As you can see, I am having a creative stretch. In the kitchen, at least. I have this fantasy that Food Network will call me up and invite me to be on "The Next Food Network Star" or something. I take recipes i find, then make them my own. Years of having to budget for groceries, making the meal stretch for 8 people every night, and dropping the midweek restaurant meals have led me to being a pretty darn good cook, if i do say so myself.
Wine Tasting has grown into a bit of a hobby. I finally grew a palate for more than white dessert wines. Don't get me wrong, i love the right Muscat and Reisling, but i truly get a hankering for Amador Barberas or Coastal Pinots now. I know i enjoy the Zinfandels of the "Russian River" area and steel fermented chardonnays. The best way to spend an afternoon with girlfriends? Grab a SF Style sourdough bagette and a bit of Havarti cheese, maybe some gourmet dark chocolate and head west, south, or east from here and you will find yourself in the middle of wine country before you know it. I never grow weary of tasting the wines, inhaling the aromas, learning about the grapes, the fermentation processes, the farmer's point of view on the weather. Late Harvest Zins, Tempranillos, Barberas, Primitivos, and fragrant blends reminiscent of cherries, blueberries, even chocolate or coffee and tobacco.....all to conjure up powerful images in your mind and leave you wanting more.
As for the foreigners, i surround myself with them, almost insatiably taking in all the culutural nuances like a child in a candy shop. I began a new BLISS! I teach English conversation at the local I-House, where i am surrounded every week by South Koreans, Brazilians, Iranians, Peruvians, Chinese, Japanese, and people from other corners of the globe. I met a man from Kenya one day and saw him in the local park a week later. He was only a couple of days from returning to Kenya....We exchanged small talk and as we began to leave, we saw the man he was with praying over him. I pulled back up, jumped from the car, and offered to pray over him, too. Mike and I both laid hands on him, along with his friend, and felt it was such a divine encounter. Turns out, the man praying for him lived at my address only a few years back!!
Last night, I met a Cuban, more Koreans, and have made several elderly chinese friends who love my class and exclaim in their VERY broken English that "joo are good tea-cha". Sooo cute. I love discussing idioms and the difference between "taken" and "took" or what "I'm broke" means and what "I'm outta here" means. They think I am so smart! Who wouldn't like being the "expert" in the room?? Then, I try and become the student myself, bugging every native Spanish speaker I meet to please offer their services and volunteer an hour each week to allow me practice my horrific grammar on them.
Wine Tasting has grown into a bit of a hobby. I finally grew a palate for more than white dessert wines. Don't get me wrong, i love the right Muscat and Reisling, but i truly get a hankering for Amador Barberas or Coastal Pinots now. I know i enjoy the Zinfandels of the "Russian River" area and steel fermented chardonnays. The best way to spend an afternoon with girlfriends? Grab a SF Style sourdough bagette and a bit of Havarti cheese, maybe some gourmet dark chocolate and head west, south, or east from here and you will find yourself in the middle of wine country before you know it. I never grow weary of tasting the wines, inhaling the aromas, learning about the grapes, the fermentation processes, the farmer's point of view on the weather. Late Harvest Zins, Tempranillos, Barberas, Primitivos, and fragrant blends reminiscent of cherries, blueberries, even chocolate or coffee and tobacco.....all to conjure up powerful images in your mind and leave you wanting more.
As for the foreigners, i surround myself with them, almost insatiably taking in all the culutural nuances like a child in a candy shop. I began a new BLISS! I teach English conversation at the local I-House, where i am surrounded every week by South Koreans, Brazilians, Iranians, Peruvians, Chinese, Japanese, and people from other corners of the globe. I met a man from Kenya one day and saw him in the local park a week later. He was only a couple of days from returning to Kenya....We exchanged small talk and as we began to leave, we saw the man he was with praying over him. I pulled back up, jumped from the car, and offered to pray over him, too. Mike and I both laid hands on him, along with his friend, and felt it was such a divine encounter. Turns out, the man praying for him lived at my address only a few years back!!
Last night, I met a Cuban, more Koreans, and have made several elderly chinese friends who love my class and exclaim in their VERY broken English that "joo are good tea-cha". Sooo cute. I love discussing idioms and the difference between "taken" and "took" or what "I'm broke" means and what "I'm outta here" means. They think I am so smart! Who wouldn't like being the "expert" in the room?? Then, I try and become the student myself, bugging every native Spanish speaker I meet to please offer their services and volunteer an hour each week to allow me practice my horrific grammar on them.
As usual, I am late going to bed. A little over-extended myself, chatted a friend's ear off, and hopefully going to be able to sleep solidly. For now, waiting for my next big break. Big Blessing and expecting more Good Things from God. Constantly trying to remind myself that we don't live in the World's economy, but in God's. That i don't have to "struggle" to make it work, it just will by using the gift He gave me and continuing to do what He puts in front of me. Right now, that means being "La Ama de Casa", English Teacher, Soccer Coach, Mom, Dear, and Master Chef.
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