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Unless you've been living under a rock (or you're a man), you can't not have noticed the explosion of Gilmore Girls-related posts on Facebook and Twitter following the announcement that all 7 seasons were coming to Netflix on October 1. The articles. The lists. Buzzfeed. The New York Times, for crying out loud (those of you in the know know that that would make Rory quite proud).
This show only ran for 7 years, and has been off the air for 7 years. Why the hype? you may be asking. Why the fuss? If you're asking that, it's obvious you haven't seen the show. Others have cited the quirky characters and the non-traditional family unit(s) featured in the show. My favorite part is the witty, fast-paced, smart humor. And the coffee. Of course the coffee. And as the plethora of recent posts confirm, this show unites people. I was never much of a TV watcher, and watching TV was never something my own mother and I did together. She's incapable of sitting still for more than 10 minutes at a time, and I'd rather have my nose in a book. And that, I think, perfectly sums up why we fell for the show so hard. Mom quickly identified with the motivated, energetic, irreverent, fast-paced, get-stuff-done Lorelai. And as my mother herself will tell you, I AM Rory, the quiet, practical, straight-A bookworm. If I had a dollar for every time my mother has called me and said, "I just saw [insert episode here] of Gilmore Girls and Rory was [insert action here] and I was like, 'That is SO Emily!' " I could retire at the ripe old age of 30 and move to Stars Hollow myself. Luckily, we got into the game a little late, so we just bought the DVD sets and binge-watched back before binge-watching was even a THING. Just because I'm closer in age to Lorelai now than I am to Rory now doesn't mean that I'm any less excited about diving back into my favorite TV show. Just because I'm married now doesn't change anything either (although the fact that my husband left Monday to go out of town for work for two weeks greatly increases the odds of marathon GG sessions). And, though my own mother may be three hours away and busy with her own life, when I curl up on the sofa with my takeout and press play and hear "Where you Lead," it will make me feel as though she's here. I think the best books, movies, or television shows bring people together (if you don't believe me, scour the internet and take a look at the Harry Potter fandom still going strong). It gives people who may be completely unrelated a bond, a commonality. And if that's the truth, then it's no wonder why everyone I know is thrilled GG is open for viewing. Now if you'll excuse me now, I think I have a show to watch.
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 After going a wee bit overboard making three kinds of salsa for my brother's and his fiancee's wedding shower, we realized we needed some recipes this week to help us use up the leftovers. One of the salsas we had leftover was mango salsa, and what goes better with mango salsa than fish? It's been a Monday (oh, it's been a Monday), so B found this easy, quick recipe online at Shape. It was delicious and a perfect contrast to the spicy fruitiness of the salsa. We served it with basmati rice and mixed roasted veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and cherry tomatoes). It was a colorful, flavorful, filling meal, and I really can't ask for any more than that. How do you create balanced, interesting meals on a Monday night? Honey-nut tilapia Ingredients:
Cooking spray 1 cup nuts (we just used mixed nuts) 1 teaspoon crushed garlic 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/4 teaspoon black pepper tilapia filets 2 teaspoons honey Directions: Preheat oven to 375 and spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Grind nuts, garlic, Italian seasoning, and pepper in a small food processor and spread mixture on a plate. Rinse tilapia filets and pat dry with a paper towel. Coat the top side of each filet with one teaspoon of honey. Press honey-coated side into nut mixture, then place on the pan, nut side up. Bake 15-17 minutes until fish is tender and flakes with a fork.  Let's be honest here. Who doesn't love chips and salsa? If you say you don't, then you're either lying or we can't be friends. And my favorite salsa is always the homemade kind. It's always fresher and less processed. I can't remember the last time I had a homemade salsa I didn't love. Plus, it's so versatile. You can put it on baked potatoes, any kind of meat, any kind of Mexican dish...the possibilities are really limitless. It's best, of course, with chips (I prefer the Tostitos thin and crispy cantina chips, but that's just me). And with football season just starting, there is literally an opportunity every week to make this salsa for a party. My favorite homemade salsa recipe is from my dear friend, Fleming. It's time-consuming to chop everything by hand, but totally worth every minute. The recipe makes a big batch, so scale it to size (and your tastes, of course!). I've made the entire recipe. I've also made a small serving just for certain dishes. I've made it mild, but of course B and I prefer it very spicy. Do you have a favorite salsa recipe? Is yours similar to this, or wildly different? Let me know - I'm always on the lookout for more salsa recipes!  Fleming's SalsaIngredients:
20 Roma tomatoes (firm is best) 1 small onion (I prefer yellow) 8 green scallion onions 5 cloves garlic, minced 1-3 jalapeno peppers, depending on how spicy you prefer 1/2 - 1 whole bunch cilantro Juice of 1-2 limes Salt and pepper to taste (don't be shy! They are critical ingredients in this salsa!) Directions: Chop up all ingredients to desired consistency. Be sure to chop the garlic and jalapeno as small as you possibly can (and do NOT touch your eyes afterward!) Mix together in a large bowl, and enjoy! Ole!  Anyone that knows me even a little bit knows that I LOVE winter. Having grown up in North Carolina, I am fascinated by and in love with snow, not to mention all the fun things that come along with the season: boots, coats, cute scarves, sweaters, blankets, hot cider, hot toddies, hot coffee, homemade soup, holidays, holiday parties. I could go on and on. 
So there we were, my future sister-in-law and I, on North Beach at Seabrook Island, arguably the prettiest place in the world. The boys were looking for good spots to go crabbing, and my B found a dead horseshoe crab. Since we'd never seen one up close and person before, we headed away from our towels to take a look. On the way there, we both freaked out as we saw a dolphin surface pretty close to shore. I knew there were dolphins off Seabrook's coast, but I'd never seen one so close before. We squealed as he did it again, and again. He wanted to make friends! We could go swim with the dolphins! Until a nearby fisherman explained to us what was happening. I'm not going to even try to explain it in detail, but basically a group of dolphins "herds" the fish to shore, then leaps out on shore and eats them. For a better explanation, check out this video. We watched this happen several times. When we got back to B's grandpa's house and told him about our morning on the beach, he knew exactly what we'd seen. He also told us that this phenomena is indigenous to Seabrook and Kiawah islands. What are the odds something this cool and unique ONLY happens in our own backyard. I'm not much of one for science (just give me words, please), but this was pretty cool. Check out some other pictures from our day below. 
Is this the most beautiful place in the world, or what?
I like history. And old things.
As I read, I receive insight into how people lived in other eras and/or in other countries, and sometimes I wonder if they didn't do certain things better than we. One of those things is communication. For all our technology, for all our MEANS of communication, we don't actually do it very well. We "say" a lot without really saying anything at all. We're so busy building our perfect public image that we're not always honest even with those closest to us. And there is absolutely nothing romantic or exciting about email. Nothing. Now, you may not agree with me. You may fall into the Luke Danes school of thought: "Everything in the past was so quaint, so charming. Times were simpler, kids didn't have sex, neighbors knew each other. It's a friggin' fairy tale. Things sucked then, too, they just sucked without indoor plumbing." And I'm not suggesting we resurrect outhouses and chamber pots. But what happened to good, old-fashioned letter-writing? I'm not talking about a birthday or get-well card with a sentence or two jotted inside. I'm talking about an Actual Letter. I understand that, say, your boss may not love it if you wrote and posted him a hand-written note every time he had a question. But your friends? Your family? Will our children grow up without ever learning the joy of having a pen pal, of eagerly checking the mail every day to see if a letter has come? Sure, typing is easier. But there is such a joy in putting pen to paper, of the experience of writing in that way. Do we really want that to be lost? I say we resurrect the lost art of letter writing. Who's with me? |
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