Sunday Morning Coffee 05.31.15

It's hard to believe that it is the last day of May and Summer Solstice is only a mere 21 days away.  As you spend your weekend with family and friends renewing you spirit, pause and reflect on those spending the weekend trying to put their lives back together after the devastation of flooding across our beautiful country and give thanks that our forefathers modeled self preservation.

Links I like:

Watermelon Salad

My favorite facial hydrator

Delicious summer beverages

Best summer vacations

Fun summer tennis shoes

Cilantro

Cilantro, or Mexican coriander, is an herb with wide delicate lacy green leaves and a pungent flavor.   The herb is available year-round.  It is very low in calories and contains no cholesterol.  Its deep-green leaves possess good amounts of antioxidants, essential oils, vitamins and dietary fiber that help in reducing LDL and rising HDL. 

All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and dried seeds are commonly used in cooking.  Look for a bunch with unwilted leaves in medium green.  Store in refrigerator with cut ends in a jar of water and leaves loosely covered with a plastic bag for several days.  When preparing, wash and pat dry the leaves before using. Use in avocado, chicken, fish, lamb, lentils, mayonnaise, peppers, pork, rice, salads and salsas.

Cilantro Lime Rice

2C water
1T butter
1C long-grain white rice
1tsp lime zest
2T fresh lime juice
1/2C chopped cilantro

Bring water to a boil, stir the butter and rice into the water.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.  Stir the lime zest, lime juice and cilantro into the cooked rice just before serving.

 

Sunday Morning Coffee 05.24.15

This Memorial Day weekend celebration began with my daughter and I watching the movie "American Sniper".  The men and women serving our country make extreme sacrifices both mentally and physically.  Their families are torn between loving them from a distance and sharing them with the world to avenge and protect.  It was a very chilling and touching movie that this man sacrificed and endured so much globally only to be killed on American soil by one of his own.

In your celebrations this weekend, please take time to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our wonderful freedoms.

Some items of interest on the internet:

What’s your real age?

Learn DIY Nail Art Designs

Seven ways to outsmart your allergies

 

Motherhood Reflections

On this special Sunday in May, I am turning my attention to my experiences of motherhood.  From the moment of realization that you are ‘with child’, until you draw your final breath – a woman is forever a mother.  Motherhood is defined as the experience of having and raising a child.  

Motherhood includes feeling a kaleidoscope of emotions simultaneously – fear, joy, worry, angst, pride.  It can also include being an advocate and a revolutionary who empowers her children to engage in society in a meaningful, fun and vibrant way.  Motherhood also means always giving up the biggest piece of cake and the last Popsicle.

Motherhood is leading by example when it comes to telling right from wrong and showing your kids which battles are worth fighting.  It’s encouraging your children to learn new things and to give their best effort to accomplishing a task.  And when the time comes, motherhood is letting go of the reins to see where the children go on their own.

Motherhood is the realization that our children make us laugh, bring out the teacher in us, and each child is a complete individual with a unique personality, outlook, potential, talent.  I choose to spend time in the presence of my daughter because she is someone whom I love, respect, admire and laugh with – she has such an infectious laugh!

I am forever grateful that God bestowed upon me the desire of my heart to be a mother.  The rewards have by and large outweighed the challenges!   

As the quote from Elizabeth Stone goes, having a child “is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”

As Bill Murray’s character in Lost in Translation observes, “They learn how to walk and they learn how to talk… and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life.”

Sunday Morning Coffee 05.03.15

This weekend I spent time with my beautiful daughter planting and adding flowers and plants to our patio area.  We even planted herbs and a succulent for her to take with her when she embarks on a new and exciting venture in her life!

May is a busy month for my family - Mother's Day, my fathers 85th birthday and my parents 67th wedding anniversary!  We are planning a family celebration over Memorial Day weekend.  That should be fun!!

Hope you are enjoying this first weekend in May! 

Some of my favorite links this week:

Mother's Day Brunch recipes

Beauty apps must haves

Seven talks to have with the man you love

Water the elixir of life

Happy May Day

April showers bring May flowers.  The ritual of hanging May Day baskets on the doorknobs of neighbors and friends has a long history, stemming from the European pagan festival of spring. A May Day basket contains almost anything, by way of small presents you have in mind to put in it, together with your respects, best wishes — love, perhaps. It is hung after dark at the door of anybody the hanger fancies.

Another tradition is the tall wooden pole and its dance – Dance of the Maypole.  The Maypoles are a part of the general rejoicing at the return of summer and the growth of new vegetation.

May Day marks the halfway point between the first day of spring and the summer solstice.  On this first day of May – rejoice and relish in the decoration of the earth with flowers, trees, grasses and sunshine.  Bestow this decoration to those you in your life that have a special place in your heart.

“Sweet May hath come to love us, Flowers, trees, their blossoms don; And through the blue heavens above us The very clouds move on.” -- Heinrich Heine