The Widows' Cooking Club

  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...

                                                                 Panzanella Salad One blue-sky autumnal morning last week, I drove out to do some errands. My route took me down a lovely country road, and to my joy, a series of Model T cars appeared, jauntily coming toward me.   I counted a total of twelve cars over a mile or so of the winding road. In each car, sat an older couple, men and women dressed for the occasion in vintage gear and perky hats. The sight made me think of how much fun Bruce and I would have had, if we could do that!   That was one of the many visions we shared of what we thought we’d like to do in retirement.   I could just see him sitting next to me in a pork-pie hat, rattling down the road!   I also often think of one of our favorite ways to travel, to choose a destination in No...

  “Her mother walked slowly through the bushes, picking blueberries as she went and putting them in her pail. Little Sal struggled along behind, picking blueberries and eating every single one.” This is a quote from “Blueberries for Sal”, an iconic childrens’ story book based in Maine by author Robert Mc Closkey, who captures the essence of Maine so well!   I’ve picked berries like that many times as a child and passed the tradition on to my daughter and stepson when they were little. By the time we got home from blueberry picking, we were hot and sweaty and itchy from bug bites, and our fingers were stained blue.   But the   reward for the hot, backbreaking work of picking low bush blueberries was worth it when we made a delectable, juicy blueberry pie! This month I am celebrating blueberries!   They are in abundance right now in New England.   There are two kinds of blueberries:   high bush, which grow on high shrubs and are larger and ...

  I skipped a blog entry in May as it was a very busy month for me, getting my little boat ready to launch.   It is sitting at the dock now, and I am waiting for some nice, sunny weather! It has been so cold and rainy for the month of June here in Maine!   It rained for the first nine days of the month and most of this week too!   It is a bit like living on the coast of Scotland where it rains so much that there are six different Scottish words for rain, and they are very descriptive! Spitter – small driving bits of snow and rain Smizzle – soft, gentle rain Bowder – a heavy rainstorm Plype- a sudden dash of rain (that is an example of onomatopeia for sure!) Blashy – rain blowing every which way Dreep – a slow, steady downpour     So I still am making meals that use the oven to warm the kitchen rather than turn the heat on, being a frugal Yankee!   Although I try to provide recipes for the current season, this time you’ll need the oven.   ...

  The “leftovers” I refer to is leftover ham from the typical Easter dinner baked ham.   Using leftovers is the frugal “Yankee way” up here in Maine, and lots of casserole dishes show up at   pot luck dinners which can prove how tasty leftovers can be!   I am sharing two recipes this month.   One is really quick to make, less than fifteen minutes start to finish.   The other requires advance preparation, soaking beans overnight. This recipe features Jacob's cattle beans, a heritage bean from the Passamaquoddy Indians.  My family heritage is from Eastport, Maine and a drive into Eastport goes right through the Passamaquoddy reservation, Sipsyik. The “little things” are all the small things that add meaning and trigger emotions in our lives.   The last weekend of March was Maple Sugar Weekend here in Maine.   A couple who have been friends with us for years, and who have remained steadfast after my husband died, stopped by and picked me up on t...

  I’ve been though this a couple of times now, since I lost Bruce in the summer of 2020, and I still feel a nudge from the beast we call grief when I face yet another holiday without him. I have saved the Valentine’s Day cards he gave me and treasure them. Valentine’s Day is the most romantic of holidays and I recall coping with being alone on this many years ago, after a divorce.   I felt resentment watching couples enjoying the romantic rituals to celebrate their love.   It is a similar feeling now in my widowhood.   Not resentful anymore, just wistful.   I often take my black lab for a walk so that we can both get some fresh air and exercise, but with winters in Maine, it is hard to find a place to walk that is not slippery with ice and snow.   Trails can be hazardous unless there is sufficient snow to use snowshoes.   I found the perfect solution, walking from the main road up a well-groomed sidewalk in our local senior living complex.   Ind...

  It’s been a long time since I posted a blog entry!    I am pleased to report that I made it through the series of holidays, from Thanksgiving, to Christmas, New Years and most challenging of all for me, my wedding anniversary on January 2 nd , without being overwhelmed with sadness. Some tears now and then but I was able to rebound and keep going.    I am thankful for friends and family who buoyed me up by visiting and calling. My “cabbages” are brussels sprouts and I am sharing three recipes that are vastly different.   Even if you never liked brussels sprouts, you might find one of these appealing.   The salad seems like an oddity, but it is really very good, and has a great crunch factor.  I first had a brussel sprout salad at a restaurant in Naperville, IL, loved it and tried to replicate it. The air fryer sprouts are a great way to change the mind of someone who doesn't like veggies! If I were queen for a day, I’d make something happen ...