I love looking at Nature’s beauty and drama…. sometimes delicate and serene… sometimes awesome and overwhelming. But always so much bigger than we are. And fascinating! So, today we salute nature through photography and those who dedicate their lives to capturing the glory on film.
We likely know the work of some of the “greats.” Think of amazing landscape photographers like Max Riva from the Netherlands or America’s Ted Gore… National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, adventure photographer Jimmy Chin, the world-famous Marina Cano, and the utterly amazing landscape photographer Marc Adamus. I love it all! When I capture a scene or a moment, I do so merely with my cell phone, although I have dreamt of an “eyebrow camera” since childhood, so I could instantly snap any scene I see. We need not be famous, nor professional. We simply need to enjoy. The video hails from our ranch in North Carolina, where the deer are plentiful. (And I never tire of photographing them.) So, if you’ve taken a nature photo lately that you’d be willing to share, go ahead and do so. Sharing the beauty is a great way to salute Nature Photography Day.
Yum! If a super strawberry dessert deserves its own day, a strawberry shortcake wins my vote. Always a crowd-pleaser on a summery day, slice up those fresh berries (and mash more than half of them to up the juiciness). I add no sugar but sprinkling the slices with sugar will most definitely bring out the juice. Pile your mashed berries along with some slices between the layers of cake and top with more slices. Freshly whipped cream can (and should) be in between layers as well as on top. I mean, why not!?! Oh, you like vanilla ice cream? Sure, add that also, if you like. Make a true shortcake (like a large, cakepan-sized biscuit) or split regular-sized biscuits or angel cake or pound cake or whatever you prefer. Strawberries are a scrumptious superfood, so indulge away! And this is Flag Day, so add some blueberries, if you’d like, and give your shortcake the ol’ red, white, and blue treatment!
Any way you make ‘em, I just know these are melt in your mouth yummy. Mom rocked these… straight out of the original Betty Crocker Cookbook. I’ll share a couple of my old recipes here. First, my 1970 recipe card. Oh, and when the word is “shortening,” I assure you that this means Crisco. Not the way I cook today, but it sure made great cookies.
‘Tis the season to enjoy fresh rhubarb. If you are a fan, that is. And I am indeed a fan… from raw straight out of the garden to cooked down into a sauce. Strawberries prove to be the perfect companion as they impart a melt-in-your-mouth sweetness to the crazy sour tartness of rhubarb. In a pie, this combo is one of hubby’s favorites. He wanted one for Christmas, but I’d run out of frozen rhubarb. Now fresh rhubarb flourishes, so I could bring on the pie. Enjoy it warm out of the oven with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for a lusciously decadent treat.
Not that we need an “official” holiday to indulge, but any excuse to visit an old-fashioned ice cream parlor is a good excuse! Or simply load up a bowl at home… enjoy au natural or loaded with your favorite toppings from nuts and hot fudge sauce to berries and whipped cream. Oh, and if Happy Hour is more your style, let’s make a float! For Family Friendly, simply omit the alcohol.
Starting the first Sunday in June each year is Pet Appreciation Week. The American Veterinary Medical Association created PAW in 1981 to create awareness of the importance of pets in our lives and to appreciate them for everything they do to enrich our lives. They definitely keep us busier, healthier, and happier! So, this week we can show our appreciation for those wagging tails, jingling collars, and gleeful meows but giving them some extra cuddle and playtime, a pet massage, and an extra treat. This is also a good time to choose other activities that focus on them, watching their favorite TV show with them or playing their favorite music, or scheduling their annual health check-up.
Hubby goes in for his 2nd 6-month PT scan next month after enduring the grotesquely challenging esophageal cancer treatment, which included lengthy chemo and the maximum radiation dosing a human body can endure. We remain confident his tests will still show his body to be free of cancer. Why are we confident? Because it’s the best choice.
Feline fans know that the love of a cat is amazingly impressive. They play, they hunt, they follow, they croon, they preen, they purrrrrrr, they nap, they bring us gifts they have worked to collect, and they adore their humans. The loving “head butt” of a cat says it all. A cat will knowingly and ceaselessly woo someone who is not a fan of cats. And when a cat looks you in the eye, we can assure them that we understand by looking straight back and very slowly blinking our eyelids. While we show them daily that we love them, too, June 4th is a special day to give them an extra hug… or 9. That’s purrrfect, too!
A few years ago, I learned to produce my first audiobook and wondered why I had not done this 20 years earlier. They are fun to make, and I have recorded them for several types of books and various authors. They are available on sites like 
Kind words cost us nothing, but they just could mean the world to someone else. With likable folks, it’s easy to find positive things to say. That becomes a bit more challenging with any miserable person in our midst. Typically, crabby folks do not even realize that they are observed as cranky and miserable with their skepticism, criticism, and constant ire. It can sometimes seem daunting to see something worthy of appreciation in them. But we can do it! There is always something sweet, even when deeply hidden.
Let’s end the month with a bit of levity, with a nod of apology to all my friends who have served in law enforcement. This story so fondly reminds me of my dear mother-in-law, I simply had to share it.
Tears fill my eyes each and every time I hear the song, “God Bless the U.S.A.”
“We need to stop being so hyper-focused on gender, race, age, and sexual stereotyping. Live and let live for crying out loud. From my perspective, we’ve gone so overboard with attempts to not insult someone or stereotype something about them that divisiveness is now the rule… far too often.”
Pick a burger, any burger… fresh or frozen. Today is the day to dig in! Choose your favorite, be it a basic burger or the cheesiest possible. Perhaps you like some of the nation’s regional flavor twists or a simple BBQ-style. Others must decide to lean toward spicy or mild, beef or a meat combination, or a preferred veggie burger. For me, I often opt for a stuffed or even double-stuffed variety. That said, here’s my own rendition from 2009. Still worthy today.
Very little rivals the nutritious scrumptiousness of a freshly picked strawberry! Raw or cooked, they are simply yummy! By request, I just made a strawberry-rhubarb pie for hubby… a favorite of his. (He actually wanted it for Christmas, but I was unable to get rhubarb till now.) Another favorite of ours was a dessert offering at a former restaurant in Manchester, NH. Locals will likely remember Spatt’s on the Massabesic Traffic Circle. We’d go there for their fabulous prime rib and king crab legs, but if we had room, the “Strawberry Blossoms” were a must for dessert! (No, not the flowers.) Naturally, (back in 2008) I had to create my own recipe in tribute. Enjoy!
“Having a vision for your life allows you to live out of hope, rather than out of your fears.”
Okay! It’s Friday… Date Night! For us that has often meant a trip to Home Depot, where we find ourselves so often, the staff calls us by our first names. We can do better for a Date Night…. For example, even when we must go to Home Depot, we can plan a little out-do-dinner stop afterward… or even just grab an ice cream cone.
“Before you can be creative, you must be courageous. Creativity is the destination, but courage is the journey.”
“Whenever a fellow tells me he is bipartisan, I know he’s going to vote against me.”
This is a day to celebrate brunch’s favorite adult beverage… a simple drink made from equal parts of champagne and orange juice. While variations abound, it was named “Mimosa” as the color closely resembles the flowers of the plant bearing the same name. I liked a Mimosa… UNTIL I tasted Italy’s counterpart.
The Bellini was created in 1948 by Giuseppe Cipriani at the famous 1930s haunt known as Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy. He named the drink for Venice’s Renaissance artist, Giovanni Bellini. The cocktail’s recipe is a simple combination of 2-parts Prosecco Spumante and 1-part white peach puree. (“Back in the day” one full-time employee’s sole task was pureeing the white peaches!) Plus, they add one SECRET ingredient: a touch of raspberry puree (sans seeds). This imparts a luscious rosy glow to the cocktail AND balances out what can be varying degrees of sweetness in the peaches. (In a pinch, my Super Simple substitute for raspberry puree is a tablespoon of raspberry sorbet.) The Bellini at Harry’s Bar became a favorite cocktail of many celebrities, including American novelist Ernest Hemingway.
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.”
Okayyyyyyy! Go for the oxymoron and enjoy some crispy, cold jumbo shrimp cocktail with a zesty horseradish dipping sauce. Or simply grill some beauties in garlic butter and sprinkle with some favorite herbs. For extreme decadence, bake some colossal shrimp with lobster-crab stuffing.
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”
