On Wednesday we had a lovely visit with my two grandmothers. My maternal Nana (Nana M) turned 87, and we joined her for lunch at the assisted living place. Both of my grandmothers live in the same assisted living place, so despite it being a 2 1/2 hour trip, it’s quite easy to visit both of them. (The picture at right is from a few months ago, the camera needed batteries and the pics of the Nanas didn’t come out)

It turns out that Wednesdays are “Chef’s Choice” for lunch, and because we had reserved the private dining room, the chef called my mother to ask what we would like to have served for lunch. This chef had been wonderful about accommodating food allergies and celiac disease, but we didn’t want to make things too difficult for him.
”
My mom replied, “what my mother would like best, you couldn’t do.”
The chef answered, “try me.”
My mom said, “lobster.”
And the chef surprised us all by saying, “ok, lobster rolls, lobster salad for the folks with allergies, and grilled vegetables on the side!”

Let me tell you, when I’m older, I hope I can live in a place as wonderful as this one! This lobster salad was warmed, with no mayo, and was incredibly divine, with huge chunks of lobster. And as an extra bonus, there were seconds and thirds offered!

My Nana M’s uncle, Izzy, and his sister Flo also live in the same assisted living place, so after lunch they joined us for dessert and birthday wishes.

For dessert, we tried the new Betty Crocker Gluten-Free chocolate cake mix (which is made in a gluten-free facility) - review here. We topped it with a “chocolate syrup frosting” my mother made, and then set out some lovely candied violets. The cake was moist and delicious, and we made room. Though MG had eaten 4ths on lobster and couldn’t finish her cake. I had only had 2 1/2 servings, so I could help LG finish off MG’s piece. Perhaps BG was the smart one, she had seconds on soup rather than lobster and saved her appetite for cake, and ate two pieces!

When dessert was finished, Nana M went to a doctor’s appointment with my mom, while we met up with Nana R (my paternal Nana, seen here in a picture from her 91st birthday last September). She was enroute to High Stakes Bingo, where you have to pony up a nickle to play. BG and LG helped her out (though she wins well enough without them!), and MG was invited to play by another resident. Nana R was so happy to show off her great-granddaughters! And I’m always happy to be called a “young girl” by someone! Luckily for BG, in the 3rd game she got a card, too.

Watching the residents and the girls play bingo was wonderful. There’s such spunk, such individuality, and such fun among the residents, and the employees are wonderful. I get teary when I think of the devotion and openness of the folks employed there - they clearly know the residents so very well, and they recognize how wonderful they all are, including my two Nanas! The gentle combination of teasing and politeness really shows how genuine they are about caring for every individual.

It was a long and exhausting day, but one that built more great memories. I am very lucky to have so many wonderful memories of time with my Nanas!

Our family has been living gluten-free due to Celiac Disease for over 6 years. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and very similar to the protein found in outs. This means that any food needs to be made specially - bread, pasta, cake, pizza crust, pretzels, cookies, etc. Finding the Betty Crocker gluten-free mixes was a wonderful surprise!

Over the past 6 years there has been a huge increase in availability of gluten-free products, but most of the GF products have been found in the health food aisle of the grocery store or in a specialty store.

However, gluten-free products are becoming more mainstream as the number of people diagnosed with celiac disease rises, as well as the number of people living gluten-free for other reasons. Last summer, General Mills introduced a new, gluten-free formulation of Rice Chex (they changed the sweetener from barley malt to another sweetener). In addition to becoming more mainstream, gluten-free products are becoming much more commonly available and found in most grocery stores.
Read the rest of the review

The weather in New England has not been particularly summer-like. So, any day that it isn’t raining should be celebrated! On Friday morning, we took a walk through the local conservation land, and around a pond, and then had lunch at home while it rained for a little bit.

However, the rain stopped again after lunch, and it continued to be warmer than it had been for ages, so we packed up our swim bag, put on our swim suits, packed up some shovels and buckets, put everything into a wagon, and walked off to a new-to-us nearby beach. I couldn’t believe that there was a beach just a few blocks from where we live that we had never explored! It’s a lovely, quiet, and protected beach, too - just right for taking a few kids and a picnic.

We had some trouble at first pulling the wagon, as the only one who was the right size to pull it was LG, and it was a bit heavy for LG to pull. So, the girls worked out the best way to pull the wagon. This turned into a roller-coaster style ride for MG as she sat on the wagon and was pulled by a sister on either side.

Once we got to the beach, everything was dropped on the sand, and the girls hurtled themselves into the water. It was surprisingly cold, but BG and MG quickly ducked under and started swimming. After realizing the intense cold of the water, LG didn’t get more than her feet wet, and worked on making sandcastles rather than swimming.

It was fun watching the older girls swim and play in the water, they looked like seals when their heads popped up out of the water, bobbing as they swam around. I don’t know how they can stand the cold, they definitely don’t have a layer of blubber to keep them warm, like seals do!

After swimming and digging, the girls climbed the rocks on the side of the beach, a trick they seem to do at every beach - who knows what they would do if they were at a beach without rocks! This habit proves that climbing the rock wall at the YMCA like little monkeys can come in handy at other times, too. I’m always amazed that they have the energy and coordination to climb rocks after swimming in that cold water for so long! While LG can’t climb quite as high as her sisters can, she still has pretty impressive rock climbing skills, and she’s so proud of what she can do!

At the end of our time at the beach, the girls picked some wildflowers to bring home, and of course MG had to put a couple flowers in her braids. They looked so cute, and I remember doing things like that when I was little - I’m sure I looked a lot like her, too!

It wasn’t raining this morning, so the girls and I took a lovely walk in the woods near a pond close to the house. There are a lot of trails, some lovely views of the pond, and some beautiful flowers that had grown in the rain. Of course, the whole area was very, very, very green after 3 weeks of rain!

When we approached a creek, LG said, “This the dangerous part! Dun, dun, dun!” We walked across the creek on some well-positioned stepping stones, and accomplished a walk without any injuries! (knock on wood)

Other high points were trying to figure out why there is a sewer manhole cover in the middle of the woods, having some lovely dogs come up to be petted, eating some Backyard Bbq Chips and Sea Salt & Vinegar chips in the middle of the “horse circle” and on a big rock, playing with walking sticks, walking on a beach, seeing several teepees/lean-tos made out of sticks, watching the ducks at another pond, and then finally looking in at a boatyard and spying Lapstrake and Edge-Joined wooden boats being repaired.

Some days are lovely, even when they aren’t perfect! (Even when I forget the camera and I’m left with blurry cell phone shots!)

And then when we were two blocks away from home, it started to rain again. Ugh! I’m hoping for at least some sun this weekend!

Last night after dinner, I took the girls on a walk. I was trying to get some wiggles out (after how many days stuck inside in the rain?), and also trying to get them a bit tired out before bed. My mom offered to run a warm tub, and the girls had their bedtime stuff all set out. So off we went into the rain, with slickers and umbrellas and some of us in rain boots.

We walked to a local pond and visited the white goose, and then started back, with a lot of puddle jumping by the folks in rain boots. When we got close to home, there was a huge puddle, and I was feeling jealous of the puddle jumpers. Since we were close to home, I held hands with MG and we jumped into the puddle. Then we kept jumping over and over! Great fun was had by all, and we were all quite wet by the end of it.

As we started walking away from the puddle, LG’s boots had water in them, and they made wonderful “squelch, squerch, squelch, squerch” noises, just like the ones made in We’re Going on a Bear Hunt as they walk through the mud.

This inspired me, and the rest of our walk had We’re Going on a Bear Hunt as a spoken word accompaniment.

“We’re going on a bear hunt, we’re gonna catch a big one! What a beautiful day, we’re not scared!”

Going through the river, the mud, the long grass of the meadow, etc - then bumping into the bear and running all the way home back through the meadow, mud, river, etc.

I highly recommend reading We’re Going on a Bear Hunt if you haven’t already (such cute pictures! what a catchy refrain!), but more than that, go re-enact it and take your kids for a walk (whatever the weather), and incorporate the obstacles on your walk into the retelling of story.

Now, what other books would work well for re-enacting on a walk?

My current top pet peeve - people who forward emails without research. Not only the usual “check snopes” type urban legends, but also political information - don’t take the word of someone who has an agenda when you forward an issue to everyone you know!

Ugh! I’ve been avoiding any political discussions lately. (Though President Obama’s Miyagi-like mad fly-killing skillz were very impressive!)

Anyhow, I just received a forward about the evils of Bill S909 - the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. According to the email, it will protect people who commit incest, pedophiles, and other creepy folks, and make it impossible for people to speak freely and quote the Bible, pray, or express contrary opinions on homosexuality (plus many other free speech topics). First off, I now identify myself as a Christian. However, I still think that these accusations are confused, so I wanted to read the original text of the Bill before making a decision to talk to my representatives (always a good idea - read the fine print!)

Do these people ever actually read the text of Bills before they send these emails? The one I received said (in part):

On the other hand, guess what WILL NOT BE TOLERATED and will be considered a hate crime and YOU WILL GO TO JAIL…..

1. Praying In Jesus’ Name in ANY PUBLIC VENUE–that includes church buildings

2. Preaching against SIN in general that could in some way be considered hateful by those who don’t want to be told they sin or their behavior is sinful
3. Quoting the Bible in church as that is offensive and considered hateful speech by some

I’m not a lawyer (nor have I ever played one on TV…), but my father is, and I have done a lot of paralegal-type work for him, so I have read a lot of bills and other legal documents. In reading Bill S909, I don’t see anything that would indicate the above is accurate. In fact, there is even a section which says:

Section 10: RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
For purposes of construing this Act and the amendments made by this Act the following shall apply:
…
(4) FREE EXPRESSION- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to allow prosecution based solely upon an individual’s expression of racial, religious, political, or other beliefs or solely upon an individual’s membership in a group advocating or espousing such beliefs.

So, you can express your beliefs all you want. What you can’t do if this Bill is passed is hurt/kill someone or incite others to hurt/kill someone. Saying “straight white men are evil, and sex outside procreation is sinful” would be OK. Saying “we all know straight white men are evil sex outside procreation is sinful, so we must kill all straight white men who have sex outside of procreation - here is how we should accomplish this…” would not be OK, especially if you or your followers then follow through on it.

However, the Bill only is in effect if someone is actually injured:

‘(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY-
‘(A) IN GENERAL- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B) or paragraph (3), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability of any person–

Emotional or psychological injury doesn’t count:

‘(1) the term ‘bodily injury’ has the meaning given such term in section 1365(h)(4) of this title, but does not include solely emotional or psychological harm to the victim;

I, personally, think the bill sounds like a good idea. But, if you disagree with me, please at least read the Bill and offer a reasonable, educated argument. And please don’t send me any more emails that aren’t well researched, and rely only on biased media reports! Thanks in advance!

Such as, an artfully arranged and delicious recipe…

Life has been busy here lately, and the girls keep growing. Lots to celebrate, lots to remember.

In May, BG turned 11, with much fanfare, and a trip to CoCo Key indoor water park. The rest of us tried to contain our jealousy with a trip to the local YMCA’s pool. She also got a visit from her t-shirt design hero JadenKale - though I enjoyed her visit at least as much as BG did!

For Memorial Day, there was a big cookout with a bunch of cousins at my father and stepmother’s home, and it was so much fun! 2 grandparents, 8 grandkids, and 4 adults who act like kids made it so much fun to be the photographer! Grampy and Mimi live right next to beach, so there was a lot of running, shouting, treasure burying, castle building, and football when we took over their beach. Many great memories made that day.

This past week MG turned 9, also with much fanfare. We saw MG off on a trip to the Big Apple on Friday, where she and her Nani & Vovo visited with her uncle and his girlfriend. She enjoyed rides on a carousel, a ferris wheel, the Staten Island ferry, and several rides in an amusement park in Central Park. She also had some wonderful meals, a great trip to the American Museum of Natural History where she loved the life-size blue whale, and just a lot of fun in general.

However, on their way home their anticipated visit with Nana M (my maternal grandmother) took a different turn. Nana M is now living in the same assisted living place as Nana R (my paternal grandmother), and her husband was in a rehab facility. Grandpa Bob took a turn for the worse, and was moved to the hospital, then to the hospice wing of the hospital. MG had a short visit with Nana M, then a longer visit with Nana R while Nani and Vovo took Nana M to visit Grandpa Bob for a bit. They were able to visit for over an hour, and he was lucid during some of the time, too. They had been married for over 20 years, and had been living in their own home until a few months ago, so living in different places was very difficult for both of them.

Thank goodness that Nana M was able to visit with him Sunday evening, as early Monday morning, Grandpa Bob died. He was 94 1/2 years old, and a wonderful, gentle man who was always so genuinely pleased to see us, always with a firm handshake and a kiss on the cheek for the ladies. While in the past year he had become forgetful, he had otherwise been doing very well and had been successfully managing his health issues. Nana always made sure meals were on time and healthy so they could best manage his diabetes, and until earlier this year he had been driving them to doctor visits and the grocery store, where he sat in a chair while Nana shopped.

We have many fond memories of Grandpa Bob, and he’ll get his very own post on the day of the funeral (Thursday). The girls are sad, and disappointed - they had wanted to celebrate his 100th birthday with him. However, our Church is giving us comfort that we will see him again, and as much as we miss him, we are comforted knowing that he is now in a place where he isn’t in any pain and his mind is clear. We love you and miss you, Grandpa Bob.

June will continue with celebrations of the girls’ father’s birthday, father’s day, and the beginning of summer. Life continues with more memories to be made.

Happy Celiac Disease Awareness Month!
Happy Food Allergy Awareness Week!

If you are living with food allergies, Celiac disease, food intolerances, or any other dietary restrictions, you are already used to adapting your menu. But what happens when one person wants to be a vegetarian? or you move into a home where people eat dairy? or your children have opposing allergies? or you have one kid who loves peppers and another who hates them? You learn how to adapt your menus so you can make (almost) everyone happy with one meal.

After 11 years on the food allergy/intolerance roller coaster I got on soon after becoming a mother, I’ve rethought my approach to food many times. I think that I was lucky, as I had been a vegetarian for several years before I became a mom, and so I was used to the idea of reading ingredients and cooking from scratch. Label reading is hugely important for food allergies/intolerances, and since I was already accustomed to looking for hidden ingredients, I had a leg up on the challenge of grocery shopping. Additionally, since I was not using many prepared foods already, it was easier to just change the ingredients in my cooking; I didn’t need to suddenly learn to cook.

The challenges I think any parent of a child with food restrictions needs to accept are Adaptability and Love of cooking. If you can accept those, you’re going to be ok. As a cook who had been very successful in the past, I had a very hard time accepting that some of my first gluten-free creations had to be tossed outside for the birds and squirrels. I had become too accustomed to being complimented on my cooking! This was also good preparation for when my kids got older… However, I now pride myself on making great food despite the food restrictions, and I’m hearing a lot of compliments again!

For Mother’s Day, I made a double batch of quiches, and made them in individual sizes so each person could have the ingredients she wanted. This meant that those who like soy “cheese” could have some, and those who like bacon can enjoy without upsetting the new vegetarian. Individual pizzas, quiches, mexican pizzas (tortilla, refried beans, ground meat, salsa, soy or dairy cheese), and tacos are some incredibly easy ways of letting each child eat the ingredients she loves.

One of my favorite adaptation methods is “on the side”. I loved When Harry Met Sally, and I’m afraid I may sound like Sally when I’m in a restaurant! However, at home I have embraced that concept with my daughters. We make salads with dressing on the side, of course, but also make Pad Thai with the shrimp, limes, and peanuts on the side, a risotto with meat and/or cheese on the side, a vegetable curry with meat and some veggies on the side, or make a meal of pasta or polenta with marinara or White Sauce and sausages or meatballs on the side.

I’ve told my daughters many times that they aren’t “allowed” to be picky because they have so many dietary restrictions. This doesn’t actually work, but it’s a good idea, and honestly they are much less picky than most kids I know! My daughters have been told that they can quietly push ingredients they dislike to the side when they are served their meal, but they cannot throw a fit. Again, it’s a good theory, and it does work with a lot of casseroles. I think that by doing quite a bit of “on the side” or individual meals, they might be more willing to accept a rogue mushroom or pea in their soup!

It’s amazing how a simple strategy, such as starting with one base and then expanding that for individual tastes, is a good way of making almost everyone happy. Set aside a section of the grill for the vegetarian, toast rolls on foil rather than the grill, so the grill doesn’t end up with gluten on it, and make everyone plain hamburgers, letting people add dairy or soy cheese once they are served.

When you start to think about meals in a new way, a way where everyone can enjoy a similar meal, you can find new ways to deconstruct dinner. A buffet of choices for pizzas or ice cream sundaes becomes more fun, not just a way to accommodate food allergies and pickiness! Shifting your perspective to fun rather than a chore can help you enjoy your meals, too - not just feel like you need to get through them somehow.

We hope all the moms have had a Happy Mother’s Day, from the Gaggle of Girls!

We’re trying to keep everyone happy here, which has the new challenge of MG deciding to be a vegetarian. I blame NannyOgg and her girls. Such bad influences!

Mama got some quiet reading time this afternoon, after a lovely breakfast of crabmeat quiche/pie and a wonderful morning of Church. BG helped her grandfather grill some amazing steak tips (portabella mushrooms and tofu for MG). Now, to contrast Mama’s “quiet reading” image, we just finished watching the Bruins playoff game, and enjoyed them winning!

In other food news, I recreated a lost chicken and cabbage dinner, and made Phat or Pad Thai recently, and updated that recipe with pictures. Cooking for complimentary adults can be a heady experience!