Author: Francesca Filanc

One of my daughters lives in Europe. I travel there to visit my family. Usually I don’t branch out to different destinations because I want to spend all my time with children and grandchildren.

Last fall after staying two weeks with the children in the north of Spain, I met my mother in the Munich airport and continued on to our joint destination — a Road Scholar trip – Beyond the View — to Southern Italy; specifically Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, arriving in Amalfi by boat!

On the last full tour day of our vacation our group took a tour bus to the tippy top town of Ravello, above the little beach town of Minori where we stayed on the Amalfi Coast.

Our delightful tour guide, Jan, announced just before we disembarked that we were going to tour Villa Rufolo as a group.

 The bus will leave at 12:00 noon sharp to transport you all back to Minori to have a free afternoon.
Otherwise you may stay the afternoon here and find your own transportation back to the hotel.

As my mother sat in the middle of the bus and I was way at the back, she immediately stood up and energetically announced so the whole bus could hear!

 Fran! You and I will be staying for lunch and going to the gardens of Villa Cimbrone, one of the most beautiful places on earth and take a taxi back!

 It was early morning in the first week of October. The small town square was empty which was came as a happy surprise because our whole trip, although fabulous with history and beauty, had been met with crowds of people.

 Villa Rufulo, our first stop, took my breath away. The Italian Stone Pines arch over the pathway on the approach to the entrance of Villa. Around every bend we were greeted by breath-taking views of the Gulf of Salerno. Gardens included red geraniums, majestic stone pines, and partiers. I wanted to linger and was taking pictures at every turn. We oohed and ahhed looking at the views. We wandered back to the town square where I continued to do the same.

 Fran, we need to figure out how to get to Villa Cimbrone!

 The hike up to Villa Cimbrone was about a mile walk. Mama was anxious to get me there, but I tried every detour imaginable just to stop and take in the magnificent views, even stopping at a breath-taking hotel in route for us to have coffee and treats. We finally approached the entrance to Villa Cimbrone. OOOOOOHHHHH I exclaimed!  OOOOOHHHHHH!

Fran, why do you think I’ve been trying to get you here! Let’s just hope that the fog hasn’t rolled in!

Villa Cimbroneis a historic building and gardens in Ravello on the Amalfi coast of southern Italy. The estate dates from at least the 11th century AD, although little of the original structure is now visible. Various owners altered and extended the building, using a variety of architectural elements from other parts of Italy and elsewhere. In 1904 Ernest William Beckett (later Lord Grimthorpe), bought the ruined farmhouse and transformed it into a palace. The gardens were redeveloped at the same time, being installed between the house and the cliff edge high above the Gulf. English architects and landscape gardeners such as Harold Peto, Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll provided aesthetics concepts. The famous English gardener, Vita Sackville-West, often a guest of the Becketts, aided in the design of the flowerbeds and cultivations. The gardens are considered among the most important examples of

English landscape and botany culture in the south of Europe; an eccentric mixture of formal, beds bursting with English roses, Moorish tea houses, picturesque grottoes and classical temples. The villa is now a hotel, and the gardens are open to the public.

Mama and I wandered along the main path as I squealed with delight at the beauty that enveloped us. We ended up on a marbled promontory adorned with

statues that looked out to the Mediterranean below. We spent several hours in this fairyland paradise, exploring together and then separately to each have our own personal experience. We agreed to meet for lunch at the hotel’s outdoor restaurant. Lunch was an idyllic experience. I felt as if I were in a dream of another place and time, sipping a Bellini, transfixed in wonder, excitement, awe and emotion.

Ciao for now,

 

Francesca

Many times I am asked where my inspirations come from for a particular painting. Sometimes I deliberate and a painting may take me weeks or months to finish. Other times the inspiration is almost instantaneous and the painting is complete in an hour’s time.

The painting that I am discussing here is the latter. Three Roses, Marilyn Monroe took me only an hour to paint. It is one of those paintings that I felt came through me, but not of me.

I had recently read an article about Marilyn Monroe. I wanted to depict Marilyn’s Great Intelligence, not just the Sex Symbol. I purposely did not paint her bosom. At the time of the painting I was working with a woman who, through creative writing, assists individuals to find his or her creative center. I had an appointment with Lois, an hour hence of painting the painting. I had written in an earlier session that I found Marilyn Monroe inspirational. I love painting beauty and she was beautiful. I started rapidly painting in oil listening to a voice inside my head that advised me even down to what colors to mix in a particular area. I wanted to put red up to the left of her neck but a voice inside my head said to me

Look Fran you asked for our help; we’re telling you to mix an olive green for that spot. Are you going to listen to us?

I know this sounds kooky, but I think we all get divine inspiration, call it what you want, but inspiration can come to each of us in different ways.  When I was younger I didn’t think I had an inner voice. Even if I had I certainly wouldn’t have listened to it. As I’ve grown older I’ve noticed that if I do listen it saves me a lot of grief in all parts of my life and the more I listen to the still small voice, the more the voice seems to come.

Frank Lloyd Wright created the drawings for Falling Waters in a very short span of time. The clients were in route to his studio. Lloyd Wright had been procrastinating the project because to create a home around a natural waterfall, the logistics of which seemed near impossible, and yet in that exhilarated time-rush of two hours a masterpiece was born on paper!

Three Roses, Marilyn Monroe just won People’s Choice in The La Jolla Art Association Gallery last week ( La Jolla Art Association ).

 

I’m thankful for inspiration, divine or not, when it pops on my doorstep or into my ear.

 

Bye for now,

 

Francesca

 

Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an hard-on to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney disease will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.

How many of you remember the Fab Four on the bubble gum cards? So fun! Del Mar was termed by some; Gasoline Alley. There were 13 gas stations on old 101!

I remember because on occasions that I was allowed to walk home from school I would count each one. After the freeway opened the gas stations began to close one by one until there were just two left when I was going to college. Then for many years there was one gas station left. Now there are none.

When I was in 6th grade a 711 store opened in Del Mar too!!!! Remember Slurrpies? I would save up my allowance. It was a great treat to walk home and buy bubble gum, Beatles Cards and sometimes on a hot day a Slurpee too! The boys would be there buying bubblegum baseball cards. Those were the days of Mickey Mantel and transistor radios. I remember the boys bringing transistor radios to school to listen to the World Series. We had no team in San Diego back then but LA had the Dodgers. They won the World Series in 1965 thanks in part to Don Drysdale, Maury Wills and Sandy Koufax.

I venture to bet that nearly all of my generation remembers the first time the Beatles sang on the Ed Sullivan Saturday Night Variety Entertainment Show! We had a portable little TV with Rabbit Ears on top that my father would roll out into the living room after dinner. I remember being so excited! We all sat around to watch and I felt like I was screaming right there with all the girls Swooning as the Beatles sang

I want to hold your haaaaaaand!

Beatles on Ed Sullivan

Tonight Paul McCartney is up for some grammy awards. We will see if he wins. Seeing this on Face Book is what made me go back down memory lane “Growing up in Del Mar.”

Exhausted last night. Thank goodness for TIVO. Here’s what the Daily Telegraph had to say about Sir Paul McCartney:

Sir Paul McCartney won a Grammy award for Kisses on the Bottom – his 17th, and first for an album of newly recorded material since The Beatles’ Let It Be in 1971 – hours before the BBC launched a day of programming commemorating the Fab Four.

 

By for Now,

 

Francesca

 

 

In 1969, the San Diego Padres joined the ranks of Major League Baseball as one of four new expansion teams, along with the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals), the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots (now theMilwaukee Brewers). Their original owner was C. Arnholt Smith, a prominent San Diego businessman and former owner of the PCL Padres whose interests included banking, tuna fishing, hotels, real estate and an airline. Despite initial excitement, the guidance of longtime baseball executives, Eddie Leishman and Buzzie Bavasi as well as a new playing field, the team struggled; the Padres finished in last place in each of its first six seasons in the NL West, losing 100 games or more four times. One of the few bright spots on the team during the early years was first baseman and slugger Nate Colbert, an expansion draftee from the Houston Astros and still (as of 2009) the Padres’ career leader in home runs.

Before going out in the evenings the dogs and I have a routine. I feed them dinner, put them out to go potty and then turn on the music for them to listen to while I am gone.

Bye Bye puppies, protect the house and be good — don’t get into mischief, I will be back!

 I buy stuffed toys for Byron and Amie to play with. One of Byron’s favorite games is to carry a black little puppy stuffed animal around the house and then take it to Amie, pushing the stuffed puppy towards her face and neck to entice her in a game of tug of war.

Anticipating the grandchildren’s arrival I bought four little stuffed black poodles. They are arranged in the grandchildren’s room. I have one on the edge of the crib, one on the French Day Bed and two on the window seat.

When I arrived home the other evening I noticed that Byron had his little black puppy stuffed animal in his mouth…OOOPS Wrong! It was one of the poodles from upstairs.

I realized that this was my fault so took the stuffed toy away,  found his and gave it to him. He was not interested. As I walked along I saw another one of his back in the hall. I proceeded to find three of the four scattered about the house. One at the end of the stairs and one in my downstairs bedroom. The stuffed toy that had been on the edge of the crib was in the crib. I then laughed to myself because I could just see in my head the fun these dogs were having while I was out! Running and tearing around the house! When I am home I will throw the stuffed toy (meant for the dogs) down the long hall that is wood and then marble. Byron gets going at such speeds that he slips and slides after his toys!

There is an expression while the cat’s away the mice will play!

While Mama is out the puppies play and play and play.

Now when I go out I shut the door to the grandchildren’s room and leave all their stuffed toys out for them to play with.

 

Bye for now,

 

Francesca

 

 

Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an hard-on to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney illness will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.

It’s like Dorothy’s Shoes,we have them all along and we can go home at any minute!

Many times when I am writing a blog post it takes me a long time to think about the subject that I am writing about. I will write and re write. I will end up taking out huge portions that I wrote to simplify what I have written.

Last weeks blog post I thought was unfinished and when I went back to it after leaving it sit on my computer for a couple of days I realized that other than some final editing the post was basically finished. Like Dorothy and her shoes.

Turn around and click your pretty red shoes together and keep saying: there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.

 My paternal grandmother told me when I was knee high to a grasshopper

Francie, when you grow up you are going to write a book about my life.

I think about this and it makes me cry because I was dyslexic as a child and would have never in a million years even thought that I would ever be writing a blog! Not to say that I even knew what blogging was. There wasn’t even the word blog. The internet had not been invented yet!

 Frances, my grandmother, whom my sister and I called Mimi, was a writer. There can be such a strong loving close-knit bond between grandparent and grandchild. I was lucky to have such a relationship with Mimi and she lived right next door when I was growing up. Mimi was my spiritual mentor as well as being the most earthy grandmother I knew, or for that matter anybody else knew!  Looking back on it I had the most amazing childhood imaginable.

As a child, and even way into adulthood, the traumatic events of my childhood stood out as stark reminders of humiliation and emotional pain. I loved school for the social aspect, but I was humiliated beyond belief and thought I was stupid and dumb because I could not read. I got Ds and Fs all the way through grammar school, even though I studied for hours after school with my mother. Bless her heart; she was trying to teach me to read. I remember in 5^th grade and in Sunday school counting ahead to try and figure out the paragraph I would have to read aloud so that I would not make any mistakes.

I am finally coming into an understanding of how right my childhood was for me. I was receiving an immense education of what would later prove to be important for me to learn for my life’s growth and purpose.

Mimi said

Life is a school!

In the fourth grade I remember running home to tell my parents that I wanted to learn how to play the flute. An orchestra leader and choir director Mr. Biggens had come to our school and talked to us about learning musical instruments. I was thrilled with the idea to learn how to play the flute! As hard as school was for me I took to the flute like a duck takes to water. My parents bought me a flute. I was ecstatic as I opened the box to view my shiny stainless steel  flute! I practiced an hour a day.

Little did I know at the time that learning how to play the flute was not only a positive in giving me something that I could excel at, but I also learned how to be a good reader! Playing the notes trained my eye coordination from left to right.

By the time I was to go to junior high I had become a good reader but I was still petrified to read out loud! Knowing my concerns, one day my mother drove me to downtown San Diego. We took an elevator high up into an old building. A pleasant man with a kind smile greeted us at the door of his studio apartment. I recall the musty aroma emitting from his small office. Mama said goodbye and left. The man asked me to read out loud. I read and he looked at me and said

Why Frances you read perfectly! Just go ahead and read!

This nice man had given me permission to do well. He belived in me so I then started believing in myself. My grades skyrocketed  from Ds and Fs to As and Bs. Dorothy’s shoes, I had them all along! And now I am writing a blog.

Mimi, maybe your prediction will come true. Maybe I will write a book about you too!

Bye for Now,

Francesca

If the aircraft cabin loses pressure, the panel above your seat containing oxygen masks will open automatically.
While remaining seated with your seatbelt fastened,
quickly reach for the nearest mask and pull down firmly to start the flow of oxygen.

Pull the yellow cup over your nose and mouth, slip the elastic band over your head and tighten by pulling the straps on either side. Breathe normally. Even though oxygen is flowing, the plastic bag may not inflate.

ALWAYS PUT YOUR MASK ON FIRST AND THEN HELP CHILDREN OR OTHERS NEAR YOU.
American Airlines 

Put the mask on yourself before helping others!

Today is January First 2013

My mother has made New Years Resolutions all my life. My sister and I were encouraged to do the same from a young age. As an adult I have made them most years but rarely do I accomplish what I have resolved to do. Or sometimes I do in part but not totally.

Last night I reflected on some notable events in my life from this past year and then wrote down some thoughts that came to me for the year ahead.

Sadly my late husband Peter was very ill for several years before he passed away and during that period I was very neglectful of my own well-being.

Until recently, I did not understand the concept of taking care of myself first before taking care of others. The instructions we are given by the flight attendant, in charge, every time we fly in an airplane tells us to do just that!

Being a mother and grandmother my instincts would be to put the mask on the child next to me before putting it on myself. But we are directed to do the exact opposite.

I now finally understand what taking care of ourselves means! When I was growing up in the 50s and 60s children were often taught, especially girls, to take care of others before ourselves. In my family as well, as I think many families of the era, we fed the men first.

I think I had serving others and taking care of myself confused in my head.

Doing my sit-ups and working out for an hour each day are some ways in which I can take care of myself. I have heard people say

I would be a different person if I did not exercise every day.

One way of finding our own inner happiness is to take care of ourselves first.

The interesting part of this concept is that taking care of oneself first requires self-discipline. But once one gets the hang of doing so, life feels so good! Taking care of ourselves first nurtures our inner core of who we are individually and then we can give more love, stronger, wider and bigger, to our friends, family, acquaintances and the world!

One way that I have decided to take care of myself this year is to partake in one of my passions every day even if I have just a few minutes. My late husband did this. He ran every lunchtime at work and he played the guitar or piano every evening. Peter also loved to cook. Pete cooked almost every day.

A life of taking care of ourselves first looks different and helps us to cope with lifes pressures and struggles.

So, let’s all make this a New Year’s resolution! Put your mask on first!

Bye for now,

Francesca

Perhaps like some of you I not only blog but write in journals. The popularity of journaling has been on the rise and the variety of beautiful blank volumes make them a real temptation to buy. I love buying really pretty ones and writing my thoughts or musings every day: my prayers, my hopes, my dreams. Simply writing down a problem or concern and asking the questions I want to know answers to; answers miraculously come! They are not always what I want to hear, but I feel that our angels and God can talk to us and help us in this way.

I am currently reading Proof of Heaven by Dr. Eben Alexander. I have recently heard that Heaven is just above our heads. What a comforting thought! But it is a different dimension so we can’t see heaven until we pass away, or have an experience such as Dr. Alexander experienced. As a result of a rare illness, he was in a coma for seven days.

Recently my friend and her family were spending a lovely afternoon in her enchanting garden, rich for the scope of a child’s imagination. One of her granddaughters, age two, was walking up a path. The little girl stopped still.  Studying something intently she then turned back towards her two observers on the bench.

Who’s that? 

The little girl exclaimed in a curious manner.

Sweetie there is no one there.

 My friend answered.

The other person on the bench said,

You see someone? 

Yes

 Is it a man or a woman?

 A woman.

 What color is her hair?

 Brown.

 Then the little girl turned back in the direction of the woman that she saw, shrugged her shoulders and continued on her merry way up the path where one could imagine fairies would love to live and children love to explore.

Tragically my friend had just lost a dear friend a month earlier, taken in the prime of her life by illness. Perhaps that friend was coming to say hi to my friend and one of her grandchildren was there to let her know that she was there to say hi to those left behind.

Like many others around the world I have been trying to make sense of the horrific events in Newtown, Connecticut last week. As a result I am struggling with how to address the subject. My niece, Rebecca Woolf, wrote an excellent post on the subject this week. Rebecca’s Blog.

I did not learn about the events until my mother told me in the early evening. Turning on the news I was horrified with the details that were emerging of what had transpired earlier in the day.

Later that evening as I tried to go to sleep I visualized the little children being lifted up and escorted to heaven by loving Angels and loved ones whom had already passed away.

In the aftermath one cannot feel secure with anything in life! Millions of people around the globe have been touched in some way by this tragedy. I am sure they, as am I, are sending prayers and love to those people in despair.

The next morning I awoke to the sun streaming in my window. Letting my dogs outside I went also and walked across the lawn to where the land drops away to the grove. The air was crisp and clear and smelled sweet after a night of steady rain.

All the plants, trees and flowers seemed to be speaking to me. Nature for that moment seemed still, but at the same time teeming with life, love and growth. All at once I was aware of the sounds of birds singing and I thought, no matter what horrors occur here on earth, the birds still sing.

The events at Newtown leave a deeply crevassed canyon of sorrow. Prayers and love to all those people who experienced the horror and unspeakable loss of loved ones in Newtown. May they in time feel God’s warm love helping them cope with the overwhelming grief and sadness.

Many thanks again to all my readers throughout this past year.

Bye for Now,

 

Francesca

Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an erection to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney illness will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.

As this new year fast approaches I am ripe for something exciting and new to happen in my life, in large part because in my view I am straddling islands. I thought I had a vision of where I wanted to go in my life’s journey. But it just keeps twisting and turning, nothing concrete and stable for me to hold on to except knowing that there really is a God who is in charge of my life’s experience.

I pray and or meditate, whatever one calls that alone time we take with our maker. In my life every day is new and different. But with no knowing where I am going except to stay constant with the insecurity that I don’t know my future and sometimes feel like a boat without a rudder. I’m afraid that I am going to run aground at any minute; and my fairytale life that I’ve invented will be ended, and I will be stranded again, between the islands of thought, time and space.

I want more. I know I want more. I feel as if I am at the cliff’s edge, or in the space where the sea of my mind is lapping at the door of discovery. When will the two merge into one? Will I ever know where I am going or is this what life is? An ever present awareness that life, as a moving plasma of energy fields, sometimes drops a wisp of something beautiful into my midst where I may bathe in calm knowing that all is and will be well.

Live in the present through the garden. Live in the present through the painting. Live in the present and the past and the future through writing. After all, isn’t that the gift of being an artist? Isn’t that the gift that art gives us? You, me, and all of the world?

In art, as in life, it is the sharing. What we share and how we share with the world is the culmination of all our time in private quiet contemplation. No matter how reverent or irreverent we are, we are all each in our own boat moving through this sea of energy and emotions. Trying to get it right! What is right anyway? What is right from wrong? Sometimes the wrong way turns out to be the right way and sometimes the right way turns out to be the wrong way. For me, it is the moving fluid sea of eternity that keeps me excited, extends me as a human and propels me forward into the abyss; the abyss of time and space.

Bye for Now,

 

Francesca

 

 

Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an hard-on to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney disease will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.

Mimi please would you tell me a stow-wee about Byron and Amie.

 Anushka asks in her adorable little Spanish Basque accent. I was visiting with her on SKYPE. Anushka lives in Spain and I am in San Diego. How fortunate we are in this day and age to have ways to easily communicate with family and friends who may live on the other side of the world!

 Ok Anushka, you know, sometimes I feel like the dogs are almost human! When I talk to Byron he responds knowing what I say. Amie does too but she is an old girl, now 14 and a half. That’s like over 100 years old in human years!

 Byron, just a year and a half, is extremely active! He is past the “puppy stage” so he is respectful of the fact that Amie can’t do everything she use to do. But sometimes when the weather is cool Amie feels frisky and plays with Byron, even at times egging him on!

This morning, as on many mornings, Anushka, Byron wakes me up with his cold wet muzzle against my toe if it is out of the covers, or my face if he can reach.

 Byron is a large Standard Poodle. He stands on his back legs pressed up against the side of the bed as if to say “Mom, please let me out,” or “Mom come play with me and then let me out.”

 “Ok Byron where’s your toy? Go bring me your toy.” Byron bounds down and across the room as I sleepily lie there thinking “I don’t want to wake up yet. Give me a few minutes, Byron to come to this world out of dreamland.” But like a small child (dogs can have the intelligence of a three to four year old), Byron does not listen to my sense of reason. Before I know it he is back up against the side of the bed with a toy or a ball in his mouth.

 Ok, Byron go play with Amie. Byron jumped down and sailed over to her bed. Amie laying on her back with her legs in a relaxed position did not want to move. By this time I am fully awake and sit up in bed to observe what happens next. Byron moans and makes other little whining noises as he pushes a plush toy against her face. When this works to no avail Byron runs back to me with the toy. I then throw it back to Amie and ask Byron to try again to rouse her. Byron then goes back to Amie and starts gently biting her cheeks and neck and then he pushes her back with his head. Finally Amie starts interacting with Byron. Byron then grabs the toy and pushes it into her mouth. Amie then holds it in her mouth. After about 10 minutes Amie with her old achy body is finally up and moving around the room with the toy in her mouth the other end in Byron’s and they play tug of war for some time.

 All of a sudden they are both barking; they have spied a rabbit running very fast across the garden. I then spring up to let them out “have fun kids!”

 Now time for me to do my 100 crunches and go out into the studio to paint. I don’t need an alarm clock. Anushka, Byron is my alarm clock!

 Anushka bursts into giggles.

OK Mimi. Please tell me another stow-wee about Byron and Amie.

 Bye for Now,

 

Francesca

 

 

Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an hard-on to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney disease will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.

Thanksgiving is over…. gulp, it is now time for me to get ready for Christmas! A special blessing arrived this month in the way of a new grandbaby. I am anticipating the joyous season ahead!

BUT there is sooo much to do!!!! Lists miles long. This morning when my alarm clock went off—- Bryon, as usual standing up against the high bed with his front paws pushing his wet muzzle against my toe, as if he was saying,

 Mama, I want to go out!

 All I wanted to do was stay in bed all day and hibernate! It is 10:20 a.m. and I am still in my nightie. As I write I am drinking herbal tea; but I have not done my sit-ups yet and company is coming to dinner! Luckily there is a vegetarian lasagna in my freezer that I made about a month ago. I like to make food ahead and freeze it when I’m in a cooking mood.

Here is the Lasagna recipe:

Best Gluten Free Lasagna Noodles
2 Japanese eggplants
Spaghetti sauce, 2 or 3 different varieties or
home-made from Roma tomatoes from the garden
Mozzarella, Romano, Ricotta and Monterey Jack cheese
Fresh parsley from the garden
Garlic from the garden
I package mushrooms or a handful
One large or two medium onions

Slice eggplant thinly, drizzle with olive oil, salt to taste. Roast in oven about 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until tender.

Sauté garlic till brown, add onions, cook until transparent then add mushrooms. (Use coconut or olive oil.) Meanwhile, heat spaghetti sauce in a saucepan, add sautéed vegetables to the sauce. Then add chopped parsley and Italian herbs such as oregano from the garden, a small amount of red wine, cinnamon and nutmeg, salt to taste.

Cook noodles, drain in a colander, then put noodles back into cooking pot. Drizzle olive oil over noodles so they don’t stick together. In a casserole dish (about 9 x 13) coat bottom of pan with olive oil, sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Layer starting with generous amount of spaghetti sauce, then noodles, cooked eggplant, Mozzarella, Romano, Ricotta and Monterey Jack cheese. Repeat this process ending with generous layer of spaghetti sauce and grated Romano cheese over the top.

If freezing, wrap with Saran Wrap and then aluminum foil. Take out of the freezer in the morning to defrost. Remove all wrapping before baking and then bake at 375 to 400 for 40-50 minutes or until done.  When I have a frozen lasagna, as I do today, I give lasagna an hour and a half to two hours cooking time. I take it out 1/2 hour to 45 minutes before serving.

I’m also serving a fresh argulua and roma tomato salad, both from the garden.

Have Fun Preparing for the holidays!

Bye for Now

 

Francesca

 

Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an erection to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney disease will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.