2013 – What an interesting year it has been, full of change and transition. The mantra has often been “with great change comes great opportunity”. Focus on facing changes with an eye to creative resolutions. Keep it positive. Change is good. Our winter months, early on in 2013, were filled with the upcoming transition of sending our oldest child off to ... Read More »
As the holiday week nears, we prepare in our home to celebrate Christmas en masse, as only can be accomplished when the Cichello clan gathers. Seven kids in ten years, all now with life partners, thirteen grandchildren, four dogs, and a bun in the oven. We are massive numbers, and now that so many of the grandchildren are grown adults, we ... Read More »
I had the good fortune to attend TWO amazing funerals in the past three weeks. Yes, I just said “good fortune” and “amazing”, both in regards to funerals. They were so very different, but so very similar. In both cases, I was late to the dance. I only knew these two men for the past 20 years, while mourning family ... Read More »
So much talk of Grandma (click here) led to a major hankering for her eggplant parmigiana. In my now wheat-defying life (click here), eggplant parmigiana has been absent since December of 2013. Waaaaay too long! I did find a local restaurant that offers gluten free options for many traditional Italian dishes. The problem is, you need to plan well in ... Read More »
We had a fantastic Sunday night. Dennis wanted to make dinner. When he wants to cook, I have to force myself out of head chef mode, and accept instead the title of sous chef. Or just cheerleader sometimes. (Cue glass of wine.) Dennis was working on some appetizer recipes for Thanksgiving on Sunday. We tasted a Buffalo Chicken Dip, sinfully, ... Read More »
Note to self: Never start thinking you are too cool. After declaring my utter joy at driving Monster Jeep, the swing up and into the driver’s seat, the rumble to life, and the ever so distinctive entrance into traffic, I started to notice that shifting was becoming increasingly difficult. “Turn the car off, and it will slide right into gear,” ... Read More »
I think it was the minivan. Yes! It was the evil minivan! Bastard! Somewhere along the way, when you lower yourself remove any self-esteem from your being agree to drive a minivan, the joy of driving dis-inhabits your body. Since the minivan, I have had a series of cars that have been fine. Fine? FINE? What? Since when was driving about ... Read More »
I recently discovered cookie butter from Trader Joe’s. That’s right. Cookie butter. They suggest it being delicious on a number of things (hello waffles!) but I find that it’s fabulous off a spoon while standing in-front of the fridge at 2 a.m. Fortunately, my roommate doesn’t like it, thus leaving more for me. On closer examination of that previous sentence (and ... Read More »
We have undergone a strange sort of transition in our home over the past week and a half, and ours has been a bit different than what we have seen in friends and acquaintances. The spouse of my colleague wrote a terrific piece in the Albany Times Union about sending their daughter off to college. (Click here to read the ... Read More »
Ending my series of blogs from Ireland, I wrap with the final thoughts from our return flight home. We are a highly distractible family, admittedly. Okay, not my siblings and all, but me and my husband and kids, yes. A favorite line from The Holy Grail that personifies us, at the Bridge of Death while facing the Gorge of Peril: ... Read More »
Sauced In New York Sometimes the food is in the sauce, sometimes we are