My mother was way ahead of her time when it came to nutrition. “Make every plate a rainbow!” she would instruct us.  When I was asked to bring a salad to a Rosh Hashana lunch last week, the rainbow salad I brought would have passed Mom’s muster. It’s easy and adaptable to any size and choice of vegetables.  Prep time 30 minutes.

This one included: 

purple cabbage
purple onion
small peppers — red, yellow, orange
carrots
celery
persian cucumbers

Directions:

Chop all veggies into bite-sized pieces.

Save some of each color for the top and place the
rest in your serving bowl and mix together.

Arrange the reserved veggies in whatever color design
you choose. Or not. I went with concentric circles starting 
with purples and then shifted to warmer colors.
For extra crunch you can add pumpkin seeds or nuts. Raisins 
bring a nice sweetness. Or chopped dates. Or apricots. See
what I mean about adaptibility.  Mark Bitman would approve.

For the dressing I mixed up balsamic vinegar, cider vinegar,
olive oil, S&P and some garlic powder because I was out of fresh garlic.

Bon Appetit!

I’m pretty good in the kitchen but until recently I couldn’t cook a pot of rice worth its salt.  I blamed my pot lids which are made of metal, not tempered glass. When  making rice I had to trust the timer and/or lift the lid toward the end of cooking time to check.  I know that flubs the whole process of  letting cooking rice cook. In case you’re wondering why I didn’t buy a rice cooker, our kitchen is galley-efficient. Every appliance has to earn its keep. A rice cooker’s space/utility ratio is not high enough to earn shelf space.

One day the thought came to me, “Can rice be baked?” Lo and behold, it can! Google served up two such recipes. One is straightforward — dump rice in an ovenproof dish, add water, cover tightly and wait till the timer sounds.  The other has an extra step and an added ingredient or two, but it comes out just as wonderfully: fluffy, great texture, tasty as all get out. Extra bonus: plenty left over for rice pudding! And for the real win? No gummy pot to clean out. I line the baking dish with a sheet of parchment paper and voila! Easy clean up.

So here you go: oven rice. Or riz au fourneau if you want to get fancy! And give the rice pudding recipe at the left a try.  It is totally yummy.

Oven Baked Rice #1

Perfect Every Time Oven-Baked Rice

Traveling light means nightly hand-laundering.  Enter this retractable portable clothesline. It comes in its own little drawstring bag. The colorful vinyl-covered clothes pins can be spaced and held in place by push-button stoppers. Sturdy hooks at each end of the line (and a bit of creative placement) get you ready in moments.  Pack a few laundry soap sheets and you’re good to go.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, head to your fave search engine. This cute and useful clothesline is ready and waiting for your next adventure.

                                                                                                                                                                  Hanging out in Umbria.

It’s been quite a while since I adhered to a regular exercise routine. Covid closed down my yoga studio as well as the wonderful SLT studio I went to twice a week. I participated online until the repetition and tech glitches drove me to near couch-potato status.  True, I’ve kept up with my 10,000 steps and recently spent eight weeks hiking in Arizona for three to four miles each day. But it’s been way past time to develop, or redevelop, exercise habits I began in high school. 

“Whatever you choose,” my doctor advised me, “just have fun. Figure out what exercise you really want to do and make it fun.” Exercise has always been on my should do, have to, need to list.  It’s satisfying once I’m done but pretty much boring and something to be endured while I’m at it. Until I began thinking how to make it more enjoyable.  

Instead of focusing on specific exercises, I considered what music I wanted to listen to while I worked out. I know, I know, go ahead; call me late to the party. But I relish quietude. Silence is my old friend. I don’t have music streaming through the house nor playlists on my phone. Nevertheless, finding music to exercise to was the turning point. One day I cue up some Joni Mitchell. Another day a Motown medley on YouTube makes my routine fly by. Deva Premal sails me through yoga asanas; the 70’s band It’s a Beautiful Day mentally returns me to my teenage bedroom, reprising the floor routines I did in high school. I feel myself exercising counterclockwise in some curious mash-up of my once-upon-a-time and present self. Granted, my moves are slower; I’m aware and respectful of my limitations. And it’s delightful to feel an echo of 17-year-old me inside of 68-year-old me.

Fifty-plus years ago it never would have occurred to me to appreciate how freely and easily I moved through space. It sure does now. When Deva or Joni or Aretha sing their last notes, I give thanks for head, shoulders, knees, toes, and everything in between. Consider it an exercise in gratitude.