I loved this story when I read it, so I’m sharing.  http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-134905764/brian-williams-aha-moment.html

For an extra-added bonus, here is another favorite of mine, a holiday treat:  Falling in Love. See the bottom of the page for a further  “Bonos”.

Williams, Brian. “Brian Williams’s Aha! Moment; breaking news: the NBC anchorman learns that love is what happens while you’re making other plans.(LYBL).” O, The Oprah Magazine. 2005. accessmylibrary. (December 16, 2009). http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-134905764/brian-williams-aha-moment.html

A final bonus bonus:  Brian Williams and Bono

I’ll number these books so that it seems more drumroll -y.

1) Reflections on the Art of Living:  A Joseph Campbell Companion – I have not ventured into this book.  My friends that have read it have all lost practical perspective on life from reading it and since I’m prone to do that anyway, I’m gonna leave this one alone.  I imagine it’s a life changer, the caliber of anything by OSHO, or Tolle, or Coehlo, or Miguel & Jose Luis Ruiz.

2) Sanford Meisner on Acting – This is a great book.  In fact, my new writing partner is new to writing screenplays and there are only a few good books on screenwriting.  It won’t take her long to get through those, the woman has a PHd for crying out loud.  I didn’t think about this book.  I think I should have had her read it first.  It’s all about being an expression or an action and if you can access that as a writer, you have access to a screenplay the likes of  As Good as it Gets and Good Will Hunting.  With Meisner you can approach a scene or scenario or hell a life event  ‘as if’ you were ten feet tall, or, ‘as if’ there were two doves living in your heart, such that your acting is fundamentally based on whether you can abundantly generate dynamics that move the action of the scene forward.  There are great life lessons in this book.

3) The Moon and Sixpence – I’m going to to be honest,  the only books I’ve read in the last year are business books and vegan cookbooks.  I haven’t had any interest in even looking at what might be good to read, so, I think, based on the caliber of the rest of the books on this list, I might make this my next read.  Somerset Maugham.  Wow.  “How Cleaassy.”

4) A History of God – This is a must read and should be mandatory adult reading for Americans, lol.  The Reading Room article has such a great quote by Rob Morrow I’m just going to lift it.  “… It traces the way humans have created divine narratives and how the beliefs inspired by those narratives have enabled us to survive.  [This book] helped me put God into perspective and made me think about my daughter, specifically how I’m going to help this person along in her life.”  I love that!  Being a rather awful, yet humble Christian, I’d never surmise that I could put God into perspective, but I value all levels of greater, wider, higher, deeper levels of acknowledgment, understanding, discernment and distinction.  I think ya can’t go wrong when ya go looking.  You may not get it right, but you’re not gonna get it wrong.  I need to read this book again.  Very cool.

5) The Agony and The Ecstasy – I read this book at 25.  I was much smarter, more empathic and much brighter then.  It blew me away.  The passion and the ’100% all in’ approach to life that Irving Stone gave his characterization of Michelangelo, breathtaking.  In no way was this man’s ego at play over being an artist.  He may have had ego about technique or other things, but artistry was his soul.  Irving Stone built the entire book on one idea, that  Michelangelo saw the statue in the stones he cut.  That they were already there for him.  He was just following the call.  That often, all he could think about was actualizing  the visions that he saw.  Irving Stone writes this character as a man who WAS his purpose.  He looked at other choices, but his spirit had no choice.  It’s funny as I write this I hear Frank Sinatra’s I did it My Way in the back of my head.  Lol.   Stone’s Michelangelo didn’t have that much ego, but he did it his way anyway.  The title is the book.  Really being willing to live the Agony and the Ecstasy of the choices you make in life.  This is such an amazing story.  I don’t think there is another book like it.

Here is My Ode to Mojitos

A classic Los Angeles Mojito – Using Rose’s Lime Juice, I think this is the trick to a great fresh Mojito.  Nothing else should be added!!  So your Mojito is crystal clear.

Bobby Flay knows what I mean.  In his Cuban Mojo Episode he included a recipe for a simple and clean Mojito.  Ah! Fresca!

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
• 2 springs fresh mint
• Squeeze fresh lime juice
• 2 ounces light rum
• Splash club soda
• Ice cubes

Directions

Place sugar and mint in a tall glass and using the back of a spoon, mash the mint leaves into the sugar. Add the remaining ingredients, mix, and serve.

Here are some Recipes for messing with my Mojitos in great ways.

Tyler Florence’s (Food Network!) Blueberry Ginger Mojitos by the Pitcher

Ingredients

For the Ginger simple syrup:

• 1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup cold water

For the Mojito:

• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 20 to 24 fresh mint leaves
• 4 ounces ginger simple syrup
• 4 ounces vodka
• 5 ounces club soda
• Ice cubes
• Blueberries, for garnish
• Mint leaves, for garnish

Bobby Flay’s Signature Mojito – Only three stars!  See!  His simple Mojito at the top of the page… 5 stars.   I’m telling ya, less is more when it comes to a good Mojito!!  Still, this is fun to try.

Giada’s De Laurentis’ Cherry Mojitos – I cannot get away from the Food Network!  All of my favorite recipes come from here.   My next favorite Recipe hunting location is Vegan Yum-Yum.  I wonder if she has a Mojito recipe.  These cherry Mojitos look really good.  I like that in this recipe, you’ve combined the lime and the sugar into a simple syrup.  Seems smart.

Ingredients

• 1 pound bag frozen pitted cherries
• 2 cups crushed ice, plus extra to serve
• 1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
• 1 cup citrus flavored rum
• 1 2/3 cups Lime Simple Syrup, recipe follows
• Lime wedges and fresh cherries, for garnish

Directions

Place the frozen cherries, crushed ice, mint leaves, lime juice, rum, and simple syrup in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Pour the mixture into chilled glasses and top with crushed ice. Garnish with lime wedges and cherries.

Lime Simple Syrup

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3 limes, zested

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and lime zest over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool for 20 minutes. Strain before using.

Yield: 1 2/3 cups

Thanks for letting me share!  Enjoy!

You could start off a weekend with Bobby Flay’s Brunch Breakfast Grill for Dinner on a Friday, serve up Sandra Lee’s easy and elegant pork chops with cocktails for good friends on Saturday night and hang out and watch football with sandwiches and cobbler on Sunday afternoon.  This is an entire weekend full of food.

Breakfast

Bobby Flay Grills Breakfast – You should see this episode.  It’s so gorgeous.Everything is cooked on the Grill, even the plums.

Grilled Plums with Spiced Walnut Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients

• 6 plums, halved and pitted
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• Pinch finely grated orange zest
• Spiced Walnut Yogurt Sauce, recipe follows

Cast Iron Home Fries - All of these ingredients are grilled before placing them in a cast iron skillet back over an open flame…

Ingredients

• 2 pounds new red potatoes, cooked until tender and halved
• 1 Spanish onion, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 2 jalapeno chiles
• Vegetable oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter

Grilled Sausage and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches

and finally he includes a

Spicy Citrus Blood Mary

I’m not a big Bloody Mary fan, but I like the idea of mixing in a citrus.  I might play with some of these ingredients and orange juice.  I like the tang, but I do not like tomatoes and celery in my face on a Sunday morning.

This is a beautiful patio breakfast that would stun weekend guests…  I love it.

Lunch

Two Options:

Tyler’s Ultimate Pulled Pork Sandwich, with homemade Chipotle Kettle Chips and Bourbon Peach Cobbler

Bourbon Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

• 8 peaches, peeled and sliced, about 6 to 8 cups
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided, plus more for dusting
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons for skillet
• Heavy cream, plus more for brushing

or

Sunny Anderson’s Real Philly Cheesesteak

Dinner

And a lovely lite dinner with cocktails from Sandra Lee.  I think I’ll leave all of the pink stuff at her house tho!!

Start off with the Pink Elephant Cocktail! - These looked great, I don’t know why you’d wait till dinner starts to get started.

“National Security” I have no problem with.   I participate in CERT training and am Red Cross Disaster Response trained.

As I volunteer and continue to train and to develop response programs in the community, I have questions about the ethics of this program.  I am a staunch constitutionalist, so personal freedoms are of primary importance to me.  Also of primary importance, is, community well being.   These are issues that will always bring conflict for me, how to you develop healthy communities while ensuring full access to fundamental freedoms and human rights.

Here are Janet Napolitano’s considerations at the end of September, 2009. http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10520

The video below is a snippet.

http://culinarypen.blogspot.com/2009/02/olive-naan-pizza.html

In this episode Julia demonstrates the ‘ins and outs’ of making a great omelette.  She also makes a stacked omelette that looks fabulous.  As I watched her prepare this amazing baked layered dish, I wondered to myself what would be the ultimate flavor in such a dish.  In good intuitional form, up came the answer, Lobster!

I, however, try to cook vegan as much as possible, so I wondered how I could make such a perfect dish, keep the layers, maintain the inclusion of Lobster and be able to serve it as a baked dish with toppings and, maybe, some creme fraiche around the edge and a light layer of grated Italian cheese on top, all that and being animal conscientious!  Good luck.

Here is Julia’s Omelette show.  A link to a lobster crepe demonstration and the link to my favorite vegan blog Vegan Yum-Yum for an incredible vegan crepe recipe.

I think what I might try is a combination of crepe layers with lobster and pine nuts and an egg (omelette) layer with herbs…  I haven’t decided.  I do know I want to bake it for the eight to ten minutes and top it with herbs or pesto and some pecorino romano or some kind of italian cheese making it not vegan, but still conscientious in the use of animal products.

Here is a bonus, a recipe for Lobster Pie I found while looking for the the Lobster crepe recipe and the right combination of  Italian cheese.  I had to include it, because it sounded so good.

Finally, because I had to know what was available in Italian cheeses for this recipe, I looked up some gorgeous sites on Italian Cheeses.  Wikipedia, LifeinItaly.com, iGourmet.com selling Pecorino Tuscano, 6 Most Famous Kinds of Italian Cheese, Formaggio Cheese Shop (good stuff!).  MmmmmHmmmMmmm!  Enjoy!