January 2nd, 2020. Where did 2019 go? In fact, where has the last 25 years gone? Years ago, I remember hearing old people say, “oh my goodness, the older I get, the faster time flies.” Now, I’m one of those old people and indeed it is so true. Each week just seems to go faster and faster.
Randy and I were driving home yesterday from doing errands and we passed an Old Chicago Pizza place. As we drove by it, a memory flashed in my mind from 24 years ago, to a night either right after we married or shortly before we married. He had picked me up after work and said, “I want to take you to one of my favorite places for pizza.” Well, you don’t have to ask me twice. So off we went, and me, always loving a sense of adventure, didn’t even ask where we were going. I love surprises and knew that if it were one of his favorite places, then it surely would be one of mine as well. When we drove up to Old Chicago Pizza on Beltline in Dallas, I looked at him and the look of love was all over his face. You could tell he was excited to take me to a new place that he loved and I was so excited to be going to someplace new. So as we sit there, he begins to tell me why this is his favorite pizza. I sat there with stars in my eyes, hanging on every word, knowing that this would become a new favorite of mine as well. The pizza is delivered to our table and we both pick up a slice of pizza. He is in heaven as he begins to ask me how I like it, I respond, “oh my goodness, this is the best pizza I have every had. I’m so glad you brought me here and I totally understand why you love it so much. It is just delicious.”
We continued the wonderful evening knowing that this was another reason that we were soul mates. We both loved pizza, hated salmon, green peas and sushi….fast forward 24 years…
After driving by OCP yesterday, that memory came back to me and I began to laugh. When Randy ask me why I was laughing, I had to admit that all those years ago, when he took me to OCP, I was so in love with him that I went along with his “love of OCP” I really hadn’t liked it at all because I”m a thin crust pizza girl and that was deep dish which i really do not like at all. But, because it was important to him that I like it and he wanted to please me, I had lied and told him what he wanted to hear. Isn’t that what girls in love do so many times.
Because I started to think of how I would handle that situation now was what made me laugh. If we had walked into OCP like we did those 24 years ago, would I just sit there, let him order what he wanted and then eat it like it was the best pizza ever? The answer to that question was what made me laugh. I can just see the scenario now….”dear, what do you think of the pizza, isn’t it wonderful” Randy would ask. “Do you really expect me to eat this? You know I only like thin crust pizza and yet you bring me to a pizza place that only serves thick crust pizza? Why didn’t you tell me where we were going and I would have reminded you that I don’t like thick crust pizza. See, you never listen or pay attention to me when I talk to you. If you had you would have remembered that I don’t like thick crust pizza.” Hum……..what a difference 24 years makes!
As we rode in the car after passing OCP and laughed at the difference between then and now, it reminded us both that maybe 2020 might be a good year to work on some of our attitudes with each other. Do we love each other still? Absolutely, even more each day. But those little differences creep in to our lives and we don’t accept those differences or opinions as well as we use to. We sometimes get so caught up in our own likes and dislikes that we expect the other to change to who and what we feel they should become. A couple of years ago my word for the year was kindness.
(I wrote a post about that if you would care to go back and read it on the blog. Just put in One Word in the search bar)
Maybe this new year I need to make that word one of my goals. We all have times which we find it hard to be kind to those who are closest to us. But, remembering that night so long ago and how good it made me feel to keep my opinion to myself and how good it made him feel to know he had pleased me by taking me to one of his favorite pizza joints, gives me a new desire to choose kindness more days in this new year.
As long as he doesn’t try to take me to one of his new found food love places, Sushi and Salmon R Us, it will be a little easier to be kind….
Merry Christmas to all of you out there in Blogville! What a busy time of year for everyone and I truly cannot believe that Christmas was yesterday. As we woke up this morning, it saddened me that each day now will become a little less bright, as far as Christmas lights go. Each day, more folks will begin taking down the tree and the outside lights. January arrives and along with it, more cold weather. BUT….that thought excites me because it means the possibility of some snow or icy days when the roads are closed and we have a reason to stay home and watch movies, without guilt. It is on those days that things like gingerbread just sound so good. If you are like me, you have probably began to collect some of the Santas or Snowmen that adorn your home to put away until next Christmas. Honestly it felt good to get in the kitchen this morning and begin to bring down the Christmas dishes to pack away and clean up before putting out the dishes that we use for Jan and February. (Yes I do have dishes that are simply for Jan and February) What can I say except that I love kitchen dishes). Getting back to my subject of Giving Gingerbread, as I was baking this morning between ridding the kitchen of Santas, I started to think about something. Why do we feel that just because Christmas is over, we don’t need to bake goodies to give away? Wouldn’t it be so wonderful to hear the doorbell ring as I am packing away Christmas; and there at the door is a friend handing me some gingerbread biscotti to enjoy as I sit and rest after a day of packing away all the Christmas decor? So I began to bake this amazing new recipe that I found last night. It is scrumptious and makes enough to give to someone that might come to your mind. It was so simple to make and the flavor is just so wonderful. AND…since Starbucks did away with their gingerbread flavored drinks this year, I have been missing gingerbread everything. So this is my answer to my gingerbread craving. Seriously, it is some of the best biscotti I have had. You are probably going too remind me that I say that about every biscotti I make, but this one is really my favorite (at least until I am craving chocolate and cherry flavored biscotti which will probably happen around Valentines Day).
INGREDIENTS
Today I had volunteered to bring an apple cake for a dear friends birthday celebration. This is one of her favorite cakes, especially the praline frosting. If she was at the house when I might be making the frosting, she would stand there with a spoon, eating the frosting right out of the bowl. So, as per her request, I made an apple cake with her favorite frosting. There is an apple cake that is already on the blog, but for some reason, this new recipe caught my eye, as it had a 1/2 cup of orange juice in the batter. Because it is so much fun to try new flavor combinations, this one intrigued me. All I can tell you is the women at the party all commented, saying they wanted the recipe. It really was, we thought a great flavored apple cake. Very moist, yet not mushy or soggy, as some apple cakes tend to get. Because it had a little less than the 3 cups of chopped apples that a lot of recipes call for, it had a little more cake texture to it. This will now be my “go to” recipe for apple cakes.
