Some Thoughts on The Royal Wedding

I confess that I did not wake up at 5:00 a.m. to watch the Royal Wedding.  But I did tape it and am watching it as we speak.  Right out of the starting gate, I am struck with how much times have changed since the days of Princess Di.  One of the commentators, a Mr. David Starkey, vehemently defended Kate Middleton's "social status" and pointed out that she is college educated (which seems in and of itself to place her in high social standing).  In fact, she is the first woman to enter the Royal family with a college degree.  This was followed by "praise" for the fact that the couple has been living together for some time now.  Yup, the times they are a changing. 

Fast-forward to the wedding.  Prince William looked dashing in his red uniform, and Kate Middleton was beautiful in her "16th Century"-style gown.  But I must say that I really loved the women's hats.  We just don't do hats here like the British do.  In fact, the hats out-shone the dresses.  2 young women arrived, one of whom wore a hat that I just could not figure out.  It looked like a large pink branding iron fashioned into a plastic ribbon.  But I think I get it.  Unlike our Academy Awards' red carpet, where everyone talks about whose gown was the most creative or unique,  in England, women express their individuality with their hats.  I wonder if (hope?) this fashion trend will find its way to our shores. 

I did some research and found out what was served at the 650-person Royal reception at Buckingham Palace.  There was champagne, wedding cake and "2-bite appetizers" (or canapes), consisting of mini Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and horseradish cream, bubble-and-squeak confit with lamb shoulder, smoked salmon, herbed crepes, and cornish pasties.  Later an evening meal was served to 300 guests that included crab followed by lamb.  Salut and congratulations to the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

Until next time, happy and healthy eating!! 




 

It's Show Time!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat opened at my son's high school tonight.  What a terrific show!   I have come to expect great performances from these extremely talented students and tonight did not disappoint.  "Joseph"  is one of the best times you will have at the theater.  The songs are fun, catchy and represent several genres, from Western, Flower Power 60's Rock, and Elvis Presley, to Jamaican Reggae.   It is based on the story of Joseph from the 39th Chapter of the Book of Genesis, and the young man who played the title role was spectacular.  I always knew he could act - in both comedic and serious roles - but I never knew he could sing!   The dance numbers were choreographed by 2 of the performers and were of Broadway calibre.  There was no shortage of splits, lifts, somersaults, and pirouettes.  I was stunned by the all-around talent in this delightful production.  The photo on the left is the only one allowed this evening.  I call it the "Wall of Stars".  For those of you who know me, see if you can spot my son, who played the role of the Butler and did a lovely job, if I say so myself.  I don't know what your plans are this coming weekend, but I know where I will be - there are 3 performances left!
Until next time, God bless!  And if you are able to, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

Following A Monastery Diet

If you watched the "60 Minutes" segment on Mount Athos, you will have noticed that the monks there ate only 2 meals a day, with each of them lasting 10 minutes.  You will have also noticed a lot of vegetables on their plates.  In fact, although the monks do occasionally eat freshly caught fish, they eat no meat, and not too much dairy.  They eat mainly a vegan diet, minus the tofu, seitan, and tempeh that we here on the mainland incorporate into our attempts at a plant-based diet.  They eat what they grow on their island, which appears to be various greens, squash, tomatoes, olives, lentils, nuts and fruit (more than likely peaches, figs, pomegranates, and apples).  They often eat bread and tea for breakfast, have an occasional pasta, and a glass or so of red wine.

10-minute meals are fine if there is no table talk.  On Mount Athos, one monk reads from the sacred books while all the others are silent.  As far as the 2 meals a day, I am not particularly opposed to the idea, but believe that our children and those who work 9 to 5 jobs need to eat more often than that.  

What does such a diet do for a person health-wise?  For the monks on Mount Athos, a lot!  They apparently do not suffer from heart disease, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, and the only cancer recorded there is the rare case of prostate cancer.   Their diet, however, is not the only reason for their good health.  The monks work all day between church services, i.e. they lead a very active life.  There are no T.V.'s on Mount Athos, thus no couch potatoes.  The monks also pray 24/7 and, therefore, do not experience the stress we do with all of our deadlines, traffic jams, and social obligations.  If you want to really reap the benefits of a Mount Athos diet, besides giving up meat, butter, and dairy foods (except I am willing to bet freshly made yogurt and goat cheese), you must also throw out your television sets, do manual labor or exercise regularly, and shuck all social responsibilities (except, of course, local church-related ones).  In other words, you would have to pretty much live like a monk.   I am not saying that there are no health benefits to their diet alone.  There certainly are.  But it would help if we could also strive to remove the daily stress from our lives, spend time in prayer or meditation, and keep physically active.   

The photo (above) is not from Mount Athos, but from the dining hall of the Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery in New York.  The nuns there also do not eat meat, but because they raise goats and chickens, they do eat goat cheese and yogurt and drink goat's milk (on non-fasting days), as well as incorporating an occasional egg into their diet.   As I said in my last post, life there also leaves even one who is merely passing through with a peace that passes understanding.  Shucking off the stress of modern life does one good.   And the all natural, home-grown, vegetarian diet doesn't hurt either. 

Well, I hope you are all having a blessed Bright Week.  Until next time, happy and healthy eating!

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Monastic Life in America?

Last night the show "60 Minutes" aired a beautiful special about the Orthodox monks who live on Mount Athos in Greece.  It followed them through their daily cycle of worship services, work, meals, and prayer.  Their life is a peaceful and holy life, with about 8 hours of each day spent worshiping in various church services.  If you did not see this episode of "60 Minutes", I highly recommend it.  It can be found (in 2 parts) online.  If you did see it, you may have been struck by the fact that women are not allowed on Mount Athos.  They have never been.  The good news is that we women do have opportunities to be a part of such "doorways to heaven" - even here in these United States. 

Situated in upstate New York, Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery houses about a half dozen humble, wise, and hard-working women with whom I had the priviledge of spending a few days last September.  Like the monks on Mount Athos, these nuns are striving to be self-sufficient.  They have gardens and raise goats for their milk, from which they make delicious cheeses and other dairy products.  They have plans to repair an on-site mill so they can even make their own flour.  Also like the monks on Mount Athos, they awake early each morning to attend the first of several church services throughout the day.  Between services, no hand is idle.  There is plenty of work to be done, from tending the goats, to caring for the gardens, to cooking the meals for the nuns and others who live or visit there.  For visitors, like myself, there is a charming little guest house just down the hill from the Monastery grounds that surrounds a lake.  And, even though the lake house  is a peaceful haven unto itself,  I have to say that I truly enjoyed waking in the morning to become a participant in the Monastic life.  I mainly helped the nuns in the kitchen and found that I eagerly awaited the bells that signaled the start of one of the church services that broke up the continuum of the workday.  I found myself instinctively drawn to prayer, and constantly felt that sense of peace that passes all understanding.  The monks on Mount Athos described their world as a doorway to heaven.  I found this humble Monastery to lack nothing in that regard. 

There are many other Orthodox Monasteries in this country - some housing monks, some nuns.  And I am convinced they are all special places of serenity and worship.  The only other one at which I have spent quality time was St. Gregory Palamas in Ohio and it, too, was a little slice of heaven on earth.  Like the nuns at Holy Myrrhbearers, the monks there were wise in a way that pulls you up short - with a real grip on what really matters here on earth.  Orthodoxy has been called "the best-kept secret" as far as Christian denominations are concerned.  If that is true, then our Monasteries are the gems at the heart of our Faith.

Some of the goats at Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery 

View from the guest house at Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery

Both times I went to Monasteries for extended visits it was because I felt "called" to go.   And both visits left an indelible impression on me.  I can still close my eyes and feel the peace and the holiness that these bits of heaven on earth emit.  I can not visit Mount Athos, but I don't have to go far to get a glimpse of the holiness contained in such a place.  And, for that, I am truly grateful.  Until next time, God bless you all!



VERY Impressed With South Carolina Cuisine

Yes, that's a whole fish (minus the head) on my plate in the photo on the left.  Crispy Flounder is the #1 best-selling item on the menu at Hyman's Seafood restaurant in downtown Charleston.  And I can tell you why!  I have never, ever enjoyed fish as much as this 16-20 ounce whole, bone-in flounder.  It is "scored" to make it easy to eat (that's what all those little squares are for) and then is lightly pan-fried.  It is then served with a delightful chutney for dipping the fish, coleslaw, hushpuppies (the best I've had) and a choice of sides (I chose a baked sweet potato).  Hyman's is apparently "the place" to eat when you visit Charleston.  Its other "signature" dish is called Carolina Delight.  It consists of your choice of seafood (including crab cakes) served on top of grit cakes and smothered with a creamy, rich, garlic Alfredo sauce.  Neither my husband nor I ordered it, but it looked amazing!  Hyman's has just about every type of seafood dish you can imagine on its menu and a bevy of appetizers and desserts, all of which made us drool as we saw them being carried from table to table.  It doesn't matter what time you go there - there will always be a small crowd waiting outside of this Charleston favorite.  And it is well worth the wait.  (We went there at around 2:00 and only waited 10-15 minutes - not bad!)

The other restaurant that really stood out for us was just outside of Charleston and is called Hominy Grill.  One of their signature dishes is Shrimp sauteed with scallions, mushrooms, and bacon, and served over cheese grits.  My husband ordered it and thought it was great!  I had a platter consisting of 3 vegetable sides with corn bread, which was one of the moistest and tastiest I have had.  For an appetizer,we had Fried Green Tomatoes dipped in a ranch-type dressing.  Very nice.... We had no room for dessert, but were told their Buttermilk Pie is to die for.

Something unique about Carolina cuisine is that, at both of these restaurants, instead of placing a basket of bread on the table for you to eat while you wait for your meal to arrive, you are served a bowl of boiled peanuts.  

Charleston is arguably one of the most lovely cities in the South.  With its old mansions, perfectly manicured gardens, and oceanside location,  it is a throw-back to days long ago forgotten.  Horse-drawn carriages ferry people from one end of Meeting Street (where all the "action" is) to the other.   A Daughters of the Confederacy Museum containing baptismal gowns of babies who later grew up to serve in the Confederate army, and other such endearing artifacts, is smack-dab in the center of town, juxtaposed by banks and restaurants.  If you should find yourself anywhere near this charming city, it is well worth the visit!

As today draws to a close, I would like to wish you all a very happy Easter.  Christ is risen and death has been conquered.  Praise our risen Lord!   Until next time, may God bless you all.

Wanted: Comments on Blog

I realize that there are a lot of you who are still trying to post comments to my Blog and are not able to, so I had my husband try to see what happens when he follows the directions I gave you all back in March.  He got some prompts that were a bit different than the ones I get, so, if you have been trying to post a comment and can't,  maybe this will help you:

1.)  If you don't see a comment box below the post, click on where it says "0 comments" or "1 comment", or whatever the number may be.  This will take you to the comment box. 

2.)  When you see a comment box, type your comment in the box.

3.)  At the bottom of the box, where you see "Comment as",  click on Select Profile.

4.)  Highlight and click on Name/URL

5. )  You can type in your name or be anonymous if you choose

6.)   Ignore the URL section and click on Continue 

7.)  Then click on Post Comment and it will ask you to type what you see in a box on the screen.  This will prevent automated spam to be posted.  Then push Post Comment and you're done.

Sorry this is so complicated!   But I hope it helps, and I hope to hear from you.   God bless!!
 

Nothing Can Be Finer

Southern hospitality, Southern cooking, old mansions, and beautiful gardens.  Add to it 4 days of baseball and you have the ingredients for the perfect vacation.  We just got back from spending 5 days in Charleston, South Carolina, where my son's high school baseball team went for their Spring break tournament.  The boys did well, going undefeated until they faced a tough Carolina team in the semi-finals last night.  And South Carolina is beautiful, the people gracious, the food delicious, but I have to admit that it is great to be home.

Besides the no less than 50 insect bites covering my arms and legs (it was hot and humid there), driving past exits 72 and 73 off of I-95 in North Carolina was heartbreaking.   We wondered why we were stuck in 2 and 1/2 hours of traffic on a Sunday afternoon until it was our car's turn to pass the debris field left behind by the tornado that had swept through there the day before.  What had once been a swimming pool store lay in pieces in a large open field, along with what we could only imagine had once been either small homes or a trailor park.  In some places, people walked among the debris searching for whatever remnants of their past lives the tornado may have left behind.  Later, the evening news showed footage of the worse of the 62 tornadoes that had touched down in the area the day before.  It was a strange way to enter Holy Week, as well as to start Spring Break.  But it served to put things in perspective.

Carolina is nice, but nothing is finer than being safe at home as we approach the celebration of our Lord's Resurrection.  I hope you have all have had a restful and peaceful week.  Until next time, God bless you all!