Growing up

Everyone has to grow up sometime. I feel like this weekend was part of my "growing up". On Saturday afternoon, after running some errands with my sister I was driving home through Old Town. The traffic is often slow (which irritates me), and people always seem to pile up in one lane like little lemmings (which also irritates me). It was just such the case that afternoon, so as I pulled in to the left-inside lane and was about to cross the intersection....CRASH. My FIRST accident! My poor little malibu!! I pulled my bruised and broken car to the curb. (Luckily only the car was bruised and broken. Both myself and the other driver were not injured). I didn't really know what to do. Thoughts flew through my mind...Do I get out of the car? I probably should clear the debris from the road. Do the police just come...no, I probably have to call them. I felt like such a child. I was shaky and nervous. Mostly I didn't want to look incompetent in front of the other driver; especially because I was fairly certain he was at fault.

I got out of the car, made my way slowly over to his and just said, "well, this isn't how I anticipated I'd spend my Saturday." We exchanged information. I called Joseph then the police. And to be honest, the whole thing was not as bad as I had expected. Everyone involved was super friendly, the police officer, the other driver, and the AAA tow truck lady who was giving everyone advice about repair shops and calling in an extra tow truck for the dude's car. The officer determined I was not a fault (which wasn't too hard to deduce). My newfound "crash friend" had left his cell phone with his wife and friends. So we called them on mine. They were at a local burger joint. Nice people. We left with a hand shake and a "Good luck" to each other. Later Joseph told me how the officer had commented on how well I was doing...how grown up I was acting. I laughed and thought, if only he had seen the child within!!

It's these funny little experiences that I am somehow grateful for because they hold valuable lessons about people. I felt like I made some new friends that day. Or at least renewed my faith in humanity. Sadly, my car will be anything but renewed!

Summer's end

As summer comes to a close, and our little garden turns into a thick jungle of overgrown flowers and withered curling pea vines, I have tried to think of recipes that include what we have successfully harvested: Squash, peppers, onions, lettuce, a few peas and carrots, basil, and tomatoes. Earlier in the summer I think we had "basil tomato chicken" at least once a week! :) Lucky for me, while browsing through the NYTimes (which is a frequent activity per my job) I saw a little webcast blurb about making Paella - a Spanish dish that Joseph and I had on one of our first dates...the trick to the Paella we had was that is was Paella negro, and yes, it was literally BLACK due to the squid ink it was cooked with! We ended up with black tongues, black teeth, and Joseph somehow had it all over his lips...Needless to say, it was a memorable date! This instead, is a recipe for tomato Paella, and a tribute to summer's end.

The Ingredients: Olive oil, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste/sauce, paprika, saffron, salt, rice and shrimp.
Preparation: Mince 4 cloves garlic, dice 1-2 onions (depends on size), slice tomatoes into wedges, preheat oven to 350, begin warming a pot of water you will later add to the rice.


Start with a little olive oil in a warm pan. Cook the diced onions until transparent. Add the garlic, paprika and saffron (1 Tbsp and 1/2 tsp respectively), and a large pinch of salt. Mix until nicely colored.

Stir in a generous dollop of tomato paste or sauce. Add the rice to the mixture (amount depends on servings you want, I used 2c) and mix well, letting the rice roast in the spices.

Add the water (in proportion to the rice) and let boil. Top with tomato wedges and pre-cooked shrimp (can be any size, I like the smaller salad shrimp).


Transfer to oven and bake covered for 15 min (or until water is absorbed). *make sure that your ovenware does not have a plastic or wooden handle!