bountifulplate

I have written more than once about how I like to go through the old recipes and newspaper/magazine clippings that belonged to my mother-in-law. I have definitely found some good ones, that's for sure! I recently searched through the big pile of newspaper clippings and pulled one out from 1955. All four recipes had coconut involved, but only one had the quantity that they made. There were recipes for coconut macaroons, cornflake macaroons, baked tropical confections and marguerites. The only recipe I had all the ingredients for were the coconut macaroons, but I had no idea how many cookies it would make. One thing I quickly discovered about macaroons, they are super duper STICKY .  Also, make sure you use plenty of non-stick spray on the cookie sheet! I used an older cookie sheet and not enough non-stick spray, so they stuck a bit when I was removing them to a wire rack to cool. They still tasted great, though. Aren't the little scraps always the best?!?!?!...

By now, you have probably heard the story about the girl with Autism whose entire family was "kicked off" a United Airlines flight. When I saw this story on the news, my first thought was anger. Anytime I think that a special needs child/adult has been mistreated, I automatically go into that mode. Well, the more I read about what happened, I could totally see it from both "sides."  I wrote recently about when we made our reservations to fly to Jamaica for spring break, American Airlines had us separated from Dominic. At first, the customer service representative told me they couldn't help me, but I persisted and a supervisor made the change. While some airlines are excellent with special needs, others are not. The mother could have definitely had a better choice of words when talking to the flight attendant about getting her daughter a hot meal. Her words were something to this effect, "I have a child with special needs, I need to get her something....

I'm guilty. I admit it. I am reminded by both Lauren and the hubby, more often than not, that Dominic is capable of much more than I give him credit for.  I really don't know why I sometimes underestimate what he can do. Maybe it's because I don't like to see him fail? or get frustrated? I know to learn, he will get upset and cry and possibly scream. I guess it's the maternal instinct in me, I don't like to see my children or anyone else's children sad. Having to tell Lauren that Santa Claus wasn't real was a pretty tough thing. At one time, I was convinced Dominic would never get toilet trained. It truly was easier to just change his diaper or Pull-Up . We knew there was no physical reason why he didn't want to get potty trained, which made it all the more frustrating. More than once I was ready to give up, but his old teacher, Mr. P., planned out the whole process and it did eventually happen. Just in the past three weeks, he has ASKED to use the ...

My mom and I have always been close. Besides being mother and daughter, we are also friends. When my family and I moved to Michigan in December of 2001, I knew that my mom would have a difficult time adjusting to the fact that I was going to be living 600 miles away. While we absolutely love the Midwest and everything it has to offer, when a friend or family member is in need back on the East Coast, it really makes me wish I could be in two places at the same time. My mother was diagnosed with heart problems at the beginning of August of 2014, which unfortunately are so far advanced, there is nothing the doctors can do to help her.  This past December,  my mom was moved to a skilled nursing facility. It has been an adjustment for all of us, but I think she has finally reached a point where she considers where she lives "home." Her heart is so weak that she is confined 24 hours to her bed. I have always considered my mom to be an attractive woman a...

This past school year, I helped co-teach a first grade religious education class. During our final class, a few weeks ago, I had to take an important cell phone call from the hubby. When I came back to the table and sat down to continue the lesson, one of the little boys looked at my phone and then at me and said, "you have a really old fashioned phone!" Yes, I STILL have a TracFone "flip phone." I communicate mostly by e-mail and Facebook , so I really haven't felt the need to switch to another kind of phone. Lauren taught me how to text a few years back, so when someone texts me, I can at least text them back!  A favorite saying of mine is, "good grief." The other day I caught myself saying, "heavens to murgatroyd." Yikes. I love to look through my old cookbooks and find "vintage" recipes.  Since becoming the program director of a disability ministry, I have met a handful of different priests and even a retired bishop!  Yesterd...