Tag: word prompts

Creamy and Briny Delights: Exploring the American Paradise Seafood Chowder

Daily writing prompt
What foods would you like to make?
View all responses

The dampness pervades everything, and the clouds hang low, heavy with impending rain—it’s just a matter of when, not if. The fog lingers, gently caressed by a breeze. On days like these, all I crave is the comfort of a warm, hearty bowl of chowder. The soul-soothing embrace of a New England or “white” clam chowder—the creamy goodness that never fails to delight my taste buds.

Recently, I had the pleasure of listening to Here’s to Us by the talented Elin Hilderbrand. Within the story, I discovered four authentic recipes, among them, a tantalizing seafood chowder. As a chowder enthusiast, my interest was immediately piqued.

In the author’s note, Elin Hilderbrand gives credit to her dear friend, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, a renowned food writer and cookbook author, for inspiring her American Paradise Seafood Chowder. The mere mention of it conjures images of a chowder that’s thick and velvety, with the briny essence of the sea dancing on your palate. Just imagine the rich aroma of the ocean mingling with the smoky richness of bacon, complemented by the tenderness of perfectly cooked clams and the unique addition of diced tomatoes. Fresh herbs lend their magic, elevating the flavors to an exquisite symphony of taste.

I must confess, I am a devoted fan of The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, and her scrumptious chowder recipe featuring Yukon gold potatoes. That has always been my go-to recipe. However, this new recipe, raved about by Elin Hilderbrand, has sparked my curiosity to embark on a culinary adventure, despite the absence of potatoes.

As I think about preparing this American Paradise Seafood Chowder, I can’t help but anticipate the sheer delight it will bring to my taste buds. I find myself daydreaming about savoring every spoonful, cocooned in the warmth of a cozy sweater while the raindrops gently patter against the windowpane. Mmm. I wish I had a bowl in front of me right now.

So, with chowder weather settling in, I am determined to set my culinary compass and venture beyond my usual recipe. I am eager to explore the culinary wonders of this American Paradise Seafood Chowder. Let’s embrace the richness of the sea and the heartwarming flavors that await us in this delightful creation. Here’s to trying new recipes and discovering the best clam chowder I’ve ever had!

P.S. In my latest blog article titled Cooking up Emotions: A Review of ‘Here’s To Us’, I invite readers to join me in the Lit Lounge for a captivating exploration of Elin Hilderbrand’s novel.

Looking for the Silver Lining

What is the one thing in life that you are most excited about right now? Why?

That is Fandango’s Provocative Question for the day. Interesting that I read this right question right now since I’ve been a little sad today so it’s a good time to be looking for things to get excited about.

I have much to be excited about as I look around. I have my garden which I planted alongside my daughter who I got to spend time with for ten weeks during quarantine. Sorry for the reason, but so thankful for the time with her. The garden should provide plenty of healthy, fresh produce for me and my family if we have a good season. I need it too since having my two adult children live under the same roof again depleted our rations of canned tomato sauce and salsa a little more than twice as much if it had been just Mark and I. But it made me smile each and every time they opened a jar of our homegrown goodness and raved about how good it taste.

I’m excited to work in the garden and be outside with the sun shining and even if it’s not. After a number of months being cooped up inside because the weather was too miserable to enjoy being outside for any given time, I’m not too picky about when is a good time to spend out in the garden. Just as long as there aren’t too many bugs and it’s not too hot. My garden has fantastic sunlight so I have to pick and choose my hours which tend to be early in the morning and after 5pm.

I’m excited about the new chickens we have now! Khaleesi, Gertrude, Ethel and Lucy have joined our homestead. It’s always a thrill to walk into the hen house and see the daily deposit of freshly laid eggs. Which in turn has made us excited about breakfast and any recipe that has eggs in it. I get excited now to do the weeding since the hens love the dandelions and eat them right up, it no longer feels like weeding and more like harvesting. I know human enjoy eating dandelion leaves in salads and making tea or wine but until now they were just weeds. So I’m excited about that – it goes for all weeds pretty much too. Plus the chickens are so much fun to watch they make me excited to just come out to the yard and sit and watch.

Finally I am excited about the flowers which are beginning to bloom and I know will blooming throughout the summer and into the fall. I have a short season up here on the mountain, so I am grateful for the time we are given and excited to see it all unfold.

It can be difficult to get excited about the future when we are dealing with so many unknowns. But it’s in times like these where you need to take a deep breath, take a step back and look for the good things, they don’t have to be big things, just small positives. It’s easy to see the negative, especially when you are looking for it. When you are looking for it – that it all you will see. It’s harder to look for the positives, the good things – not matter how big or small they may be. But once you start to look for the positives, I thik they become easier to see.

99 Words: Dog in the Daisies

Artemis was our beautiful Brittany spaniel. She was a lot of firsts for me. She was my first female dog. The first dog I ever rescued from a shelter and the first dog I ever found on the internet. But she was not the last of any of those things. Rather, she opened the door to all of them.

She was a magnificent hunter, true to her name. On rainy days, her ideal weather for such sport, she would lay in the daisies hiding, the way a Navy Seal does on a covert mission. Her natural patience paying off.

Better late, than never. This post is my entry for the writing prompt from February 6, 2020, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story to the theme “a dog in the daisies.” It can be any dog, real or imagined. Push into the setting and as always, go where the prompt leads!

Quest

During our lifetime, we are all on some sort of quest or another. A search for something. From the time we are born our very first quest begins, the quest for knowledge. What’s this? What’s that? What does this taste like? What does this mean? What does that mean?

The word ‘quest’ originates, according to Dictionary.com, back 1275-1325 Middle English. It was a derivation from the Old French word ‘quester’ which emerged from the Latin ‘quaerere’, meaning ‘to seek’. We are constantly seeking something.

There have been quests undertaken by mankind throughout our short history. From the knights and their quest for the Holy Grail to the men and women of NASA who successfully achieved their quest to explore our moon. Their successors continuing to explore further into our expanding universe in that ultimate and never ending quest for knowledge that we all have to know what’s out there and are we alone.

We are curious beings. We want to know more about everything. Our thirst for knowledge unquenched is one of our most powerful quests constantly driving us.

Life can be difficult. We are all on a roller coaster which we don’t control the steep highs and lows and velocity of speed at which things are thrown at us. We just have to hold on. Some people like to have their eyes open – others shut tight. I keep mine open – WIDE OPEN. Trying to see what’s coming ahead so I can prepare myself somehow. The quest for control as powerful the one for knowledge. The two go hand in hand, knowledge is power and power helps give you control.

A few years ago we moved from living in Connecticut full time to living in New Hampshire. A huge change in our daily lives, it was the perfectly timed step back we needed in our lives. To some it seemed sudden, but I had started a new quest quietly online two and half years before we made the actual move. Almost daily would take out my iPad and scour Realtor.com searching for our next step home. Vermont? Maine? New Hampshire? I researched and read about this town and that town, loving every minute of the journey to what ultimately would be my dream. I just had no idea at the time what that actually looked like or where that would be.

Another quest I have been on that any others are also on, is one that will give me not only knowledge but some control as well. My quest is that of being able to achieve a calmness within myself. We live in a chaotic world and there is so much that we can not control that it can get overwhelming at times. Whether it’s your kids having a problem that you are trying to help them overcome or suddenly facing a global pandemic which threatens the lives of every individual on the planet. Life can be very scary at times. Thus my quest to learn the ability to achieve a state of calmness in the face of a storm. This is an ongoing quest which I feel will probably be a lifelong one as well. I have picked up certain tools in my arsenal which have helped my along my journey and I will continue to keep my eyes wide open for more to help me further me in my quest to help me reach my ultimate goal – inner peace.

This is my entry for the Word of the Day Challenge March 14th, 2020.