Day 89 - Passover

3/30/2010

During Passover we eat matzoh (unleavened bread) and charoset.

Several of the young people who attended our Seders through out the years have said that charoset is their favorite part of the meal and my husband wants it even if we are not having a seder. This is the recipe I have used (multiplied for many more servings):

1/2 cup finely chopped apples

1/4 cup chopped almonds or walnuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

cinnamon bark, if desired

Passover red wine or grape juice (concord grape)

Apples must be very finely chopped; add juts and cinnamon with sufficient wine to make a mixture that holds together. Add cinnamon bark, if desired.

I have seen many different recipes for charoset that have other ingredients from dates or raisins to different nuts. There is also a choice of how finely chopped the mixture should be. Some people like it almost paste like and others want it chunky. The apples you use will also change the taste of the mixture. I like using tart or tart-sweet apples such as Granny Smith, Macintosh or Fuji. Never use red or gold delicious. For our seders we always made some with wine and some with grape juice for children or those who didn't want the alcohol.

Day 88 - Passover

3/29/2010

Tonite is the first night of Passover, the Jewish festival that celebrates the Exodus of the Jews out of slavery from Egypt. This is a traditional Passover plate that belonged to my husband, David's family. It is from Israel and made of brass. The plate is used on the Sedar table with traditional foods. These are: bitter herbs (usually horseradish), hard roasted egg, vegetable (usually parsley), a lamb shank, a 2nd bitter herb (such as romaine lettuce) and charoset (a paste made of fruits, nuts and wine).

Day 87 - MahJong

3/28/2010

I belong to the Filipino American Community of Colorado because I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines. Some of the members play MahJong, a Rummy-like game that uses tiles. This game is very popular in the Philippines and any week you can find one or two tables going at the FACC clubhouse.

Day 86 - Bank Building

3/27/2010 This weird building has been there on the corner of Broadway and Hampden in Englewood, CO for years. It has been the home of several different banks (or one that has changed its name several different times.)

This is currently the home of The Bank of Choice

Day 85 - Cookie Mold

3/26/2010
One of the favorites from my cookie mold collection, this mold was bought in Hong Kong at Ocean Terminal in 1973 or 74. I believe that this is a Moon Cake mold. I have used it to make sugar cookies.

Day 84 - Pancakes

3/25/2010

On weekends I like to make breakfast: pancakes; french toast; waffles or some other treat. Because of my work schedule, Thursday is part of my "weekend" so we had pancakes for breakfast. (from scratch - no mix for me!)

Day 83 - Spring Snow

3/24/2010
Close up of snow clinging to the bush by the front door of our house. Snow started about 4:30 yesterday and continued through-out the night. It stopped during the morning and by noon the only snow coming down was falling off the trees.

March 23rd - 24th - My Day - Winter Storm Watch

Tues: 4:30 am alarm clock,
6 am leave for work - dry roads,
7 am clock-in for my first shift.
2 pm second shift starts - still dry out,
4 pm thunder and lightening, rain, ramp closes for a short time, big plane struck by lightening.
7 pm - no dinner break yet, snowing,
9 pm - dinner break - 4 inches of snow on rail outside window at my gate,
10:30 pm last flight leaves gate to GTF (did it take off?),
11:30 STL return to gate - passengers "what do you mean I can't go till Friday?",
rebook, rebook, rebook - no agents can leave yet,
2:30 am - clock out!! I can barely move.
take train to Concourse A to get bus to parking lot - goes thru gate 5 (the long way)
3:40 am get to car, sweep hanging cornices off of car, car is plowed in!
4 am finally leave parking lot,
5 am stuck at the bottom of drive way,
go in house,
fall in bed - I can barely move!
Yeah! I don't work till Friday.
9 am wake up - I can barely move!
The recliner beckons!

Day 82 - March, the snowiest month

3/23/2010
Views from Gate B56 at DIA.

These two pics were taken at 3:45 pm as the storm moved in from the West.

This pic was taken at 10:50 pm. Notice the over 3 inches of snow on the railing outside the window. March is the snowiest month of the year with several of the worst blizzards happening during the month. This one didn't even qualify as one of the worst. I kept telling the passengers that this was not a blizzard even!

Day 81 - Tulips

3/22/2010
It's Spring already so where are the flowers?
Still no blossoms in my yard yet. This tulip is getting ready.

Day 80 - Cookie Stamps

3/21/2010

Some of the cookie stamps that I designed and made for the volunteer leaders at a group of Girl Scout Day Camps I worked for during the summer of 1986. Each camp had a different theme and thus a different design for the stamp.

To make the stamps I took some clay to make the design then I used a square plastic freezer box and filled it part way with wet plaster. I then put the piece of clay with the design in the plaster. After that dried I put something on the plaster so I could pour more wet plaster in the box to make the top of the mold. After removing the clay model you then have a plaster mold you can use. You have to leave a hole in the top so you can pour clay slip into the mold. This is just like the molds that you use to make any kind of ceramics. I used stoneware slip. After removing the greenware from the mold and cleaning it, I had them fired at the local recreation center. I still have all of the molds but haven't done anything like that for a long time.

Day 79 - Cookies

3/20/2010

"Brown Sugar Shortbread" and "Melting Moments" cookies made for the FACC pot-luck dinner. The cookie stamp is one I made as a thank-you gift for volunteers at a Girl Scout day camp I was a business manager for in 1986.

Brown Sugar Shortbread

1 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 1/4 cups unsifted flour

Cream butter and sugar thoroughly. Add unsifted flour. Beat at low speed until combined and well mixed. Form

one inch balls. Place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Stamp with cookie stamp and bake at 350o for 10 to 12 minutes.

Melting Moments

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup sifted flour

3/4 cup butter or margarine

Stir together cornstarch, sugar, and flour in a bowl. Mix in butter or margarine to form a soft dough. Chill about 1 hour. Form into one inch balls, and roll in granulated sugar. Stamp immediately with cookie stamp . Bake at 350o for 20 to 25 minutes.

Recipes from Rycraft Cookie Stamp Recipes

Day 78 - Last Snow of Winter

3/19/2010

It has been snowing all day here in Denver. This is a bush in front of the Englewood post office. I think we have received about a foot of snow.

Day 77 - Liz

3/18/2010

SkyWest Trainer, Liz was trying to be "one of the boys" for a photo of a group of trainers. I think she pulled off the look!

Day 76 - Shamrock

3/17/2010

In honor of St. Patrick's day a photo of my blooming Shamrock. My bff Lola brought the initial cutting of this plant years ago when she went to Ireland. I had the plant before I went to the Peace Corps and gave it to my Mom to keep while I was gone. She gave me a cutting of it when I came home and also kept part of it. Thank you Lola!

Day 75 - Service Dogs

3/16/2010

This beautiful Golden Retriever arrived at my gate today. She is a Service Dog who assists her friend with many tasks. She also enjoyed all the "people watching" in the airport.

The challenge in shooting photos of an animal is trying to get them to look where you want and getting the right pose. Gotta admire someone who takes portraits of dogs and cats.

Day 74 - Birthday party benefit

3/15/2010 My friend Mary had a birthday party fund raiser for the Denver Center of International Studies, a magnet program that both of my daughters are graduates of. Dan Lutz is the principal of the school. What fun - pizza for a cause. DCIS started out as a magnet program at West High School then moved to nearby Baker school and became a 6-12 school. My daughter Becca worked with several programs at DCIS after her graduation from DU and before she joined the Peace Corps.

Day 73 - Ocarina Bird

3/14/2010

This little bird lives on my piano. It is part of my ocarina and flute collection. Becca found this one in Seattle, complete with its little nest.

I am working on cataloging my collections.

This is another example of trying different angles to get the shot. I like working with my digital camera so I can retake the shot if I don't like what I see.

Day 72 - Crowns

3/13/2010

A passenger on my first flight today was carrying two crowns. He makes them for festivals, beauty pageants, and for stage productions. This crown was going to an opera company in Oklahoma City.

Check out the web site for the crown maker, John W. Griffin.

Did you know the difference between a crown and a tiara is that the tiara is generally a semi-circular band, (open in the back) and a crown is a circlet with the arched pieces that connect to an ornament at the top or the fabric cap attached to the inside.

Day 71 - Woven Bowl

3/12/2010

I bought this beautiful bowl the last time I visited the Philippines in 2003. I bought it in Kalibo, Aklan on Panay island. This type of basket weaving is a specialty of that province. This type of photography depends a lot on the background and on the angle of the shot.

Are you Irish?

Yesterday a passenger commented on my latest radio decoration of a little dancing leprechaun. He said, "are you Irish?" I said, "I am an American, with Irish roots." but "are you Irish?" I said, "I am an American, but according to my Mother's cousin Louie, our Irish ancestor came over in time for him to fight in the revolution! and I also have Norwegian, German, English, Cherokee and French in my background, so I am an American!"

Day 70 - Be Happy

3/11/2010 Our speaker at the Arapaho County Quilt Guild meeting was Paula Stoddard. This is one of her fun quilts that she shared.

Check out Paula's web site Pacific Patchwork - For the Love of Quilting and the link from there to her blog.

Day 69 - Kashmiri Embroidered Rug

3/10/2010

This is a shot of the embroidered rug that David and I bought in Srinagar, Kashmir in India on our trip home from the Peace Corps. It hangs in my dining room. My birthday flowers are a beautiful complement to the rug.

Day 68 - Flower

3/9/2010

After over a week the flowers from my sister are still beautiful. I love this pink mum.

Day 67 - Spring is coming

3/8/2010

Spring is just around the corner. This will be a blooming flower soon!

Day 66 - Baby passenger

3/7/2010
Little Felix was waiting with his mom for a delayed then cancelled flight to San Antonio at my gate this morning. He is 18 months old and loves his colorful beads.

Day 65 - Airport tunnel

3/6/2010

Riding the train from the terminal to the concourses at DIA.

This photo was taken in the tunnel from the front car of the train.

Day 64 - Pomelo

3/5/2010 When we were Peace Corps Volunteers in Toril, Davao City, Philippines, we had lots of wonderful fresh fruit in the market. The pomelo was one of our favorites. It is sweet with a very thick rind. Grapefruit is actually a hybrid of the pomelo and a type of orange. Rachael found pomelo in Israel when she lived there. We were all very happy when it started showing up in our local grocery stores each year.

Day 63 - Peace Corps Souviners

3/4/2010
When I travel I like to pick up small dolls dressed in ethnic costumes. Last June we went to Albania to visit our Peace Corps Volunteer daughter Becca and I found this set for my collection. Funny, I never knew Barbie was Albanian! They are laying on the rug she bought as one of her PCV souvenirs.

These additional photos were taken on our trip to the Kruja Citadel in Albania, June 3, 2009 with Becca and her friend Leslie.

Day 62 - Yakan weaving

3/3/2010

This is a hand-woven turban from the Yakan tribe. The Yakan are from the island of Basilan just south of the city of Zamboanga in Mindanao, Philippines. The turban is woven from cotton and silk and is worn by tying and folding it around the head.

Day 61 - Philippine woven purse

3/2/2010

In honor of Peace Corps Week -

this purse was made by artisans from the T'boli tribe of Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines. Purchased when I was a PCV in Davao City, Philippines.

Day 60 - Flowers

3/1/2010

A close-up of the flowers my sister sent to me for my birthday. What a nice surprise as the florist arrived just as I got home from work! Thank you Delena and Franco!!

Day 59 - Peace Corps letters

2/28/2010

In honor of Peace Corps week, the envelope from a letter to us from my parents using the Peace Corps stamp. Received on Feb. 29, 1972 when we lived in Toril, Davao City, Philippines.

Day 58 - Airport co-workers

2/27/2010

Three of the lovely ladies I worked with today while on the "Canada team" meeting the inbound planes from YXE and YQR.

Day 57 - "Once in Afganistan"

2/26/2010

I went to a screening of a documentary movie called

"Once in Afganistan"

about a group of women who were Peace Corps Volunteers there in 1969 doing vaccinations against Small Pox in the villages. It was very inspiring. This is a bill and some coins

(I think) and an earring that I got when I visited there in 1974 on my way home from Peace Corps.

Day 56 - Winter Olympics - Ryan St. Onge

2/25/2010

I stayed up late to watch my co-worker's son Ryan St. Onge compete in the Freestyle skiing aerials competition in the Winter Olympics on NBC. This is a composite of screen shots of Ryan's jump and Sara's reaction. Ryan finished 4th in the competition.

To get this photo I set up my camera in front of the TV on a tripod and shot pictures in continuous mode. I then chose individual photos to make this composite using Photo Shop. I had to reduce the size of the photos to use them. Notice the ghost image of Sara in the center shot.

Day 55 - Read my pins

2/24/2010

Today I read a book by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called "Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box". I was inspired to take some photos of some of the pins in my own jewelry box. The one on the left is called "Bad Hair Day" and was bought in 1998 at a teacher's convention. The top right pin belonged to my Grandma Berg and the red enamel pin on the bottom right was one of my Mother's favorites.

Day 54 - Work Friends

2/23/2010

Two of my SkyWest, walkway (B57-79) buddies.

We are all gate agents in this lower level of the B Concourse at DIA.

Day 53 - Shoes

2/22/2010

One of the passengers at my gate had these cool purple shoes!

Day 52 - Magnum

2/21/2010

Animal Assisted Crisis Response Great Dane, Magnum with his friend Pam. They were traveling to Huntsville in response to the University shooting.

Day 51 - Thorn Tree - Snow

2/20/2010

Another view of the wicked locust tree in front of the house (see Day 12) this time during a snow fall at night.

Day 50 - Squash

2/19/2010

A lovely display of squash at the grocery this evening.