RSS feedJuly, 2011
The lack of posts
By Silver Blue
…is due to the fact that my eyes have been CLOSED for most of the weekend. Had a case of something hit me and I’ve been in bed for most of it.
TMI? Perhaps.
But just to show that I’m not completely nuts:
Oh wait. Maybe I am. These were delicious spiced nuts from Bardo’s Edibles and Elixirs in Norfolk, VA, for my birthday this year. While I wasn’t where I wanted, in my heart, to be, I was able to celebrate with friends, and that made a difference.
Silver Blue, over and back into bed.
It may look like a massacre…
By Silver Blue
…but in fact, it was the very VERY first cake I made from scratch. A génoise cake, meaning one that has no leavening agents in it other than firmly beaten eggwhites. It can flop on you, but mine did not.
It’s a three-layered white chocolate génoise, with a strawberry glaze atop. I made it for dad for his birthday in 2008. He liked it so much that I wasn’t allowed to take it back home with me!
Same goes for what I made him for father’s day that year: Strawberry Mousse Chocolat. Now this does NOT look like a massacre… it looks like… heaven. At least MY take on it.
In the springform pan:
With little stars of freshly beaten, sweetened whipped cream atop.
Unmolded:
You can see the layers of strawberry mousse and the chocolate brownie bottom. Finally:
All decked out on Mom’s china. It was a Father’s Day to remember.
Silver Blue, who is thankful for every holiday I’ve gotten to spend with my parents.
Not so birds of a feather…
By Silver Blue
I associate closely with Cardinals because they’re the state bird of my birth state, and therefore… one of the few red things I affiliate myself with. So much more interesting to align with, say, the Blue Jay, given my affinity for all things blue.
This photo was taken at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in the spring of 2011. As you can see, one of the parrots they have in captivity was paid a visit…by a cardinal. They posed for several photos, and then the Cardinal actually descended to the ground under the parrot to retrieve lost seed. The parrot seemed to pay the Cardinal no mind.
Therein is the lesson to be learned: if it’s not something that affects you, LEAVE IT BE.
Silver Blue, who thinks its time for one more glass of iced tea prior to bedtime.
Quiet, please. The moon is sleeping.
By Silver Blue
This reminds me of a poem I wrote (that went in the “book”) called “The Moon Is Broken”.
“The Moon Is Broken”
Forester J. Barker III
December 4, 2006 – All Rights Reserved
The moon is broken,
my life’s not the same.
My nocturnal companion
has been spirited away.
The secrets I told her
from deep within my heart
now fly unfettered,
unattended in the dark.
Through the seas of stardust,
through the night unaware,
part of my past is winging,
all alone, out there.
There’s some solace in being numb
for emotions come and go,
no bitter words to cut you down,
No one saying “I told you so…”
For no longer do I walk
with the one that I love,
while my nighttime mistress
shines down from above.
So grasp each moment you can,
remember your words not spoken;
they may be all that you have
when you find that the moon is broken.
Silver Blue – who believes it’s time for bed.
Cos I believe for you and me…it’s time…
By Silver Blue
One of the things my Grandma gave me was a small clock that I used to take from her kitchen up to my bedroom upstairs. A wind up clock. One that I treasure. It’s in my curio, now, but still works:
I don’t know what the value of the clock is, but to me, it’s priceless. You can’t put a dollar amount on memories.
“It’s time to risk it all, and shoot the moon
So just let go and fall it’s not too soon
Before the clock strikes one more chime
Let’s see if we can move love off this dime
Cause when we kiss we both can see, it’s time”*
Silver Blue, who, in these storms that are flashing, says it’s time….for bed
(* It’s Time, Linda Eder)
In the summer time….
By Silver Blue
The following photos, taken in 2007, remind me of summer. From pampas grass, to neon.
Listen as the wind goes through the grass, that looks like feathers….
And, well, as the disco song goes, “I love the nightlife…” because that’s when the neon comes to life. These are all from the Virginia Beach Boardwalk, July, 2007.
Pasta anyone?
Or maybe some coffee and donuts?
Maybe Mexican is your thing.
Or Wings…
Or… (hopefully) VERY fresh seafood.
Shall…we…play…a….game?
The opposite of retro is nouveau?
A club, or a suggestion? Fishing, or companionship?
Okay, why not just list EVERYTHING, dammit!
DQ, there everything is tasty….
…and we have year round fireworks.
The Virginia Beach Amusement Park, complete with electric palm trees. (That would make a good rock band name.)
A new meaning to “Rock Fish.”
Finally, I liked the angles on this hotel. It’s different from the norm.
Silver Blue, who is ready for the thunderstorms to let loose, and cool us down a bit.
Too Hot to Think
By Silver Blue
Look, I know it’s summer, and it’s Virginia, and it’s July…. but when it’s 107 before you add the humidex in (which made it closer to 113-117), I get grumpy, I get down right evil.
Then, after I’ve filmed a beautiful wedding (ON THE BEACH), and had an equally awesome dinner with the wedding party, I come home. 9:23 at night. The sun has been down for over an hour.
The temps? Not falling fast enough.
(Yes, I made a segued playlist that was playing when I shot this at a red light.)
Ergo, it’s too hot to think. Good night, everyone.
Silver Blue (who is going to chill out in front of the A/C, possibly for the rest of the night)
What’s definitively me
By Silver Blue
There are few things (other than my being an audiophile, and loving silver and blue) that “define” me … by which, I mean, be something that you rarely see me without. 
I still have this eagle (which I had modified to carry a diamond in its talons) and wear it on occasion. I bought it for myself in 2000 when a relationship went south. On the back, in very tiny script, is the scripture Isiah 40:31 (They that wait upon the Lord shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.). I know of one other person who has a pendant such as this (though without the diamond). She went to a church that I attended from 2000-2002. (The eagle is currently in my safe deposit box.)
I then moved on to the definitive necklace (that I almost always wear):
This necklace, made of glass beads and carrying a charm that says “Believe”. The necklace, made by my housemate, Tink, is unique in that between each large glass bead, there is a long thin blue cylinder bead and a short grey one, and then a large glass bead, and a long thin grey cylinder bead and a short blue one, repeated around the necklace.
The other symbolic thing about “Believe” is that Tink also made me a charm that I used as a cell phone fob that also said “Believe”, with the larger blue glass beads, but with different spacers. That fob is buried with my grandmother, who passed away in 2008.
(A photo of the fob, resting over Grandma’s heart.)
In Summer 2010, I came across a valknut (see https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/?p=357 for the stained glass version) which was a pendant and that I wear from time to time:
I also have this on my keychain.
I used to wear a unique index finger ring that I bought myself for losing a great deal of weight (over 70 lbs):
Sort of difficult to see (while chiffonading basil in my old kitchen) but it’s white gold, onyx, and a princess cut (square cut) sapphire. Like the eagle pendant, it now resides in my safe deposit box as I rarely wear rings these days.
Finding these photos of what’s definitively me, I came across one final picture of me I’d not seen in a couple years, that I’d not too displeased with. I’d not yet started spiking my hair with regularity, and I was in my kitchen, cooking a marshmallow creme filled cake roll, but something about the picture struck me as not being half bad.
(Oh, and the other definitive thing, other than being glad it was in the OLD kitchen, is my Rolex. Rare to find me without it. (You can also see the “Believe” necklace.))
Silver Blue, who says we have the capability to define moments, just as moments have the capability to define us.
The memories that are made to last…
By Silver Blue
…Continuing with the Christmas in July theme.
From December 1986.
The last time we really had a Christmas tree in my parents’ house.
The last time we had a real tree.
The last time…for a long time…that the season felt special.
As the song goes, “It’s not the presents under the tree, it’s your presence next to me.” Hard to believe we’d lose my grandpa in 1992, dad would have his heart attack in 2000, and we’d lose my grandmothers in 2004 and 2008.
Somehow, the “moment” and “memories” don’t seem a special as they used to.
But this was a memory that was made to last. So much so that I tracked down (on eBay) another angel like what is atop this tree (from my mom’s childhood) and bought it for myself.
Silver Blue, who says… “I am with you… because you remember me.”
Continuing with the thought of food….
By Silver Blue
…this is a take off of one recipe that was shared with me, for Chicken Saltimbocca, which, if you’re not familiar with, is chicken with sage, prosciutto ham, and cheese, cooked in a wine sauce.
I tarted it up a bit with extra prosciutto on top (you have to be careful, it’s very salty), and served it up with brown rice (cooked in chicken broth) and green beans.
Simple food items, taken to a whole new level, by the combination, and by a lot of love in the preparation. Being that I haven’t included the recipe over on thewannabegourmet.com, I’ll share it here:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 teaspoons butter
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
10 ounces sliced whole milk mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup white wine (I use Pinot Grigio-Sauvignon Blanc)
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 pinch black pepper
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Pound chicken breasts flat, and lay them on work surface. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese on both sides. Place a pinch of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon butter in the center of each breast. Cover each breast with a layer of prosciutto and mozzarella cheese. Reserve some of the prosciutto to place on top of the chicken. Roll up each chicken breast, and secure with toothpicks.
In a 9×13 inch baking dish, combine white wine, melted butter and olive oil. Arrange chicken rolls in dish. Place a small piece of prosciutto on top of each roll, and sprinkle with pepper.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink, and juices run clear.
Garnish with fresh sage leaves (optional), and serve!
Silver Blue, who is thankful for the taste of life that he finds every day… and for the one person who brings it his way. 🙂
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