Living and Cooking Solo

Americans beware.  A previously unknown threat, which the Transportation Security Administration is determined to stop, now invades the skies of this great country.  The danger involves the common, everyday blender found in many kitchens across the nation.  Well, not the entire blender, just the threatening terrorist blade found inside the blender. This blender-blade crisis surfaced when my granddaughter Shannon boarded an airline flight in Dallas, Texas, headed for Denver, Colorado where I retrieved her from Denver International Airport a week before Christmas. Shannon arrived with a perturbed look on her lovely face.  “I have a funny story to tell you, Grandma,” she said, as we proceeded to the baggage department. It seems Shannon purchased a blender for her younger sister as a Christmas gift and opted to carry it on the plane rather than add to the weight of her already heavy, large suitcase, which the airline charged her $20 to cart. At the time she check...

My Aunt Roberta never met a bird she did not like.  She filled bird feeders outside her kitchen window and watched as Sparrows, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Doves and Finches flew in to eat.  She also kept birds in the house.  She once set up two love birds in a small home and watch hopefully for them to engage in what their name implies, allowing their tiny eggs to lay in the nest waiting for them to hatch.  Unfortunately no little ones emerged since neither bird seemed inclined to sit on the eggs in the nest. When my mother passed away, I took her orphaned Parakeet Peter to live with Roberta and he/she (one never knows with a bird) chirped happily in front of a large picture window until Roberta joined my mother in the hear-after and Peter went to live with my daughter, Teresa.  We won’t mention the cat that ultimately sent Peter’s little bird spirit to join mom and Roberta. While Roberta’s inside birds bring smiles, my most cherished memories surround the fowl t...

So many ways to cook salmon; so little time.  Not really.  Salmon is a quick fix for busy schedules.  Depending on how you favor your salmon.  Some prefer rare.  Others, like myself, want it flakey and moist but done (I leave eating raw or rare fish to my California sushi-loving relatives.).  Cooking time for a 4- to 6-ounce salmon filet is 10 minutes for rare, 15 minutes for medium and 20-25 minutes for well done, which is my preference. In addition to quick and easy, salmon also responds well to today’s push for healthy eating.  Attempting to respond to the advice to add more fish to my diet, salmon has become one of my favorite health-conscience alternatives to meat.  Not, however, the dry salmon patties my mother used to mix from canned salmon.  There are many tantalizing ways to prepare fresh salmon, which is readily found, single-wrapped for the single cook, in your grocer’s freezer. You can also purchase unfrozen fresh salmon from ...