The Widows' Cooking Club

  This post will include my recipe for clam chowder and another for crockpot cheddar ale soup which is very easy and inexpensive to make. I made the cheddar ale soup for a recent pot luck lunch with my Latin dance class mates, and was asked for the recipe so it is a perfect time to share it in this post.                                       Those blog readers who know me well, know that the thing I live for is getting out on the water in my boat. So, from the beginning of May, when I start to prepare my boat for launching, until the end of October, when I have my boat hauled out for the winter, I plan my life around those joyous boat rides.   The thought of spending time in front of a computer screen is so unappealing to me and all of the other necessary activities of life get delayed day after day if the weather is fine and I can cast off and go out to sea.    So, I s...

  This month’s Widows’ Cooking Club recipes include a leek quiche and French onion soup so my theme is the versatile onion family, otherwise known as the Allium family! My “slice of life” reflection is about the importance of family connections after losing a loved one.   I’ve been very fortunate to have stable, loving relationships with my daughter and my late husband’s two children.   The “kids” were well into adulthood when we became a couple and over 40 years of age when we finally got married.   So, it seemed rather odd to think of them as “step-children”.    They are “step-adults”.    We made sure to do our legal work early on once we built a home together to ensure a smooth inheritance when the time came.   I feel blessed by their gracious compassion when I had to put our plan into place. I went back to our estate-planning attorney after the dust settled, about two years after I lost my husband.   It is important to have paper...

 Here it is, Valentine’s Day!  It’s a day when heartfelt messages of love are shared around the globe.  I wish that I could capture some of that love and release it at a future time when we all need a little TLC! Think about the word “heartfelt”.  It literally means that it is something you feel you’re your heart, not your head.  According to Merriam Webster, “Heartfelt” is  “a depth of genuine feeling, outwardly expressed” I saved one of the last Valentine’s Day cards that Bruce gave to me, and I saved it because it was my very favorite, and I love the message.  One of the things  I miss most after losing Bruce is the feeling of warmth and security that you get when you know how much you are loved by your life partner.  Nothing can replace that, so you have to get by with the memories of how encompassing that love was.  While we miss our departed loved ones with heartfelt, deep emotion and sense of loss, hopefully, we also show our ...

                                                              Pot Au Feu: a Brisket recipe I am posting a blog entry today because January 2 nd is my wedding anniversary.   This is my third anniversary since my dear Bruce passed away. I can’t believe it’s been that long!   It is one of the harder days for me, because it follows so closely behind Christmas and New Years holidays. It feels like a triple whammy to get through this rough spot, and later this month, on the 21 st , it will be Bruce’s birthday. Thankfully, friends and family are always there for me, supporting me by spending time with me. It has gotten a bit easier as the years go by, and my emotions don’t run away with me quite as much.   A couple of dear friends will meet me for lunch today, and their kindness and laughter will buoy me up. With all the ...

       November Light on the River:                                                                     I love the late fall light, dark gray skies and trees still touched with gold.   I love the crisp air, crisp sounding leaves as I walk and crisp apples from the farm stand.   I also love late fall because of Thanksgiving and this month’s post is about leftover turkey, featuring a recipe for Turkey Croquettes and Turkey Pot Pie.  It takes some time to do these recipes but the process is simple and the results are hearty dishes to warm the soul on a cold and snowy night. Two years ago, I wrote about going on an alpaca trek in November and I did a repeat trip this year.   I have a framed photo of my 2021 alpaca trek and friends have asked about it and commented how much ...

  For the past few years I have participated in a weekly Latin dance exercise class for senior citizens here in Midcoast Maine, with Tony Dancer of Maine as the creator and dance instructor.   His infectious smile and frequent laughter translate into an uplifting experience.   You simply can’t remain sad and lonely after an hour-long dance session with Tony!   This is not ballroom-style Latin dance with partners.   This is more like Zumba but a bit slower and better paced for those of us over seventy. He starts and ends the class with stretching exercises, and punches it up with some Latin dance moves in the middle.     It is a very sociable setting and on the last lesson of each six-week session, we enjoy a pot luck lunch together.   For last week’s pot luck lunch I brought a Crock Pot full of my favorite fall soup, made with butternut squash, apple, apple cider and bourbon.   It made me very happy to have so many requests to sha...