One doesn't discover new lands
without consenting to lose sight of the shore
for a very long time.

It is in meeting
the small challenges of daily living
that we prepare ourselves
for the great challenges of life.

From: No Limits But the Sky

Large green pitted Olives (this amount of mixture can stuff about 200 olives/some with gorgonzola cheese)

(I buy them pitted from a great cheese shop at the Italian Market called Claudio's)...they are a bit costly and for this reason the older Italian ladies buy their olives with the pits and pit them. I am known to be extravagant and this is one example (some girls buy high priced shoes).

A slice can be made down the side to allow for more stuffing.

I stuffed some with good gorgonzola cheese and some with a meat mixture:

1/3 each ground veal, pork and beef (1 1/2 lbs total)
grated locatelli or parmasean cheese
about 1/2 cup grated stale Italian bread or bread crumb
chopped fresh parsley
salt
pepper
chopped fresh garlic
mix and stuff olives with raw mixture

Breading (my sister is really good at this)

egg and milk wash
flour in plastic bag
back into egg wash
seasoned bread crumb
back into egg wash
seasoned bread crumb
then
fry in olive oil
eat hot....great appetizers..

great with martini's!

A very dark beach was lent light from a yellow moon smiling as he seemingly winked. I knew my second half of life would be fine. Just at that moment. I cannot stop worrying about the kids but I can enjoy them, laugh with them and love with them. That I will do.

The waves glistened as the darkness glowed and the clear, wet air passed on by as I thought and hesitantly peered into the lit up houses on the beach. It all looked so different at the opposite hour of the day. Very nice. Quiet. No fat people in bikini's. No beach police racing in dune buggies on the sand. No bad ice cream. Just quiet and peace. The sand was cold like a melted ice pack.

I know there are murderers and rapists everywhere, but, not here. They are obviously working elsewhere. I felt as if a sea monster may gurgle up from beneath the ocean bottom and pay me a visit. Aliens seemed more probable than bad people at the moment. Soooo, I was not afraid. I was at peace.

Peace, like only a beach can bring. A night time beach.

Yes, this is all about the food!!!!!

I am so stuffed, even at this late time, I cannot believe I am able to write about it all.

With all of our neighbors that extend about 6 blocks, we get together for a labor intensive day of grilling on the beach. It takes trucks, tents, strong men, kid's help, a D.J. with a generator, and lots of really well made side dishes from kitchens which some never see the lighted flame on the stove except for this day.

We had an array of food to choose from and did as our belly's swelled and hearts smiled.

My family cooked for 3 days. My sister and husband and I made stuffed olives (stuffed with meat and breaded and fried), stuffed calamari, grilled calamari, homemade salsa with chips, roasted potatoes with pancetta and leeks, 20 lbs of mussels and a homemade flag cake with cream cheese frosting. My mom also made her famous pineapple upside down cake and two large containers of homemade iced tea.

The tables were full of scrumptous delights such as stuffed zuccini, fried vegetable fritters, lobster rolls, eggplant parmagianno, sausage and peppers, roasted chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, beef sticks, kugel, string beans and potatoes, salad, lemon poppy seed cakes, crab cakes...and on and on and on.

Is my life all about food?
I guess there are worse things in life!