The Party's Over

The first weekend of the new year. It's been a grey day here -- fog this morning and then the temperature dropped and the wind blew in.

With this first weekend of 2009 comes a dose of reality. Monday will mean that our family needs to get back into routine. No more late nights of movies or mornings of sleeping til 10:30. (I haven't been sleeping that late! Only the girls.) Their alarm clocks buzzing at 6:30 will be a rude awakening.

These candlesticks belonged to my grandmother, Rachel. They were always some of her favorites. They are usually at home on my kitchen shelves yet today I decided they should be put to use. She would have enjoyed that. Why do we have items in our homes that hold special memories/meanings yet we wait to use them for "special" occassions? Every day is a special occassion. I vow to take a minute or two each day, okay maybe more like a few times a week, to do just a little something extra to make it special; light a candle, pour the syrup or juice into a little pitcher for serving, use the good dishes or put on some soft music while we have dinner.

Speaking of dinner, we had a very yummy one this evening complete with candles burning and music playing. On the menu was Caribbean Jerk Chicken, Orange Rice and salad. It was so tasty. I did have to improvise, again. I didn't have enough soy sauce for the chicken marinade so I did part soy sauce, part teriyaki; not as much rice as the recipe called for so it was part rice, part barley. No one but me knew. Our salad this evening was so refreshing. My body is craving vegetables and fruits. Too many sweets over the holidays. It is possible to get too much of a good thing.

One of my goals for 2009 is healthy eating. This would have been evident if you had seen my grocery cart today. It was full of vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, raw honey, organic sugar and fruit. I took some extra time in the kitchen when I arrived home to do some prep work - cut up cucumbers, green peppers for the coming week and prepared salad for dinner.

I have spent hours pouring over my healthy cookbooks during the past week to find inspiration for new dishes to try. I'll be posting my menu for the upcoming week tomorrow, so you're welcome to stop back by and see what we'll be eating. It's quite possible that I'll be sharing new recipes here frequently over the next few weeks.