Annice

I hope this is the last post I write about taking care of my husband and all my tsores (yiddish for troubles).  As expected, Len turned the corner from being in pain all the time and taking lots of drugs to moving about more, going up and down the stairs, and reducing his pain meds.

Better Days

Like him, Gus  also turned the corner so we are all doing better.   I’m even back at work part-time.  Being home-bound with Len has been a true learning experience, and, as a woman over 50, I feel liberated enough to say, I didn’t like it.  It made me feel isolated and anxious, and considering I am a 7 (Enthusiast) on the Enneagram that was tough.  By the way,  if you’re not familiar with the Enneagram personality profiles, check it out!  Seven’s are extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous.  At their best, they focus their talents on worthwhile goals, becoming appreciative, joyous, and satisfied.  At their worst, well, let’s just say that nursing would not be good for a 7, as being patient often feels like being stuck.  Needless to say, I have work to do on that one.

.

Being home-bound has made me realize how much I like my work.  I’m not a workaholic, but I like my work and love the interaction with people.  Friends and family asked me what I did all day during the downtime.   Well, what kept me from going over the edge emotionally was getting on the yoga mat, reading wonderful novels, facebook, and re-visiting cookbooks.  I’ve been preparing 3 square meals daily for almost 6 weeks, and I’ve never done that before.  I’m pretty much cooked out!  Last night I made an “Indian Samosa Casserole” and a Green Bean Salad with Miso dressing, compliments of the  January issue of the Vegetarian Times. You can be sure with me back at to work part-time, the food fest is over.  Let the diet begin!

Last night's dinner

Ingredient List

Serves 6

Crust

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. vegetable oil

Filling

• 1 Tbs. black or yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes, optional
• 5 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (1 1/4 lb.)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced (1 cup)
• 1 medium carrot, diced (1/2 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 tsp. agave nectar or sugar
• 2 Tbs. soy milk

To make Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Whisk together flours and salt in bowl.  Stir in oil until clumps form.  Add 6 to 10 Tbs. cold water, 1 Tbs. at a time, until dough holds together.  Shape into ball, cover with damp towel, and set aside.

To make Filling:

2. Stir together mustard seeds, curry, ginger, cumin, and red pepper flakes (if using) in bowl; set aside.

3. Cook potatoes in boiling salted water 15 minutes, or until tender.  Drain, return to pot, and mash, leaving small chunks.

4. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, carrot, and garlic, and sauté 5 minutes, or until carrot is tender.  Move onion mixture to side of pan, and add mustard seed mixture in center.  Toast 30 seconds.  Stir in peas and broth.  Fold onion mixture into potato mixture; stir in agave nectar.  Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Spread Filling in 9-inch pie pan. Set aside.

5. Roll out Crust dough to 11-inch circle on floured work surface.  Cover Filling with dough, pressing down to make sure no air pockets remain.  Trim away excess dough, and crimp edges with fingers.  Cut X in center to vent steam; brush with soy milk just before baking.  Place pie on baking sheet, and bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until crust is golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

6. Frozen cooking instructions:  Preheat oven to 375°F. Place casserole on baking sheet, and bake 75 to 90 minutes, or until Filling bubbles and Crust is golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Information

Per slice: Calories: 299, Protein: 7g, Total fat: 7g, Saturated fat: <1g, Carbs: 54g, Cholesterol: mg, Sodium: 469mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugars: 7g

Photograph by Michael & Patricia Fogden/Corbis

I was going to write to all of our women over 50 bloggers about the changes I want to make in 2011, and believe me, there are more than enough to fill a week’s worth of posts.  However, as I look back at 2010, what strikes me most (besides the most obvious news stories) is that 2010 was the year of the vampire. It was everywhere.  Why are people so fascinated with vampires?  Not me, I’m all about getting rid of all the life sucking forces around me, and not only in 2011 but  “Ad infinitum et ultra!”

In 2010 I felt bombarded with vampire stuff everywhere around me.  Bookstores, movies, television, recipes, and even phone apps.  Even our beloved Jane Eyre has been reduced to a spin-off:  Jane Slayre by Charlotte Bronte and Sherri Browning Erwin.  

This volume takes Brontë’s classic and turns the Reed family into vampires, and Jane Eyre’s classmates into zombies.

Vampire Cupcake

If you were reading this vampire classic late into the night, were you sipping on your Vampire Blood Drink recipe courtesy of Michael Chiarello from the food network?  Maybe you preferred to veg out in front of the T.V. this past year.  If so, did you indulge in a vampire cupcake from Baking Bites? And, while you were devouring the last of your vampire cupcake crumbs, I know you enjoyed the all-American supernatural series, The Vampire Diaries.  Or, did you prefer the big screen?  Were you one of the millions that saw, Eclipse, voted the best vampire movie of 2010?  Have you had enough of The Twilight Saga films based on the books by author Stephanie Meyer which have been translated in 38 different languages?  A footnote here, the series grossed over $1.7 billion.  

Smashed from your vampire drink, you might’ve cruised the web for Bite This!  A Vampire Books blog for everything you ever wanted to know about vampires but were afraid to ask, including Vampire Apps for your iPhone like Choice of the Vampire: a text-based game where the user can begin her two-hundred year journey as a vampire in New Orleans circa 1815 for only $1.99.        

When you’re bored with that, I invite you to the fine sounds of vampire music videos (I’ll spare you).

Needing a laugh?  Try a few vampire jokes.  You can use them on your trick-or-treater’s or save them for your grandchildren on Halloween.

Like this one:  How do vampires get around on Halloween night?  By blood vessels.

So, move over David Letterman, oops50.com presents:

Top Ten Signs You’re Ridding your Life of Vampires

1. You get a big anti-vampire tattoo on your neck
2. You breathe in fire every morning after meditation
3. You drink a Martini with extra olives every Saturday night
4. You scrape the dishes religiously every night before loading the dishwasher
5. You start reading the old testament from the last page to the first
6. You never  step in dog poop
7. You never keep empty change in your pocket
8. You brush your teeth with garlic paste, mix a little anchovy paste in there for extra precaution
9. You play Tiptoe Through the Tulips  by Tiny Tim while you’re drinking that Martini with extra olives
10. You post these on Facebook

Jane

 Speaking as a woman over 50, raised in the days when Hollywood stars rarely used their fame or fortune to do more than an occasional political endorsement, I want to praise the work of people like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Tom Hanks, and now, Denzel Washington.  As you will see from the article below, he saw a need and wrote a check to fill it!  I’m disappointed the media didn’t give it coverage equal to Lindsey Lohan’s latest mishap!  I’m particularly crazy about this article, since I was born at BAMC!

Remember this the next time you walk up to the ticket window of your local movie theater with $10 in your hand!

Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas, (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the United States, especially burn victims.  There are buildings there called Fisher Houses.  The Fisher House is a hotel where soldiers’ families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the hospital.  BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they’re almost filled most of the time. 

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, he was given a tour of one of the Fisher Houses.  He asked how much one of them would cost to build, and he later sent in a sizeable donation toward one.

The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.

Interesting:   Denzel Washington’s patriotism doesn’t even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper, except the local newspaper in San Antonio.

A true American and friend to all in uniform!

Sadhvi

Ok, I know I am not the most up-to-date person on the latest movies.  There are so many new ones that come out that even my most avid movie-going friends can’t remember complete titles anymore when they share the latest ones they just saw with me!  Or if they can remember, the anmes all sound alike.  Persoanlly, I think that all the movie titles have been taken by now, and that the ones that come out are just a random mix of all the previous ones.  My husband watches a lot of movies, and usually, only good ones.  He said that I had to see “Gigantic”, and I liked it so much that I want to share it with you.  I know it came out in April of 2009, so please forgive me.  It’s all good and we are all one anyway, right?  I have a feeling that you haven’t seen this one though.  It has some of my favorite actors in it, and I found it refreshing.  Take a look at the trailer and if you get a chance, jot it down to see one day.  I think you will enjoy it!

Annice

When Charlie Rose interviews someone, I watch and listen.  I guess that makes me a Charlie Rose groupie (I rely on Tivo to get my fill).  So, when he interviews Joan Rivers about the documentary, “A Piece of Work,” I go see it.  The film, by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, spans the 40 year career of Ms. Rivers.  At 77 (she’s actually 75 in the film), we see a tough broad who is not afraid to bare all.  In fact, she thrives on it, needs it, like an addict.
Watch this great trailer:

I’m not exactly sure when I stopped liking Joan Rivers, but I’m guessing it was back in the late 80s with everyone else.  Falling from grace due to a series of professional and personal blows such as being blacklisted by Johnny Carson/NBC, and the 1987 suicide of her husband/manager, she struggled to find work in her beloved show biz.

The Young Joan Rivers

Circumstances and age seemed to have turned Ms. Rivers into a comic whose jokes seemed more like cruel jabs aimed to hurt the likes of  Liz Taylor and her battle with weight.  I find it very ironic for Joan to be hassling Liz when she was perpetually under the knife of her plastic surgeon re-figuring her face, and who knows what else.  I know it’s none of my business how many face lifts this Grande Dame of comedy endures but frankly, I think her face lifts turned me off when she started to look like a caricature of herself standing in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Now, here’s the big BUT – after seeing this film, and her journey back to glitz and glamour, I actually like Joan Rivers again!  She’s one smart woman who climbed her way back to legendary status selling her jewelry on QVC, and her red carpet attacks (with her daughter) on celebrity T.V.  And don’t forget her latest gig on Donald Trump’s reality show “The Celebrity Apprentice.”  No, I didn’t watch it but I was not surprised to learn that Ms. Rivers won the competition, which by the way, meant she had to beat out her own daughter, also on the show.  Needless to say, the mother and daughter relationship is strained.  Nothing new here abut mothers and daughters.

The many faces of the Queen of Comedy

In spite of her obsession to be a star and stay on top of her game, I couldn’t help but admire Joan Rivers.  Like I said before, she is one tough broad, and she’s not afraid to fight tooth and nail to keep her dream alive.  Aging gracefully?  Not her.  Aging any way she can is more like it.

Sadhvi

I remember reading the book, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert when it first came out in February 2007.  It was so good that I didn’t stop until I was done, and I continued talking like Ms. Gilbert for a few weeks after.  Then again, I also dressed and talked like Diane Keaton’s character in the Woody Allen movie,  ”Annie Hall” for a long time after seeing it.  I guess I’m just a wee bit impressionable, no?!   

I knew when I finished the book that it would be made into a Hollywood movie at some point, and sure enough, Julia Roberts bought the rights shortly after it came out.  She stars in the movie that is coming to the screens next month.  So if you have NOT read the book, DO!  The book is gonna be hard to beat.   

Here’s the trailer, take a look, and hopefully, we will all enjoy a good film this summer taken from a great book!

Content coming soon.