Cooking the NYTimes and Other Assorted Retirement Activities

A faithful reader pointed out there was not a recipe in the Motherhood post.  I could say it's because mothers shouldn't be cooking on Mother's Day but it was because I forgot. This is a recipe we're having tonight.  Very fragrant and an easily done, which, as far as recipes go, is one all mothers need in their hip pocket. Mongolian Beef Ramen 1 lb. sirloin steak, sliced against the grain 2 T corn starch 2 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil) 1 T sesame oil 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 t. minced ginger 1/2 c soy sauce (I prefer the reduced sodium variety) 1/4 c brown sugar 1 c chicken or beef broth pinch red pepper flakes 1 large head broccoli, cut into florets 1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks 3 pkgs instant ramen, flavor packet discarded** 3 green onions thinly sliced Toasted sesame seeds 1. Cook ramen noodles** according to package instructions.  Drain and set aside.  (If you don't have ramen, a thin spaghetti noodle also works), 2. In wo...

Not unlike how the incandescent blue sky ever so softly fades, hues bursting first as fireworks, then spreading across the horizon, melting into the mellowness of pastel Motherhood Moments of extraordinary pleasure or pain and often melded, enduring efforts to be erased; rather etched into memories that seep out when least expected Motherhood Tempests tossed then calmed with a soothing touch tempered by patience honed into strengths of character by unimaginable yet all too real depths of love Motherhood Steps forward for years, followed by shuffles backwards from the launch, not adrift, rather admiring from the space where lives have been nurtured and guided and now take their own shape to discover paths where the colors and shadings of the sky are reminiscent of those when the merger was so strong it was often impossible to decipher where one began and another began and then, oh so suddenly, the separation was nothing if not clear, as if gazing to the sandy bottom of the m...