• asparagus,  cooking,  marriage

    “A”sparagus and individuality

    Photo © Diane Weidenbenner I had a revelation today, or, rather, my husband helped me with a revelation. You see, I don’t like asparagus. (That’s not the revelation – you need to read on…) Everyone likes asparagus, at least that’s what I’ve been lead to believe. It’s unmatched for its nutritional benefits and everyone I know just coos over it like it’s a newborn baby. I’ve only prepared it once and the spears refused to get tender so I now equated asparagus with stubbornness. And, green, stringy-ness. See my dilemma? Friends and family members say that I just don’t know how to cook it. I’ll agree with that. Even strangers…

  • Easter,  John Ortberg,  love

    Blogging from A to Z: Love, everlasting

    I’m reading “When the Game is Over, Everything Goes Back in the Box,” by John Ortberg. Got it for 80 cents at a recent library sale! I’m on Chapter Five and I’m really enjoying it. I also feel incredibly challenged. The premise is that much of what we strive for in life is temporary – money, fame, a nice house and car, the next promotion or step in our career, the latest wireless phone or tablet. What lasts forever is love. Our love for other people, for God, loving acts towards friends and even more so toward people who are hard to love. With the urgency and seemingly high priority…

  • grandma,  Jell-O®,  recipe

    Blogging from A to Z: Jell-O®

    As soon as I found out about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I knew I wanted to write about Jell-O®. My grandma Rose was the first person I knew to use this amazing product wholeheartedly. She’d return from her weekly bridge parties with new recipes from the hostesses. And, she’d create a few of her own tasty wonders. She would make fluffy desserts, beautiful gelatin molds, fruity and aspic-y salads and amazing pies, all with Jell-O®. Jell-O® is one of those amazing brandnomer (genicized trademark) success stories like Xerox® and Kleenex®. You don’t ever say, “I’d like some flavored gelatin.” You say, “Gimme some raspberry Jell-O®!” It was…