Tag Archives: friends

A COVID Inspiration!

I love to connect people, whether it’s through technology, introductions within my network, or with the greatest human connector of all – FOOD! I’m excited to announce that my three national best-selling cookbooks and the complete trilogy are now available on Amazon as Kindle books!

I had decided some time ago that I didn’t want to reprint the books when I ran out of inventory and it was a COVID inspiration that set things in motion to put them online. Although I wrote the books years ago, the recipes are as relevant today as they were then and I still love “cooking with fire”, “food with attitude, and sharing flavorful food with friends and family. Because I was working in the petroleum industry, all of my vacation and free time was spent doing writing, testing, research, marketing, promotion, media interviews (over 400 world-wide), radio (over 100) and television (over 50) appearances, book signings and demos (over 100) throughout North America and the globe.

I attribute our successful promotional exposure to my publicist and dear friend, Debbie Black, who did a brilliant job of constant promotion for the company, the books, and my product line.

It was a hectic time in my life, but I am extremely grateful for the experience and knowledge I gained, the people I had the pleasure of meeting, the places I was able to visit, but most of all, for gifting me with a love of entrepreneurship and risk-taking. Had I just stayed doing the Joint Venture work I love in Petroleum, my world would be much smaller and I never would have stretched myself as I did through my books and my business. I am truly grateful.

Here is the Amazon link to my books:

The Tradition of Turkey Soup

Linda in Today's Tasting Notes

We cooked our first turkey in Cabo on Christmas Day. I should have used the wood-fired oven, but I’m still learning how to use it properly and didn’t want to risk ruining our precious bird.

We shared a lovely meal with Ron’s brother, David, and good friends, Andrea, Pablo, their four month-old baby Tobias, her friend, Giovanna, and our long-time friend, Scott Parsons. It was a VERY traditional dinner: turkey with bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, carrots, green beans, cranberry sauce (with Serrano chile, of course!), a Mexican variation on Waldorf Salad (thanks to Andrea – it was delicious!) and Tres Leches Cake for dessert.

Meanwhile, a few thousand miles away in Canada, my precious Mom came out of holiday dinner retirement and was preparing a very similar meal for my family. It’s been years since she (or I, for that matter) has prepared a turkey dinner – a meal that she has always enjoyed making. In order to make the undertaking manageable, she prepared everything she possibly could well in advance of Christmas Day so that she could enjoy herself and not feel overwhelmed. The dinner was a GREAT success and I’m so proud of her. At 87 she’s not afraid to take on new challenges and push herself to do more.

We sent lots of leftovers home with our guests and still had plenty left for several meals in our home. On Christmas night, I stripped off all of the meat from the turkey carcass and made a huge pot of soup broth.

Two days later, I made turkey vegetable soup and used an amazing array of organic vegetables and herbs from our local market: onions, celery, carrots, sweet potato, yellow squash, green beans, broccoli, kale, parsley, thyme, sage, and oregano.

I made a BIG pot of soup and we will be enjoying it for a few more days. Almost as good as the original turkey dinner, it’s a tradition that makes the holidays complete.

A Special Spoon

Linda in Newsletter, Travel Blog

I started the two day process to make chicken soup tonight. I use a combination of recipes: from Julia Moskin of the New York Times and Ron’s 97 (soon to be 98) year-old Mom, Mother Mary as I love to call her. There is nothing that brings more comfort than a bowl of homemade chicken soup.

When we were recently in Santa Clara, California, Ron was fighting a bad cough and chest congestion. Moms never stop being mothers and Mother Mary immediately set to work to cook Ron a pot of her very special and delicious chicken soup to make him well again. She keeps two packages of organic (and she will only use organic, bless her!) chicken legs in the freezer in case of sickness and to prepare a pot of her famous and delicious “cure”.

The broth is so thick and filled with goodness that it completely congeals in the fridge. Heat it up and the kitchen is filled with that amazing aroma of pure, beautiful and healing food. Mother Mary learned how to make chicken soup from Aunt Mae, a generous woman who adopted Ron’s family and loved each and every one of the family members as her own, even though there was no blood connection.

Mother Mary told me years ago about a special wooden spoon that she uses that was gifted to her when Aunt Mae passed away. The spoon is well over one hundred years old and holds the energy of the two amazing women who cooked wholesome and nutritious food for their families, friends and loved ones over the years. I never had the privilege of meeting Aunt Mae, but I know that preparing incredible food was and is the most powerful expression of love from Mother Mary (as I’m sure it was from Aunt Mae as well).

Mother Mary Making Gravy for Thanksgiving Dinner at Claire and Jerry’s

Mother Mary gifted me with this spoon on our last trip. It is the only material thing I ever want from her and she generously passed this special spoon, this legacy, on to me. Every time I hold this spoon, I feel the incredible love and energy of both women. I will cherish it always and think of them every time I use it to make special food for my family, friends and loved ones, just as they have done for over a century.

On The Road To Land’s End – Again!

Linda in Site News

Every year, Ron and I head up to the BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament in Indian Wells, California (www.bnpparibasopen.com). As always, we watched some fabulous tennis and had an opportunity to catch up with many special and long-time friends (Bonnie and Don, Pete and Tony, Judy, Peter, Bob and Roxy, Bob and Winnie and so many more).

We drive to and from the tournament every year, which is approximately 1300 miles each way. We’re on the road home as I write this and I’m remembering how much fun we had with my Mom on this same trip to Cabo last November.

My Mom has always loved every aspect of travel and makes every experience a great adventure. It’s such a delight to be on the road with someone who takes everything in and enjoys every aspect. She has a child-like sense of wonder and curiosity – it’s a true gift at any age and especially for someone now in her 80’s.

We planned our trip down in November, just as we’ve done on this trip, to get to Mulegé to spend Saturday night at the Hotel Serinidad, a fly-in hotel that has been a Baja classic for decades (www.hotelserenidad.com). Every Saturday night features the Serinidad’s famous pig roast, which lures people with small planes to fly in from the States or other parts of Mexico and for people like us who are driving, to plan our overnight stop for this weekly event.

The staff at the Serinidad know how to do a pig roast well, and it has become a real highlight on our many trips up and down the Peninsula. Mom LOVED it, and she enjoyed every aspect of this legendary and iconic hotel. There are some great memories and stories at this hotel, with pictures on the walls from famous guests of years gone by like John “Duke” Wayne, June Allyson and Dick Powell. We’ll stay overnight and get an early start to ensure that we arrive home in Cabo tomorrow night.

We wish Mom was with us again on this trip and we’ll be thinking of her tonight. Hopefully she’ll be with us again for this amazing trip next November!

Gratitude

Linda in Site News

This is going to be a very short blog. I just wanted to acknowledge how grateful I am for the life I’m living here in Cabo with Ron. We wake up every morning to another perfect day and rarely with a set plan. After a lifetime of working , it is pure luxury to sleep until your body is rested and not to the annoying sound of an alarm clock.

It occurred to me tonight as I was preparing a marinade for some steaks we’ll be sharing with our friend, Angeles, tomorrow. I needed fresh lemon juice and grabbed my flashlight and headed behind the house to pick the lemon I needed from our tree. For the Spaghetti Olio y Aglio I was preparing a bit later, I needed fresh parsley and walked out the front door onto our deck and clipped the fresh herb from our Tower Garden.

Our Tower Garden

We just shared a wonderful week with our dear friends Peter and Sherry – one of the great perks of living in a tourist destination is that we always have lots of people visiting us. We have several more friends scheduled to arrive over the next few months and it is such a delight and privilege to share some of our life here with them.

It’s been a horrendous winter in Canada and parts of the United States, and here we are in Cabo in the middle of January living such a different and special life. I’m incredibly grateful for the love and life we share – thank you, Ron.