Recipes for living, loving and laughing:Jo, Elliott, Cloey & Zoey's adventures

This story has circulated for years; usually it is a church on Christmas Eve. Patricia Polacco has written a beautiful children's book, the Christmas Tapestry, which has it taking place in Detroit. She says she heard the story many years ago. The brand new Rabbi and his wife were newly assigned to their first congregation to reopen a Shul in suburban Brooklyn. They arrived in early February excited about their opportunities. When they saw their Shul, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Erev Puirm. They worked hard, repairing aged pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on 8th of the Adar (February 17th) they were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On February 19 a terrible snowstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the Rabbi went over to the Shul. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large ...

Jo has had a group of online friends for about 15 years. She has met a bunch including in those in  MA, CA, NY and FL. Her Florida friend lives in Fort Myers so once again we got together with her and her husband for a great breakfast at First Watch. Jan and Jo We decided to take the girls to the flea market and they were dreams. We are so lucky to have them. Elliott got a bunch of stuff...he loves the hardware type stuff. Jo got a top for her mom...Her Florida gifts are tops that just aren't sold at home. We watched the football game (Yeah Pats) and the...hmm third or fourth movie this trip. This one was The Conjuring. . Horror you say? Yup, Jo loves stuff like that; Elliott doesn't. We won't be renting a horror movie again. She'll have to watch them at home.  We also saw Red 2 . We liked it. Now you must understand we are not movie elitists. As long as a movie keeps our attention i.e. we don't fall asleep, it gets a thumbs up.  We saw ...

What a great time. We miss these relatives a lot. They are on Elliott's side: aunt Doris and uncle Stanley and two of Elliott's cousins.. Mike and Helene and their spouses Phyl and Russ, Phyllis and Mikes' daughter Stephanie, Elliott's brother Alan, wife Anna and son Thomas.. we sat around and chatted and laughed and sat around for dinner and chatted and laughed. Funny thing is that many of us have NYC in common so our new years resolutions are to see each other more. Everyone is tagged on my Facebook page . 

Although this is considered a craft for kids, I am going to turn it into a business adventure like I did the reindeer candy canes (below), which were a big hit. I think I will mix up the candy - perhaps use small bags of pretzels and other healthier choices for people who I know don't eat sugar, etc. The card will go on the heart. I will post a picture after I make it. All it takes is a strip of green paper, an elastic around the candy to make it look like a butterfly. pipe cleaners and a heart, which could be made of foam, paper, felt or anything you have around the house

Jo ranted yesterday about the whining going on regarding people not getting their Christmas gifts from Amazon. Come on, people! Do you know that people are without electricity? How about hurricanes, Tsunamis, wars for peace, civil wars all over the world, women getting raped and mutilated because they are women, children dying from starvation (not as in I am starving, let's go to Burger King) but real starvation? How about not having clean water to drink, on and on and on and you are angry that your gift is coming a couple of days late. It is hard to believe so wake up and stop whining. Be glad you woke up today. Be glad you woke up in the United States of American. Be glad you have money to receive a gift. On to rant number two...this is the beach we have been at and will continue to be for the next few days. It is truly one of the prettiest we've seen.  Sparkling blue water and powdery, white sand is littered with cigarette butts? We have been to the most gorgeous ...

Kid-Friendly Sparkling New Years Jello Drinks- made with grape juice and sparkling cider http://bestfoodtoday.tumblr.com/