Snow!

I know that so much of the country finds the snow irksome, to say the least. I was just saying the other day how happy I am with my first winter in upstate New York. I guess a big part of why I like it so much is that I'm not working right now. I get to enjoy all the good things about the snow. First and foremost: Fred is riotously funny when he really gets going out in the back yard. I've shoveled paths throughout the back yard because the first snow we had was pretty substantial and I couldn't imagine how the dogs were going to get anywhere in it. I was especially concerned for Miller, as he is 15 1/2 and not as steady on his feet sometimes as the other boys. But Fred LOVES the paths and he zooms up and down and across the yard and it's so fun to watch. And sometimes he decides he wants to bounce through the high snow, and that's fun to watch, too.

The second thing is that it's just so damned pretty. I'm surrounded by trees in my wonderful yard and we have had small snowfalls in amongst the big storms and there is always new snowfall that just cleans everything up. Very beautiful. I have had no issues keeping up with the shoveling, no thanks to Dana. Dana has definitely not done her part in the shoveling department. And I've got a guy here who comes to plow the driveway and the car area for $25 a shot. That is a bargain, especially compared to what it cost me to get my small driveway plowed in Glassboro. So far this winter I've only had to pay $75 for plowing. In New Jersey, for ONE plowing of my driveway, I paid $175.

So, my day today will be a little reading and a little writing, watching the snow fall and watching the dogs play. And shoveling. And cooking beef stew. It should be a nice day.

This Must Be What A Miracle Feels Like

Look at them. Two people that I admire greatly, Hillary's first day at the State Department. And beyond my admiration for these two, for the first time in years - 8 years - I feel like the people in charge of how we deal with the rest of the world actually want to do what is best for the United States and the world and not what's best for themselves. I think of Hillary Clinton sitting down with world leaders and how the instructions from her boss are so different from what Condoleeza Rice was sent to do. I do feel bad for Rice; she is no dummy, even though she often acted badly, and wrongly, based on her boss's (that would be Dick Cheney) direction.

But beyond the horror of our foreign policy these last 8 years and how I know we are so quickly on a better track, it is wonderful to watch these two together. Look at them. I don't see an ounce of bitterness left in Hillary in this photo. It's so great. And there really shouldn't be any hint of bitterness left. Hillary Clinton has a job now that she is close to perfectly suited for. The 94-2 vote in the Senate had to have been so gratifying to her. She was my first choice for president, but when she lost the nomination it was an easy switch for me to support Obama. And his confidence in her was clear in his choice for Secretary of State.

I am giddy with happiness. What can I say?

Annie's Apple Cake

ANNIE’S APPLE CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit!)

Grease and flour Bundt pan

Ingredients

3 large eggs
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 cups thinly sliced apples (about 4 small)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Blend eggs, sugar and oil. In a separate bowl, blend flour, baking soda and salt, then add to the eggs, sugar and oil mixture (using low setting on hand mixer, whisk or spatula).

Fold in cinnamon, walnuts and apples (using a spatula or spoon).

Pour in the pan and bake for 1 hour. Five minutes before done, check with a long toothpick or wooden skewer. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. It is important that the toothpick come out clean. Let the cake bake longer until this does happen.

DENISE’S NOTES:

I tried this, replacing the sugar with Splenda and the oil with applesauce (no sugar kind of applesauce). The cake tastes fine this way, but it’s a much denser cake than the original recipe.

I’ve used Macintosh and Granny Smith apples for this cake. I think a more tart apple is the way to go with this cake.

Grease and flour the Bundt pan WELL. I used cooking spray, which works fine, but make sure you cover the pan completely with the spray and flour. I have a non-stick Bundt pan and the cake will even stick to that if you don’t grease and flour well.

Preparation is easy – about 30 minutes.

Use a spatula when you combine the wet with the dry ingredients. This is all easy stuff to do by hand – no need for the power tools!

Washington National Cathedral

Ah, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Today there is the national prayer service from the National Cathedral. I am no fan of organized religion, but I am a fan of beautiful churches. And the National Cathedral and its grounds is one of those. My sisters and I try to make it there when we head to D.C. It's a magnificent structure and well worth a visit the next time you hit Washington. In fact, a trip to Washington, D.C. sounds like a real good idea these days. We weren't about to put D.C. on the city non grata list just because George Bush occupied the White House. We love D.C. There's always something new to see, even if it's just a new exhibit at one of the museums or galleries. But unless you are spending weeks in D.C., you need to go back frequently in order to see all that there is. As I noted, my sisters and I have been many times, but we still have not done a tour of the FBI building or the White House. We haven't done the spy tour from Georgetown. I have yet to get to the Library of Congress. In fact, I haven't been to the Capitol building itself since I was a safety in elementary school.

Yes, I think I am due for a visit to D.C.

But there are so many neat things to see there, don't be put off by the fact that in a long weekend you will only be able to see a small portion of the wonders of the U.S. capitol city. A few of my favorite things:

Lincoln Memorial - Stirring, moving, emotional

National Cathedral - See above

National Arboretum - If you can, and you are driving out of town via New York Avenue, you should stop in. The driving tour does not take that long, or you can take the shuttle tour with a guide. It's quite beautiful, especially in the spring (see azalea photo to the right on this blog)

World War II Memorial - I just love this memorial. I love the view of the Lincoln Memorial from it. And once you are there, you are not that far from seeing some of the other great memorials that honor our military: the Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial - You need to drive to the Tidal Basin (or plan for a very long walk) to see this wonderful memorial to FDR. It's park-like with great images in sculpture of FDR's life and work

The Museum of the American Indian - Very cool museum. Try to be there for lunch - they have a spectacular cafeteria with foods typical of native Americans. Yum!

The museums are just wonderful. On any given long weekend, we usually only manage 2 or 3 museums because there is just so much to see. But all of the branches of the Smithsonian (the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden is especially wonderful), the National Gallery of Art, the Holocaust Museum - all are worth your time, which is why multiple visits are the only way to go in my mind.

Oh, and lots of great restaurants. And if you're lucky, or you plan it just right, you can see something fabulous at the Kennedy Center. We have seen a performance of "A Streetcar Named Desire" with Patricia Clarkson and Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" with the National Symphony. And don't miss the grand views of D.C. from the roof.

Happy Travels,
Denise

It's A New Day

So here I sit, quoting will.i.am (did I just say that?) on this most wonferful of days. Happiness. My relief has morphed in the last days to simple, pure happiness. As my brothers and sisters at Joyce and Bill's inauguration party celebrated, I shared their joy and celebration of this special man as our president. It is so exciting to be able to say that my president is Barack Obama. I am still in awe that we did this. We did this, people! It is just incredible. Here is a photo of all of us today, celebrating with our new president (Bill kindly took the photo - thanks Bill! Our other host, Joyce, is right there at the bottom right of the big TV):




This is one happy group of people. And boy did we have a nice party. Great food, great drink, including a champagne toast to our new president, and really great people. I was honored to spend time with these good folks on this very special day. It was a long time coming, in more ways than one.

And when I wasn't enjoying the inauguration festivities, I was able to enjoy views like this from Joyce and Bill's living room:

Wow! As I said to Joyce, and her neighbors who have a similar view, how do you ever drag yourselves away from all that beauty? I have to admit that I do sometimes have similar issues with leaving my house, but that's because my dogs are just so damned cute!

One more thing. I haven't been to the White House website in a long, long time. There was no reason with Bush in office. Go and have a look now. It's a whole different world out there. I can feel it. http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Peace,

Denise

A New President - Praise to the Gods

It has been with muted anticipation that I look forward to tomorrow. I am SO excited about Barack Obama as our new president, but I do need to try to contain myself. I know there are others, especially up here in Essex County, New York, who don't feel the same way. I am so relieved to be rid of "The Decider", who decided badly for all of his eight years as president. He was far more of a Divider than any kind of a decent Decider.

I believe with every ounce of my being that Barack Obama will right the near sinking ship that he has been left by George Bush. And I believe this because he has made it clear that he wants to listen to all sides, to understand the other side and see where there might be common ground. There is nothing wrong in this type of thinking, no matter what the ultra left progressives say. I prefer someone who wants to understand other viewpoints to someone who thought he knew it all, a man who made "unilateral" the very dirty word that it really is in today's world.

I read this article today: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/us/politics/19mccain.html?scp=4&sq=&st=nyt about how Obama has been seeking John McCain's counsel these last weeks. Frankly, I still have a bitter taste remaining from the campaign about how he ran for president and the miserable and low tactics he used to try to attain the highest office in the land. In spite of how I still have lingering doubts about the man, this article makes it clear that good things are likely not that far away. Bush and a Democratic Congress were bound to be at loggerheads; Bush didn't engender trust or confidence for most of his presidency, and certainly not in the last two years. Nobody's had much trust in him in a long time, all polling will tell you that. But couldn't a Republican president have made some progress with a Democratic Congress? All it takes really is a little consideration. Bush rarely offered it, and he certainly never earned it back.

Yes, I am psyched about tomorrow. And I am ready for a party!

PS - Essex County, New York is generally a Republican stronghold, but this year, it went for the Democrats, pretty overwhelmingly. I like to think that Dana and Darryl and I had a fair hand in that shift!

Not A Miracle

Lots and lots of reporting of the "Miracle on the Hudson" today. I disagree. What happened was amazing, unheard of apparently in the annals of planes attempting a landing on water. No, what happened was simply the work of a highly accomplished and intelligent pilot, a man who clearly appreciated what it meant to keep his passengers safe and took all of his extensive training and education and intelligence and found the perfect answer to a bad situation. The pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III (what a name!) was by all means a hero, but he did not perform a miracle.

But what an event! My friends Tom and Dolores have a condominium in Guttenberg, New Jersey, directly across from Manhattan. They have what I call the "million dollar view at half the price" of Manhattan. Neither of them were looking out the window when the plane crashed pretty much right below them (they are on the 12th floor), but Dolores' sister got the story pretty quickly (she works at a newspaper) and she called Dolores and they watched, mesmerized, from their bird's eye view for much of the day. The wreckage did eventually float out of their line of view, but how amazing to be experiencing such an event, especially one with such a terrific outcome. It definitely beats our experiences, and the ultimate outcome, at Mikasa over in Secaucus on 9/11, huh Tom?

Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth died today. He was 91 and painted pretty much until the end. Deb, Dana and I went to the Brandywine River Museum not all that long ago. Many of the artworks of three generations of Wyeths are on display there, as well as works of art by other talented artists. It's an intimate gallery with lovely gardens and grounds. I highly recommend visiting, especially in nice weather in order to spend time outside.

One of Andrew Wyeth's most famous works was Christina's World:

Wyeth loved the hills and the farmland around Chadds Ford and the Brandywine River Valley of Pennsylvania. This is famous and lovely, but I have a print (as do many other dog lovers) that I love of a yellow lab-ish dog sleeping on a bed. This one:
The Wyeths loved their dogs. Jamie Wyeth, in particular, inserted dogs into his artwork regularly. And it was clear that this family really and truly loved their dogs. The affection imbued in the representation of these animals is fantastic. In fact, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew's father and a reknowned illustrator and artist, once gave Andrew a critique of one if his early works by suggesting that there would be more interest in the painting if he stuck a dog in it!

Here is a link to the Brandywine River Museum. Find the time to make a visit. It is a beautiful setting, with intimate galleries and some great American landscapes, still lifes and illustrations.

http://www.brandywinemuseum.org/index.html

Brrrrr

The deep freeze that hit the northern plains and the midwest is heading our way. We're expecting a high of 2 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow. I know that's not as cold as some folks have been dealing with in the country, and other parts of the world, but we are expecting temps below zero for the next three nights. Even during the day with these temperatures, I am going to have to remember to put Fred's fleece jacket on him.

Also, just a note about format. I love Blogspot, but I didn't like all that blank space to the right, and I don't have any more places to recommend you spend your time, so I've filled that space up with photos I've taken. I hope you enjoy them.

Ciao,
Denise

Ribollita

Ribollita!

Ah, the memories of Florence and fresh insalata caprese and ribollita. I would have one or both every single day of my week-long visit to Florence, Italy a few years ago. Ribollita is a soup. The name means "reboiled" in Italian, and it is basically reheating minestrone soup from the previous day, amending it with with bread and cannellini beans. Darryl found this brilliant recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network website. Here below is the link to this magnificent recipe. Follow the directions exactly as they are written and you will be rewarded with the most amazingly robust vegetable soup you will ever eat. It is very much like the ribollita from Tuscany. The only thing missing from our meal was that it was being served in Willsboro, New York not Florence, Italy. But we had a lovely salad, a nice red wine, and coffee and fresh fruit salad for dessert. And great company: Dana, Darryl and I shared this meal with Joyce & Bill and Bonnie from Westport. Joyce and Bonnie are fellow Master Gardener volunteers. The next time we'll pass on the movie (we got to the theater just in time for Burn After Reading...the reviews were mixed in our group) and show our Westport pals how to play Phase 10!

Buon appetito!

RIBOLLITA - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/ribollita-recipe/index.html