Category Archives: family

Basketball and Nashville, Tennessee

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Oh, my cookies (as almost-2-year-old grandson Capt. Adorable says with his precious little Capt. Adorable-grin) — I love Bracket Time!!! When NCAA men’s college hoops action starts, I am glued to the TV. I mean, I’m even okay with Survivor being preempted — and you know how sacred I hold my weekly Survivor-watching. Not jumping on the Bracket bandwagon? Not sure what all the fuss is about? I know — I sort of feel that way about all those football bowl games. But read this article by Sports Illustrated writer Michael Rosenberg and you might give it a try: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/michael_rosenberg/03/17/ncaa.tournament. And then click on over to my weekly newspaper column at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20100319/ARTICLES/3195000  for why I choose basketball over football, every time. (And you know I have to say that very quietly since Alabama is pretty much totally football country and basketball is what you do to fill the time until spring practice starts.)

And while you’re clicking, I want you to go here —  http://goop.com/newsletter/74/en/. But first let me explain, because you’re right that GOOP is the much-maligned newsletter sent out by actress Gwyneth Paltrow. As much as I loved her in one of my all-time favorite movies — The Royal Tenenbaums — her newsletter makes me cringe and laugh and spit out my coffee all at the same time. She writes — and I assume it’s actually her doing the writing — as if we all can hop jets and fly over to London for some bargain shopping or we all have famous friends who can give fashion and entertaining advice or as if we all have the time to Gaze Out At Nature and Contemplate Life. Sigh. Maybe I’m just jealous. Because, as Liz Lemon says, “I want to go there.” But this one time, GOOP gets it right. Apparently Gwyneth recently spent some time in Nashville, Tennessee, and the latest “Go” edition of the newsletter has some great food and music suggestions and some lovely things to say about my fellow Tennesseans. For the most part, she eschews the patently tacky tourist places and sends you to authentic Nashville — including the patently tacky tourist places that make Nashville what it is. Go to Nashville. Gwyneth and I both insist.

Recipes

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Although I’ve never liked any kind of meringue pie, I adore meringues — those crunchy bits of pillowy slow-baked egg-white goodness. Maybe it’s because my maternal grandmother always had a reused (I don’t think we would use the word “recycled” 40 years ago) coffee can full of them when we’d drive up from Tennessee to visit her and my grandpa in southern Illinois. I assume that with her Depression-honed frugalness, she made them from leftover egg whites — although I don’t remember her making anything especially yolk-centric. Anyway, to keep me from embarrassing her by buying four containers of store-made meringues at once, Younger Daughter has perfected her recipe and technique for homemade meringues. They’re so much better and better-for-you than store-bought. Her great-grandmother would be proud.

First, separate three eggs. The easiest way is to let the whites drip through your fingers into a bowl. Discard yolks or save for another recipe.

Add 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar to whites and beat until soft peaks form. Add 3/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon at a time while beating until  stiff peaks form and it’s glossy.

 Then fold in 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract and some grated vanilla bean. Put half egg-white mixture into a plastic gallon food-storage bag and cut one of the corners off. Squeeze dollops of the mixture onto a parchment- or wax-paper covered baking sheet. For chocolate meringues, add 1 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips to remaining egg-white batter and repeat. Bake at a low temperature — 225 degrees — for about one hour. They’ll be yummy but still a bit chewy. Then turn oven off and let sit overnight or for several more hours to dry out. Just remember to take them out of the oven before turning the oven on for something else. I’m just saying. Anyway, I could eat a whole pan of these at one sitting. They’re really easy and fun and have no fat in them whatsoever. And I still can taste the grandmother-love in them, along with daughter-love. That is one powerful combination.

St. Patrick’s Day

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Irish things I like:

1) Pretty much any sort of food that has any sort of Irish connection. Particularly if it’s chocolate and/or fried. Or bread. So I hit the jackpot this year at Kalou’s Corner Market and Cafe in Huntsville, Alabama, which was celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with these treats. Who could resist a shamrock-shaped chocolate-covered chocolate brownie? And then there were two intriguing types of Irish beer bread — rye and cheddar. This bread was moist, dense, light and tender all that same time — and my bread-loving family did not let a crumb go to waste. Details at http://www.kalousmarket.com/

2) Guinness beer, but only for the first two or three sips. That’s about all I can handle.

3) McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola, Florida. This is my favorite Irish pub ever. Okay — I know that you know this is the only Irish pub I’ve ever been in. But it’s still my favorite. It’s on my must-go list every time I’m anywhere close by. This is the place that’s papered in customers’ dollar bills. McGuire’s has its own brewery and serves wonderfully fresh-tasting beers,ales, porters and stouts. And for my dollar bills, the best dishes are on the appetizer menu — boxtys (fried mashed potatoes), seared fresh tuna over mashed garlic red potatoes and the Irish Bleu Chips, which is homemade potato chips with blue cheese. And if you detect a theme of fried and mashed potatoes here, you are so right. Check it out at http://www.mcguiresirishpub.com

4) Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. I knew this was a memoir of a boy’s Irish childhood, but I didn’t read it until recently because I mistakenly thought it was sweet and heartwarming and sentimental — sort of the literary version of “Oh Danny Boy.” It’s not. It’s spare and harsh and ugly — and I couldn’t put it down. You won’t be able to, either.

Consignment Stores

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When you’ve got spring fever but the weather isn’t cooperating — we’re back to winter here in northwest Alabama — then the solution is to go shopping for a little warm-weather cheer. But if your budget isn’t cooperating, either, be smart and do your perk-me-up shopping at your favorite consignment store. You may get lucky and find such spring-like treasures as these light and airy wooden windows lightened up with bright and happy blooms. Or what about some light and breezy white wicker furniture with soft green and yellow accents? (Note the papasan ottoman transformed into a coffee table with the addition of a clear glass top. Clever!) I especially love the collection of pastel-colored vintage coffee mugs shown off in a pale-green wooden tote. See? For just a few dollars, you can add some spring details to your home decor and have money left over for a spring-break trip to the beach. You know that these photos are from my favorite consignment store — Upscale Resale in Sheffield, Alabama, owned by my friend Susan with display assistance by my Younger Daughter. It’s like walking through a magazine spread. C’mon over and see for yourself!

Spring

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I am not a fan of Spring-Forward Sunday. For one thing, I’m pretty much a lazy person and when we’re off Daylight Saving Time and it starts to get dark at 5 or 6 at night, it’s quite easy to put the ol’ pajamas on and call it a day — literally — by 8 p.m. But in Daylight Saving Time, you’re sort of compelled to keep going until 10 p.m. or so. I mean, isn’t that why Daylight Saving Time was invented — so we’d have more time to do work? Whose bright idea was that???!!! And when I was a young mom, I dreaded the spring-forward time change that wreaked havoc with those lovely early bedtimes. However, now that I’m Grandma Ka-kee and treasure every moment I can spend with my almost-2-year-old grandson, Capt. Adorable, I say the more daylight, the better. That just gives me more playtime to hang out with the Captain in his backyard and his ultra-cool new playground equipment his mom and dad got him for an early birthday present. It’s got slides and a climbing wall and a fun underneath space for hiding. Plus, it offers the chance for scientific exploration, such as “Why has rainwater gathered in this little hole and I wonder what would happen if I put my finger in it?” And when it’s spring and nice weather, you can also have your  snack of yogurt-covered blueberries outside — definitely worth giving up an hour or two of sleep!

Shopping

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My friend Susan has a consignment store in Sheffield, Alabama, that’s full of  treasures you just want to take home with you. Susan also has hired a new part-time employee with a wonderful creative eye for display and a stylish flair for vintage fashion. Okay, that employee is my Younger Daughter, but still! Susan and YD make a great team and visiting Upscale Resale is like browsing through a fun and funky antiques shop . I love the way YD has put together these retro looks with coordinating gloves, hats and handbags. Makes me feel all Jackie-O and Audrey Hepburn. I just missed the white-glove era but I (barely) can remember my mother tucking a pair, along with a floral cotton handkerchief, into her purse as she’d get ready for church on Sunday mornings. I think I remember that, anyway. I’ll have to ask her if she ever wore or took gloves to church when I was little or if I have completely and totally made that up — which is entirely possible. What I am sure of, however, is that a pair of white gloves is the perfect accessory for this lovely plum-colored spring suit with the pleated skirt and gorgeously tailored jacket. I can just see this at church on Easter Sunday, can’t you? Upscale Resale is at 2613 North Jackson Highway in Sheffield. Phone number is 256.381.7773. It’s open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  In addition to vintage clothing and jewelry, there is furniture, art work, home decor, glassware, books, holiday items and all sorts of things. You’ll love it!

Learning

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The thing about hanging out with other people is that you can learn from them. And learning is good — something about keeping your brain cells strong, I think. Take, for instance, this arrangement of seashells and dried grasses. A friend of mine who loves to collect shells at the beach put some of her best ones in this clear large-mouthed glass vase and used the shells to anchor a couple of bunches of grass she bought at a craft store. Result? Simple, easy and inexpensive with a definite wow factor. She just sort of threw this together while I sat and watched, amazed. The main requirement is a clear vase or container that’s wide enough for your shells. And if you don’t have any shells, you can buy them in bulk at most craft stores — although I bet you’ve got a forgotten box of them tucked away in the garage from your most recent vacation when you found these lovely shells on the beach and dragged them home because you knew you could do something with them. Well, you were right! See, you can learn tons of things from your favorite people. Such as my 23-month-old grandson, Capt. Adorable. Every day I spend with him is a learning experience — from repurposing toy boxes into comfy reading chairs to innovative uses for mashed potatoes (clay, glue, finger paint, hair gel). Read more lessons the Captain has taught me in my weekly newspaper column at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20100305/ARTICLES/3055005.

Olympics

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I got a new gig this weekend — I got to write a sports column for the Tupelo newspaper, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal! Yes, you are right that I know nothing about sports whatsoever. But I do know the sports editor — my husband, John Pitts — and he wanted to have something about the Olympics from a civilian’s point-of-view. I am a huge Olympics fan and every two years — I still can’t get used to saying “two years” instead of “four years,” can you? — I get so caught up in the competitions and so wrapped up in the athletes’ stories that I’m definitely sort of morose when the torch goes out and it’s all over. So I wrote about that at http://nems360.com/view/full_story/6487694/article-CATHY-WOOD. Go read it and check out the stellar job my husband does and the great other columnists, especially my friend Ginna Parson’s food stories on Wednesdays — great recipes.

And this past Friday in my weekly newspaper column in the TimesDaily, I wrote about girlfriend getaways — how to organize one and why you should. Read it at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20100226/ARTICLES/2265001/ and then gather up your best friends and go have some fun.

Shopping

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There is no way in the world that I could ever wear these shoes, but that does not stop me from drooling all over them and creating a scene at the mall. Actually, I was creating a scene by taking pictures of these beauties, which people don’t usually do at my local mall — but I am a determined blogger dedicated to bringing you the newest and the best, no matter the cost. And, truthfully, when I first walked by, my immediate reaction was, “Have they installed a Lady-Gaga section now?” Even more truthfully, my original immediate reaction was, “Have they installed a hootchie-mama section now?” but when I used the term “hootchie mama” the other day my 23-year-old daughter claimed she’d never heard that saying so I figured I’d better act as if I’m in the 21st century and put “hootchie mama” to rest. And, just to be clear, I in no way think Lady Gaga is a hootchie mama. She is a talented and hard-working performer and I wish her every success. It’s just that nobody can deny she wears hootchie-mama shoes. And we all know that a little bit of hootchie mama can be a good thing.

Fitness and Fashion

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Yup, that’s me. And Younger Daughter. This is the photo that goes along with my most recent Fashionably Speaking column in the quarterly magazine Shoals Woman. I wrote about workout wear — how women of my generation have bad memories of having to wear ugly and baggy clothes for those required PE classes in school and how those memories keep us in ugly and baggy clothes when we work out today. Women of Younger Daughter’s generation, however, don’t have that baggage. They know that sleek and fitted is the way to go — and when you look good and feel good about the way you look, then you’ll feel good about yourself. Or something like that. Anyway, we had a great time at our local YMCA taking these photos. Younger Daughter is a good sport to play along — but I can still outwalk her, no matter what I’m wearing. Although, it’s true, she can outrun me even if she were wearing heels and hose. Oh, well — we each have our talents! Read http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20100224/SW/100229968/1085/sw to find more tips for incorporating fitness with fashion. For example, you can certainly consider your mad dash around the store to spend your 30-percent-0ff coupon when it’s five minutes before closing time as aerobic exercise. Works for me!