cookie press discs. I knew exactly what they were the moment I saw them.  They were Grandmother's.  But why were they not with the actual press itself?  And where was the actual press?  I know that I had seen it recently.  I have used it in a few years, but it's in this kitchen somewhere.

Later on, I went to get some plastic containers for leftovers out of another cabinet.  I looked up, again on the top shelf, and there was the cookie press.  Actually, there were two cookie presses.  One that was Grandmother's and one still unopened that she bought for me.  It's not in the fun vintage packaging as in the picture but it's the same cookie press. It just made me feel good to know that another part of her kitchen is a part of my kitchen.  Now, I need to make her famous cheese straws and put that cookie press to work!

Some Days - Audra McDonald

 This is one of my favorite go to songs whenever I need a shot of hope.  I don't know what it is exactly about this song that does it for me.  It might be memories associated with the song or James Baldwin's amazing words.  But, in the end, it does not matter.  It means a lot to me and gets me through difficult times.  I hope you're inspired.