My new mantra is I am not aging as long as I am on hold. So far I have not aged.

27 minutes while tethered to my phone and laptop ready to pounce to action as soon as a “real” person answers. What proactive and productive actives can I do while on hold?

1. Drink a bottle of water. Everyone knows that water is good for you and we never seem to get enough. Hydration is important to keep you from looking like a wrinkled prune. So I am going to let being on-hold drive me to drink.

2. Post your friends’ and relatives’ birthdays in your calendar. I am setting up an alarm via my iCal so that a week ahead I am reminded. Next time I will get a card off before my friend is a year older and my good wishes are stale. A little on-hold time will remind you how many people hold you in their hearts and thoughts.

3. Write a thank you note, or an “I am thinking of you” card. Take the
time to find a stamp, write a note, and do something tangible. Who knows, your card may be tucked away as a treasured memory for years. When was the last time your “real” mailbox had a note that warmed your heart. Time to plant the seeds of thoughtfulness.

4. Make a gratitude list. Look at why you are on-hold and you will see a reason to be thankful. Are you grateful that you have a car or medical insurance?

5. Smile. Life is worthwhile because you smile. Think of the “nice” person who is going to help you. You are giving someone the opportunity to make a positive impact on your life.

Now, 50 minutes have passed and a dozen more replays of, “ The department of Motor Vehicles is experiencing a high call volume, please hold, someone will be with you as soon as possible.”

My life has been on-hold and I have not aged and I have hydrated. I
have traveled back in time listening to the Monkees sing about the last train to Clarksville. When I am pulled back to the real world and my real problem by the sound of a human voice, I hope that my time on hold has slowed me down and allowed me to appreciate the moment.

Special Thanks to Lynn Ackerman and Glenda Rogers for the top photo

I enjoyed watching Jake stop and relish a hunk of the pale green flesh that can be only described as avocado in color. In the 1970’s avocado was all the rage. Splashed across the pages of Better Homes and Gardens Magazines and the homes of the rich and the famous. It was a color that felt at home in the kitchens of American suburbs. There is no other color like the color avocado; I was intrigued how the unique color had avoided staining the fur around Jake’s mouth.

I once shared a home with a wheaten Scottish terrier named Brandy, who would sit up and beg whenever I made guacamole. She would smear the green paste into her tufts of beard like a facial mask staining her fur.

I had not formally been introduced to Jake, but I had heard of his passion for the “alligator pear”. I was happy to make his acquaintance. He wagged his tail, the canine version of a gentlemanly tip of his hat.   He swathered down the road, a king in his domain. Firmly yet tenderly he held the avocado between his jaws. Like a mother carrying her pup, never bruising or tearing the skin in transit.

A few feet away, he settled down on the matching green grass and began “peeling the skin”. With a tug he pulled away the armor that shielded the green flesh and began gnawing at the fruit.

Watching Jake relish his morning breakfast, I thought about dogs and avocados. I remember with worry some neighbor scolding me that avocados are harmful to dogs, similar to chocolates and birth control pills. My history with furry family members includes stories of stealth raids that ended with large amounts of all three being consumed.

Jake was clearly a master of his own life.  According to his, pleasure he shared moments with two legged friends and families. It was obvious that there would be no way to do an intervention to Jake’s avocado addition. Was he really in danger of harming his health?

Human food that dogs must not eat!

Grapes and Raisins
Grapes and the dried variety of grapes, including raisins and sultanas, can cause severe kidney damage.

Potatoes which are green or the potato has sprouted
Green potatoes or potato sprouts  contain solanine glycosides which can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, nervous system stimulation, depression, trembling, paralysis and cardiac arrest.

Tea, Coffee or Caffeine Fortified Sports Drinks
Caffeine impacts the central nervous system and the heart. Symptoms of caffeine poisoning can include vomiting, a rapid or irregular heartbeat and often death.

Fat Trimmings from Ham, Chicken, Turkey and other meats
Never give your dog fat trimmings from meat and especially from ham.  High fat consumption could lead to an attack of pancreatitis. Pancreatitis can range in severity from mild to life threatening and is an extremely painful condition for your pet to endure. Turkey skin is also very high in fat content. Unfortunately, veterinarians see sizable increases in pancreatitis over Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Chocolate
Dogs should never eat chocolate. Chocolate contains a stimulant diuretic called theobromine which affects the central nervous system and cardiovascular of the dog. If you have reason to think your dog has eaten chocolate, seek veterinary advice immediately.  Ingestion of chocolate can cause death. Cooking or bakers chocolate contains the most theobromine, followed by dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate.

Symptoms of chocolate poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness, hyperactivity,  muscle tremors or seizures, increased urination and increased heart rate. Be especially careful with chocolate. Dogs just love the smell and taste of chocolate, and no matter how normally well-behaved a dog may be, they cannot seem to resist the temptation of chocolate. Please be aware and do not leave a chocolate, chocolate bars or cookies anywhere that your dog might find it in your absence. Never give your dog chocolate ice cream.

Avocados
The peel, fruit, pit and avocado plant are all toxic. They can cause difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate and fluid accumulation in the chest cavity, abdomen and heart.

Yeast Bread Dough
Dough that contains yeast can expand and produce gas in the digestive system, causing severe pain and possible rupture of the stomach or intestines.

Tobacco
Nicotine affects the digestive and nervous systems. ingestion of tobacco products can result in rapid heart beat, collapse, coma and death. Dogs seem to be attracted to the scent of tobacco and many have been known to chew on cigarette packages. Be careful not to leave them laying about.

Hops
Unknown compound causes panting, increased heart rate, elevated temperature, seizures, and death.

Bonnie and Tom, members of the Nandu Green Team – traveling in Sweden -

Notes from their travel journal.

Tom and I traveled thousands of miles by plane to reach the Scandinavian Peninsula where we began our Great Sweden Adventure.  2000 kilometers (1250 miles) of our adventure was covered by car. We also traveled by foot, hiking in the National Forest and walking amid the historical buildings of Skansen.

Our travels included a symphony of the sounds of laughter and song; the click, clack of vintage trains; the hum of high-speed trains (125 mph) and the serenity and stillness of a hot air balloon. It was a time for parties.

We celebrated Ella’s fourth birthday amid family and friends at Pete and Anna’s new home that dates back to 1850. We celebrated our departure with a Kräftskiva, or Swedish Crayfish Party, a Swedish tradition that takes place yearly throughout the month of August.

Continuing a family tradition of father taking their child on their first steam engine train ride, we boarded the No. 5 at Uppsala and traveled the Lennakatten narrow gauge railway.

Traveling north from Hässleholm, we visited the Mining District of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun. The mine is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Pete and Anna’s “Red House” is one of the red houses with white trim and gables that over the years have become a National symbol of Sweden. The red paint comes from Falun. Falu Rödfärg, manufactured from ruddle, the red ochre from the mine. Red is also the color of the Dala Horses also know as the Dalerna horses.

The Dala horse is traditionally painted red and detailed in contrasting colors. Near Mora, in Nusnas, we watched the horses being carved and painted.

Air, land and water were all part of our journey. We traveled the waterways of Gothenburg. We spent a day at the Vasa viewing a preserved ship from 1628 that plummeted to the ocean floor in 20 minutes of its maiden voyage. We walked along the lake in Hjo (you) and watched Ella swim in Hässleholm.

Our travels took us near the 62nd parallel, staying at Grövelsjön Mountain Lodge. Towards the end of our journey we expanded our horizon as we gently ascended over the City of Stockholm in a hot air balloon.

Riding the air current over the Stockholm archipelago and the city’s skyline at day’s end, we viewed a changing palette of colors as the sun set.

A very remarkable adventure filled with love, friendship and the finest hospitality.

Thomas Graham. Walsh

Bonnie J. Lupton

Peter Graham Walsh

Anna Lauritzon

Ella Evelina Lauritzon

By Airbus, by bullet train, six of us, three couples, traveled to France paying several thousand Euros to learn the secrets of French cooking. It was a bitter cold January and we were on a mission to learn. Our journey into the art and science of culinary expertise led us to the Walnut Grove Cooking School. The estate was within walking distant of Laval, France, a quiet French village with a church dating back to 1632.

French style cooking was the backbone of the course. However, it was the stunning showmanship of presentation, spoon-fed to us by two exceptional master chefs that highlighted our vacation with a purpose. Along with a case of local Bordeaux wines, we brought home knowledge as a prized souvenir. The simple skills of using a kitchen knife will stay with me longer than the Chocolates purchased on the Champs Elysee in Paris.

In the first class session we stood, knives in hand with a cutting board at the ready and at full attention. A staple of international cuisine, the onion, was waiting to go under the knife. As Julia Child once said, “It’s hard to imagine a civilization without onions”. Onions are one of the four pillars in the Bouquet Garni used throughout the course. Internationally, onions are stars of savory cuisine, used in abundance is almost every style of cuisine: Italian, French, Thai, Mexican, etc.

Before we could begin our assault on the onion, we were instructed in the basics of knife skills. Over the next five days we learned how wielding a knife plays an important part in crafting memorable meals. Knife skills impacted the appearance of the food we prepared and how evenly recipes cooked.

The basics are:

1. Use a sharp knife. Trying to force a dull knife is a recipe for injury. A dull knife will mash and bruise an onion.
2. Hold the knife down at your side if you must take it for a stroll.
3. Match the type of knife to the task. One does not butcher a chicken with a paring knife.
4. 90% of the time you will use a chef’s knife. It is perfect for cutting onions.
5. Chop slowly, and carefully.
6. Chop away from your body.
7. Work on a non-slip surface. By placing a damp kitchen cloth under your cutting board it transforms a movable board into a secure cutting surface.
8. The fingers of the hand holding the food need to be curled under. This increases your safety and lowers the odds of you cutting yourself.
9. Pay attention; always watch what you are doing.
10. Never let the forward portion and tip of the knife leave the cutting board.
11. Hold the knife firmly in your dominant hand, using a rocking motion cut through the food.
12. Like the midway shell game, keep your eye on the knife blade and do not let it leave the cutting board surface.

Lesson Number One that launched our cooking course, “How to Dice an Onion”

1. Remove any of the little papery husks from the onion. It is handy to have a bowl nearby to discard scraps and trimming. These can be saved and added when making Stock. The brown-colored onion skins add richness to the color of the stock.

2. Trim the stem so you can stand the onion upright on your board. Then cut the onion in half. It the onion was a model of the earth you would cut from North Pole to South Pole. You are cutting from the root end straight through to the top end. Remember to use a sharp knife and grip the onion with the fingertips curved. You are splitting the onion into two equal halves. It is important to leave the root end attached.

3. Peel away the onion outer skin, the tough layers of onion flesh. Now trim away the top end of the onion. Save the discarded layers and top for making stock.

4. Dicing the onion is the act of making a series of cuts that crisscross producing a nice attractive uniform square of onion. Before making your first cut decide what size squares you want. Using an average onion about three inches across you can make three to four parallel cuts. Grip the onion half firmly CURVING your fingers and slice about a half inch above the board for medium-sized diced pieces. Make another parallel cut another half inch above the first cut. Slice evenly making parallel cuts from one side to the other. The size of your diced pieces will be determined by the thickness of your parallel slices.You are making incisions rather than cutting each layer, and severing it from the other.

5. After making the parallel slices grip the onion, ALWAYS keeping your fingers curved and slice across the onion in parallel cuts. When it becomes difficult to hold the onion turn the remaining portion face down and continue to cut.

6. Now repeat with the second half of the onion.

Now that one has learned how to cut onions, one must learn to cook onions. One legionary recipe featuring onions you may wish to try is Walnut Grove’s recipe for French Onion Soup. Bon Appetit.

http://www.walnutgrovecookery.com/recipes_french_onion_soup.htm

French Onion Soup with a Goats Cheese Croute
Serves 4 to 6 portions

10 onions
2 tsp brown sugar
2 bunches of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
1 litre beef stock
½ litre chicken stock
1 bulb of garlic
4 slices of baguette bread or crusty hard rolls
goats cheese
25g butter
3 tbs olive oil
black pepper
100g smoked bacon
200ml red wine

Method

1. Slice onions finely and evenly, heat a large heavy based saucepan until hot, add oil and onions and sugar, cook for a couple of minutes, add sliced bacon lardons (matchsticks), and sauté until golden brown and caramelized. Peel and finely slice the garlic cloves.

2. Add butter, rosemary, thyme (removed from the stalk) and garlic, and mix into onions and continue to cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.

3. De-glaze the pan with the red wine, bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add the chicken and beef stock, bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

4. Season with salt and pepper, sometimes if your stock is not very strong, you can add a little chicken bouillon cube to bring up the flavour.

5. For the goats cheese croute, take the slices of baguette (around 2cm thick) and fry in a frying pan with a little butter on both sides until golden brown. Remove from the pan, and generously top with your favorite goats cheese, and grill until bubbling and coloured.

6. Carefully ladle soup into warm bowls, place the croute on top, and enjoy!

This is good either as a starter or served as a larger portion and makes a lovely winter lunch.

This soup can be made a couple of days in advance; in fact it improves after a day or so because the flavours intensify. The goats cheese croute needs to be made just before you want to serve it.