I SURVIVED NaBloPoMo 2007!

Thanks everyone for reading my rants and raves for the last month. I am full of hope that I didn't piss too many people off, although it has been big fun. Who knew I had so much to say?! I still plan on posting much more frequently just not everyday. Feel free to continue to send me questions or topics that you think I would be interested in reading and commenting on. I will continue to try to keep my postings as interesting as possible and you know I will continue to speak my mind.

I'm going to take a few days off from posting and get this, posting everyday has even inspired me to start a blog for my company (I'm a gluten for punishment) on living the ultimate life. I'll let you know when I start that blog in case you can't get enough of me! LOL

One last thing. Somebody better send me a prize, a candy bar or something for posting everyday (smile)! Happy Holidays everyone!

The Family Rocking Chair: Priceless

I probably have one of the best gifts ever to share with Baby I that no one else in my family has used since my grandmother. I have my great-great grandmother's rocking chair from Jamaica! How cool is that? This rocking chair is at least 125 years old. My great-great grandmother used it to rock my great grandmother who used it to rock my grandmother who didn't use it to rock any of her kids because her mother had it. Neither did my mother or my two Aunt's. So, I will be the first to rock their children with this rocking chair since my great-grandmother rocked my grandmother.

BTW...the reason the chair looks so close to the ground is because it is. My great grandmother was only 4'10", I can only imagine how tall her mother was. My knees will be up in my chest when I'm rocking Baby I but, the love I will feel when I rock her: priceless.

Cooking a Staple?

For Dominicans the base of any meal made is plantano (plantain). Most people think its rice and beans for all Latinos but, for Dominicans (rice and beans is a very close second though) plantains is the main food source (if you will). We can cook it at any stage it comes and any color-- green, yellow, speckled black...you will have a meal on your plate in a jiffy. I love plantains!

I just figured out the reason why I don't enjoy cooking is because I don't really care that much about food... However, in my house there were very few times we fought over food but, one of those times was when my mother was making plantano maduro (sweet/ripe plantains). This was a treat because I was raised in Cleveland and it was difficult (and expensive) to get plantains and when she did, they went just as fast! Now, I live in DC and the culture is so diverse, I can get plantain anywhere, I think I've even seen it at 7-11 next to the Big Gulps.

I don't fight my little brother for my plantano maduro anymore but I still love them. Does this mean I cook them? Of course not, silly...well, not too often that is. LOL So, the staple of the Dominican culture is plantain and the staple of the Ethiopian culture is injera. Uh, OH, although I love (and always have loved) Ethiopian food you know I can’t make it and I’m a little concerned about trying to make injera because it has a taste that you don't want to mess up. But, I want to make sure that I can make it before Baby I comes home. I keep looking in the Safeway aisles for it and they don't have it. Something tells me they won't be getting injera anytime soon. Hey, maybe I should ask them next time I go. What do you think they will say? That would probably be funny. I’ll keep you posted on this one. LOL Maybe this weekend, in my free time (yeah right) I’ll have my first try at making injera and a little snack to go along with it. What do you think about this recipe that someone sent me? I'll let you know how it turned out. Wish me luck.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups lukewarm water
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 tsp baking powder
salt to taste
2 Tbsp canola oil

Preparation
1. add the yeast to the flour and slowly add the water and stir it well to form a thin batter; cover and let it sit in a warm place for 3 days; stir the batter once a day
2. when ready to make the injera, add the baking powder and salt to taste, stir well
3. heat a large non-stick pan/griddle, brush it with some canola oil, set heat at medium-high
4. take about 1/2 cup of batter and pour it on the pan and swoosh it around to spread the batter into a thin layer on the pan (sort of like making crepe)

I Really Hate Cooking

I am actually a pretty good cook, although I don't do it often. However I get inspired when I see all of these cooking shows (operative word here is inspired). But, I guess not inspired enough because I still don't cook. But I do call as many of my friends as I can to see who I can bum a meal from. Luckily they love me and feed me. I don't eat much I'm entertaining so it's ok. Sighhh, I guess that will have to change when Baby I comes home next year. As such, I've tried to get back in the habit of cooking again. It isn't easy because I honestly don't like it! It's so easy to go to Whole Foods and buy sushi, nuke a sweet potato, prepare a salad, eat cereal (my personal favorite) or go on a date just for the free food! Yes, people I am not above going on a date with a man I have absolutely no interest in for the food. It's easy! I act very hungry, order extra and then I have meals for a few days...it saves me on my grocery bills! Don't hate, didn't you hear I'm saving money for my adoption! LOL

Oh yea, getting back to cooking. So, tonight I had to eat and was determined not to eat out. I cooked catfish with fresh string beans. Don't be impressed...the seasoning was out of the box and the string beans were, well, string beans. The meal was tasty but any idiot could have made that meal and tonight the idiot was me. Poor Baby I. Mommy is going to do better, she really is. She is going to remember those lasagnas, homemade macaroni and cheese, chicken and dumplings, sancocho (a Dominican stew) and other yummy dishes she used to make before you come home, she really is. If not she knows where the local My Girlfriends Kitchen is located!

Don't Give Up

"If you run into a brick wall, dig under it, go above it, or go around it--but don't give up. Either you have to find a way or make one!"-- Payal Tak

Yup...that's pretty much how I am feeling about a month long of posting! I now have to look for inspirational quotes to keep this up in the midst of migraines, meetings, work and more work...I'm tired. Maybe I'll have more to write on Tuesday. Oh, I have a lot to say I just don't have the energy to write it! I wish I could just speak my thoughts into my computer.

Holiday Traditions

I was sent this question weeks ago and haven't answered it yet because I was hoping to come up with something very enlightening but instead you get this.

Q: Tami, I'm wondering as an AA woman about to adopt a baby, what kinds of traditions do you envision? I'm asking being a white woman with very little vision about a multicultural holiday, but ready to learn.

A: I'm sorry to disappoint you but, although I've said in many posts, in different ways, I am multicultural, I have no special "multicultural" way of celebrating the holidays. The way my mother raised me was to just celebrate the holidays without thought of any specific culture or race. I suppose we always knew who we were so around the holiday it was just a time to be with the ones we love, be thankful and to celebrate what the season was for. Yes, different parts of my cultural has specific traditions but, because my family was so diverse and maybe because we were in America, we never focused on those things. Around the holiday we just enjoyed each other.

Baby I will be my first child so, as most of you have done, the traditions I will share with her will be those passed on from my family, those I research and that I think I would like to incorporate into our lives. I don't want to start anything too stressful though because life is stressful enough. I'm going to keep it pretty basic to begin with and not focus so much on the "traditions" but more on the experiences, exposure and education. The people I have her around, the places I take her to and the time I spend with her. I don't want to get so caught up and overly obsessed year 1 with every single tradition. Kind of like the hair thing... you know just let the baby's hair just....oh, excuse me I'm getting ready to digress...LOL

I love the holidays so I think it's important to be around those that you love both friends and family. I want my children to appreciate what they have and not look down on others for what they don't have. As such, last year I started working with the homeless or sick and shut in, this will also be a part of our life. I try to attend service on Christmas morning. As far as celebrating the Ethiopian Christmas holidays specifically, I plan to start learning as soon as I can to share with her as well as our friends and family.

Finally, there are many people that read this blog (go figure) that have their children home or are Ethiopian and can share traditions that we can incorporate into our lives not only around the holiday but all year. If you don't mind, please share some of those traditions with us. Selam.

The Billboard

I took a picture of this billboard when I was in New York this past summer. I thought a little funny would be a good way to end your Thanksgiving Holiday. Plus, I have absolutely nothing to write about today. Only six more days of writing and you better believe I'm taking a well deserved time off for good behavior!