Beneath the Radar

Life  is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans.
                            -John Lennon

Finches in the Summer

During our recent blizzard (Snow Days and Other Miracles) I picked up a book called "The Birdfeeder's Bible" which is just chock full of practical tips for the care and feeding of backyard birds. I am not sure why I picked up this book after it spent a over a decade dormant on my bookshelf, but I did, and was reminded that during these cold winter months, it is very important to provide high fat food sources for our avian friends.  So, I decided to hang a basic suet feeder.  This took just one trip to Home Depot, and cost under $5.  Within a day or two, my meager efforts were rewarded with the appearance of nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and best of all, the misnamed red-bellied woodpeckers, which may indeed have rubicund abs, but more obvious are their beautiful ruby-red heads.  All that for only $5!

Anyway, I am sure those newcomers have actually been in our backyard all along; I had just never seen them out and about.  It was the suet feeder that made them visible to me.  I started thinking about this and it occurred to me that there are lots of things that are just there all along, but go largely unnoticed.

For example, every second, about 250 billion solar neutrinos per square inch hit your body and everything else, for that matter.  Similarly, your skin is bombarded by billions of gas molecules every second,  each one traveling in excess of 1000 mph.  We remain blissfully unaware of this onslaught-- the gas molecules just sort of bounce off, and since they are so light, you never even know it.  The neutrinos are also exceedingly light, much lighter than individual atoms, and don't interact with matter much at all.  In fact, so weak are the interactions between neutrinos and matter that they pass right through you and you never even know it.  Neutrinos pass through everything- rocks, metals, even kryponite.  In fact, the big challenge in studying neutrinos is detection.  They are and always have been all around us, but since they don't interact with anything, it is nearly impossible to find them.

Woodpeckers are a lot easier.  It turns out that you just need some suet.

What else lies hidden?  Do you ever wonder what else is happening right under our noses, unbeknownst to us?

Well....

Two weeks ago, I wrote a blog about our beloved dog, Pippi.  At that time, we were celebrating her 100th birthday with cupcakes, her favorite treat.  I wrote a lot about her, but did not even think to mention a slight limp that she'd had for a couple of days.  We assumed that she had slipped on the ice and snow and that her gimpy leg was insignificant.  But just one week later, she could hardly stand up and we had to carry her up and down the stairs.  She was pretty lethargic and seemed to be in a great deal of pain.  A trip to the vet confirmed our worst fears.  While we were blissfully unaware, her bone cells were mutating and multiplying madly.  Pippi had developed bone cancer.    

This is very bad news.  At her age, there is not much to do for the cancer.   All we can really do is to keep her happy and comfortable, so she now takes a couple of medications. To make them more palatable, I embed the pills in cupcake frosting, a small joy for her.  For now, she seems much better.  The painkillers and anti-inflammatories have relieved the pain and she has regained a remarkable amount of energy.  She has been running and playing like the jubilant doggie she has always been.  But we all  know it won't last for long, which saddens us deeply.  I don't know how much longer she will be with us, but I do know that it is time to slow down, to pay attention and to make the most of her remaining days.

Today I am grateful for the medications that have made my furry friend so much more comfortable.

Doggone Dogblog

The human population seems to be divided between cat people and dog people.  I am decidedly in the latter camp.   Don’t get me wrong, I love our two cats, Buddy and 2kee, but when kibble comes to bits, I would pick our dog Pippi any day.

Everyone knows that dogs are man’s best friend.  Woman’s too.  We wax eloquent about the virtues of dogs—how little they ask of us, and how much they give back.  And there is a great deal of truth there.   Pippi’s list of needs is pretty short.    Food, water, an occasional pat on the head.  A place to run and frequent walks.  Being let out often enough to accommodate our mutual cleanliness standards.  

Yes, pretty basic stuff.

And what does she give back?  Absolute unconditional love.   She has never failed to bring a smile to my face when I return home, and no matter what anyone else might think, SHE thinks I totally rock.  While Buddy and 2kee tend to be moody-- snuggly and affectionate one minute, aloof and distant the next --Pippi only knows one mood.  Joy.  When she was younger, joy manifested itself as unbridled jubilation.  At over 14 years of age, that joy looks more like self-satisfied contentment.

Pippi has always been a beautiful dog, and people often ask about her breed.  The truth is that she came from the wrong side of the tracks, and  we don’t know much about her origins.  She is black from nose to tail and as best as our vet can guess, she is mainly Black Lab and Husky.  Judging by her polka-dotted tongue, there is also little Chow DNA mixed in there, and some people have speculated that there might also be some German Sheppard.  Who knows?  We rescued her from the dog pound when she was just nine weeks old and since then she has just been another member of the family.

Pippi, 1996

The kids wanted to name her after Pippi Longstocking, one of their favorite storybook characters.  Ellen, who was just five when Pippi came to live with us, thought she needed more formal name and officially named her Pepper.  “Pepper” has been called lots of things.  Pippi , of course.  Pipster, Pips, Muttface, Stoopid Mutt, Pippilada Enchilada, and so on.  But never Pepper.   While many dogs have human favorites, Pippi has always been loyal to the whole family.  When we are spread out within the house, she does some fancy geometry to station herself equidistant from each of us.   If you drew a free body diagram, I suspect she would be pretty close to the center of mass of the family. 

Pippi is a talker.  Some canine aficionado friends tell me that Huskies are like that.  When we picked her up at the vet’s office after she was neutered, she walked over to us, sat down and began baying and yowling the story of her medical woes.  The vet laughed and told me not to believe a word of it, that they were, in fact, very good to her.  When we get home from work, she yowls for a while, presumably telling us what she and the cats have been up to all day.  We humans are pretty smug in our knowledge that we are much smarter than dogs, but while Pippi probably knows a dozen English words,  I have never mastered a single doggie word.  If she wants to go out, she can’t just bark “out,” she  has go to the back door so I get the idea. If she wants a doggie treat, she has to go to the cabinet where they are kept.  If she doesn’t stand by the cabinet while barking her “word” for treat, I am likely to misunderstand and shoo her outside.   Yet, I can sit on the sofa and ask in a normal tone of voice,  “Where is your leash?” and she goes straight to the table where it is usually left and if it is not there, she’ll go to the laundry room where it actually belongs.    She must think we are real morons.

But I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.  She is no paragon of virtue. 

For example, she is a  thief.

A thief and a glutton. 

Especially for cupcakes.

The first cupcake incident occurred a long time ago.  Pippi was about three and Ellen was a Brownie Girl Scout.  It was our turn to bring snacks to the Girl Scout meeting, so I made 2 dozen cupcakes.  These were made to please a bunch of second grade girls, so they were vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting, decorated with “chocolate” jimmies or green sugar.     I had just finished frosting them in time for our meeting.  I left them on the counter and ran upstairs to finish getting ready.  Less than five minutes later, I was back but there was not a cupcake to be seen.  No cupcake crumbs, no smeared frosting, not even a paper wrapper.  In just a couple of minutes, Pippi, the world’s best dog ever, had inhaled 24 cupcakes, wrappers and all, obliterating all evidence of the cupcakes’ short existence.  Al walked into the kitchen and said, “I thought you were bringing the snack to Girl Scouts.  Did you change your mind?”    You might think that 24 frosted cupcakes would make a 65 pound dog pretty sick, but you would be wrong.  She was just fine.  Happy as could be.

Years later, I had made a batch of cupcakes to take to Eric when he first started college.  These were chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  I left them in a covered box in the middle of the dining room table.  The box was closed.  It was pretty far out of reach, I thought.  When Ellen got home from school, she found the box on the dining room floor.  The cupcakes were gone, the frosting rubbed into the carpet and Pippi had a guilty look in her eye.   There was really no question about the perpetrator,  her fur was still stiff with frosting.  Based on the fact that both her face and her back were covered with icing, we figure she must have been writhing on the floor in cupcake-induced orgiastic ecstasy.

Between those cupcake incidents were numerous cases of stolen cookies, brownies, pork chops, pancakes, popcorn, chicken… really, nothing was safe if left out.  People always tell me that chocolate makes dogs sick, but nothing has ever made our Pippi sick—not even an entire 2 pound box of chocolate turtle candies we received as a Christmas gift one year.  We have learned to keep food completely out of her reach and  to this day, if we are serving hors d'oeurves to guests, we have to sequester her in our bedroom or else her rather large nose is right there sniffing the delicacies on the coffee table.

But it is cupcakes she likes best. For the last couple of years, whenever her 'calendar year' birthday or Christmas rolls around, her gift is a package of chocolate Hostess Cupcakes.  She gets one, and Al, always concerned about the Pipster's health, eats the other.

Pippi is getting pretty old.  Recently we did the math and discovered that her 100th doggie-year birthday was last Friday.   Maybe I am sentimental, or maybe pathetic, or maybe just an empty nester looking for something to do, but whatever the reason,  I baked a batch of homemade chocolate chip cupcakes just for her.   Because, after all, you don’t turn 100 every day.  She and Al have been enjoying them all weekend.   They may not be healthy for her, but at this stage, I am not too worried.

December 2010

There is no doubt that the Pipster is slowing down.  The jubilant energetic puppy has transformed into a (usually) dignified old lady.  She is nearly deaf now.  When we get home, she no longer greets us at the door eager to play.  Instead she is usually sound asleep on her mat in our bedroom.  We go upstairs, calling her name, but she often doesn’t hear us until we gently touch her shoulder and say, “Hey Pips!  We’re home,”   She slowly gets up, tail wagging and greets us with the stories of the day.  Happy to see us.  Just happy to be.  

Yes,  Pippi’s list of needs is pretty short.    Food, water, an occasional pat on the head.  A place to run (a little slower now) and frequent walks.  Being let out often enough to accommodate our mutual cleanliness standards.   And cupcakes.

Today I am grateful for our good friend Pippi.  Happy Birthday Muttface!

Fire and Ice

Fire

Ice

Fire

In winter I get up by night

And dress by yellow candle-light. (1) 

Ice

One must have a mind of winter

To regard the frost and the boughs

Of the pine-trees crusted with snow

And have been cold a long time

To behold the junipers shagged with ice

The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think

Of any misery in the sound of the wind (2)

Fire
Cairo Egypt, February 2011(3)

Some say the world will end in fire 

Some say in ice

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great 

And would suffice (4)

Ice
Blizzard over most of US, February 2011(5)

These photos and poems were inspired by a concert of the Midland Symphony Orchestra  that we attended last night.  The concert was titled "Fire and Ice" and began with de Falla's Fire Dance and ended with Tchiaikovsky's First Symphony (Winter Daydreams).  Thinking about the musical contrasts led me to think about visual contrasts and a few old favorite poems.  And of course, world events.

(1) Bed in Summer, Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses and Undewoods, 1913

(2) The Snow Man, Wallace Stevens

(3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12347185

(4) Fire and Ice, Robert Frost

(5) http://weatherblog.abc13.com/2011/02/weather-gone-wild-major-blizzard-and-major-hurricane.html

I always end these blogs with something I am grateful for, and of course there is a nearly  infinite list of things for which I am indeed grateful. But somehow, when I end my blog with images of a blizzard that shut down much of the nation for several days and of political instability in an already unstable part of the world, it seems both silly and selfish to be thinking of my own good luck.  So, instead, today I will express my concern for those who are suffering in the wake of the storm or the midst of the conflict.

Snow Days and Other Miracles

While my extended family on the east coast has experienced repeated record breaking snowstorms this year, we have been enjoying a relatively easy winter.  The temperatures have been very cold with even colder wind chills, but the snow has come in civilized amounts—an inch or two at a time, maybe 3 or 4 now and then.  Just enough to keep things winter-white and beautiful, but not so much that roads were treacherous or schools were closed. 

That of course, ended yesterday.

I knew we were in for a biggun when the university, which closes as rarely as possible, announced late Tuesday afternoon that we’d be closed on Wednesday.  I was surprised, because usually that decision is not made until the wee hours of the morning on the day in question.  When I went to bed last night, the snow was just beginning to fall ever so gently, ever so nicely, and I began to think that the predicted “Snowpocaplypse” would be a “Nopocalypse”

Barb's tree.  Our yard!

My first peek out the bathroom window this morning told me that I was both right and wrong.  Of course, there is nothing apolcalyptic about a major snowstorm in Michigan in January, but neither were the forecasts off the mark.  The storm had come in full force and in the early morning hours it was still snowing pretty hard and the winds were fierce.  It was hard to tell how much snow had fallen—there was so much  blowing and drifting.  But it was enough.  Enough that one of our neighbor’s 40 foot trees fell  into our backyard.  The fence between our properties broke its fall, and its fall broke the fence, but at least it didn’t fall onto either house.  The storm was enough to warrant school closures across the state.   The storm was bad enough that I was relieved to stay home from work today, even though my commute is an easy seven miles.  It was enough that even Al decided to work from home, both of us grateful for the internet connections that allow us to stay safe but keep up with necessary duties.

Al keeping up with necessary duties. With drifting, snow ranged from 1-4 ft.

Not-so-necessary duties.

I drank my morning coffee in the warmth and comfort of our family room which looks out over our backyard.  I watched the squirrels and birds feasting at the feeders and watched the snow blowing wildly, swirling and gusting through the trees.  Snuggled under a blanket, cat on my lap, dog at my feet, and  hot beverage in hand, I thought about how incredibly lucky we are to have a safe and warm house, plenty of food, good health, and no significant worries. I thought about how it didn't have to be that way. I thought about how many things could have worked out differently and I realized yet again how truly blessed we are.

Indeed. 

And for this miracle, I am beyond grateful. 

Pippi, the 100 year old dog, still plays in the snow!

Portraits of Glass

Ages ago, a friend of mine gave me a cartoon that showed a professional woman in a business suit sitting behind a large power desk and turning the pages in a booklet.  The caption said something like, “Faced with critical tasks and looming deadlines, Mary examines the Burpee Seed Catalog.”

I too have some critical tasks and looming deadlines ahead of me this week.  I have been asked to give two speeches, a long one on communication for a business women’s meeting  next Thursday and a short one at an induction ceremony for a campus honor society next Sunday.   I have known about these speeches for quite some time, but as usual, when I tried to get an early start on writing these presentations my brain froze.  To make matters worse, my twin internal critics, Agnes and Agatha,  seized the opportunity to remind me that  no one really cares what I think anyway.

A&A:   Communication?  What do you know about communication? You’re a chemist for God’s sake. Get real.


Yeah.  Ok.

True, I am a chemist.  In my own defense,  I did not pick the topic. But I do think that anyone who works with people on a daily basis has plenty of opportunities to learn about communication and mis-communication issues. As I have been thinking about it, I  realized that I have lots of ideas, even if I am a science geek.  The real problem has been trying to fashion those ideas into a speech that would be interesting and fun. 

Interesting, fun and  forty five minutes in length--a pretty tall order.   Agatha and Agnes are snorting as they pretend to stifle their laughter.  It is pretty hard to think with that racket going on. 

Faced with  formidable tasks and looming deadlines and the cackling of A&A, I got out my camera and started taking pictures.  What else could I do?  The spring flower catalogs have not yet arrived  and I got tired of reading Wikipedia. I decided to begin a series of photographs of glass and I began with a small clear bud vase that I have always liked. Here it is, up close and personal:

Fire #1

Fire #2

Water

(Winter) Air

While I was setting up the lighting and shooting these photographs, my brain, freed from Agnes and Agatha's nagging ridicule, actually came up with a couple of possible threads that I can use to weave my loosely formed ideas into possibly coherent presentations And, since tomorrow is a holiday, I can spend the day working on those presentations, and if necessary, take even more portraits of glass.

Wish me luck on those speeches -- both the writing and presenting. Even after all this time, I still get nervous when I have to speak in public, although apparently less so than King George VI of England..  Al and I saw "The King's Speech" today and it was wonderful- well worth the drive to Midland.  I don't know why it isn't playing in Saginaw; it is an excellent movie and the theater was nearly full.  Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth are terrific and  the film is inspirational and very moving.  Check it out!

Today I am grateful for celebrations and I thank all of you for your kind birthday wishes yesterday..

Close Call

The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail…*

We had planned the trip a couple of months ago, and were looking forward to the weekend jaunt before the new semester began.  As events began to unfold, it appeared that the fates were conspiring to ruin our fun.  But such appearances can be deceiving.  Indeed,  each time we felt doomed to disappointment, we were, in fact, wrong.  Everything turned out just splendidly, but some significant leaps of faith were required on our parts.

Here is what happened:

Al and I are both UConn alumni and ardent fans of the women’s basketball program.   We began following the team in the mid 1990’s, albeit with varying degrees of intensity, when we lived in Tennessee.  In  those days, women’s basketball was dominated by the rivalry between Geno Auriemma's UConn Huskies and Pat Summit’s Lady Vols.  We’d take the kids to Thompson-Bolling Arena  and to their embarrassment, we’d be the only blue shirts in a sea of brilliant orange.  These days,  we have to settle for watching the games on TV, which means we are limited to the games that ESPN2 deems interesting enough to televise to a national audience.  With UConn’s unprecedented 90 game winning streak, we were able to watch many of the games this season, including the Stanford game which ended that historic run.

Anyway, early in the season, Al noticed that UConn would be playing Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana on Saturday, January 8 and we decided to get tickets.  The first omen was that despite being months in advance, the game was nearly sold out and we were unable to get seats together.  His best efforts resulted in two seats in the same row but separated by a party of four …waaayyy up in the nose-bleed section.  Still, we were excited to see the game and figured we could probably negotiate with our neighbors to sit together.  And we made a mental note to bring binoculars.

So, with tickets in hand, we made a hotel reservation, found a pet sitter, and eagerly awaited our little winter getaway.  

The key word in that last sentence is winter.  It certainly is winter in the upper mid-west  and  as the day of our departure approached, we paid close attention to the weather predictions along the route of our four-hour drive.  On Thursday, we began to get a little nervous as significant snowfall was predicted.  On Friday, we heard reports from friends that the roads in western MI were terrible and that the snow was expected to continue through Saturday night.  Always optimistic, on Friday night  we packed the car, intending to get an early start on the next day.  

Saturday morning, the weatherman was still calling for 8-11 inches of snow in southwest Michigan and northern Indiana, but because the majority of our travels would be on major interstates, we decided to make the trip anyway.  To our delight, the day turned out to be cold but surprisingly clear, and instead of the expected snowy skies and bad roads we were treated to cleared roads, blue skies and simply beautiful winter scenery.  

We felt pretty smug about having defied the weather forecasts until we were about 10 miles from South Bend and the skies began to cloud up and snow began to fall.  It turns out that it had been snowing there all day, and snowing pretty hard.  In fact, South Bend was buried under 2 to 3 feet of fluffy, sparkly, lake-effect snow, breaking a 150 year record for the most snow in one day!  Had we known what we were heading for, we almost certainly would have stayed home.  But, there we were… 

The roads in South Bend, as you might imagine, were pretty bad, so we parked the car at the hotel and set out on foot for the game. Of course, none of the sidewalks had been cleared.  Our choice was to trudge through thigh deep snow or walk on slippery roads and hope that Indiana drivers could handle the conditions.  We opted for the thigh deep snow.  A couple of crazy runners (one wearing SHORTS) were ahead of us and had sort of cleared a path on what we believe were probably sidewalks.  So following in their footsteps, although dressed more appropriately, we made our way across campus to Purcell Arena.

We found our seats, about 4 rows from the top of the arena, got out the binoculars and got ready to watch UConn beat Notre Dame.  We fully expected a victory, although we also expected to see some good basketball from both teams.  The arena was slow to fill because of the bad weather, but gradually seats filled around us, so that our two blue UConn shirts once again stood out-- this time in a sea of lime green.   

Kelly Faris, Maya Moore (23), Stephanie Dolson- photo by Al

Well, the fighting Irish women certainly came out strong, leading for most of the first half, indeed leading for most of the game.  We gradually moved closer to the action as it became clear that some people were smart enough to stay off the roads.  We watched the first half of the game from the bleachers, but at half time moved to the floor with the other UConn groupies, sitting just a few rows behind the team.

Geno and the team planning their strategy

To say it was an exciting game is a bit of an understatement   For a while, it looked pretty grim for us.  But those Husky women do NOT give up and with just a few minutes left in the game, they pulled ahead.  But, the fighting Irish fought back and the lead oscillated with every basket.  Finally, with just a few seconds to spare, UConn secured its 79-76 victory.  If you were watching on TV and you heard one lone UConn fan yelling “DEFENSE” when Notre Dame had the ball, that was Al.  If you were watching on TV and you heard pandemonium every time Notre Dame scored, that was pretty much everybody else.  I had never really believed in the so-called home-court advantage, but it is real and it is amazing!  

Whew!  It was exhausting.  

Next on the agenda was dinner.  We walked, or rather trudged, to the college-town area hoping to find some interesting food.   I guess we are spoiled by the options at the University of Michigan, but it didn’t seem like there was much to choose from, especially since the snow closed most of the restaurants.  We thought our only choice would be fast food, and we were having trouble resigning ourselves to that option when we discovered that a  little local place called “The Mark” was open.  We went in and were met with a display case of outrageously wonderful looking cheesecakes and truffles.  Encouraged, we asked to see the menu.  Hmmm, plastic laminated menu with pictures of scrambled eggs.  Breakfast all day.  Sandwiches.  Meat loaf.  Not exactly inspiring, but probably better than fast food.  The host gave us the supplementary menu of daily specials, the wine and beer lists, then left us to peruse our choices.  

What’s this?  In stark contrast to the regular menu, the specials looked interesting and wonderful- tandoori salmon with saffron yogurt?  lamb tagliatelle with fennel?    When we asked the waiter for recommendations, he suggested the foie gras appetizer , the lamb special,  the meatloaf or the grilled cheese.   Ok.  Clearly, this  restaurant is in the midst of an identity crisis.  We opted for the tandoori salmon and the lamb and both were excellent.  We were expecting Denny’s and got haute cuisine.  A very nice surprise.  

So, the weather reports did not deter us.  The storm did not deter us.  The fighting Irish did not spoil our fun and we did not have to eat fast food.  The day, which might have ended in Saginaw with those bad weather reports, ended with an exciting victory, beautiful scenery, a wonderful dinner and stories to tell.

Those Hoosier squirrels are very friendly!

Before leaving town this morning, we took a long walk around the Notre Dame campus, one of the most beautiful I have seen.  The campus was nearly empty and serene with the fresh snow.  We drove home, most satisfied with the weekend that could have turned out very differently.    

Al's cardinal

Today I am grateful for safe travels and good luck!  Next season, I want to see UConn play at home, which we’ll have to start planning soon...those tickets are probably already sold out. Let's hope for better weather.

·          * The Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel, in Lothlorien

Unresolved

If a woman tried to fail and did, did she fail or did she succeed?

This is New Year’s weekend and time to make the obligatory resolutions for self-improvement. My paradox this year is that my resolution is to NOT make any such resolutions.   There are certainly LOTS of things that I could and should resolve to do—a myriad of ways I could and should improve.  But you know what? I think I am already a little too type-A.  Some of you already know that, but it has become increasingly apparent even to me and so my resolution, such as it is, is to lighten up a little bit.  Laugh more.  And forget about self-improvement for a while.

Is that legal?  

Even if it is technically not against any laws, it seems to violate the spirit of the new year, doesn’t it?   

Oh well.  That’s my resolution and I’m sticking to it, even if it does feel like cheating.  Sort of like giving up liver for Lent.

Before the snow melted.

Speaking of food, the holidays were a real cooking frenzy.   Al and I made all the traditional holiday treats—Nana Robsky’s Christmas cookies and Al’s best gingersnaps ever, Linzer and Sacher tortes, and so on.  But, emboldened by the success of our new Thanksgiving Cranberry Pie (and thanks to Santa and his helper for the very cool cranberry cranberry pie pan) I tried some new recipes.  I now have a new favorite hors d’oeurve--Mushroom, Leek and Brie mini-tarts.  It began as a recipe from the Culinary Institute of America Cookbook, but I have modified it significantly enough that it is a very different now. I made four batches of these for various parties and they always disappeared quickly.  If you are interested, here is the recipe:

Mushroom, Leek and Brie Mini-tarts

• 1 leek, white and light green parts only
• 6-8 ounces of mini-bella mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• Olive oil for sautéing
• 2 Tbsp Madeira
• 3 ounces of brie, rind removed
• 30 mini phyllo cups

 1.  Slice leeks into rounds (1/8-1/4 inch thick) and cut the rounds in half.  Leeks are often gritty, so wash thoroughly and shake out as much water as possible.

2.  Sauté the leeks in olive oil until tender and translucent.  Add mushrooms, and brown lightly. Don’t overcrowd the pan or the mushrooms will become rubbery. 

3.  Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Add Madeira and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

4.  Place phyllo cups on a cookie sheet and divide mixture between the phyllo cups.  Top each with a small square of brie.

5.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or so until the brie is melted, the cups are crispy and the filling is hot and yummy! 

I really enjoy creating new dishes.  Maybe I should pledge to make up a new dish every week and post it to the blog.  That would be a good resolution…

Oh wait.   I am already violating my own New Year's resolution.

Rats.

Would it be breaking my New Year's  resolution if I tried to take a multivitamin every day?  That seems like a good idea, but I won't actually resolve to do it....

Today I am grateful for the 10 days that my family got to spend together.  It has been a long time since we just hung out at home and enjoyed each others company.