Some Vivaldi and How Bagpipes Make Us Cry

Today is Sunday. I am in a spiritual mood...maybe not because it's Sunday, maybe I am in that mood because I feel that I am a spiritual person.

I try to attend Church when I can - I was raised a Catholic and I still believe in the teachings to this day. But, I got out of the habit of going to Church when I entered the hotel business and routinely worked late Saturdays and Sundays, and I just never got back into the habit of going to Church.

I am listening to Vivaldi's Magnificat.

This speaks to me spiritually. Make sure to have your volume turned up, and you will see what I mean.

Music brings us together, it unites the masses, whether a concert, church service or wedding, we all live our lives through music.

Music brings us together at funerals too. I remember when "Amazing Grace" was played on bagpipes at my Uncle's funeral. I had kept it together until that moment.

Music speaks to our souls.

It soothes us in our time of pain, it excites us when we are starting a new beginning...and it helps us remember those events in our life that have passed and those people in our lives that have passed on.

And when the bagpipes play, that's when it hits home:

Click this video and listen. Have your computer speakers turned up. Think of your lost loved ones, and it will make you cry. (It takes a few seconds to get started).

Why do bagpipes make us cry? Is it their simplicity? Their tragic way of presenting a Hymn that is already a tearjerker?

Is it because they are typically played at funerals, memorials, and other solemn moments?

Bagpipes make us cry just for those reasons!

They pull at our heartstrings because they are just that...so simple. They represent lives lost, and force us to remember.

The Solitary Writer and a Cylical Life

Being a writer can be a lonely job. Especially a novelist.

For hours, sometimes days, the novel writer sits alone, without human contact, staring at a computer screen, sometimes drinking coffee, other times drinking alcohol, thinking about fictional characters doing made up things in made up worlds.

It can be quite isolating. And it can lead to social problems - some of the most brilliant novelists out there are also the most eccentric (and, without much surprise, are most prone to substance abuse). Who out there hasn't heard of an alcoholic writer? Quite a few writers drink when they write. "It opens the creative mind," they claim. Or maybe it's just because they like to drink?

Beer chugging novelists aside, what I really have been thinking about is how life tends to be present itself in cycles - our economy rises and falls in cycles, we leave school, leave home, enter the workforce, and then return home and return to school in another cycle. We are born, mature, grow older, and die in yet another cycle.

The latest cycle presented to me was an email that I received this week. A literary agency in New York would like to read a few pages from my first novel, Ashes, which I have been shopping for a few years now. My heart racing with excitement, I call just about everyone I can. The general consensus is to rewrite the beginning that evening.

So, I spend that subsequent evening writing a new scene - and a new synopsis. And now...after working on several other novels, other projects have been suspended to work on my first novel once again. The cycle continues.

And now I am dressing up my first manuscript - the one that I thought I had put away - changing the suit I dressed it in last year to a tuxedo - in hopes that the email or phone call will come with more interest in my work.

My fight for a career in novel writing has continued; it has taken a step forward...I just might be one step closer to that isolating life of a novelist.

Or, at the very least, my first novel now has a great new beginning!

Tastes of the South

Southern deep-fried delights rarely conjure up thoughts of healthy eating.

I don't eat fried foods very often - it usually only happens when dining out. But these days, dining out has become such a luxury, that I hardly remembered the last time that I ate true fried food.

But it's such a traditional part of the South, and there are some great southern dishes that tantalize the tastebuds. Problem is, when eaten in a restaurant, they also drain your wallet, raise your blood pressure, and expand your waistline.

What's the solution?

Bring the restaurant home! By preparing your own "restaurant style" dishes at home, you can have the control you need to keep the food as healthy as possible, as well as preparing it as simply as possible.

Today's recipe is a dual dish: Fried Dill Pickles and Thick-Cut Fried Onions

Here is what you will need:

(1) Jar of your favorite brand of Dill Pickles
(1) SWEET Onion (the sweetest you can find - the sweeter the better)
Worcestershire Sauce
Sour Cream
Garlic Ranch Dressing
Garlic Powder
All-Purpose Flour -- PKU and Gluten-free visit www.cambrookefoods.com for special flours to use.
Salt and Pepper

Cut 1 or 2 of the full size dill pickles into crescents (about 1/4" thick) and cut the onions into thick round wheels (make sure to peel the skin off).

In the meantime, put about 1 cup of flour in a small mixing bowl; add garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Put aside.

In another small mixing bowl, add about 2T of Worcestershire Sauce, 1/4 cup Sour Cream, and 2T Garlic Ranch Dressing.

Heat your oil of choice in a deep pot - deep so the oil does not splash up and get everywhere. Use enough oil to completely submerge the food when frying.

Take a few pickles and coat them with the flour mix. Then transfer them to the dressing mix, coat, and then put back in the flour and coat again. Drop them in the hot oil until they are golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

Repeat the process until the pickles are gone, and then repeat the process with the onion wheels.

A great snack, and great for guests!! When frying, keep in mind that this is an eggless version - if you choose to add eggs to the dressing, the breading will hold better.

PKU - keep in mind the Ranch and Sour Cream will count towards your Dairy allotments.
Hypertension - Keep in mind this is overall low sodium. Not with all the added salts and high sodium spices that restaurants use. You can omit the salt or use sea salt for a lower sodium version. Using half-sour pickles instead of kosher dills will lower the sodium even more.
Diabetes - very low sugar dish
Gluten-Free - Use Gluten-Free flours from www.cambrookefoods.com

** Please note that, because this is a fried dish, it has a high fat content, and should be enjoyed on occasion, not daily. When choosing your frying oil, make sure that the label reads the following or better per serving:

Saturated Fat - 10% or less daily value per serving
Trans Fat 0% (this is the DEADLY fat that has been outlawed in many areas)
Cholesterol 0% (avoid cholesterol to avoid Heart problems!)
Sodium 0% (Don't add sodium with your frying oil! There is plenty in the food itself!)
Protein 0% (PKU - Don't add more protein with your oil. Keep the dish friendly!)

Spuds Central

Okay...so all of you like potatoes, right? I mean, they're extremely healthy - don't believe all that South Beach mumbo jumbo about how they have too many carbs. Sure, they have carbs - don't get me wrong. But they're healthy carbs! And healthy carbs do a body good!

I think all of us like breakfast potatoes - the warm and mealy potatoes, the zesty onions, some peppers and...yum!

It's not news that potatoes can be prepared in many different ways - and it's not news that the skins are the healthiest part of the potato, right? So then, why do we peel them?

I implore you all - WASH your potatoes - take a look at what Wisegeek.com reported about potato skins:

"Potato skins store many nutrients and also contain a lot of fiber, which is essential for a healthy diet. Leaving the potato skins on also helps preserve the nutrients in the flesh of the potato, which have a tendency to escape during cooking. Based on a 2000 calorie diet, a large baked potato, including the skin, has 278 calories. Only 3 of these calories are from fat. A baked potato contains only 1% of the fat allowance considered as part of a healthy diet, with 0% of this being saturated fat."

Only 3 calories from fat!

So once you have cut your potatoes to your desired shape, choose your weapon: mine is a large, seasoned wok. Heat oil or melt butter (oil is better for a wok) and add the potatoes. The trick now is to turn the heat down - you don't want to burn your potatoes. The secret is slow cooking. They will take time, and you will need to taste one to determine if its done. It's not an exact science.

During the cooking process, add your spice: again, to taste. No exact quantities here. My spices of choice are garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, and a blend of italian herbs. Don't overdo it on the garlic - it has a tendency to burn, so add it later on in the cooking process.

And there you have it! A wonderfully healthy, filling breakfast dish that's high in fiber and GOOD carbs - which are necessary for that one thing that we all need - energy!