Do you believe in love at first light?

On our pie date

This all started because I wanted to hear their love story.  I scheduled a coffee and pie date and picked them up.

“Tell me your story.  How did you meet?”

Grandpa, 94, responds, “My memory is so poor I could hide my own Easter eggs.”

It was November 20^th, 1941.

Grandma has moved to Asilomar with her friend Louise, following high school graduation.

Grandpa, originally from Colorado, had been drafted into the army, he was stationed at Fort Ord.

The Lodge at Asilomar

Grandpa’s friend Milt had a car, which was rare, and they found themselves at the Asilomar lodge “We’d just heard there were girls there.”  As fate would have it, grandma had heard “quite a few soldiers spent time there, so we went to check it out.”

A special thank you must be extended to Milt; first, for having the car, second, for the courage to approach the girl at the desk and ask if she would like to go for a ride.  We must also thank Louise for not giving Milt the cold shoulder. 

Not much has changed from 1941 regarding guys calling dibs, because that is exactly what Grandpa did.  He told Milt “I want that one,” gesturing to Grandma.

“Milt was almost bald headed and short, I didn’t think much of him.”  But beside Milt stood Bill (grandma) and “He was SO cute!” gushed Grandma.

Grandpa recalls they attempted to go to a bar for a drink, but the bar refused to serve the girls because they were under age.  Instead, they went to a restaurant down the street for hamburgers (I’m not buying this whole poor memory thing).

During the conversation grandma mentioned the light bulb in her apartment had burnt out.  Grandpa excused himself to the restroom and returned carrying a small paper bag.  Inside the bag was a light bulb.  He had raced down the street to the hardware store…wasn’t this a bright idea (get it?!).  “He bought me light bulb, so that I could see to read.”

“It was the smartest purchase I’d ever made.”

Grandpa said several times, “In the short time I knew her, I knew she was very special.”

I asked grandma, “Did you know right away?”

“I was so PLEASED to see him.  He was so cute, so handsome. And polite. held the chair for me, open the car door for me, his manners were so good.” (I swear, Grandma, they don’t make them like this anymore.)

They met on November 20^th 1941, and went on 3 dates before Grandpa was deployed November 29^th 1941.  While he was in the Aleutian Islands they corresponded by letters; Grandpa smiled as he said, “She wrote good letters!” When he returned from his first deployment Grandpa asked Grandma to marry him.  They were wed July 19^th, 1944, in San Francisco.  He was deployed to the south pacific shortly after.  Grandpa returned to San Francisco on their one-year anniversary for he had been wounded in battle.

“All the way through you can see” (gestures towards the heavens). “Everything worked out exactly right.  It was perfect for me.  I just happened to fall into, no, luck into it.  All of this, her." (gestures towards grandma)

Grandma and Grandpa’s love story filled my heart with hope, peace, faith, and above all, LOVE.  Hope that one day I’ll get to share my love story with my granddaughter.  Peace knowing all good gifts comes from above; my future rests in the creator’s perfect hands.  Love stories revive my faith that my love story is being written, even though my relationship status remains very single.  I left our pie date with a heart overflowing with admiration for the love my grandparents share, their love has survived  many trials, and yet at 69 year married they are still clearly smitten with one another.

Do you believe in love at first light?  I certainly do. 

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Odera, my best friend, was the inspiration behind these insanely delicious cookies, or more accurately speaking, her boyfriend visiting was the inspiration.  Odera doesn’t bake, she provides wine and moral support; although it is beneficial to have a physician in the kitchen just in case an emergency arises. Isn’t that right, Safety Officer Corliss?  Regardless, she placed the request for a peanut butter cookie to share with her sweetie pie and I utilized what I found in my cupboards.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2-cup butter, softened
1/2-cup peanut butter
3/4-cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1-teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1-teaspoon baking soda
1/2-teaspoon salt
12 Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate peanut butter cups mashed up

1/2-cup semi sweet chocolate chips (I’m very generous with this measurement)

1/2-cup peanut butter chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy; you can use a mixer, I use a spoon and a lil muscle ;) Beat in the egg. Stir in the vanilla.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture and beat until well combined.
Stir in the peanut butter cups, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 8 minutes exactly.

Spicy chicken, sweet potato, and quinoa stuffed green peppers

These vegetables that so beautifully remind me of Christmas ornaments will serve as the boat for tonight’s meal.  This boat will be stuffed, almost overloaded to the point of sinking with passengers packing protein, fiber, amino acids, vitamins galore, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory nutrients, and blood sugar-regulating nutrients!!  Can you say delicious and NUTRITIOUS!  This dish was inspired by the contents of my fridge…I can say I am incredibly pleased with the results! 

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup Sweet potato
1 small onion

2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 ½ cup baked chicken
½ cup Quinoa
½ cup salsa
½ teaspoon Cumin
Sriracha
2 Bell peppers
Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Season chicken according to your preference, I used garlic salt, Mrs. Dash salt free garlic seasoning, cayenne pepper, and paprika.  I did not measure the seasonings, I applied Mrs. Dash heavily and the remaining lightly.
2. Bake chicken at 375, for full chicken breast bake for 35 minutes.  However, I sliced the chicken breast into strips and monitored by sight and smell.  Once baked thoroughly, dice into cubes.
3. Slice sweet potato into ¼ inch pieces.  Sautee sweet potato and diced onion with olive oil over medium heat.  Sautee until sweet potato softens and onions begin to brown.  Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.

4. Quinoa can be cooked stovetop or in the microwave.  It can also be cooked using water or chicken stock.  Although I imagine chicken stock would be more flavorful I used water to reduce the amount of sodium in the dish.  I also used the convenience of the microwave and prepared the quinoa according to the package directions: 1 part quinoa, 2 parts water, place in a microwave safe dish, heat on high x 4 minutes, stir and continue to heat in 2 minute increments until water is completely absorbed.  Fluff with fork.
5. Combine quinoa, cubed chicken, and sweet potato with onion into a large bowl.  Add cumin, salsa, and sriracha.  Mix thoroughly.  (Taste, if it is missing something, this is the chance to alter seasoning to preference).
6. Cut bell peppers in half, remove seeds, and place in a baking dish.  Fill each bell pepper with the quinoa filling.  Sprinkle cheese atop the filled bell peppers.
7. Bake bell pepper at 375 for 30-35 minutes, until bell peppers are soft.

Dinner is served!!