Cilantro pesto...yum! (and a new salad dressing!)

OK, I have been reading a lot lately about people who don't like cilantro.  I am not one of those people!  There are certainly things I don't like to eat, but I LOVE cilantro! 

I look for ways to use it, I love it so much!

Just recently in the comments on Ree Drummond's blog (thepioneerwoman.com)  I found that pesto does not need to just about basil.  Turns out "pesto" comes from pestare which means 'to crush'.  Oil based pasta sauces with herbs and garlic.  How could you go wrong?!

Anyway, the comment in Ree's blog had a recipe for cilantro pesto or sauce.  I got right up from the computer after reading that entry and headed to the kitchen.  (You see, I almost always have cilantro in the veggie drawer!)  I whipped together a batch and,wowee, was it ever good!  Flavorful, mouth watering, just plain yummy!  I tasted a bit off a spoon, but I think this pesto is better with something.  I plopped some on a burger, no bun thanks, and my mouth was in ecstasy! 

I have been struggling to find a salad dressing I like that does not have preservatives, sugar and a bunch of salt.  I use Celtic Sea Salt and I have yet to find a salad dressing that does.  So I got some plain Greek yogurt out of the fridge, added in some of the cilantro pesto, a squeeze of lemon juice, a bit of salt and pepper and voila!, a new salad dressing.  So, so good.  I served it that night to my family and even my husband who lives on Ranch dressing liked it! 

The pesto only keeps for a few days, but it is so easy to make!  Here is recipe from Cooks Illustrated-

CILANTRO SAUCE
• 2 bunches cilantro , stem ends trimmed (about 2 1/2 lightly packed cups)
• 1/2 cup olive oil (see note)
• 4 teaspoons juice from 1 lime
• 2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
**• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Salt and ground black pepper

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until cilantro is chopped but still has some texture, about 10 to 15 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste. May be covered and refrigerated for up to two days.

**I did NOT add the sugar!  I loved the taste without it and I am trying very hard to avoid sugar.  If I had thought it needed some sweetness, I would have used honey. 

Here is to cilantro pesto and all things yummy!

The Hopeful Romantic

Motivation!

Or maybe the title should be "Lack of Motivation!"

When I have time to myself and nothing that I HAVE to do, I sometimes have a hard time deciding what to do.

I certainly have a long list of things I could do, but there are times that none of them call to me.  There is sewing I could do.  Creating is fun, but what I really like is mending or making something over from what it was originally.  Change the sleeves on a blouse, tailor a pair of pants to fit better, etc.

Cooking is always on the list!  I LOVE to cook, but sometimes I am just not in the mood to cut, chop, saute or roast.

Cleaning house.  Now there is something I am not overly fond of, but when I can step back from a task completed I like what I see and how I feel!

Gardening - well, since I never started this year it is probably not calling to me very loudly.  Although I do like weeding and pruning.  It is rather like cleaning and the same "sense of accomplishment" feeling.

This doesn't happen often that I am at a loss for what to do.  Right now I think my choices are more centered on the idea that my sweet husband is working nights and I really want him to get uninterrupted sleep.  I know how I feel if I don't sleep well, so my actions are guided by "What is the most quiet thing I can do that I WANT to do. 

The little voice in the back of my head says reading or watching TV are choices, too.  I could do those things, but I want to doing something that involves movement!  Hmm, now there is an idea!  MP3 player on my belt, music in my ears and dancing!  Yes, that is it! 

I could tell you that was none of the original choices, but then I wouldn't be dancing! 

la la la, cha, cha, cha!

The Hopeful Romantic 

The Trouble With Blogging

Hmm, rather sounds like a book title...or just what popped into my head when I saw the date of my last entry.

I started this blog because I had so many things I wanted to say.  Problem is, I tend to edit myself before I get anywhere near the keyboard!

Going through my day, something I am thinking about will whisper, "blog" and I begin to write in my head. 

Then comes the edits.  Too much information, not enough information, too personal, not personal enough, and so on and so forth. 

Am I writing for myself?  Absolutely!  Writing for anyone else?  Good question and not one I have an answer for.

When I think about the blogs I read and what attracts me to that particular blog, I tend to find more is good.  I am interested in other people and their stories.  Just not sure where that leaves me.  Hence, the trouble with blogging!

There!  Out of my head and out there for anyone who is interested.

The Hopeful Romantic

Journaling

Recently I have come across a couple of my old journals.  I couldn’t resist sitting down and reading a bit.  Ok, more than just a bit.  I read every page!  There weren’t that many pages to read though.  It seems I start with the best of intentions to put the journal down or away never to come back to it.  Well, almost never.

The one I re-read a couple of times since I rediscovered it began before I even was pregnant with my first child.  (She just celebrated her 23^rd birthday recently!)  I recognize the woman writing the entries even I don’t really remember the feelings she committed to paper.  But then I suppose that is what journals are for.  I was pretty good at recording dates and other significant data so in some ways reading those old entries awakens old memories.  Pretty interesting stuff!

For the past several days I have kept one of the journals on my bedside table with the intention of journaling again.  Today was the day.  I put pen to paper and hopefully I will not be reading today’s entry years from now and thinking again how long this one journal is going to last with only a odd entry every few years!

The Hopeful Romantic

Capable

Over the last several days I have been watching Sarah Ferguson’s reality show about finding herself (thanks to whoever invented the DVR!).  I did not know when I began watching how much it would affect me; how much it would make me look at who I really am; how much of my soul would be laid open and how raw it really was.

Like Sarah, for years I have spoken of my mother and her death rather openly, but hiding the pain of her leaving.  Yes, leaving!  She was sick, too sick to stay here on Earth, but she left me just the same.  I was 17 and rather sheltered.  I did not know I was sheltered.  Can we ever really know something like that when we are in the midst of it?  I was capable, but incapable at the same time.  I could do well at school.  I could cook and clean.  I could talk to others, but it was awkward and I didn’t really relate to them.  I said what I thought people wanted to hear.  I even said things that I thought I wanted to hear.  I tried to put a positive spin on things.  Even to the extent of telling myself (and others a few times) that it was probably better than my mom had died when she had.  She was in pain and there was no promise of her being well ever again.  I even said it was better for me that she was gone because I had to learn to rely on myself away from the shelter she provided. 

Back then I was so good at putting on a capable face that adults often told me how “together” I was.  Together, ha!  I was a whirling pool of emotions, unsure of myself, but able to put forth someone that others saw as “together”.  It was something else I was capable of.  Amazing how good we can be at showing others what we think they want to see, what they will accept.

When someone told me I had it “together”, I would be puzzled.  I could not have felt less “together”.  I was scared, that is what I was!  Scared of doing the wrong thing, scared people wouldn’t like me, scared of not being loved.  I was so scared that I kept my head down, avoided eye contact, and even crossed the street to avoid having the come upon a person walking in the opposite direction! 

People that know me now can’t believe that I would do such a thing.  I am appear assured.  Am I really?  I struggle with that.  I am capable of so much more than I was at 17, but am I really assured?  People comment on my confidence in situations and again I wonder what they see that I don’t. 

Dr. Phil McGraw is helping Sarah Ferguson on her journey of self discovery.  He told her something that keep playing on the recorder that runs in the back of my in the quiet times when I think about my life.  He told her that people write on the slate of who we are as children, but the worst thing is for us to write bad things on our own slates.  Of course as a parent I am only too aware of how we write on our children’s slates.  We teach them, mold them, and influence them.  I just hadn’t thought about how we continue to write on our own slates. 

Wow!  Self deprecation is the first thing that comes to mind.  I thought that was a good thing, that it was being humble!  Not true!  I went to the dictionary and found “belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.”  Modest, hmm, not so bad, but when I read undervaluing I saw myself.  Every time I say or see myself in a way that is self deprecating I am belittling myself, undermining my own worth!  I can tell myself I am good, kind, fun, funny, etc, etc, but belittling thoughts and actions work against seeing the good.

I have to let go of anything that goes against the person I see myself as and the person I want to be.  My work is cut out for me.  The journey begins!

Cleaning For A Cause

Don’t let the title fool you!  The kind of cleaning I am talking about does not benefit any of the myriad of organizations that help others; the kind of cleaning I am talking about is for me and those entering my home!

While I am not wild about cleaning any more than the average woman, the thought of having people over spurs an onslaught of cleaning frenzy.  The regular stuff - toilets and sinks scrubbed, floors swept and mopped, carpets vacuumed and so on and so forth - is just not enough!  I put on my “guests eyes” and tackle each room or area from that perspective. 

It is not enough to dust the living room; I must now vacuum the couches, wash the throw pillows and balance the art work.  Yes, having friends over means more than just everyday cleaning and planning the menu, it means updating the look of a room.

Now I don’t think my friends will think less of me if my house is not spotless.  Goodness, if my friends expected that I would always just go to their homes!  It’s just that I am inspired to look at things differently, to look at things with “guest eyes.”  I don’t look at clutter in my friends homes, nor am I checking the corners for cobwebs; I am there to enjoy my time with them.  That said, I want to enjoy my time with friends at my house too and I can be more relaxed if I know I went the extra mile.  Just don’t put your white gloves on before you come over!

That new photo frame my daughter got me?  Time to choose a picture, get it printed and slap it in!  (Thankfully, she was way ahead of me and I came home to find it done!  She rocks!)

It is time also to hang the new clock.  The mirror that I love (apparently I am the only one that loves it!) comes down and up goes to new clock.  Sounds simple, right?  Yeah, I thought so too!  Nope, the hanger the mirror was on is not right for the clock.  I am thinking ‘just pull out the heavy duty nail that makes the clock hang as if it were about to leap off the wall and replace it with a smaller nail, screw, whatever’.  Nope again.  The heavy duty nail is in a stud and the stud is holding on to that nail for dear life.  Dang!  Ok, there is more than one way to skin a cat.  (Whoever came up with that saying?  Just too horrible to let the thought linger in my mind!)  A couple of well placed whacks from the hammer and the mirror hanger is now ready for the clock.  And a bit of energy has been expelled…phew!  Well, the living room is ready and I am happy!  Onto the kitchen! 

The day after the gathering I am basking in the look of my “new” living room.  I like the look!  I should have friends over more often!

The Hopeful Romantic

The Way I See The World

Driving to work yesterday, I was happy.  It wasn’t cloudy or humid, the sun was shining and, well, I was alive!  I think it is pretty simple to find things to be happy about. 

It must have rained not long before I left for work because the sidewalks were the kind of damp clean that holds the promise of a new day.  Nice little rain, not too much to hamper traffic on my drive and it didn’t seem to cause a rise in the humidity.  There was just a bit of movement to the air and I thought, “Yup, this is a good start to the day!”

I walked in the office where I work and greeting my co-workers I commented on how the world was all shiny and new with the recent rain.  Someone added to the end of my assessment of the morning, “and you have your rose colored glasses on!”  I heartily agreed! 

I see things for the good, not the bad.  I trust people until they give me a reason not to.  Was I born to privilege and have not had a day of want in my life?  Nope.  Have I been hurt?  Yes, of course!  But, I have been hurt no more than those who don’t trust and are missing the beauty in the little things that make up our world.

I have been called naïve, foolish and overly optimistic.  It is alright with me!  I like me and I like my world!

When I was a young woman, 20 or so, the man I was dating summed it up for me.  In a moment of frustration he told me that I was worse than a hopeless romantic.  He proclaimed me a “hope-full” romantic.  I remember being rather insulted then, but the title kept playing in my brain.  I began to embrace the idea that I didn’t need rose colored glasses; my own eyes were rosy enough! 

You may have read I am a lover of words, so I was curious enough to see if there was such a thing as a hopeful romantic, besides me, that is!  It seems there are enough of us around that the term has been defined.  A hopeful romantic is not necessarily someone who is a schmaltzy gushingly sop who cannot see the bad things in the world.  A hopeful romantic is someone who sees the possibility of good and of good things happening.

So join me, won’t you?  Know that there are bad things, but look for the good, because the good is there, you just have to adjust your lenses!

The Hopeful Romantic