Tina The Storyteller

I have Calphalon pots and pans. I've collected them over the years, prefer the nonstick varieties, though I do have one stainless steel pan of theirs, it rarely gets used. I love their stuff. I especially love their warranty and how they stand behind it, no questions asked. We got the starter set when we were first married, it had a ten year warranty, by the time our ten year anniversary started rolling around, they all needed to be replaced, I shipped them in and we got a whole new set. I love a company that stands by their word. What does any of this have to do with a mess? Well, they all have to be washed by hand. I don't really know what would happen to them in the dishwasher and quite honestly, I'm not interested in finding out. So at the end of the meals that I actually cook, I have to run a sink of warm water and soap. I use Dawn, maybe because my mom did and maybe because I've used a couple other brands and just keep coming back to it time and again. I buy the g

I'm thankful that my husband doesn't have any scheduled events this week starting this evening. It's been a crazy busy 2013. Honestly, I'm thankful that no one died this week. Well, no one that Joel had to bury at least six deaths in two and a half months is a lot. I'm thankful that Hannah is enjoying her new art class. Not that it's making her other studies better, but it's encouraging that she's willing to work at something she's gifted with. I'm thankful for a warm home and food for purchase that is just a few miles away. What are you thankful for?

As I was sitting eating a bowl of lentils topped with an over easy egg, heavy with cumin, I thought, OH, It's Tuesday, I should share about this. I'm not talking about the meal itself, but the change in thinking that helped the meal become part of my day. A few weeks ago, my husband and I went to the library and sat and read some magazines. We're exciting like that. Well, one of the articles that I read mentioned a book, called An Everlasting Meal:  Cooking with Economy and Grace . The article was from Tamar Adler, who is also the author of the book. The idea that got me was wasting less and saving more money on food. I requested the book from the library and have been enjoying every chapter. It is not a cookbook, though it does have quite a few recipes. What it is, at its heart is an invitation. It is an invitation to once again, enjoy cooking and to rethink the way that you look at what food you have in your home. It is an invitation to be creative in the kitchen and

It's very rare for me to read a book twice, or even to have the desire to do so. I think I can name them all on one hand, but this is one that I plan on reading again. The Language of Blessing is a wonderful book that not only leads you through personal areas of blessing and discovery but is also very practical in how to bless others. The greatest resource of the book are the reflection questions at the end of every chapter. I took the time to journal through most of them and pondered the ideas before heading to the next chapter. It made the book much more enjoyable and beneficial. The Language of Blessing does seem to be on the verge of being a parenting book, as the majority of the examples deal with parents and children. So some of the every day uses outside of the family will have to be extrapolated from what is presented. My one disappointment is in a website reference that is included in the book. It is indicated that there will be more resources at the website, but at

I swear to you, I thought today was Saturday. It feels a whole lot like one, which is probably why my brain said "Let's share something on the blog" Any way, it's not Saturday, it's Friday and I'm going to write anyway. I had a retirement in my arsenal yesterday. It was a piece of luggage. Probably my first piece of luggage for plane travel. I got it in the mid to late nineties. It went to France with me as a carry-on. It has wheels and a telescoping handle, which were state of the art back then. I mean it was the age of the suitcase that tagged along behind you like a wagon, flopping over whenever it felt a disservice to its hard shelled pride. I'm pretty sure that France was one of its first trips. When I was flying back, with a bag full of wine and champagne and gifts, I fondly remember the steward telling me that if we were to put it in the overhead bin, it would give him a mal-du-dos or a bad back. It made me laugh as I buckled it in beside me on the