HAPPY NEW YEAR

A brand new year is upon us, and I am making a delicious vegetarian lasagna to celebrate the beauty of the day. My family tradition is to serve sauerkraut and pork roast, but since I choose to be meat-free I am making up some new traditions of my own. My vegetarian faux meat sauce I am cooking now looks amazing. I use a good red wine and  lots of tomatoes, onions and garlic to flavor the ground soy. The lasagna is going to be delicious, what an awesome twist  on a New Year's tradition

My husband and I and our two cats are enjoying a quiet holiday, well not so quiet since it is also football Sunday. What are some of your traditions? Have you chosen to reinvent traditions to make them your very own?

A friend of mine lost her beloved cat Gypsy today. I am a self admitted animal lover, and my cats are my family. My heart mourns for her and her family as they grieve their beloved feline family member. Our pets are never forgotten, years go by and we still miss them terribly.

I wrote this poem about my cat Dewey, thirteen years after I lost him. He was my best friend from 13-29. My family had many beloved pets over the years, all since passed away. We now have two beloved cats of our own, Stormy and Rascal; they are our newest loves. The heart always has room for more love, yet never forgets those gone from this world.

I dedicate this poem to my friends Susan, Melissa, Kristen, Jessica, and Donna and of course to beautiful Gypsy.

DEWY-EYED

Midnight warmth,

memory of my childhood;

long gone from my world.

yet never forgotten.

Always near to me,

shadow of my steps;

your roaring signature,

healed my myopic soul.

Your presence was sheer heaven,

during undesirable days of hell;

frightened at what was to be,

you were my diminutive anchor.

Now all that remains,

is a collection of old photographs;

my reminiscence of your very existence,

to remind my mind to never forget.

Midnight warmth,

seems like a dream to me;

memory of my childhood,

memoir of my heart.

(c) Rose Bruno Bailey

Happy New Year. Love, light, blessings and abundance in 2012 for all.
Prayers for those going through loss and hardships, may you find strength in those you love.

REVISITING PENNSYLVANIA

It is a sunlit October day in luminous Los Angeles, and we get a hint of a brisk breeze to remind us it is actually autumn. Football is a staple in our household, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are my husbands beloved team. His mood usually depends on whether or not they win or lose, reminding me of native Pittsburghers. This makes me a little nostalgic because we actually resided in his esteemed city for six years in the beginning of our lives together.

We have lived in many cities and states together, the very first was Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. It was a dream to James when we moved there because he had been a die-hard Steelers fan since childhood, following in the footsteps of his grandfather who had lived in Pittsburgh in his golden years with his grandmother. His grandparents moved there with their two daughters in the fifties and fell in love with the steel city and never left. His Mother and Aunt married and eventually moved far away, but the grandparents remained until the end of their days, and ended up being buried at one of the most beautiful cemeteries in town. So living in the "Burgh" was special to James because he was revisiting his roots and at the same time residing in the backyard of the team he had worshiped from afar his whole life. Plus, he had the opportunity to attend Point Park University, a school which would end up opening doors to a brand new existence for both of us.

For me Pittsburgh was my first move away from Cleveland Ohio, my hometown, and the location gave me ample opportunity to visit my family when I was homesick since the two cities were just a mere two hours from eachother.We planned our wedding and we were wed, and had many a happy moments with new friends. Those friends ended up being lifelong and lifechanging.

After graduation we moved to Bristol Connecticut when he was hired by ESPN. The move was swift, we had weeks to pack our belongings and say goodbye to the home we shared for six years. So we loaded the U-haul truck and the two of us with our Stormy cat made our way east to our new home. In the years following we moved to NYC and we now reside in Los Angeles California with our two beloved cats; making more positive changes and long term friends along the way, it is amazing how moving alters your life.

When we were still living in NYC I remember my first visit back to Pittsburgh, it had been years since I had revisited my former stomping ground. I took the Amtrak train from  New York's Penn Station to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, traveling the length of the state of Pennsylvania. As the train made its way through the  emerald countryside I marveled at the beauty I had almost forgotten. This in turn inspired me to write a poem dedicated to the wonderous state I had once called home. We live amongst loveliness in this beguilling country. Every state is unique and beautiful in their own right, we just have to remember to appreciate the view outside our own backdoors,wherever that may be. Love, light, and beauty to all on this radiant Sunday afternoon.

REVISITING PENNSYLVANIA
Rolling hills of yesteryear
bring forth the past;
forgotten days gone by.
Emerald trees stacked one upon another,
skyscraping limbs reaching into a vast sky;
hoping to capture a sunlit kiss,
from the saffron wonder above.
Shades of moss and marigold,
mountains, memories and reflections;
vie for my complete attention.
Crescenting rivers dive
over wayward sticks and stones.
Time, nor distance
or a New York minute
could never undo
the crescendo of calmness
found within
Pennsylvanian reverie.
(c) Rose Bruno Bailey

MY EVOLUTION TO VEGETARIAN COOKING AND LIVING.

My sisters and I used to love to go to the grocery store with our mother. We would follow like little disciples, contributing our wish list of meal choices for the family dinner. This was the one thing that kept us together, the family meal. I never took an interest in cooking, never needed to. My mother was gifted at the culinary arts and I just basked in her glory, sampling an array of delectable delights as the years passed. She cooked with such passion and love, we all were the recipients of this gastronomical  way of showing affection.  


When my mother was growing up, she had artistic abilities, talents that she never had the opportunity to fulfill. She could pick up a pencil and sketch a portrait, and sing like a songbird. Her mother taught her dreams were unrealistic and unattainable. Over the years those dreams were left at the wayside, replaced with children to raise and the constant need to just get through a day and survive. When my father first met my mother, her cooking skills were so lacking, she could not even boil an egg. I believe when she picked up that wooden spoon for the very first time, the artist in her was reborn; the wooden spoon was her pencil, and the food she created was her masterpiece. Her cooking would be the light that kept us from darkness during those challenging years of childhood, and I believe her culinary talent became the basis of her identity and our lives together.

As we grew into our teens, birthdays meant big meals with spaghetti and tomato sauce, and all the accompaniments that go with a  huge Italian meal. Our friends were always welcome, and there was always enough food to share with anyone who stepped on our doorstep; kindness to others always came first. We might not have had much, but there was always enough to share. Through my mother I learned it is so much more important to give than to receive. A value I believe has shaped me through the years.

I became a vegetarian and I was one for ten years, and she was always able to take family recipes  and come up with something completely  unique just for me. As the years went by I never took a liking to cooking, I was always off doing my own thing and let’ s face it; who needs to cook when you have someone always doing it for you. I could never compete nor did I wish to, that was her arena. My interests were in the arts and I was not a cook. Then the day came when I wasn’t within driving distance of my mother.  It was time I learned to cook, and I did so  with her help via the telephone . I learned all that I needed to learn and more, and I even cooked my first Thanksgiving Dinner.

Now I find myself living in California and a vegetarian once  again, a lifestyle I find enlightens my mind, body, and soul. This time it is me converting recipes and reinventing old stand-byes.  If I do say so myself the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, passion for cooking  and giving can be inherited.  I am always learning, growing, and evolving; with the reassurance that my inspirational Mother is always a phone call away to assist me when needed.

Food feeds our bellies but friendship, love and light nourishes our souls. I am honored to share both with all of you as well as all topics about the beauty being alive. Join me in my new journey through the blogosphere of life.
Namaste'

Rose Bruno Bailey