Cooking Sundays: Cooking to Knit By

Winter on the island can be cold, reclusive and just plain downright blehhhhh.

So. To jazz things up, I've decided to include a regular post challenge called Cooking Sunday.
Hopefully, I will be cooking my way through local cookbooks, so you can get a feel for what kinds of yummy, wonderfulness (is that a cooking term? I think it is now!) local cooks, chefs and establishments regularly feed the flock with.

This week, however,  I'm going to start off slowly, cooking-wise, with a good winter Sunday supper regular.
And bonus for you knitters out there - it's cooking you can knit by!

But really, you don't have to be a knitter to include this in your repertoire of good-tasting, easy-fixing go-to recipes.

Ta-Da!

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken BBQ

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 oz.) bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce ( Honey Barbeque is one good option)
1/2 cup zesty Italian dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
optional: 1/2 cup diced onion
optional: 1 tsp. liquid smoke

Servings/Yield: 6 servings

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the bbq sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.

Cover, and cook 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 on Low. (You can also use fresh chicken breasts - just adjust the timing.)
Add buns, maybe some sliced cheese in there with the buns and voila!
Sunday Supper!

Adapted from an allrecipes.com recipe


Have a Good One on me. :)

Note to Self: On Having a New Year

Ha.
And I bet you thought that's all I have been doing lately, lol.
Happy New Year's and all.
Well yes, there was some of that.

But no.
Mostly this.
Plotting.
Just plotting. :)

Note to Self: On Having a New Year

Am I going to go the usual route?
Top Ten List of Things I'm Going To Change?
No.

Am I going to chuck all that, like last year, and say, do an Anti-List? A No-List List?
Remember, Caution Joy Ahead?
Ha ha ha.
If you knew what the last year has been like for me ... well then, no.

No, this year I am tackling that illusive goal - peace.
And to do that, I am going on a specific diet
I am going on an Inner (Thinner!) Peace Diet.


I promise to do four things every day to create peace within myself.
For Peace of heart.
For Peace of mind.
For Peace of body.
For Peace of spirit.

Yep.
Has there ever been a more reluctant pilgrim?
I think not, lol.
It will be difficult, at best.

It takes commitment, for there will be rough spots.
It takes courage, for there will be conflict.
And it takes creativity, for the mind is a wily soul, waiting to "get out-of things."

I may be the only one on this journey, but it will affect many.

Finding rest.
A still point.
Finding inner (and therefore, thinner) peace.

An extended pause in life that takes you from rumpled to smooth.
From tension-filled to tension-less.
From thick to thin.
And from poor in attitude to rich in spirit.

Oh! you might say. That is a very selfish thing to do.
But no.
As they say in the air, "Secure your own oxygen mask, before helping others."
Why? Because lack of oxygen can make you too dazed to be of help to others.
So it goes real life, at least for me.
In our usual condition of messy, glorious living, we are far too dazed sometimes, to be of help to others.

So in the end, it is a must.
For myself.
And, it turns out, for others.

It is time.
Ending the inner war, and for me, finding inner (thinner) peace.
Peace out.

Have a Good-intentioned One. :)

Ten Reasons Why We Love Christmas on the Island

Like David Letterman (who also owns a house here, btw), I, too, have a Top Ten List.

Since I've been busy with holiday preparations, I haven't had time to post regularly.
But.
That doesn't mean I'm not scouting the Best and Brightest of Christmas on the Island for your viewing pleasure. :)

So.
Here goes:
Drum Roll Please!
Top Ten Reasons Why We Love Christmas on the Island

10. Skating on Old Seth's Pond.


9. Driving to the top of Peaked Hill at night, the highest spot on the Vineyard, on an especially cold night to see the stars displayed overhead - it really is like diamonds in the sky. :) No light pollution.

8. Seeing the Christmas Parade in Edgartown, during the Christmas in Edgartown week-end.
Have Hot Cider or Hard Cider, lol, afterward at The Newes Pub, Edgartown. Explore all the open houses and the retail shops open when you've warmed up. Head over to the Harbor View Hotel to see the Teddy Bear Room and watch with glee when they flip the switch to light up the Edgartown Lighthouse holiday lights. OOOO! Ahhhh.

7. Making a Christmas Wreath at Donorama Garden and Landscaping. Think Martha Stewart Meets New England Country. (So cool, but kinda pricey, so we only do it every so often)

6. Seeing the many ways Santa arrives on-island - on the boat, in a fire engine, on a float, in his sleigh. He's a busy guy here. :)

Tim Johnson for MVTimes

Tim Johnson for MVTimes

5. On three separate nights, grabbing a quick bite to eat in a different village town here, and driving down Main Street to see the lights. It's amazing what you can do with Twinkle!

Gatchells

4. Driving over to see niece Julie Megan's Christmas Lights display in her front yard! Honestly! It's really cool! (Winyah Lane - Vineyard Haven) And with music! 

Then going to see her competitor, The Gatchell House, in Oak Bluffs, depositing cans of food for charity in the barrel at the end of the circular drive.

3.Attending Christmas Eve Candlelight Service in the massive old Whaling Church in Edgartown, then hope you see carolers along the way home. They're there; you just have to look for them. Really!








2. Drive down Edgartown's Main Street late at night, in the snow - it's a virtual snowglobe!

1. And the #1 Reason Why We Love Christmas on the Island? Noo, it's not cookies!
It's a time when we gather family and friends near to celebration the most wonderful time of the year!

Happy Christmas from Lucy and Meatball, niece Stephanie's dogs

And from Rescue Pup Neela, too!

Have a Merry and Bright One. :)

Locally Grown and Proud of It: Yeehaw!

Ahem.
We have a big announcement to make.
Actually two.

1.  Andy (our son) and Jenna, eloped to Vermont in June! Those crazy kids just couldn't wait to get married and start a life together. :) (mum was the word till we figured out insurance coverage, sheesh!)

2. Andy and Jenna have recently announced they have started another collaboration of sorts, lol - something locally grown... they are expecting! Splash down? July 1st -ish.

3. Neela, the Rescue Pup is going to be a big Sister lol!

No more wash-ashores for us.
There's a new fish on the hook, and we are reeling it in. :)

So, this is actually a good time to also tell you about the original Island Grown Initiative here.
This non-profit "grows community through sustainable agriculture, local food advocacy and education."

We like this: trying to increase the supply and demand of local grown food for community health and the environment (like it says in the literature!). Read more about it here.

What does this mean for us?

It means we can get organic milk in old-school glass bottles from Gray Barn Farm.
It means I buy wool yarn spun from Liz Packer's sheep on Spring Moon Farm.
It means buying freshly-made gluten-free bread from the Scottish Bakehouse, or getting smoothies from Tisberry Yogurt with Mermaid Farm yogurt.

And it sometimes means spending a little bit more for a product that is in many ways healthier for us and our environment.

Each community could take a lesson from this inventive island program. Why not get behind the small, local business owners and support your community?

Why not use local resources to get what you want and know where it's coming from?
Why not teach the kids in your community how to eat right and even try their hands at growing food for themselves and their families?

What's not to like about that?

Being a member of an Island Grown food resource (Andy is fishing commercially), we want more than anything to be part of a growing concern that gives back to the community and to have fun in the process.

So when our little fish arrives, we will be happy to proclaim on many fronts, "Island Grown and Proud of It!"

I'm sure this will be just the first of many mayhem-filled posts from Grammy, so stay tuned!

Kiss your kids, eat good, locally grown food and have a good one. :)

Trick or Treat!

Trick or treat?

There's no better place to celebrate Halloween than in New England, what with its rich history of terror, ghostly apparitions and intrigue. From the Salem Witch Trials to the Boston Strangler and Lizzy Borden, to the likes of Whitey Bulger, what place in America could be scarier?

Here on the Island, Halloween festivities are begun early in the month and carried to a fever-pitch by All Hallow's Eve.

There's an island-wide Scarecrow Contest, the towns have their own parties and parades, and on Halloween night, one major street in Vineyard Haven - Williams Street - is even closed to traffic to celebrate door-to-door trick-or-treating at its best. On this one street, rough ghost and goblin attendee estimates range from 300-800, with costumed witches and mummies arriving from as far away as New York City!

Enjoy some of the festivities through our eyes!
This year the Scarecrow Contest features Storybook Characters:

Have a Scary One. :)

Happy Halloweenie!

Heck Part 3 - The Finale

I am happy to report that all is well once again in the Wheeler household.
Why?

Because despite the odds, my hybrid auto is fixed.
And without leaving Wonderland.

All because of a very kind and quick-thinking off-island tow truck guy who dared asked the real question to my hybrid auto woes: "What seems to be going on?"

Listening carefully, he surmised that the problem was most likely a dead battery attached to the gas engine of the car.

So in the end, no towing, no pushing, no pulling, no drifting down the boat ramp without a motor or tow to the dealership was needed.

It took a trip to the local service station, and we simply had the battery released of its misery and replaced.

All hail one very smart tow truck operator!

As for the rest, the house got cleaned, the freelance appt. kept, the food prepared and the 50th birthday party for Uncle John was a rave success.

Just call me Superwoman.



Have a good one. :)

Heck Part 2

Ok.
This is going to seem reeeeeealy funny to you.
Lol.

But we just got a call from Roadside Assistance, checking to see if our tow truck had arrived.
It's 3:20 in the morning.
Lol.

This after spending the entire, and I mean ENTIRE, day trying to get my disabled car off the island to the Mainland Dealership for repair.

It's like you can't get there from here.
No tow trucks will get on the boat - from either side.
For fear of spending up the nation's debt load in payment, I believe.

The process of getting a disabled car off the island is like a series of finely tuned pass-offs, the likes of which you only see in Olympic tag-teaming events.

After coordinating between the call-back Roadside Assistance Center in Toronto, Canada, the AAA tow truck here, the mainland dealership, the Roadside Assistance tow truck on the mainland and juggling my schedule, we establish a car reservation for today.
Then:

1. The tow truck tows the ailing car to the Steamship boat dock.
2. There it is manually pushed onto the boat.
3. It rides the boat in silence.
4. It is then pushed off the boat into the mainland parking area, to be picked up by mainland tow truck and towed to the dealership.
5. A very embarrassed and harassed driver must accompany the car at all times.
6. And this only costs an arm and a leg.


And all this is accomplishing during the same time as:

Planning, prepping and executing a 50th birthday party and dinner for 10
Last minute clean-up of the house for company
A freelance assignment interview with the local paper
Overseeing the septic upgrade issues taking place on my Mom's house

Wish me luck, lol.
Stay tuned....




Have a good one. :)