Farewell 2005

So, it's 2006. I really feel as this whole holiday season went 100 mph while I was standing on the side of the road. It usually does, but even more so this year with all the newness in the life. In a little way, I'm quite sad about it, because I love the holidays and I feel they didn't get the ritual or celebration they deserve, but then again I saw friends and family, even if I was less prepared this year than in the past.

J and I rang in the new year in style this year. Jammies, good food and our sofa. And while we regretting saying no to Metuchen fireworks, or an evening of hot tubbing, with everything over the past few months, we needed some good quality time with each and a weekend without any demands on our time. Saturday took us for some last minute food shopping, where we decided to try one of the supermarkets we hadn't been to yet, to see if it was closer than our current favorite. That turned into a 3 hour excursion where we started taking side roads, and a bit of exploring, leading us to two different and wonderful Italian Markets, one with fresh and frozen pastas of all kinds, sausages, and good cheese while the other had an amazing deli counter, really good prosciutto balls and strufoli.

And now that it's 2006, it's time to put my together my photo album for the year. As I began to go through my 2005 photos, I realized it was, to quote Frank, a pretty good year. The home front brought time with family to a new level through many more wonderful weddings, my niece getting bigger and talking, walking and just being the cutest thing. My parents are both getting healthier, loving their role as grandparents, and still taking good care of "their little girl" even if she is not so little anymore.

Good friendships got even better as the "Cool Table" continued our monthly night on the town (even if now I may not make them as much anymore). Old friendships got closer as a grammar school buddy moved into my neighborhood (even if two months later I moved out) putting us only an hour away instead of the 5 that we were for the past 13 years. Friends got married, had children and changed jobs and through it all we laughed at the silly things, continued traditions, listened when it was needed, and supported each other through trials and tribulations of growing up. And even now that I'm no longer a few minutes from my "jersey" friends, I love the time I spend with them, and look forward to lots more dinners, movies and dips in the hot tub.

2006 promises to be another hectic year so while I'm taking a bit of a breather today, I wish all my friends and family the best. Happy New Year!

Merry Merry Christmas

Tia Christmas 2005, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Because I haven't shown her off in a while, here's my bee-you-ti-ful niece, enjoying Chrismas morning with the fam! Isn't she just the cutest!

Hope your holidays, whatever you choose to celebrate (or not if you don't) were filled with love and wonder, just like Tia's.

News other than the transit strike

CNN.com - 'West Wing' actor dies at 58 - Dec 16, 2005

With all the transit strike info, I had missed this bit of news until tonight, while watching the West Wing on Bravo they flashed his photo and 1948-2005.

He shared my birthday. And he was from Jersey. And I really liked him as an actor. So this made me feel sad.

A Transit Strike For My Birthday, You Shouldn't Have...

So YAY, I woke up and there was a transit strike. Normally I would be all happy, cause I would just work from home and it would be great. Especially cause it's my birthday and then I could be in jammies all day long, and eat leftover cake, and actually get work done without all the annoying stuff. But nooooooo, I had a meeting with our DC and California people who were in town only yesterday and today so I had to go to work.

Decided the easiest thing would be to drive. So prepared to hit balls of traffic over the Verazzano, I was happily suprised when I left the house at 8:15 and at 8:40 was already only about 6 exits away from where I needed to be. But it all went downhill from there - one hour it took to go the last 7 miles of my journey.

I actually made it into work as the 3rd person (out of the7 that made it in, of the 10 that would normally be there). And I was "on time", at least on time for the average start time of the day. And my day was ok. Highlights include flowers from my in-laws and a bee-you-ti-ful and aromatic rosemary tree from my best "woman".

I figured getting home would be ok, and I offered my boss a ride. Well without going into details lets just say 2 hours to get home, I hate street names on Staten Island, and Brooklyn roads suck as well. And the worst part. I have to do it all over again tommorow cause we have intervies scheduled. Grumble grumble.

But J gave me flowers and made me dinner, so birthday day ended on the upside!

Another Year, Another Guinness Cake

Guinness Cake, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Two weeks ago, as we were looking at the pile unpacked boxes, and the mess that the home was I doubted I could pull off another Christmas Party. But after 14 years, how could I not.

Normally I am planning in September, writing invitations in November and have a detailed plan of attack by the week before. This year I spent the week of the party searching for menus, sending Jack all over downtown for cake pans and bottled chestnuts, and downing Nyquill for the two days before praying that I wouldn't be running a fever the day of the party and missing out.

But although I still can't breathe through my nose, the party came off without a hitch. And as most of the dishes are washed, and we snack on cookies and rice krispie treats for breakfast while leftovers are packed up for lunch for the week I'm happy that we went ahead. As C said, it was mellower - maybe due to the fact that most of J's friends weren't there, or maybe we are all just getting a little older and enjoy good wine, good food and good conversation to the kegger booze fests of our younger days but I like it this way. To me, there's no better way for me to give my friends presents than to cook for them.

I made "my" Guinness Cake, which at 6 inches high was an impressive centerpiece to dessert. The Martini Salmon was a tried and true recipie, and the pork roast was from one of my favorite cookbooks, that has never let me down. So for last minute recipe hunting, it all came together pretty well, and I only spent a few hours in the kitchen on the day of the party.

One thing I forgot however was to make my toast. So to those who were there, and those who missed, know that there is no better joy for me than to be surrounded by all of you year after year. I wish you the merriest of Christmas, and thank you for making life so enjoyable the other 364 days of the year!

Christmas Christmas Time is Here....

Welcome to the 2005 Christmas Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends! (as stolen from karchamb)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Cocoa, especially Green & Black's, or mint flavored.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Always wrapped, they look so pretty with all the fun bows and stuff!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Don't do the outside, since we're all apartmenty, but the tree white, colored in some windows, and red and green strands go up as well. Pretty much different each year.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes, but it's fake. And I always forget to take it down.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Ideally, the first weekend in December, but as long as it's up for my annual party I'm cool.
6. What is your favorite Christmas dish (excluding dessert)? Gotta love the whole Christmas Eve dinner at Aunt C's - shrimp, baccala, calamari. And it's not a holiday without some meatballs.
7. Favorite Christmas memory as a child? Cara and I heading downstairs to open our stocking at like, 5 am. We couldn't wake up my parents but could open our stocking without them.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Honestly don't remember. And to this day my parents still sign gift "from santa". It's never been acknowledged that he doesn't exist.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? The extended family exchanges. Christmas morning is reserved for me, sis, and folks.
10. What kind of cookies does Santa get set out for him? Cheese. Or if my santa is good, chocolate Guinness Cake.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love, love, love. But it definitly sucks to go to work in in and NYorkers don't believe in snow days. Gonna have teach them about that.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My camera was pretty cool. As a child my art set was a big hit for years.
14. What's the most important thing about Christmas for you? Traditions with family and friends
15. What is your favorite Christmas Dessert? Everything, but chocolate pudding pie has a special place in my heart.
16. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? Besides the whole shebang - cutting down the tree each year; still doing it with Christine after all these years.
17. What tops your tree? A copper star
18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? All of the above. I'm bad at keeping secrets too, so I tend to spill presents before I give them.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Carol? Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (sung by Fozzie Bear). Muppets and John Denver Christmas is my favorite album.
20. Candy Canes! Don't really have an opinion but can't go wrong with anything minty.

g

Oh Tannenbaum...

Time for the annual excursion to find the perfect tree.

Growing up, my family always trekked out "into the woods" (well, it was a farm, but to an 8 year old it seemed like woods) and searched for the tree that would be the canopy for all the wishes and wonder of our living room. Each year my mom said "how about a blue spruce" and each year my sister an I would cry "no, no blue trees". We also always trekked out with the same family - through snowy blizzards, unseasonably hot days, rain, sleet or sometimes even the perfect winter day. We always had hot cocoa for after the tree, and then had lunch and bought some ornaments and then us kids slept happily on the way home.

Senior year in high school, some friends didn't believe we did this. So we brought them along - on one of the chilly years. I fondly remember seeing G & M huddled under blankets wondering where the fun was. To me, the fun was in the tradition. I loved going out, and as I got older I appreciated it even more. Through college our families would arrange time for us to go out and get out trees. It was a ritual that always meant my favorite season was officially here.

And now, although our space is limited, recent apartments have always been able to hold a small tree. So today we donned on our snow boots, bundled up and me and my friend, who for 30 years have looked for trees, trekked out with spouses and children to find our perfect tree.

An excursion it was. The first place we went to was sold out. The second place you couldn't cut your own. Luckily her parents had gotten lost and stumbled along a third location, which turned out to have few tree and mostly short (I mean, 3 ft short) and wide. So after about 3 hours we decided to go to one last place, in which we couldn't cut, but at least had Santa, cause little Jack was starting to get a bit bored. While we found a great tree, I am feeling a bit cheated, since my honey wasn't on the ground with a say, but we did have a yummy lunch and some great chocolate chip cookies. And little Jack got to tell Santa that he wants a train, and I got to hang out with Carter and spent another year with my best friend and her family trying to find the perfect tree.

g

Gotta Love My Hometown

All I could say when I read this was thank goodness it wasn't at the Twain...

Gotta love mob hits in you're hometown.

G

Ch ch ch changes

Its been a while since I've been able to delve into the world of blogging, but I didn't want to write until I had more than a moment to jot down some thoughts. Life's been a bit hectic, with the new job, the new home, travel for the new job and turkey day in the mix, my world has been topsy turvy. But this weekend we've gotten some quality unpack time, and some quality Stargate time and I'm feeling a little more back to my normal self.

So yes, the jersey girl has left jersey. Although I haven't gone too far, we made it only to Staten Island. But although the commute to work is an hour, we have a fabulous place. It's about the same size as our old one, with a backyard so I can actually get some tomatos into the ground this summer. Problems is the kitchen is a bit smaller and, well, you know me. If we packed 65 boxes of stuff, 20 was books, 20 were for the kitchen, 10 were pottery and 15 were for the rest of the place. So unpacking into a small kitchen has left a few challenges, but I think we will be able to manage.

And speaking of kitchens, I know life got back to normal when last night I cooked my first meal in the new place. An easy pot roast, potatoes and my favorite kale salad made the night seem just right.

So happy belated Thanksgiving to all. And if you know anything about "the island" fill me in, cause while we found the movie theatre, the mall and a supermarket it's nothing like my farm stand, pottery studio, quail farm location of the last place.

g

Week One....

So the first few days of the new job were ok. I think it was harder than I expected because of the 2 hour commute each way, so by the time I was on the bus home, I was wiped. After day one I had a new appreciation for what J has been doing for the past year and a half and told him how much I loved him. It definitly explains the couch potato he was on the weekends!

So two days down at the job, next week I should be able to dig in, start plannning for the california trip in two weeks. Co workers are great, and they actually don't talk about diets at lunch - what a concept. I love being around people who appreciate the finer points of a good hamburger. And the Jacques Torres chocolate shop is only 2 blocks away from my office.

Photo Friday - Delicate

Butterfly Bush, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Trying to get back on the Photo Friday Challenge, been a bit of a slacker when it comes to my camera lately. I took this in the spring in my parent's backyard.

- Canon Powershot G5, Photoshop filtered.

Autumn....

I love this time of the year. Many know I'm a winter gal - I'll settle for a blizzard over a heat wave any day. But fall really is a special time - I think because in some ways it's so short, but in others it's very long.

The Autumnal Equinox is on September 22nd and the Winter Solstice December 21st, making the "season" last for three months. But most of the time people think of fall as only until Thanksgiving, then the Christmas rush is all over the place. I'll spend another day talking about how the Christmas rush annoys me, but for now I'm sticking to fall.

I say it's short and long because it's such a transitional season. When you think of fall, often you think of 70 degrees, sunny and all the trees afire in reds, golds and umbers. But that's the short part. I like the variations in fall, the warmer days when the leaves are still green and flowers still blooming. And the later parts that are mistaken for winter when the days are cold and everything has just started to go into hibernation and the trees have become skeletal.

I think part of the reason I love fall is that to me it's a huge time for change, because the season is all about change. This year, change abounds as I am switching jobs, set our wedding date and taking the jersey girl out of jersey. Also, I feel fall really is the "start" of the year for me, partially because I'm used to school years, but also every job I've had has been on a fiscal year that starts in the fall and ends in the spring. So "new" has become synonymous with fall for me. In the past, working on a college campus, I think September really brought that home. I watched the students come back and it made me long for the days when I was excited about buying school supplies, seeing friends after summer break and pulling out sweatshirts from my closet.

Then October hits, and I start closing my windows at night, bring my slippers out from under my bed to keep my toes warm around the house. I get cravings to spend hours in the kitchen...baking muffins, simmering soups and making chili, stews and roasts while the whole house smells like garlic and onions, or cinnamon and apples. We plan camping trips, that occasionally get rained out and send us to the movies instead. I go apple picking, and pumpkin picking and go for hayrides and leaf peeping trips. As I've gotten older, Halloween means less about finding my costume, and more about seeing my niece and "nephews" dressed up. And eventually I put away my sandals, as the first frost covers the lawns, and my car.

Fall is also a great time for melancholy. Although I am a pretty happy and upbeat person, I find that nostalgia, and brooding have their place, and fall is a great time for this. Taking out old photo albums and reminiscing about friendships that have gone awry, family members that have passed away and opportunities missed, while sipping tea and snacking on cheese and breads are great ways to spend the cold rainy days of fall.

The smell of decomposing leaves is one of my favorite smells to this day, and I miss it where we currently live, as my daily outsideness consists of parking lots as opposed to front lawns. But every time I drive and see the leaves changing colors, and smell the crisp air I fall in love.

Random thoughts about my home

J and I will be moving soon. But in the meantime, many things have come to a head in our apartment lately that are bugging me on various levels that I need to vent about, so I apologize for an extremely boring post with absolutely no fun news.

The mechanism on one of the outer doors is broken so the door does not automatically shut. We have kids who go in and out that door all the time and leave it open. That's annoying enough as it, cause who wants their "front door" wide open all day, but it really annoys me when the wind picks up and it slams the door open against the metal patio railing over, and over, and over. On Sunday I must have closed the door 4 times.

Today J checked the mail, which I guess we haven't done in a while because there was a "second notice" that our mail was being held by the post office. Since we didn't get the first one, I can only assume that we had too much mail and that was being held too. And the notice was dates Monday, so I guess it's been over a week since we checked mail. Which I'll agree is a long time. But really, what's with the whole "mini group mailbox" thing anymore anyway. Especially because at our front doors there are mailboxes that are not used.

Our heating unit broke. Luckily it hasn't been that cold, and they did give us a pretty good electric heater. But I'm worried that they are going to screw us when it comes to the security. They better not or I'll get cranky.

Luckily it's getting colder so the bee/wasp hive on our patio should be able to be gotten rid of soon. I'll be sure to post video of J attempting to remove it with a fire extinguisher, it's sure to be a blast.

Our dishwasher sucks. End of story.

More News....

So I've announced the new job, but another good thing that just happened. We finally picked a wedding date and location. Thanks goodness, cause if this fell through I think J and I were going to elope and stay at La Mirage (Patti, just for you).

So while it's still a long time away the winter nuptials of J&G will happen in Princeton at the Nassau Inn on January 13th 2007.

Yay - now on to the fun stuff.....like dresses and flowers and seating arrangements!

Treasure Hunt

I'll spend some time searching for the big cheese...

News...

I've been wanting to post about this for a while, but for reasons most will understand I have not talked about it much.

Today I officially accepted a new job.

First, let me say - YAY! Then, for all those that are curious about the facts, let's just say that it's one of my favorite organizations, and while I'm not changing job skills, I am changing fields. I'll get to travel, have at least 1 person working for me (hoping to expand the department in the future) and, oh yeah, will be relocating to Brooklyn.

So while I am very, very excited, I am sad to leave my current job. There are some exciting things happening now and I do feel a little bit of guilt that I only gave 3 weeks notice. I know, I know, I should not feel guilty because that's what people do, and 3 weeks is longer than many people give, but I have much pride in what I have built up in the past, and the plans that we had for this year. It's a small office, so when a staff member leaves, those programs just drop...as I learned from the multiple maternity leaves. But I have to get over it and realize that the sun will continue to shine and although I'm good, I'm not completely irreplaceable.

So back to YAY. The next few weeks are going to be exciting, and I'm sure to express my rollercoaster of emotions here!

oh, and something I learned this weekend - don't try to make muffins out of a bundt cake recipe - it doesn't work.

Serenity and sick days

First, let me just say I hate being sick. My nose is so stuffy right now. And my throat is all scratchy. And I keep getting too hot or too cold. And there's nothing good on tv. I hate being sick.

Ok, now that the moaning is out of the way, I am happy to say that I got my Joss Whedon fix and the opening of Serenity this weekend. Ahh, it was good to be back.

I'll be good and not give away too many surprises, (cause I know all my friends are rushing out to see it, right), but will say that overall I was happy. Good banter, sexy men, cute quips and a decent storyline (although I like the series better cause its "smaller") and for all you men, some sexy women too.

And can I just say, no-one knows how to write such kick a** women as Mr. Whedon. Love it. Makes me wanna go out and start a bar fight.

A question

Which would you rather do - spend $100 on out of this world chocolates, wine and cheese, which will be gone in a matter of weeks or get a really great pair of shoes that will last you for years to come.

Well if our vacation proves anything, it's wine, cheese and chocolate all the way.

Jack and I got home from a few days up north which led us to a trip into Newburyport, where we were introduced to fabulous cheese shop and spent some cash in a bakery on nut squares, key lime pie and oatmeal/peanut butter cookies. Later in the week we traveled to Portsmouth, NH where we were told our trip would not be complete without a chance at Byrne and Carlson chocolates. Of course, some time at Jewel Towne vineyards was well spent, as we found some delicious wines that seemed just right for the cooler weather that was approaching.

Once home, our annual apple picking day with Christine and boys commenced at Sun High Orchard. Little Jack was a riot this year, with boundless enthusiasm and loving spending time with "Big Jack". And Carter enjoyed his first outing to an apple orchard, even at 6 months. We were spending the night at Chris & Joe's and decided to celebrate fall with some sweet potato ravioli, but the supermarket was out of wonton wrappers, so we improvised and made sweet potato stuffed shells. When little jack climbed up to the table, asked what it was, licked a shell and said "that's delicious", I knew our plan b had succeeded.

And the week off of work was completed with a few hours at Slow Food's bi-annual event, Urban Harvest, where we found some great local foods, including more cheese, some coffee, tea, foccacia and pizza rustica, and maitake mushrooms.

The only bad part of it all - I woke up with a sore throat and beginnings of a cold. I blame little jack, he must have been incubating some plague, as he's now in school. So all the yummy foods we've got will have to wait till my taste buds feel a bit better.

Photo Friday - Divine

Shrimp and Peaches, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

So, I was actually going to post a picture of one of the cathedrals in Italy, but then I figured, why go for the obvious. I thought this shrimp with peaches was pretty divine if I say so myself.

J's favorite holiday....

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day. Just thought I would let everyone know.

And in honor of this wonderful holiday I translated my blog into pirate speak. Click here to see the pirated version.

Sadness...

The presale sold out in 30 minutes. Boo Hoo. Guess I gotta try next week again....

Oh, and since when is Cream listed as "Dance/Electronica"?

WOO HOO

Ok, so I was bummed that my man wasn't doing a tour right now with the release of the new album, but then I found out that this would be happening.

Strange Brew....Spoonful...Badge...ohhhhh, can't wait. And it's actually a concert me and J will attend together. And people say miracles don't happen.

AMEX pre-sale in the morning...let's see what we can get!

Random Thoughts on a Sunday Morning

This weekend was a busy one. A wedding at the shore, and engagement party in Brooklyn, some weekend working and a visit with a friend from CA. Needless to say we spent a lot of time on the road and had some fun adventures.

Here's a question - Is it wrong to point at the gas tank of a Hum-vee and laugh when you are driving down Rt. 18? Actually what made it so funny was it was brand new - still had temporary plates. Please tell me who looks at gas prices these days and says I need a vehicle that will cost $100 bucks to drive 20 miles.

I saw a sign that said "Goose Problems? 1-800..." I can't figure out if that is grammatically correct. It bugged us the whole way home. Jack says that "goose" is referring to a species so therefore it is right. But I think it should be Geese Problems? Whatever, it's still on my mind.

We pulled up to get some gas last night driving home from NY and an older gentleman in a Saab convertible pulled up next to us. He asked if he could pump his own gas or if the attendant had to do it for him. Being we were in Jersey, the attendant said he had to, so the man said "I'm in a rush, so please be quick" We tried to guess where he was from, turns out - NY plates.

And finally, congrats to Anthony & Vikki (pictures posted - see link on sidebar) - enjoy you're honeymoon!

g

Music Man...

Today was the deadline for another CD exchange, hosted by smelmoo. As with all of the exchanges, I puttered around for weeks thinking about the cd.

See, I believe in using themes. Maybe it's the Monk in me but I have this little bit of OCD where I like things to have a connection. Also, using a theme makes it easier to narrow down my collection to 18 songs.

So after a few weeks of this and that, I settled on Food. That was the easy part. The hard part was finding songs about food that were not meant for those under 10. Sure, lots of songs have food mentioned, but really are not about the pleasures of eating or drinking. I wanted songs the celebrated the wonderfulness of tomatoes in the summer, ice cream on a spring day or chili over a campfire. Some of them do, and others I just liked because they were by my man.

Then comes the cover and the song list. I could do an entire entry about fonts and my obsession with color but I'll save that for another day. Let's just say that I am often as proud of my cover as I am of my song selection. So in the end "In The Kitchen" was completed and mailed to the other participants. Hopefully they will all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed compiling.

My True Love...

Well, maybe not love but obsession. Yes, today Eric Clapton's first new original album since Reptile was released. Being the fan I am, I went out and bought it without waiting for any reviews and am pretty happy with it.

It is much more polished than his early stuff, but has a bit more intrigue and emotion than Reptile. First few listens are pretty good, although after a few more, I'll have more opinions. Overall I like it - "I'm Going Left" has the throaty melodies that make me all tingly, and "Run Home to Me" is a sweet, sweet song.

I am kind of sad seeing the pictures of his young wife - cause it's not me. But I guess I got a good man, even if he doesn't play guitar.

Wedding Planning - Friend or Foe....

For the past few months J and I have been trying to pin down a date/location for our wedding. With multiple weddings this summer (three down, one to go) weddings have very much been on our mind. We've had a blast at the ones we've been to and are looking forward to the last of the season with A & V but in the meantime we've been trying to suss out what we want.

I started with a very specific picture in mind. Those who know me, know that for all my love of sparkles and glittery things on ME, that's not my style when it comes to decor. And while I've always pictured myself getting married outstide, my luck with weather has not been good. So we began the hunt for something rustic, understated, classy, with a bit of flair that could be weatherproof and has yummy food - and most of all, something that won't put us in debt for the rest of our life. Oh, and being the big italian family that I am, needs to hold at least 150 people. No problem, right?

Wrong. And while J and I saying our vows under the stars in the middle of the woods with just a few friends and our folks sounds great, I love my family - all 100 of them - too much to elope. We've found some places that we like, even if they don't quite fit the above. But for the most part it's been hard.

So this weekend we are going to check out one final potiential place - that just may fit into the rustic, understated, classy with flair weatherproof and good food. Thanks to C for recommending it - although I'm trying not to get my hopes up cause after all it is about 2 1/2 hours from us so I'll feel guilty about making the 1/2 of our guest list that live in Jersey travel that far.

And then I'm done. Something is getting picked from what we have - the best of the bunch. And we are picking a date and signing a contract and making a decision. That way we can get onto the fun stuff - like planning the bachlorette party.

Speaking of bachlorette parties - I had a great time in AC this weekend to celebrate with A & V. (Yes, bride and groom - we all had dinner then split to opposite ends of the town) And I only lost $25 at the casino, so not bad!

Random Thoughts on a Friday...

I was going to talk today about the wonderful Neil Diamond concert last night - thank you smelmooo, but I have a bunch of thoughts floating through my head. And since I have to do some writing for work, I figured it's a good time for a download of the brain.

Speaking of Neil Diamond - how a 65 year old man still has a waist that tiny is beyond me. Go Neil. Oh, and I found out all his spangly shirts are custom made (I don't know why that suprises me).

I love my man. But going to concerts always make me wish he played an instrument. Boy do trumpet players make me swoon. And guitar players too. But then again, I did swear off dating musicians after a few encounters. They are crazy!

We had leftover sandwiches in the office, so as I was taking the tray out to grab a quick lunch, it fell over, knocked into my "big a**, bad** mug". This mug held at least 14 oz of water (a bit heavy when full) and it was my first mug I made for myself in ceramics. Although not perfect, I loved it cause I only had to fill it once or twice a day. Now I'm sad - it's the first piece I ever made that broke after I used it, as opposed to during firing, which I had gotten used to. :(

On Air America the other day they listed the books Prez GWB was reading on his 5 week vacation (boy, wish I could have a 5 week vacation). Anyway, one of them is Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. Now I consider myself pretty smart and can read intellectual books, but as interesting as Salt is I've managed to only read half of it when I lose interest and put it down. So I will be very depressed it GWB actually finished it - it will blow my mind and I believe it will also be a sign of th apocolypse.

The other day I watched a women drive into a intersection, the light turned yellow/red as she was in the middle and she STOPPED and BACKED UP. What the F***. Please people, learn to drive or you will be killed by the mob of people that think you are an IDIOT.

Oh, and since everyone I know was so worried, my little niece - no longer allergic to dairy. Yea! I can start getting her addicted to Mint Chip ice cream like me! And when she spends summers at Camp Crazy Aunt Gina's we can make ice cream, and I can teach her all sorts of yummy recipies involving cream, butter and cheese. Yummmm.

Ok, time to go write some fundraising letters....lets see if I can get my creativity flowing....

Photo Friday - Violet

Garden Fiorillo May 05, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Lilacs from my mom's garden this spring. Ah, if only pictures could give off scent...my favorite spring smell.

Planning a vacation...

As August is halfway over, I realize I need a vacation. It's been over two years since J and I went on a trip longer than 4 days (and although I love his family, our weekends to his parents just don't count as a vacation). Last summer he had just switched jobs so time was limited. This winter we kept putting it off and with weddings and my mom's surgery we figured the summer would be a bust. But of course, we realized that we haven't made plans for fall and time is growing short if we're going to squeeze some fun in before winter holidays arrive.

So here's the question - where do we go? Saving for the wedding and a house, we're thinking somewhere close that we can drive to. Not against camping for a few days, in fact love the vacations that involve a few days in the woods and a few days in a city. We like wineries and breweries, can't tear me away from a good craft or agricultural fair, and love finding fun little things like the Scottish Festival in Maine. Any suggestions from anyone out there?

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It's a Game...

Jersey and karchamb posted a new game on their blogs - it seememd like fun so here's the rules - leave me a comment with your name, and I will answer the following questions for you.

* tell you what song/movie reminds me of you
* pick a color/flavor of jello to wrestle with you
* say something that only makes sense to you and me
* tell you my first memory of you
* tell you what animal you remind me of
* ask something that I've always wondered

Anyone game?

Eat Local Update:

So, I really thought this was going to be a bit easier, but I've found that eating 100% (or sometimes even just 75%) local is not all that easy.

I've had some highs this week, including the Zucchini & Corn Timbale made with local produce, eggs from Griggstown, and even NJ produced cream. There was also more yummy ravioli with vodka sauce made in Flemington (if I remember, or was it Newark).

But I think my favorite meal so far (besides the Perfect Summer Meal) was Chicken with Lavender, Honey & Citrus. While I haven't been able to find lemons and limes locally, everything else was. Here's a quick summary of the recipe in interested:

Juice of 3 lemons
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup olive oil
1 - 2 tbs (your preference) of fresh lavender, ground in a spice grinder
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all together, pour over chicken and marinade at least 4 hours, periodically flipping as the marinade will not immerse the chicken. Grill (or broil if like me you have no outdoors of your own) for about 20 minutes each side until juices run clear. Serve with corn and salad for yumminess!

Tonight I think I'll head down to the Dutch Farm Market to get some beef, and maybe some pork. Definitly need to restock up on some cheese and breads. And although it's not Jersey, I did check and Lancaster falls in the 100 mile mark.

Photo Friday - Somber

Somber, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

I took this picture on my "girls spa weekend" I took with CP before Carter was born. This was the b&b/organic farm we stayed on. I think it feels pretty somber - and I love this photo.

Perfect Summer Meal

Perfect Summer Meal, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

I belive this is the most perfect summer meal ever. Fresh Jersey corn with a pinch of salt and some butter. And homemade mozzerella, basil and tomatoes from my dad's garden, a bit of red onion with a slight drizzle of olive oil on some nice fresh baked bread. Just doesn't get any b etter than this...

Grist Magazine: Britty Twister

Estrogen exposure blamed for upswing in male chest-reduction surgery

British men are flocking to clinics for surgery to reduce their man mammaries. Here we pause a moment to savor that sentence ... OK, done. U.K. doctors blame increased exposure to female hormones for a reported doubling over one year of the number of operations for gynecomastia, a condition in which men grow bosoms similar in structure and composition to those of women -- as distinct from the mere fat deposits adorning portly TV-sitcom husbands. A society of U.K. plastic surgeons reported that members performed about 53 male chest-reduction surgeries apiece in 2004 compared to 22 in 2003. Likely causes of the estrogen exposure include traces of women's contraceptive pills in the water supply and hormones fed to animals raised for human consumption. Increased female hormones in the environment are also blamed for falling sperm counts in British men, whose ongoing emasculation is raising world schadenfreude to levels not seen since the Thames flooded with raw sewage almost a year ago.


straight to the source: The Sunday Times, Sarah-Kate Templeton, 31 Jul 2005

Eat Local Update...

Ok, so August has begun and I have "finalized" my rules for the Eat Local Challenge. So far the things giving me issues include sugar, flour and cereals/grains, citrus fruits and yougurt. Most of this I can't go a month without so I am planning on doing organic for those (pretty much already do). I will say my first day was pretty bad, had leftover diner omelette for breakfast and lunch involved the remaining Marlin from dinner, but the corn was local. Day two was a bit better and our whole dinner was from Jersey.

We did our first excursion on Saturday to aquire some of our local food. A failed trip to Lucy's Pasta led to a slightly detoured trip to Griggstown Quail Farm where we picked up some quiche, poussin's and local honey. Two Brothers ravioli rounded out some of our purchases at the farm across the street.

I can't say it enough, I had some more of the chicken from Griggstown. It really tastes different than run of the mill supermarket chicken. And I can't even take the credit for this cause we bought a pre-marinated one and all I did was broil it for 25 minutes. I highly reccomend everyone to take a trip to Griggstown and try some. All yummy stuff.

More Food News...

I always knew it was true...

Organic farming produces same corn and soybean yields as conventional farms, but consumes less energy and no pesticides, study finds Susan S. Lang Cornell University, July 13, 2005

Random Thoughts....

Another wedding, another 3 day weekend. Despite the heat, it was a pretty good weekend.

1) “The cousins” really are too much fun. Especially when at weddings we all go to the lobby to take “the cousins” photo and realize that is the only time of the night when the bar is empty.

2) As the final cousins weddings loom on the horizon (well, ok so we got more than a year till mine) I get sad thinking that our dancing days are limited. Perhaps we should start having DJ’s at all the christenings with the babies that will be coming in the next few years?

3) I spent an afternoon at the Cranford pool, where growing up I spent hours swimming, diving, playing spoons, spit and shuffleboard and was depressed to know that they have since took out one of the diving boards and you can no longer dive anywhere from the edge – including at the 7 foot end of the pool. How am I supposed to get into the water then – use a ladder, there’s no fun in that. Jeez, what people do in the name of “safety”.

4) On the plus side of the pool, you no longer need bathing caps. And the put up nice umbrellas.

5) As much as I love my niece, it was very nice to spend time with my parents without her. Much calmer and we had a nice dinner at the Cranford Hotel.

6) Another afternoon of watching Stargate. I’m not sure when it happened, but I think I have officially become a Sci-Fi geek. I blame Jack.

THE MEATRIX

For those who have had an interest in family farms, here's a fun movie.

THE MEATRIX

The Pine Barrens

And a happy belated birthday to Michele. To celebrate her *ahem* years on this planet, friends joined her in a camping trip at Wharton State Forest, down in the Pine Barrens of Jersey.

I also found out that a friend from grammer school is moving back to Jersey, so in honor of her eventual arrival, I am stealing her tradition of a happy list. So here are happy things from the weekend:

Getting to use our big ass tent again
Watching Erin try to get gum off her fingers
Learning the story of Patti's one and only arrest
Napping in a hammock
Getting only a few mosquito bites
Swimming in a tea colored lake
Ca-Caw
Eating food over a campfire, cause it always tastes better than at home
Turning aquantainces into friends, and spending great times with good people.

Eat Local Challenge....

My mouth, my tongue, and my heart remind me what my mind too often forgets.

This quote is from Coming Home to Eat by Gary Paul Nahban. It’s the story of a man, who spends one year trying to eat only foods grown, fished, or gathered within two hundred miles of his home. I came across this book in a little independent bookstore in a small town in New Hampshire a few summers ago. I read it in a week and realized that although I had been a proponent of organics for many years, I had never really thought about my “foodshed” or politics of food.

I was enthralled by the story of finding cactus fruits, and local tortillas. Many exotic, at least to me here in the northeast, foods were described that opened my eyes to the plethora of what world creates. And while I don’t think I’m quite ready to completely sustain on what my two hands can cultivate (especially in a small apartment), the concept of eating locally has stayed with me.

The recently I stumbled across the Locavores website. They are launching an “Eat Local Challenge”. This August, a group of concerned culinary adventurers invite others in an effort to eat only foods grown or harvested within a 100 mile radius of San Francisco for an entire month. While not in San Francisco, other foodies have taken up the challenge, including a few fellow Jerseyans.

So I’m in. I have yet to define my rules as far as what I can’t live without, but can’t get locally, nor do I know details on how I will be held accountable, but I’m a willing and eager participant.

So until I set my own rules, here are a few general guidelines I like to live by when it comes to my food.

If not ORGANIC or LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Family farm. When faced with Kraft or Cabot cheeses, Cabot, a dairy co-op in Vermont, is the better choice. Supporting family farms helps to keep food processing decisions out of the hands of corporate conglomeration.

If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business. Basics like coffee and bread make buying local difficult. Try a local coffee shop or bakery to keep your food dollar close to home.

If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Terroir, which means 'taste of the Earth'. Purchase foods famous for the region they are grown in and support the agriculture that produces your favorite non-local foods such as Brie cheese from Brie, France or parmesan cheese from Parma, Italy.

Waste Not...or Waste Lot

It's hot. We all know that. And humid. And we've had lots of rain in spurts over the past few days. So what I want to know is why the gas station by my house had 3 sprinklers on to water the 15 square foot patch of grass and bushes at the curb. Ever hear of the word "conservation".

Sigh...that made me angry this morning.

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Peanut Butter

I can remember as a child helping my dad in the garden, and for the first time learning about “organic”. He was talking about how he wanted to put a border into the garden and I suggested using wood. “It’s treated with arsenic, and I don’t want that to leach into my tomato plants” he said (or so I paraphrase 20 years later). It intrigued me and ever since then I’ve followed news in the food and organic industry. I consider myself to be mostly up to speed, and often ahead of the mainstream on my knowledge of the “new” things to look out for (like the recent worldwide ban of trans fats). But today my world was shaken just a bit more.

Peanut Butter. The ubiquitous spread that graces the plate of every child. The wonderful creamy spread that goes so well with chocolate. The crunchy spread that is as delicious on crackers as it is with apples. There are days where I get a hankerin’ for PB&J and a glass of orange juice (we can get into that another day, I know it’s a strange combo). And Legends deli introduced me to PB with honey and raisins. So, while I don’t eat great quantities of peanut butter, I have made sure that I buy “natural” brands – no added sugars, no trans fats, and yes I occasionally have “ground my own” at local health food stores.

Today, a friend pointed out that peanuts contain a nasty toxin. So of course, I had to drop everything and search for information.

Peanuts can harbor a carcinogenic mold that contains aflatoxin. This goes for conventional and organic peanuts. In fact, peanut farmers have a disproportionately high rate of cancer. This mold grows on peanuts, pecans, pistachios, grains, soybeans, spices, walnuts and it can even grow on milk in warm humid soils. Aflatoxin is known to cause liver cancer. A recent study found the highest levels of this toxin in health food store ground fresh peanut butters!

What! So you mean to say that all the time I thought I was doing something good, I was putting more toxins in my body. How disappointing. It’s things like this that make me wonder – tomorrow are they going to find out there is a micro-organism in lettuce that makes ones hair fall out. And yes, I know that that is what science does. It proves and disproves things, and what was benign one day can be deadly the next. But it still makes me sad.

I realize I may be blowing this out of proportion. After all Dr. Weil says it’s ok. And as long as I buy my peanut butter from companies in dry climates, there is a lower risk of this mold growing. So Arrowhead Mills PB it is.

Photo Friday - Candid

Jack in the Bushes, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Another submission for the weekly photo "contest". Little Jack hiding in the iris'. He's such a cutie - how could you not give in to him for whatever he wants.

Whose a Tart?

I've been hankering to spend more time in the kitchen lately - specifically to try my hand at baking - and more specifically looking at tarts.

With the holiday weekend, and the requisite bbq happening, I cracked open my cookbooks and began searching for the perfect tart to try my hand at. First was the big "savory/sweet" decision, but knowing peaches are a bit better than tomatos in early July I opted for the sweet. And my fear of dough prompted me to search for easy crusts.

While my original craving was for a custard filling, the Peach Sunflower Tart in my Fresh Tastes from the Garden State cookbook was irrisistible.

Gingersnap crust, almond whipped cream filling with peaches & blackberries topping the whole thing off.

Without any baking it was a cinch to prepare and extremely yummy, making the "deconstructing" almost as quick.

Drawbacks were only when slicing, my crust crumbled so the beauty of tart waned, but otherwise I consider my first foray into tarts a success.

Peach Sunflower Tart Corner, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Photo Friday - Orange

hawk mountain leaves, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

I've been slacking lately and not keeping up with my photo friday entries. Here's to getting back on track.

This was taken last fall on one of our camping trips. I like this picture alot.

Data Hell

I am losing my mind. I consider myself a pretty computer literate person. I am self taught, so I am far from knowing all, but most of the time I can figure it all out - therefore I am the IT person in my office.

I have spent the past two days trying to figure out ONE DAMN THING and I am about to have a breakdown. I don't think I could even explain the base part of the problem involving multiple data sources all providing different numbers for what should be the same thing, but lets just say I get past that and move onto running queries in Access. Well, I keep trying to do an update query (which I need to do otherwise the past 5 hours of work will go to waste) and it tells me I have an invalid argument.

Now, I often have invalid arguments - with Jack, my parents and even friends sometimes, but NEVER in queries. So I looked up in the Help section what the *&$^# that means and it turns out

In Windows Control Panel, the Regional Settings property is set to a region that uses a character other than a period (.) as a decimal separator. The settings for properties in data access pages require that the decimal separator be a period for all languages.

Well my setting is to English and has always been set to English so I don't know what the %^&($ #$@&*& %&%#@(* it's talking about.

I hate computers.

Help me get married Vegas Style

We're getting married. But as much as I am looking forward to all the planning, and taking our time and making it personal, I think I might enjoy a chance to get married by the Food Network in Vegas. So I'm asking for help on the video portion of the application. My creativity seems to run dry whenever I am trying to win things, and especially when cameras are around so all help welcome.

My love hate relationship

I love camping.

I hate mosquitoes!

Happy Father's Day...

An old Italian man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his tomato garden, but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Not for nothing, but don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the BODIES.
Love Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love Vinnie

100 Things to Know About Me

Inspired by Karchamb, who was inspired by True Jersey Girl , I thought I would take a stab at the 100 things to know about me. It's taken a few weeks to get my list, but I think that this is a pretty good summary of me.

1. I am a Sagittarius, but close enough to the cusp of Capricorn that I feel more Capricorn often.
2. In junior high I read all I could on astrological signs
3. I don’t often read my horoscope anymore, but I do check my astroweather and pay attention to moon phases
4. I also am happy when I am in tune with the seasonal changes, but often find that life goes by too quickly and I miss out.
5. I got the nickname Mickey G in High School because I was told I look like Mickey Mouse - I was upset I didn’t look like Minnie.
6. I have an older sister and a very large extended family including cousins on both sides.
7. As a child I was very jealous of my sister, but now we get along much better.
8. My family is mostly Italian, and I love every stereotype that we fill – especially when it comes to food.
9. I consider myself a spiritual person, but don’t like to be quantified.
10. I was raised Catholic, but have some issues with the church now.
11. I am currently engaged, but not getting married for a little while yet.
12. I met my fiancé at work.
13. The first week we were dating, I asked him to work one of my events. He helped glue auction paddles and worked all weekend - I knew he was a keeper when he asked me out again.
14. He comes from a small Irish family, so holidays with the Italian crew still scare him a little.
15. I am a morning person – and my fiancé is not (he likes to remind me often)
16. I am an optimist.
17. I believe that people are inherently good.
18. I love taking bubble baths.
19. I like the outdoors and camping.
20. Although after 3 days I like a shower and a real bathroom.
21. I enjoy hiking as well, and especially sitting at the top of mountains looking down.
22. I am an occasional smoker, even though I know it’s bad for me.
23. I am allergic to caffeine – in “large” quantities - large means anything more than a chocolate bar.
24. I realized this when I was dating my ex – at first I thought I was allergic to his house, then I realized what it was.
25. I loved to read as a child.
26. The only time I got sent to the Principal’s office was because I got caught reading a Sweet Valley High book in math class (in 7th grade).
27. I still like to read, and go through phases – I’m in a food writing one now, just finished a stretch of chick-lit.
28. I was a big Stephen King fan growing up, mostly because my dad was one too.
29. I was an English major in college so I spent a lot of time on Medieval Literature, but read Harlequin romances in the summers.
30. If I could do college all over again, I think I would take more science courses.
31. I would like to go to graduate school – I just can’t make up my mind for what.
32. My favorite books could be Mist of Avalon.
33. As a child I read Charlottes Web more than 100 times – and the movie makes me cry to this day.
34. Some of my current favorite authors are Laura Pedersen, Gregory Maguire, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Alice Hoffman.
35. I still get a kick out of Harlequin romances.
36. I like TV, but have found that most sitcoms can’t hold my attention anymore.
37. Arrested Development is the exception to this rule
38. I’m sad that there is no new Joss Whedon show on the air right now, I miss Buffy, Angel & Firefly.
39. I used to make fun of those who watched Buffy – then I got addicted.
40. I think I’m becoming a sci-fi geek, as Jack got me into Stargate SG-1.
41. I like CSI and think that William Peterson is sexy.
42. Some of my favorite movies include Big Night, Princess Bride, Hudsucker Proxy, and the Back to the Future trilogy.
43. I also love anything with John Cusak and Jeremy Piven
44. I’ve always been drawn to the arts and worked at a theatre for a few years.
45. I spent my youth performing in choirs, musicals and plays.
46. My favorite role was Rizzo in Grease
47. I also directed.
48. I had dreams of being an actor as a child, but decided it wasn’t for me as I got older.
49. If I had to pick a career in theatre now, I would probably want to be a stage manager.
50. I love Eric Clapton – even his cheesy lite fm stuff.
51. I like to have music playing all the time – especially at work, it keeps me motivated – and so I keep my iPod with me at all times.
52. I love to cook – for reasons including it lets me have a creative outlet know that I’m no longer “performing”
53. I grew up spending time in the kitchen with my dad – he was more of the cook than my mom.
54. My mom was the technical queen – she was very handy when we needed phone lines spliced and re-wired
55. A friend from North Carolina told me once “You cook better than my mama” – one of my proudest moments
56. I like to try new recipes, and will read cookbooks like novels just for the fun of it.
57. My favorite chef right now is Alton Brown – I like learning the science.
58. I love cooking for friends, and wish I did it more often
59. I love to cook Italian, but I also like trying new things.
60. I had never left this time zone until just shy of my 30th birthday
61. That was a trip to Italy for work, followed by a few days in San Diego for work.
62. One of my most memorable moments in Italy was buying olive oil from the guy next door to the hotel – I could see his olive grove from my hotel room.
63. When I vacation, I like to get to know one area really well – as opposed to seeing 80 different things in 80 minutes.
64. I’ve been to FL, GA, NC, VA, DC, DE, NY, MA, NH, VT, ME, Montreal & Quebec on vacation.
65. I want to go to Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, TX, Ireland and back to Italy. Oh and England, Scotland and Greece would be cool too.
66. If I could live anywhere it would be New England – Maine, Vermont or Massachusetts.
67. Mostly cause I love winter and snow and Jersey doesn’t get enough.
68. But I would totally miss tomatoes…and my family.
69. Although the western part of NC was amazing – I loved the mountains and the waterfalls.
70. I consider myself a tomato snob – only in summers, only from a garden.
71. Preferably my garden, but living in apartments has made that difficult.
72. I love winter and don’t mind being cold, but I hate being hot.
73. I especially hate when my feet are warm, so I tend to wear sandals long into the fall and wear them early in the spring,
74. I used to love wearing heels, but now I’m old and my feet hurt when I do.
75. I enjoy doing things with my hands – and am not afraid of using power tools (like table saws, get your mind out of the gutter)
76. One of my favorite hobbies is ceramics.
77. I have taken classes for about 4 years on a pottery wheel and love it.
78. I dream of living in a great cabin in the wood, selling my pottery while Jack makes furniture.
79. I would love if this cabin were on a lake.
80. I enjoy swimming and was a competitive swimmer growing up.
81. I also played softball, but wasn’t very good.
82. I stopped swimming when I got into theatre.
83. I have one very special friend whom I have known since I was a few weeks old.
84. She was on the swim team with me.
85. I’ve am an environmentalist but I sometimes I get angry because people have negative stereotypes associated with the word.
86. In some ways I got interested in environmental movements because of food and learning about organic gardening.
87. Now I care about sustaining local farming and do as much of my shopping at farmers markets as I can.
88. I’ve been told that I’m naïve about many things, and I don’t mind.
89. I scold my fiancé for bursting my happy little bubble about politics – where I thought things were fair and politicians looked out for the people.
90. Now I’m trying hard not to become a bitter angry liberal that hates everything.
91. Unfortunately I’m finding that hard to do.
92. I don’t read the paper as much as I want too.
93. I get most of my news from the Daily Show.
94. I do not consider myself a workaholic, and will be happy if I enjoy my job and make my rent.
95. I work with workaholics and I don’t understand them.
96. I have two cats, both adopted, one from a litter of kittens outside our office.
97. I never thought I was a cat person until Moe came into our lives.
98. I hate when quizzes ask for my “favorite” of something, because I find that most of the time there is no all time favorite, but just preferences and often they are changed by mood.
99. Although I do have a favorite ice cream 90% of the time – mint chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles.
100. I am very happy with my life.

Sweets for the sweet...

I never considered myself a shopper - unless it comes to food. Then I research, and surf, and ask questions and do all sorts of things to find the yummiest, tastiest and most interesting things to ingest.

Recently I found another one. Break out your sweet tooth, Dancing Deer Baking Company is in the house.

A few years ago I was reading my Bon Appetit and as in every edition, there was a section on "new" products - or at least ones that are not mainstream. This little baking company out of Boston was listed, and I remember thinking they sounded pretty good. But I forgot about them until a few months ago when I was hunting for favors for our engagement party.

Now I'm a big fan of consumable or compostable party favors. So when I was reviewing one of my favorite bridal websites I was reminded of Dancing Deer. I popped over to the website, and thought Yum, so I decided to order these for our guests.

Not willing to wait the month or so till I could sample the ones for the party, I sent a box of cookies, instead of flowers, to a friend after her son was born. So between those two things, I got to do lots of sampling.

First off, I'm a sucker for oatmeal raisin cookies but my man prefered the Molasses Clove. And the most intersting of the engagement favors - Chocolate Tangerine". Soft and crumbly, with a dark choclate flavor with the hint of zing you would get from the tangerine. Great with milk for a bedtime snack.

I also really liked the lavender shortbread, but alas, they are not sold individually - only with the cookie samplers.

And now, although I have not tried them, Dancing Deer has begun making brownies. And although I love to cook, baking has never been a strong point, so now that it's summer, and I don't want my oven heating our whole house, I think I'll have to get some more for all those days when I'm craving sweet!

Family Fun...

I have a wonderfully large extended family. In my generation, there are ten of us that see each other pretty regularly, and as many know, we are going through the wedding marathons lately – with this summer adding three more to the ranks of wedded bliss. Luckily all the “in-laws” are pretty cool so the weddings are a blast, and subsequent events are always fun.

Saturday was the bachlorette party for one of the above-mentioned cousins. Now although there was potential for a wild and crazy type of party (aka – strippers) we behaved like the proper women we are (ahem) and spent about 10 hours drinking, talking and having a big o’l slumber party.

Our bride-to-be was a great sport – letting us put a tiara, veil and many other accoutrements on her person while we went out in public – my favorite: the button that said “last chance for kisses, I’ll soon be a Mrs.” Of course, being that obvious we drew our fair share of attention, and I want to thank the young men from North Carolina for the bottles of wine they sent to our table.

I really did have a great time…especially watching the P&L wedding video in which certain members of the family went a bit crazy on the dance floor. And we learned that L is not allergic to mole, but mold. So here’s to more good times!

help please...

There are many good causes in this world that someone would want to donate to. Their alma mater, health organizations, women's organizations, political parties, Save the whales etc. But I think if I had only $5 to give, I just may have to give it to this cause.

By the way - Jayce is one of my man's co-workers.

Honest Tea

A few weeks ago while food shopping I was in the mood for something to drink besides my usual water/orange juice beverages. I've never been a big soda drinker, and I don't like lots of bottled juices and such because of the high fructose corn syryp. As we wandered down the supermarked aisle, I came across some bottles of iced tea - I'll admit it was Opus on the label that first grabbed my attention. We grabbed a few tried it when we got home.

Yum.

I know I sound like a commercial, but they really were good. Fresh brewed, very little "sugary sweetness" and for me, caffine quantities listed on the lable so I know if I can drink a whole bottle or just a little bit. And the organic label was an added bonus for me.

I'm also one of those who when I find things I like, I visit websites to see what else there is. I wanted to know what flavors I was missing and where I can find them, since my supermarket has a limited selection.

oh, and to make this even more fun, I emailed the company, and they emailed me back! And they read my blog too - how fun! So, I encourage everyone to try these teas - they are quite the yum yum!

Spring has sprung....

Welcome to another installment in the AADC wildlife sancutary. Today we found out that the big ol' groundhog that lives under our porch had babies. There was a little kiddie groundhog hangin' out in the sunny spot today along with the mommy (which I guess we know now is a girl).

Makes you feel all kinds of warm fuzzies. I'm taking it as a good sign and hopefully as a sign of some new "births" in my life. (And no, I'm not talking about babies - just some upcoming changes).

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Weekend Update...

Since that seemed to be the theme on all my friends blogs, I thought I would add one as well.

I love long weekends, mine was especially long cause I took friday off as well. While I spend that day getting the house back in order after our garage sale, it was nice not to be in the office!

Saturday involved some errands but mostly just spending some time with my guy. Oh, and I baked a massive amount of "lemon ginger cupcakes with lavender icing", another in my quest to try one new recipe a week. They came out very, very yummy! We also went to see Star Wars: Episode III and had dinner at my favorite Thai place with some good friends. My review of the movie - ok. It was entertaining, and kept you interested, but then again I'm not obsessed like some people I know. I'll save my obsessions for other movies.

Sunday was a bbq at the folks, with the family and the second family (Pipchick/Hermans) Kudos to my dad for another great feast! And my "Goat Cheese Toasts with walnuts, rosemary & honey" were a hit too, along with the aforementioned cupcakes. My guy played "Crazy Uncle Jack" all day, and I got to see Carter awake and making faces - check out the new pictures on my website. And the most suprising part of the day - a drop in by an old high school buddy (Yes, the lone stranger, Gasper) led to political discussion until way late in the night.

And Monday - with the weather holding out still, we decided to have a little outdoor time and headed to Stockton, NJ to check out the Prallsville Mill - one of the places we've been wanting to check out for our wedding. Although they were closed, we did peer in a few windows, wander the property, and spend about two hours walking up the canal.

Overall, a great weekend. Now please, please, please keep your fingers crossed that this friday and saturday are the same cause it's REUNION 2005 and I don't want to spend all weekend working in the rain (like the past 4 reunions).

g

The Secret of Nimrods

Monsanto's confidential research finds that GM foods mess up rats

Rats fed with genetically modified (GM) corn exhibited health problems including shrunken kidneys and blood changes that could indicate immune-system damage or tumors. However, no one knows all the details, since the folks who did the research are the same folks selling the corn -- GM behemoth Monsanto -- and they won't release their 1,139-page study. Monsanto claims it "contains confidential business information which could be of commercial use to our competitors," but the brief research summary was alarming enough that U.K. government ministers and scientists are pressing for more information. The study is likely to make the ongoing debate over GM foods in the European Union even more rancorous. It's also likely to be seen by some as vindication of the research done by Arpad Pusztai, who seven years ago found similar results in rats eating GM potatoes, and was subsequently vilified and driven out of the scientific world.

straight to the source: The Independent, Geoffrey Lean, 22 May 2005

Makes you feel real confident in our corporate culture, huh?

g

Pasta Salad - Yes or No

Ok, a friends blog recently discused her astonishment at the statement made in "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bitteman that essentially says pasta salad is a no-no. Well maybe it's my italian heritage, maybe it's my carb-lovin' tummy, but I have to disagree.

I'm not really a big fan of the "ice cold soft spirals with too much vinegar", or the "elbows drowning is some sort of mayanaise" style pasta salads, but like everything else that is generated from a kitchen, quality ingredients, lots of love, and a little experimentation leads to wonderful culinary accomplishments.

So what is a pasta salad? According to dictonary.com: "a salad having any of various pastas as the base". Ok so what is salad?

Middle English salade, from Old French, possibly from Old Provençal salada, from Vulgar Latin *salta, from feminine past participle of *salre-to salt.

Websters describes SALAD as:

1. a. A dish of raw leafy green vegetables, often tossed with pieces of other raw or cooked vegetables, fruit, cheese, or other ingredients and served with a dressing.
1. b. The course of a meal consisting of this dish.
2. A cold dish of chopped vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, eggs, or other food, usually prepared with a dressing, such as mayonnaise.
3. A green vegetable or herb used in salad, especially lettuce.
4. A varied mixture: “The Declaration of Independence was... a salad of illusions” (George Santayana).

How mixing pasta and veggies (or sometimes meats and especially cheese) could be bad, I don't know. Many years ago I was playing around and wound up with a chicken and pasta salad with rosemary, peppers and sundried tomatoes that was out of this world. I've used variations of green goddess dressings and mixed with pasta, cherry tomatoes and a bit of fresh basil to make a wonderful creamy pasta salad. And when one of my culinary gods describes an artichoke pasta salad, I want to start boiling water. So to say that pasta salads are "bad" just doesn't jive for me.

So tangentwomen, if you need some pasta "side dishes" just let me know. I say pasta salads, live on!

A Music Meme....

Tagged by Karchamb
(but I love these anyway):

1) Total volume of music files on my computer:
my whole music collection - almost 18GB - getting way close to filling up my 20GB iPod!

2) Last CD I bought was:
I bought 2 cd's on my last shopping trip (and decided I'm never buying them again cause they are way expensive - I'm all about iTunes from now on). ERic Clapton "Money and Ciggarettes" and the soundtrack to Garden State

3) Song playing right now is:
At this moment, World on Fire by Sarah McLachlan - and I'll probably listen to Sarah most of today - it's a crappy rainy day and she kinda fits the mood.

4) 5 songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me (in no particular order):
Listen To: Oklahoma State of Mind (Kane), Bell Bottom Blues (Eric Clapton), Deborah Conway's Nightmare (Deborah Conway)Mean Alot: The Joker (Steve Miller Band), Gina (Blues Traveler)


5) Which 5 people are you passing this baton to?:
Like Karchamb, my 5 people in cyberspace is slim, so I'm hitting those I know: StaceyLady, BryanD, Matt and I'll tag Smelmooo even though he was tagged by Karchamb (but still hasn't done it).

Music to my Ears...

Snagged this meme over at A True Jersey Girl. You choose one of your favorite bands or musical artists and use their song titles to answer the following questions. And since I love my EC, I had to choose him.

Name of the Band: Eric Clapton

Are you male or female? A Certian Girl

Describe yourself? Kind Hearted Woman

How do some people feel about you? Double Trouble, Hello Old Friend

How do you feel about yourself? Lonely Stranger, I Feel Free

Describe an ex boy friend or girlfriend: Old Love, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad

Describe you current boyfriend/husband or girlfriend/wife: Steady Rollin Man, Beautiful Thing

Describe where you want to be: Further on Up the Road, Parchman Farm

Describe how you live: Running on Faith, Rollin' & Tumblin

Describe how you love: Keep on Growing, Loving You is Sweeter than Ever

Share a few words of wisdom: Everybody Oughta Make a Change, It's in the Way That You Use It

Now you try!

Photo Friday - Green

Balloons, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Not the best picture in the world, but I thought it was very GREEN. This was from the balloon festival last year, and me and my irishman got to stand right next to this balloon as they "blew it up" (I have no idea what the correct term is to get a hot air balloon all full).

Redesign...Part One

So, my lovely little pictures that I post for Photo Friday did not agree with my recent blog template. So I thought I would try a new one that doesn't have little rounded corners that are picky. Lets see how this works......

g

Photo Friday - Space

bubbles, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

So this friday's challenge was a bit tougher. And me being lazy, I didn't go out and take any new pics, so I just went through my collection. These were bubbles on easter from Tia's new bubblemaker. But I think they take up some good SPACE.

Customer Service (or lack thereof)

Gotta do a bit of a work rant today - cause I am dumbfounded by the lack of customer service that I have received by Verizon over this year and am ready to scream.

So, we have a calling center with 20 lines (to do our telefunding). Each August we turn the lines on, each April we turn them off. Every year I've done this without a hitch.

This year it took about 3 emails and 5 calls to get them on. We then had a problem with 1 of the 20 lines having the wrong long distance. 2 weeks to get someone on the phone because the only contact number I had, had a full mailbox. And when I pressed 0 or option 1 the line just rang, and rang, and rang - one day I waited for over 40 minutes before I had to get up from my desk.

Now, mind you this is all through their Enterprise Direct. Their "big business" special customers. And this is the service - thank god I'm not a small business.

So spring comes along, and it's time to turn off the phones. I send an email to the account rep (the one that had the full mailbox in October, but I figure she had to check it by now) and don't hear anything back. About a week later I call, mailbox still full, I try again the next week (because I'm in the middle of major spring events and can't dedicate my life to finding one person) and finally decide it's hopeless. (And by the way, the website is useless cause you need a password, and to get a password you need to talk to your rep who, as stated before, had a FULL MAILBOX). So I call the random customer service number, get someone who I can't barely hear or understand, explain my issue and he tells me I have to talk to the person who's not there. So I ask for her supervisor, I get a number, call that and am told by that person that I need to speak to someone else. I call that person, they are out for the day and my week ends.

So today, I finally get a call back and am given another person to contact. I'm also told that our original rep has been out of the office since SEPTEMBER. Ya think someone could put the little "out of office" message on her email or check her voicemail and change it to say that she's unavailable.

So now, I am ready to spit daggers I'm so frustrated, and am wondering if there is anyway we wouldn't have to use verizon for our call center next year.

By the way, I expressed my disappointment in so many words when I sent my little email to them. But this venting feels oh so much better!

gf

Lavender Pecan Chicken...

As I was cleaning house recently, I realized I have a butt load of cookbooks. I love cookbooks, I actually enjoy reading them like novels...curl up with a good Italian recipe on a rainy sunday and all that. But I realized I haven't been cooking as much as I like so I decided I was going to try one new recipe a week.

This weeks recipe came from The Lavender Cookbook - Lavender Pecan Chicken with Apricot Rhubarb dipping sauce.

Now, I had to make a few adjustments, mostly because the farmers market was out of rhubarb and I forgot a few other things from the recipe, but I improvised on the dipping sauce and it didn't turn out half bad. The chicken came out very good, slight hint of lavender, and warm nuttiness. Not as crispy as I would like, but I think I can fix that for next time.

All in all, I give the recipe an 8, my version a 7. And definitely going to try it again.

g

10 Things to Do This Summer

Inspired by Smelmooo, but taking my own slant I found Ten on Tuesday. So here's this weeks:

1. Use our new tent and sleeping bags on a camping trip
2. Go to Great Adventure
3. Have a garage sale and get rid of the stuff that I have moved from apartment to apartment and never used, like the paper making kit.
4. Visit Jack's folks and spend time with the puppies
5. Attempt a new recipe every week
6. Get Jack to finish our dining room table
7. Plant my herb garden & tomato plants
8. Have at least 1 dinner party
9. Do a Finger Lakes wine tour
10. Spend at least one day going out specifically on photo shoots.

Photo Friday - Action

Raven Loves Blizzards, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

During the January trip to Massachusetes, 38 inches of snow fell. Raven was thrilled, he just loves getting a chance to romp through the white stuff.

And hey, yeah me acutally posting my photo friday on friday!

g

A few new things....

After viewing another blog I've been inspired to add a few things. You'll see in the sidebar my "now playing" and "now listining" lists. Of course my now listening is a little tough, since with my ipod I listen to lots of stuff at once, but my new purchases tend to float to the top.

Also, I added two links under my Favorite Links. Letterboxing is a hobby i'm thinking of getting into. And Serenity - well anything by Joss Whedon deserves star treatment, but as a Firefly fan I'm very excited about this movie. Too bad I have to wait till september.

Also updated a few pictures of the little ones in my life - furry and otherwise.

Enjoy!

Photo Friday - Soft

Tia
Originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Another Friday has come and gone!

This lovely picture of my niece was taken at Thanksgiving. Cara thinks she looks sad, but I kinda like it.

Happy Earth Day

Yes, April 22nd is Earth Day, so the nutty crunchy tree-hugger in me says go enjoy some earth, before it's all gone!

Ten ways to turn that global frown upside down
By David Roberts
20 Apr 2005
Scientists estimate that we've already raised global temperatures by one degree Fahrenheit with our hapless spewing of greenhouse gases, and another one or two degrees are pretty much inevitable no matter what we do. Unstable weather, droughts, floods, and rising oceans are the likely result. We're in the midst of the sixth great extinction, with perhaps half of extant species thought to be on their way out. Fresh water is disappearing around the globe and deserts are expanding. The world's two most populous countries, China and India, are industrializing at warp speed. Toxic pollutants have contaminated even the most remote and undeveloped regions of the planet.

You can change the world -- one organic Cheeze Puff at a time.This Earth Day, here's what you can do to turn it all around!

10.Next time you're shopping for Cheeze Puffs to eat while you watch Desperate Housewives, choose organic.

9.Inflate your car tires to their proper pressure. If you and the other 136,000,000 or so automobile owners in the U.S. do so, we won't need Arctic Refuge oil for almost two more years!

8.Sign an internet petition. Any of them will do. After all, change is built one form letter at a time.

7.When you visit a public bathroom and wash your hands, dry them with the blow dryer instead of paper towels. Of course, who knows who's touched that thing, so maybe just grab one paper towel to keep between your hand and the button. And another to open the bathroom door (ew!).

6.On Earth Day, ride your bike to work. See you out there next year!

5.When you buy your next six-pack of Diet Coke, don't forget to snip the little plastic rings. Think of the baby rats at the landfill.

4.Pick your favorite endangered species and write a short poem about it. Put it up on the bulletin board of your local co-op. Each one teach one!

3.Distinguish real environmentalists from fakers. In the office, at church, out with friends, or on Grist's blog, if you hear opinions that don't adhere to eco-gospel, stop, drop, and cajole. Remember, being green means you already know the truth!

2.Skip a shower. And encourage a friend to recycle. But not in that order.

1.Spread the word. Put an "Every Day Is Earth Day" bumper sticker on your car and drive around town!

Photo Friday - Rest

jack and moe mirror
Originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Another entry in Photo Friday.

And who says that pets and their owners don't look alike....

Gettin' the Heck out of Dodge...

As the busi-ness of the spring season continues, I am taking my one night this week at home to pack for my impending trip to Florida. It's my grandmother's 85th birthday so the whole family is traveling. Yup, mom, dad, Cara, Andre & little Tia will spend the weekend with the Pizza-Carluccio clan in sunny Florida.

It should be a good trip, if a quick one. As happy as I am to be going and seeing my mom's side of the family (which we don't get to do very often) I'm even more looking forward to having Monday off. Life & work have been so crazy, I'm hoping to spend the whole day doing NOTHING.

yea - nothing!

g

Interesting News Bits

Spring is definitly here, along with a ba-zillion events (work, friends, family - got it all) so my life has been kinda crazy. Therefore my blogging has been lapsing more than I want it to.

So in lieu of any intersting thoughts that I have, here are a few news articles that have made me go hmmmmmm lately - All courtesy of Grist Magazine.

You Won't Find a Lower-Priced Greenwash -- We Guarantee!
Platform Shoos
The Ventilator

Is there hope that we won't be living in a enviromentally catastrophic world in 20 years?