Lollygagging.

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It’s not often that I am truly at leisure. Even during the weekends, there’s always something pulling me away. A dog that needs walking. Homework that needs doing. Friends that need seeing. Plants that need watering. A meal that needs cooking. A garden that needs weeding. A wall that needs painting. A whole house that needs cleaning.

You get the idea.

But a week ago today I quit my job. Don’t worry, there’s one awaiting me. I just decided to take a much needed vacation during the job transition limbo. And because God’s timing is perfect, my vacation happened to fall in summer and near a national holiday … which meant I could enjoy July 4th weekend at the beach. So I’ve been lollygagging for the past few days, with nary a care in the world. There’s no work to be done, no phones to answer and no dire emails to be returned … at least for now.

It’s a revelation to wake up every day after a 10-hour slumber, have coffee on the porch in the humid ocean breeze and wonder what I’ll do with my day. Sun? Reading? A walk? Television? Playing on the Internet? A nap?

These days we live to plan each night’s dinner, and the wine and spirits flow at 3 p.m. Even though the plan was to be home by now, we’ve all looked at each other for several days in a row and said “Wanna stay another day?” Sure. Okay.

You’d think I’d be bored out of my mind by such leisure, but it’s nice to slow down, walk on some sand, soak up the sunshine and enjoy out of doors. I’ve already read two whole books and am working through the third. Most importantly, I was appointed cook during our visit. The farmer’s market is nearby, so we’ve relished the season’s best produce. I’ve been practicing all the southern delicacies that are traditions of summer:  pimento cheese, boiled peanuts, squash, okra, butter beans, creamed corn, lowcountry shrimp boil and many, many peach cobblers. Someday I’ll get around to posting some of those recipes.

The point is that it has been bliss. Extraordinary, uncommon bliss. And I can appreciate it because I know it won’t last.

Magazines 2.0.

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I’ve always had a soft spot for magazines. It’s the MTV generation in me — we have short attention spans and are easily distracted by big, glossy pictures. Oooh, look! Pretty pictures! I’m still loyal to a good, hardback book, but I also can’t resist a good magazine, on almost any topic.

Many times over the years I’ve had to cut back my weekly/monthly subscriptions because all of those magazines were just piling up at the door. I still oversubscribe, since I don’t have much time these days to read anything more than People. Which I read cover to cover. Every week. Since 1989. That means this (and last) year’s issues of O Magazine are making a nice door stop in my living room until I have a long airplane ride or pool day to get through them.

l have a hard time not picking up any new magazine in reach. When I’m at my mother’s house, I read her Southern Livings; if I’m at the beach, I read my aunt’s Good Housekeeping; if I’m in an airport, I pick up Vanity Fair or In Style. It’s a problem, so thank goodness for recycling. Keep reading »

Cooking Spree: Warm Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

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Quinoa. 

KEEN-wah. KEEN-wah.  KEEN-wah.

I just like saying it.

As of late, I am obsessed with quinoa, that mysterious little grain. I was first introduced years ago at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods salad bar, when I took a sample of the quinoa salad. I think it was curried, with raisins and almonds, which is not always my favorite. But I fell in love with the odd, chewy, nuttiness of quinoa, how it sort of pops when you eat it and how each kernel has that weird little string of a tail. Then I learned it was actually good for you, as a protein-packed whole grain. Gotta get your whole grains in, people. I had just never cooked it myself.

A few weeks ago I was thrilled to find quinoa at Trader Joe’s, though I think it’s universally available in average supermarkets. Just check the rice aisle. I wasted most of that first box on two botched attempts at preparing it, but after some Internet research, I think I’m on the right track. You should rinse the quinoa but then don’t add too much water or cook it too long. You’ll have mush, trust me. Delicious mush, but mush just the same. (I still ate it.) This time I used 1 cup of dry quinoa to just under 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, cooked like rice — bring to boil, cover and reduce to low — for 10-15 minutes. Near perfection. Keep reading »

Where to even begin.

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Whew. It’s been a hectic two weeks — international travel, catching up on sleep, reacclimating to ‘normal’ life, battling a sleep-deprivation-and-travel-induced cold, starting the summer school session, moving offices at work, turning another year older. Major life shifts on all levels. I guess it’s true that when it rains it pours.

As part of that reacclimating, I need to get back to blogging and talking to all of you fine folks, my loyal readers. I have so much to tell you that I almost don’t know where to begin. South Africa was incredible … truly the trip of a lifetime. We could have just loaded on a tour bus and viewed the pretty scenery, which we did. But we also delved into the social and cultural issues, talking with business leaders and average joes about their experiences living in South Africa today, 17 years after the end of apartheid. I found it to be a country of contradictions, but also one in the middle of dynamic social change. Nearly everyone we met, when asked about the future, said, “We have no idea.” There’s turbulence in that, sure, but also hope and possibility.

So while it was a nice trip, it was also extremely meaningful. I think we were all touched, surprised and captivated by some part of our experience. At least two of my tripmates pledged to move to South Africa in the next five years just to be part of it or even to lead some of that change. As I started to realize in my last post, being there made us think about our own beliefs about race, our histories and life back home in America.  There are a lot of lessons (and parallels) for us.

It’s going to take me a bit to process all that I saw and learned, but I journaled like mad the whole trip just trying to capture every statement and nuance that we heard and observed. I’ve also downloaded my 700+ photos, so my aim is to recap our adventures for you over the next week or two. Or three. Or sometime in 2011. Stay tuned!

The art of forgiveness.

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It’s T-minus 10 days until I depart for the continent of Africa … eek!

In the last few weeks, my travel group has been meeting for several pre-trip sessions to educate ourselves on South Africa’s history, culture and current events. At a recent session we watched “Long Night’s Journey into Day,” a documentary about the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that began in the late 1990s. The TRC was formed by President Nelson Mandela in an attempt to heal the nation after the era of apartheid, and the commission invited all South Africans, whether jailed for their crimes or not, to come forward and publicly confess to any politically-motivated atrocities they committed during apartheid. They could also apply for amnesty from criminal and civil prosecution. The TRC seems to have a strong faith component as well; it was chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who called the TRC a “national program of reconciliation.” To read more about the TRC, click here.

The documentary featured the stories of four groups appearing before the commission. Many Americans may recall the 1993 murder of student Amy Biehl — one of her murderers, Mongezi Manqina, is featured as he applied for (and was granted) amnesty. Others, such as Eric Taylor, a white security police officer who killed four black anti-apartheid activists known as the Cradock Four, were not. Keep reading »

Tea, scones and a royal wedding.

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I need to give a shout-out to Angie. I’m so glad we became friends, because she’s always up for the crazy things that I want to do. Like getting up at 5 am on a workday to watch a royal wedding.

We tried to go to Big Ben, the local British ex-pat hangout, for a royal wedding breakfast and viewing party but it was actually over-booked. Turns out there are more royal-watchers in Charlotte than we expected. Plus, the director of our symphony also conducted the royal wedding orchestra at Westminster Abbey, so all of his colleagues and other symphony friends were headed there. I’m sure it was a madhouse! We opted instead for coffee (we needed something more strongly caffeinated than tea at that hour) and scones while we watched all the festivities in crystal-clear HD. The best seat in the house. And we got to share commentary on the dresses and hats, watch Oliver and Dixie wrestle and try our best not to wake Angie’s husband, who thought we were nuts. Okay, we are.

Next, Oliver and I headed to work, since we didn’t get to partake of a bank holiday. Instead, my coworkers and I spent all day watching the wedding re-broadcasts online and enjoying another spread of English delicacies — tea, more scones, petits fours, quiche. I even made sticky toffee pudding, which we can add to the OMG list. The recipe I used was pretty simple, and the result is just beyond words. Keep reading »

Reinventing an heirloom recipe.

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I am related to an amazing array of women who can cook. And I do mean cook. I associate every one of them with a special recipe that has defined my childhood and holiday occasions since, whether it’s my mom’s cold oven pound cake, Taffy’s mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, Mimi’s okra soup or Grandmama’s cornmeal fritters. My Aunt Dell is not allowed to attend family functions unless she brings her collard greens. Well, I’m exaggerating … only sort of. That food is just a part of our loving and sharing with each other.

Most of these family recipes are well documented, or at least those who have perfected them are still around to share their tips. But one family heirloom recipe has eluded us as of late. My grandfather’s sister, Aunt Ida, was famous for her caramel cake, which she brought regularly to family events. Regularly enough at least that it made an impression on my young taste buds. Aunt Ida passed away more than 10 years ago, and we’re just now discovering that no one has her recipe. Egads!

Caramel cakes are very southern, if not very Easterly. But I had a craving to attempt one a la Aunt Ida’s for Easter Sunday dinner. I Googled recipes all week, which resulted in a concoction of cobbled together cake and icing instructions. Then I updated them to reflect the tastes of the 2010s — a dash of sea salt makes it a salted caramel icing. Keep reading »

Saying a sudsy goodbye.

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It’s been a couple of days since the news broke about the cancellation of All My Children and One Life to Live, and I think I’ve needed that time just to process.

Everybody likes to scoff about the silliness of soap operas — the umpteen marriages, resurrections from the dead, overnight aging of kindergarteners to high schoolers, the “we can’t be together because … you’re … my long-lost … twin brother!” scenarios. But, some of the most lauded actors in Hollywood started on soaps, and the way they churn out pages of dialogue and five hours of television a week is pretty amazing. It’s a grind for those actors and writers that you have to respect on some level. Plus, back in the day soaps had some of the best writing and story plotting I’ve ever seen on television.

Anne Heche on "Another World"

I became a soap opera junkie when I was 7. I can date myself because one of my earliest memories is when Roman (or John Black, as we learned years later) was discovered alive and reunited with Marlena on Days of Our Lives. That was my grandmother’s “story,” and it was part of our established routine during summers at the beach:  play at the beach in the morning, lunch, DOOL at 1 pm, then Grandmama’s nap while I watched Another World and Santa Barbara. Those “supercouples” of the 80s defined my childhood:  Jack & Jennifer, Bo & Hope, Patch & Kayla. On Another World, I loved watching the exploits of twins Marley and Victoria, both played by a young Anne Heche. Once summer was over, I’d rush off the bus from third grade to catch Santa Barbara at 3 pm, since I couldn’t miss one minute of Cruz and Eden’s saga! Epic. Keep reading »

Countdown to the royal wedding.

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Have you heard any whispers about that royal wedding that’s coming up? No? Well maybe you live under a rock in Wyoming. Or, maybe you live under the JumboTron in Times Square but just couldn’t care less. If so, this may not be the post for you.

See, I’m excited. I’ve told you how I revel in royal pomp and circumstance, and I can’t wait to see all of that in action on April 29. Everyone’s asking me if I’m going to get up early and watch, and I think I have to. I won’t be taking the day off like some people (ahem) I know. But even if I DVR the whole thing, I can’t miss watching the wedding coverage live, right? I’ll probably just set my alarm for 4 am, blearily fumble for the remote and watch it from under my covers until I have to go to work. Once I get there, my coworkers have planned a high tea in celebration while we watch whatever festivities are left. I’ll be making authentic sticky toffee pudding. If you want to do the same, here are some other recipes you could try.

It’s clear that royalty is one of my obsessions, but don’t worry — I haven’t bought the replica royal engagement ring, the commemorative Union Jack flag or even the china with their faces on it. I’m not really in to tacky tchotchkes in general. I will, however, commit to watching television. America’s gone wacky over this royal wedding and the coverage is about to blow up our television sets. It’s like the second British invasion. If you’re royally obsessed (like me) but have room on your DVR (not like me), there are plenty of opportunities to educate yourself on all things royal over the coming weeks. I’ve gathered what information I can find, so get to ready to burn up your remote! Keep reading »

Letting it flow.

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Sometimes I get really bored.

It’s not that I don’t have a TON of things to do:  working full time, finishing my MBA, exercising my puppy, attending meetings and volunteering. Trying to pay attention to all of my loved ones. Dishes. Laundry. Sleeping. But I can find myself in a rut, trapped in endless days of running and routine. Boring.

My friend Melanie once told me it’s my restless Gemini nature, that we’re prone to boredom and need constant intellectual stimulation. That was after I complained of being so bored one Saturday that I put together a puzzle. (Yes, it was that bad.) And I was living in NYC of all places, home of continual sensory overload.

I do love learning new things, having thought-provoking conversations over wine or coffee, being in school (though not the homework), reading interesting articles on the web. But sometimes I’m just so exhausted by my own schedule that I’m only capable of laying on the couch staring blankly at a television for 12 hours. It’s then that I realize I need a jump-start, and soon. Keep reading »