Empty Nester Cooking Club

 Peaches

Elaine suggested we start a book club. But, I'd done that before, and was interested in doing something different.  "How about a cooking club?" 

Elaine was the host for the first session....and she chose peaches as the theme. 

Kim made an arugula salads with burrata, sliced peaches and a frolic of pistachios. The tasty vinaigrette was green from fresh basil. Elaine grilled marinated peach chicken & peaches cut in half out side in the rain on her deck. I brought a bowl full of chopped peaches coated in sugar & a bit of flour with freshly grated nutmeg...allowing the juices make a yummy sauce...baked it for 30minutes...then topped with an oatmeal/ brown sugar streusel and baked for another 15 minutes. The delicious peach crisp served with vanilla bean ice cream. 

I brought a Languedoc Viognier ...with hints of tiny peaches. :) 

The Iconic Recipes of Bonnie Bonjean

Blueberry Buckel

Buckwheat Pancakes

Cinnamon Twists

Gingerbread House

Spanish Rice

Lemon Chicken

Pesto & Spaghetti with shrimp

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fig & Oatmeal Bars

Apricot Bars

Molasses Cookies

Butter Cake

Devil's Food Cake

Blueberry Pie

Strawberry Pie

Lamb Curry

Buckeye Balls

Linzer Torte 

Walking On Sunshine

 

I pull the shades to the morning sky. The sun has not yet peaked from behind the Alps. Mountains like a fortress encasing this little French ski town. I brush my teeth, wash my face.  My clothes laid out the night before. Ski socks, long-underwear, turtleneck, ski pants and jacket all decided. I grab my boots, skis and poles and head to the elevator, down to the main floor.  A man brings out fresh rolls, croissants, fruit and arranges them on the counter in breakfast room. The coffee is strong, bitter, delicious, awakening me, warming me. I sit at a table by the window overlooking the Arve river below. The aquamarine waters from the glacial torrent rush by. Glaciers melting above town have supplied this river and its beautiful hue. I am so happy to be back here, ready to ski the Vallee Blanche. I eat my toast with jam and sliced bananas…comforting fuel for a rigorous day with my guide. Soon I’ll be wearing a harness and crampons to hike with my equipment down the face of the mountain covered in loose snow, exposed…and then ski untracked powder for miles. I have come here to test myself, to leave all my worries behind, for a day.  Just to be me, on a mountain with no other cares. Maybe I’ll ride through town after on the horse drawn sleigh driven by the old man with his furry horse at full gallop singing Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves.

Fall

 Nothing Gold Can Stay 

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

~Robert Frost

Apfel

 

Don't still under the apple tree with anyone else but me...

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and being alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You have to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes too near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could. ~ Louise Erdrich

Fall

See those threes turning gold in the hills..

LOVE

I used to send this flower to you on your birthday...and on Mother's Day. 

Miss you, Mom. 

Banana Bread Perfection

 

I perfected my banana bread recipe.  I’m pretty psyched about it. It’s a recipe I ad-libbed from the banana bread I had last summer in Maine. A gorgeous banana bread topped with a unique poppy seed streusel that made my heart sing. Well, kind of…it was of course (like most bakery banana breads) made with too much oil and/or butter…too rich.  But, the components were there…they just needed to be modified. And so I modified…and now, I’ve got it.  And I love it. It has just the right amount of whole grains, just enough to add a nutty depth…but not to weighed down with full whole wheat flour.  It’s a perfect mix of white whole wheat flour, whole grain oats and all purpose flour…keeping it light with a sense of heartiness. And there is very little added oil…just enough to make sure all the ingredients combine, integrate and, most importantly, fully cook.  Applesauce is my secret weapon. It keeps the bread moist and happy without adding extra fat from oil. Some chia seeds are tossed in for a playful pop on the palate…and then the streusel. Yummmmm…. Brown sugar, butter…yes melted butter…real butter for flavor and decadence… just a tablespoon or two combined with cinnamon, nutmeg, oats and a little flour…and a huge dose of crunchy umami poppy seeds.  Spread all over the top for the best banana bread ever. Baked for 55 minutes…to golden brown perfection. It's your lucky morning...you don’t have to wait in that crazy line that inevitably forms at the super popular bakery/coffee shop with its hipster/instagram following. Not sure why they don't don’t open until 8am, because by then the line is down the street and everyone is already hangry. And, they might even give you the heal...And still charge you $4 for the slice. My recipe saves you so much stress. Namaste. 

Why do you suffer?

Remind me next time @ the unfair amount of (rocky!!) climbing to be had before you get to the long sweeping super fun downhill. Because it may or may not be worth it for the drug that keeps you coming back for more.

Dear Old Friend

 

It breaks my heart to see a dear old friend

Go down that worn place again

Do you know the sounds of a closing door?

Have you heard that sound somewhere before?

Do you wonder if she knows you anymore?

I wrapped your love around me like a chain

But I never was afraid that it would die

You can dance in a hurricane

But only if you're standing in the eye

Where did you learn to walk?

Where did you learn to run?

Away from everything you love

And did you think the bottle 

Would ease your pain?

Did you think that love's a foolish game?

Did you fine someone else to take the blame?

I am a sturdy soul 

And there ain't no shame

In lying down in the bed you made

Can you fight the urge to run for another day?

You might make it further if you learn to stay

Sweet smell of fall

 

Blue Lakes

 

Change

Change, like the wind

Like the water, like skin

Change, like the sky

Like the leaves, like a butterfly

Would you live forever, never die

While everyone around passes?

Would you smile forever, never cry

While everything you know passes

Death, like a door

To a place we've never been before

Death, like space

The deep sea, a suitcase

Would you stare forever at the sun

Never watch the moon rising?

Would you walk forever in the light

To never learn the secret of the quiet night?

Still, like a stone

Like a hill, like home

Still, what I find

Is you are always on my mind

Could I feel happy for you

When I hear you talk with her the way we used to?

Could I set everything free

When I watch you holding her like you once held me?

Change, like the sky

Like the leaves, like a butterfly

Death, like a door

To a place we've never been before

Would you live forever, never die

While everything around you passes

Would you smile forever never cry?

Mom

 

My Mom, Mary Linda Bonjean Dowling passed away yesterday, June 7^, 2022 from Metastatic Lung Cancer. She was 81. She went by Bonnie for most of her life. It was the name given to her by the nurses in the hospital when she was born. Bonnie was a force. Strong willed and strongly opinionated…and fierce in love as well. As a child she overcame numerous surgeries to correct bad directionals in her stomach. She was a fighter. Her mother was a great beauty of Ohio and her dad was President of Land of Lincoln Bank in Springfield, Ill. She grew up playing golf and was told many times over that she was a natural golfer.  She had a beautiful swing…if you followed her ball, it would sail with an amazing and powerful trajectory. She made the front page of Maui Times with her hole in one when she was on vacation there. She was a skier and a snowboarder who loved Sugarloaf with all her heart. She loved Pinot Grigio & the Red Sox. She was 5 foot 5 inches tall…and only weighed 107lbs, but her presence was inescapable in any room.

Prideful, confident and fashionable. She met Patrick A. Dowling in high school in Springfield, Illinois.…and she followed him when he went off to study at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.  She attended Manhattanville College in NYC, but married Patrick before graduation. They were married at the Hanover Church in New Hampshire and had four children: three boys, and then a girl. They settled in Cape Elizabeth, ME where Patrick “Pat” started his medical practice as an orthopedist in Portland. She was President of the Junior League of Portland, ME, on several ski committees and went on to be a paralegal for many years. She specialized in title work and being part of the legal community was a source of pride for her.

As a mother, she had high expectations, held high standards and would not take “no” or “I don’t want to do it” for answers. She was fiercely proud of and loved her children (Chris, John (Lara), Tony (Laurilyn), and Anne (Kenny)…and even more fiercely proud of and deeply loved her grandchildren (Wyatt, Quinn, Kaitlyn, Tegan, Alexandra, Sophia, Finn and Isabella).  She loved her Portuguese Water Dogs (Teddy, Bella, Pippa & Blarney), who were, as a general rule, fed a gourmet homecooked meal before anyone else in the house. She loved Buster the Maine Coon cat who hung out on a pillow in her bay window watching over her in her last days.  She loved her friends… Springfield childhood friends (Nancy, Mary, Polly, Carol, Penny and Judy), her sisters-in-law Mary and Martha, her Junior League friends (AL, Dee Dee, Franny and Martha), Judy Dooley, Janet Brown and Marj Katz who all regularly checked in on her.

She was an amazing cook and baker who made wonderful meals for everyone who showed up at her house. The fridge was always full of nourishing salads for any occasion…like feeding my hungry bridesmaids at 2am. There were homemade cakes for birthdays…and delicious pies. She would arrive to Freestyle Skiing events with her four kids and a Coleman cooler overflowing with a bounty of delights for everyone at the event. Kids, parents, judges all enjoyed and were fueled for greatness with her cinnamon twists, fried chicken, apricot bars, molasses cookies, chocolate chip cookies & pasta salads.  Her Christmas Cookie assortment was legendary...pfeffernusse, almond crescents, springerle, needhams, as was her impressive, colorful and joyful Gingerbread House. Cooking and baking were her way of nourishing her active kids and welcoming others.

She loved her extended family. When you achieved a success, there was no greater champion of your efforts than Bonnie/Mom. She is already greatly missed. Love you, Mom. Rest easy now.

You remind yourself

When you were first alternate for the Olympics twice, its hard not to have a little pity party for yourself when they come around again.  

You remind yourself that in 1992 they took 4 athletes and you were 5th. You remind yourself that in 1994 they took 3 athletes and you were 4th. You remind yourself that you did end up going to World Championships in 1995 and then you retired...and went to live in Breckenridge where you coached for a season and did the Pro Mogul Tour, which you won three years in a row and were able to put a down payment on the house that you still live in. 

You remind yourself, that in the grand scheme...it doesn't matter.  I never did.  It was just the journey as it was played out to be. You are you...and not you because of something you did or didn't get to do. 

Vastness of the expanse

 

Up here at 10,000ft I get spoiled with the wonders of nature.  The vastness of our wilderness…the endless trails through the trees, the wildlife. The blue blue blue skies of winter.  Crisp. Cold. Fresh and bright.  The clarity that comes from a walk along the winding river. Bridges over the waters and fish below.  White snow in winter. Wildflowers of summer. Trails, trail, trails connecting me to the expanse.

One that might have been..

 

Tribute to my Poopy guy

I had my own notion of grief.

I thought it was a sad time

that followed the death

of someone you love

and you had to push through it 

to get to the other side

But I'm learning

there is no pushing through

but rather, there is

absorption,

acceptance.

Grief is not something you

compete,

but rather you endure.

Grief is not a task to finish

and move on,

but an element of yourself,

an alteration of your being,

a new way of seeing

a new definition of self.

~Gwen Flowers

The weight

 

Some mornings when you wake up, you think about all the losses.  It comes at you like a wave. The weight of it pressing on your shoulders…pushing down. Is it trying to ground you, feel closer to the earth so that you don’t fall off?

Bridge to you

 October 2021