A journey of cooking and living my way
Guess what? i feel back to my old self again! It was a long 5 weeks on a medication that wasn’t for me.
Tuesday I started a different medicine and bingo…I feel great! I have my energy back and I am not exhausted!
I’ve got a lot if blog post floating around in my head, I just need time to type them out.
Have a great day!
Just as I turned the page on the calendar this morning, I took out my first flannel shirt to throw over my delivery t-shirt this afternoon.
On Tuesday, I had to redo our chalkboard signs for the Troy Farmers Market because they had been rained on, and one had bird poop down the front. It was time to get rid of my “cool” summer kids and get ready for fall.
The four chalkboards took me about 3 hours to redo. It took so long because I am a perfectionist asshole and kept redoing things and had to correct the two words I always spell wrong; caramelized and parmesan. I never type them wrong, but I do when I print them on a sign. 🤦🏻♀️
Marty and Sam are always happy, almost giddy about pointing out my misspelled words. I tell them I hate them both, and they laugh. How can I do it every single time? Ugh! I know how to spell them!
I always save the best for last, the chalkboard with “artwork.” I love drawing, so working on the seasonal chalkboard is fun. I already know what my winter one will look like!
I drew the same kind of kids that I used on my summer design but dressed them in traditional German Oktoberfest clothing. I am pleased with how they came out. No, I love how they came out! God help the kid that tries to erase it or even touch it. Lol.
The chalkboards held up well all summer since I used chalkboard markers. They were tricky to figure out at first, but they were excellent once I used them.
Is it Oktoberfest already? Believe me; I am married to a very punctual and stubborn German; that being said, leave it to the Germans to celebrate Oktoberfest in September and not October, as you would think.
I haven’t had much extra writing time this week since we foolishly took off Monday and then became inundated with orders. We are caught up for the most part but still have to make more for Saturday’s farmers market.
Last night, instead of teaching dance classes, we had our belly dance annual dinner, which was held at Emily’s house. I was the queen of selfies and took photos everywhere but forgot to take one last night. I was exhausted and enjoyed relaxing while we chatted.
It’s nice to get together socially and enjoy some fantastic food. We make a potluck dinner; the food is always delicious because almost everyone in our group likes to cook or bake. Maria doesn’t like to cook but likes to cut things up, so she brings a beautiful, seasonal fruit salad.
We never get to talk or socialize much during class since I am a drill sergeant and try to keep things moving along to get in the most technique drilling and dance time for everyone.
After today’s production, we are on the road again doing our NY delivery runs to Saratoga and Albany. The carrot at the end of the stick today was getting some delicious empanadas I wrote about a few weeks ago for tomorrow night’s dinner. I told you, it’s always about food with me! 😂
It’s already 8 pm, and I just finished cleaning the dinner dishes. Even though I am super tired, it’s too early to go to bed because I would most likely lay awake for hours. After a ton of spätzle making and schlepping cases of spätzle into many store’s receiving areas, Marty and I are totally done; so done you could put a fork in us.
Good night guys. 🥱
Last night, Callie, Emily, Trish, Maria, and I performed at the Bennington Museum, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the North Bennington Art Park.
This was Maria and Trish’s first real performance. They both danced at a few farmers’ market gigs where people only walk by or watch for a minute or two and return to buying their produce and baked goods.
Dancing at a farmers market isn’t a “feel good” gig because people don’t expect to see belly dancers, and many are prudes who look away as they walk by. It’s not like we are strippers, for fucks sake!
Maria’s husband and my writing mentor, Jon Katz, attended the performance and was gracious enough to take photos and videos of us.
Jon, who is an award-winning writer, author, and photographer, did a fabulous job describing the event in his blog Bedlam Farm Journal. Click on the link to read what Jon had to say and see video clips and photos. I just saw Jon wrote a second blog post about the gig; here is the link to that one.
My student Maria, an artist and blogger, wrote about her first performance experience on her blog Full Moon Fiber Art. You can click on her link to read about it and see some photos.
This was our first performance in over 3 years, and it felt great. I can’t remember when we have ever had such a fun and smooth performance. The setup was easy, the dancing was seamless even though it was improv, and the audience was fantastic and appreciated what we were doing! Yay!
When we rehearsed for this gig, we danced to the music and discussed how we would start and end the two sets, but we left everything else up in the air, the beauty of dancing improv.
We all danced “in” that moment in time and were present. We were the vessels of the music, but most importantly, we had so much fun together!
We all knew we needed to remember to smile while we were performing, but after watching the video clips, the smiles were real and not phony ones pasted on our faces.
My students have improved so much in the last 2 years; their technique is getting better every week. They are dancing tighter together and learning to DANCE; not just link moves together; there is a huge difference.
I was so relaxed at the gig, something that never happens. It felt like it was everyone’s gig, and each dancer took responsibility for it, not me being the mother hen like I needed to be in the past. We were in sync, not just while dancing but as a whole.
I am incredibly proud of everyone; the buttons are popping on my jacket, which is an old-fashioned saying. I smile when I think of the fun we had and how it really felt like we emerged, coming out from under the big black covid cloud and stepping into the bright sunshine. ☀️
I am truly blessed with my abilities to teach and dance with such a wonderful group of women, my dance sisters. We all have the performing bug now; we need to find more gigs to dance at; that was the only sad part of the night when I realized we don’t have another one lined up. Hint, hint…
Happy Friday, everyone! Cheers!
We just got done with production around 11:30 am; we kicked ass. I wanted to get it done early in the day, so I could relax, eat and start getting ready for our gig tonight at the Bennington Museum.
Our dance troupe hasn’t danced publically in three years. When the museum asked if we wanted to perform at the 25th-anniversary celebration for the North Bennington Art Park, an event we have danced at many times before, we said yes immediately.
I will be dancing with four other dancers in two 15-minute sets which is a generous amount of performance time. We’ve done shows where we drove two hours to get there for a five-minute time slot. That’s showbiz for you; you take what you can get.
Two of our dancers are experienced performers, and two are new to performing. We are performing as a multi-level troupe and our number one goal tonight is to enjoy ourselves while dancing together and having fun. Period.
Performing shows true dedication since it takes a long time to get ready for a gig. I am out of practice, so I expect it will take me between 2-3 hours to do my hair, make-up, costuming, and jewelry. I have to load the sound equipment in the car, make sure my phone is charged, and have lots of water with me.
When everything is done, I take my traditional selfie before the gig; then, I am off to see where we are dancing, set up our sound system, and do a sound check—all things I’ve done a million times.
I’m not nervous about performing; it’s in my blood which I have found out since my biological father was a performer as well; not a belly dancer, though. Lol.
All week I’ve taken small snippets of time and got out everything I am wearing, and I practiced doing my hair and make-up. I liked how my hair came out, but I hated the make-up since I tried something new.
This was not a good look for me; the super dark eye shadow and liner made my eyes look like slits, and did not open them up the way I wanted. So it’s back to what has worked for me for the last 19 years of performing. Why mess with what works?
For lunch, I will have my traditional good luck meal that I ate for 15 years before any gig; a bowl of pasta with marinara sauce, grated parmesan, and a dollop of ricotta cheese. This meal holds me over until I get home and gives me energy; plus, it’s one of my favorite meals.
Wish us luck; I can’t wait to report how well the gig went, and hopefully, I will have some photos that other people take and possibly a video if we can find someone to do it.
Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know I am laying low right now while I am adjusting to the change in meds for my anxiety and depression.
It’s like me to worry about not posting for a few days. Besides the change in meds giving me headaches, which is normal, I don’t feel like myself, which is also normal.
Don’t worry, I am sure I will be back to my crazy, animated self in a couple of days. Until then, stay cool and hydrated the best you can in this hot weather. Hopefully, we will get some much needed rain soon as well.
Be well. I’ll catch up with you soon. 🖤
I wish I had one physician like people did back in the old days. One who knew you and not only your medical and family history, but your family.
Like everything else, things change and we have to roll with the punches; we have no choice. I have had three primary care providers in the last five years.
I had an appointment with my new doctor yesterday whom I have seen in the past for minor issues; but now she is my primary provider.
The word provider felt strange to me when it first made its debut. It feels sterile and foreign to me.
Anyway, at my appointment we discussed the numerous panic attacks I have been experiencing.
I explained my mental status in a nutshell and we put together a plan. Knowing my biological family history is indeed helpful now.
Fingers crossed I can get this shit under control and soon. 🤞🏼
It’s belly dance day which is the best medicine and therapy for me by far. Yip!
I don’t post things I make for lunch very often because they are dull and ordinary. We eat a lot of leftovers turned into salads or sandwiches.
Yesterday, we had what was supposed to be the night befores dinner. On Wednesdays, my belly dance day, I have our dinner made ahead, and it just needs to be reheated. I don’t get home until almost 8:30, and I am ravenous.
When I got home from belly dance, Marty was heading to his fourth rescue squad call of the night. He’s an advanced volunteer EMT; it wasn’t even his coverage night.
Marty is not one to let someone in need have to wait for an out-of-town EMS agency to cover the call if no one else responds. He needs another person to be the driver.
I ate some leftovers and went to bed. He didn’t get home until after 11 pm. I am glad I didn’t wait for him to have dinner together. After dancing and teaching for 3 hours, my body is physically exhausted and needs to rest.
Wednesday night’s dinner turned into a Thursday lunch menu; we had Korean cauliflower “wings” with Alabama white BBQ sauce, Asian lettuce wraps, and a small bowl of white rice.
This was my first time making the Korean cauliflower wings. I’ve made cauliflower Buffalo “wings,” but these were as good or if not better. I wrote an entire blog piece last year titled Su-per-cauliflower-listic-ex-pi-a-li-do-cious. Here is the link if you want to read about it.
As I was searching for recipes, I saw one from Chef Edward Lee, a Korean chef who lives down south. His twist on his regular Korean chicken wings is a drizzle of white bbq sauce. I had never heard of such a thing!
I researched and found I am late to this flavor bomb party. It will now be a regular drizzle on our bbq chicken and smoked brisket. Above is the recipe I used for the white bbq sauce.
After searching for a recipe for the Korean cauliflower wings, I tried this one from Food52 without the sauce the recipe recommends with the “wings.”
As for the Asian lettuce wraps, I used a copycat version of PF Chang’s recipe from Damn Delicious. It’s a good recipe, so I always have a can of water chestnuts in my pantry. I used ground turkey because that’s what I had on hand. Above is the recipe link I used.
I never take credit for recipes that food bloggers do by blatantly copying and pasting someone else’s recipe and then calling it their own. I dislike that they do this! It isn’t fair to the original person who did all the work.
At this point in my busy life, I don’t see myself creating my recipes for these dishes any time soon. Use the ones I did, and I promise you won’t be sorry; they are straightforward.
We finished up with production and have deliveries to make this afternoon. I’ve got a million things on my to-do list today, but for the next couple of hours, I’ll be poolside then having leftover “wings” and lettuce wraps for lunch.
Happy Friday! Have a great rest of your day and weekend! 💜
My sister Jennifer came to visit this weekend. She met us at the Troy Farmers Market and had a great time strolling through the market and shops. She made some purchases and was happy she could support the farmers and small business owners.
She got to see us in action at the spätzle booth giving out the spätzle spiel to people who didn’t know what we were selling. I think she could have given the spiel herself by the end of the day.
We made some grilled pizzas with a watermelon feta salad on Saturday night and ate outdoors on our back deck. The weather was perfect; we couldn’t have asked for a nicer evening for Alfresco dining.
Marty didn’t think we had enough seating, so he sold our 4 seat-high-top outdoor set on Facebook Marketplace a few weeks ago and purchased 6 “used” brand new Telescope chairs.
He found a table that went well with the chairs and we picked up an umbrella at The Christmas Tree Shoppes when we were in Albany a couple of weeks ago. He had to redo our party lights from a zig-zag pattern to square to make way for the umbrella.
Our deck with the “new” outdoor dining furniture still doesn’t feel like we are on our deck. We typically wouldn’t have chosen bright blue and white, but we like how fresh and clean it looks.
I kid about when the server will come around and either bring me another drink or clear the table. That’s how much it doesn’t feel like our space yet. We love it and are glad we went outside our comfort zone.
We had coffee on the front porch Sunday morning, and Jennifer said, “This is like a resort.” We laughed and agreed how lucky we were to have a lovely front porch in a beautiful vacation destination.
We prepped our dinner and headed out to the pool. We set ourselves up on the pool deck and sat there until it was too hot and needed to cool off.
We floated around for an hour or more on our pool noodles and chatted. The water was 85 degrees and lovely. Besides reapplying sunscreen, we did nothing but relax.
This felt wonderful for me since we have been working so much lately. It was a vacation for Jen since her kids were away down the Jersey shore with her ex. She has a busy schedule and rarely gets time just for herself.
We went back and forth from the deck to the water, and Jennifer said, “This really is like a resort.” I had to agree with her looking through her eyes and realizing the same thing myself.
After almost 4 hours, we moved up to the back deck and sat under the umbrella, trying to hydrate ourselves with water. This was when Jennifer said, looking at the mountains in the background, “It feels like a hotel.” Not being used to the furniture, I said it did.
Marty and Sam were out for the day, so we had the “resort” to ourselves. When the guys came home, we made homemade corn tortillas on the flattop grill and grilled some shrimp on the bbq in the outdoor kitchen—some toppings for the tacos and a Mexican street corn salad made for a delicious summer meal.
After dinner, I was the one who said, “When is that server going to come by and clear the table and bring me another glass of white wine?”
After dinner, we went to our next-door neighbors, Arthur & David’s house, for a small get-together. They are always so considerate with their dessert, cheese, and fruit buffets.
There were two delicious cakes from a local confectionery shop in Manchester, an assortment of cheeses, and GF crackers. This makes us feel like we are regular guests. I don’t think they know how special this is to us.
Jen packed up early this morning and was on the road by 6 am. She hit zero traffic going back to NJ. She made a mistake last year leaving later; the 3-hour ride took 5. Ugh! What a way to kill a relaxing weekend for sure. She was home by 8:50 am!
Today, Marty and I are taking a holiday off and will spend the day at the tiny resort. Simple grilled chicken with a bruschetta topping will be an easy breezy dinner. We are joining the neighbors for a campfire tonight and looking at the sky for nearby fireworks. 🎆
Marty is on-call with the rescue squad tonight, and Sam is working the overnight shift in the ER; hopefully, they won’t have too many patients with their thumbs blown off! It happens. Yikes!
Happy Fourth of July!🇺🇸
***Before I finished writing this, Marty had a chainsaw and started cutting down tree branches. That man just doesn’t know how to relax!
On Sunday, our long production day went easy. Yesterday’s production day felt like an eternity that would never end.
I made boxes we needed to fill some of our orders; they towered over me. Ok, I am only 5’1” but you get the drift.
Making spätzle isn’t something I have ever gotten tired of doing. That’s the fun part of production. I love it! The dishes? They suck.
The dishes take me over 2 1/2 hours to do. Marty suggested he clean the big tilting kettle while I finish up the dishes. It was worth a try.
With Marty helping with the clean up as opposed to start weighing and packaging spätzle himself; this saves me 30 minutes and we both get to start packaging the product together. This is working and I am happy. Yay!
Once we started packaging the spätzle I kept look over at the towers of boxes. It became daunting. Then, whenever I looked over at the big bin of spätzle he was working on, it always looked full. It was like a bottomless bin; and there were 9 of them.
It took hours to finish but when we were done, we were pleased with our days work and closer to filling all of our wholesale orders.
Today, we finished up all the orders even though we cut production short since we have deliveries to make this afternoon and a show tonight. We kicked ass this week to get it done!
Now, I know some people who are reading this and are probably thinking, “Wow! They must be raking in the dough!” Unfortunately, trust me, this isn’t true.
We learned very quickly that farmers, cheese makers and food manufacturers make the least amount of money. You see, the distributor needs to take their cut then the retail stores need to take theirs.
The first two ingredients in our spätzle are local milk & eggs. We feel strongly about using local ingredients and supporting the farmers near us. The eggs have tripled in price and the milk has almost doubled.
The flours we use are all non-gmo and cost more; again we feel we need to use the best ingredients for our product. The packaging supplies like our retail packages, bags and cardboard boxes have tripled as well.
I don’t have to tell you about the cost of gas when we travel to make deliveries, we are all suffering greatly from this right now. Our distributor had to raise their price to help cover the fuel for their delivery trucks.
We are hanging on and slowly but surely we are continuing to establish our brand and growing the business.
We are very blessed and grateful how far we have come in 5 short years. We couldn’t do it without our customers who are spreading the spätzle love.❤️
We are completely caught up for the moment which feels pretty good! Tomorrow and Friday we will focus on making spätzle for the farmers market on Saturday.
Now, I am going to try to take a power nap before getting dressed up, help get the delivery boxes loaded up, and on our way to a fun afternoon & evening in Schenectady.
I’ll let you know how the show was and if we were successful finding a good gluten-free dinner out. Fingers crossed!
Yesterday when the Alexa alarm went off at 4:25 am, he told us, “The early bird catches the worm.” We have a male Alexa voice because he sounds friendly and not bitchy all the time like the female one.
Yes, the early bird catches the worm proved true again today, hitting the production kitchen very early while it was still cool out. By the time we were finished with production, it was hot and steamy in the kitchen.
We must make a lot of spätzle today, tomorrow and Tuesday to fill the large orders we received last week. No day of rest for us this week, but that’s ok; we are grateful for the business. After today’s production, we are in a good place and now know we will get it all made on time. That’s a massive relief for both of us.
So, it’s going to be a busy but fun week. Tuesday, we have deliveries to make in Saratoga and Niskayuna, NY, which is very close to Schenectady. It just worked out perfectly that we are going to Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady on Tuesday night to see the show, Mean Girls, so we won’t have to make a separate trip.
We have been looking forward to seeing Mean Girls for a while and know the music well from the weekly broadway music we play in the production kitchen on Fridays. After making our deliveries, we can grab a bite to eat and then hit the show.
For the rest of the day, we will keep cool and relax. We have a couple of steaks to throw on the grill with a baked potato and salad for an easy uncomplicated dinner.
I hope you guys had a good weekend, enjoy the rest of your Sunday! 😎