Reporting on the Meringue cookies at: LA CRÈME BAKERY

27 Jul 2010 2 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Food and Restaurant Experiences

I have searched the world over for the best meringue cookies. I have made finding the best, most wonderful meringues in the world, a mission. I have searched, hunted, explored and investigated the meringue cookie topic. No, I did not search the whole wide world, but I looked in many nooks and crannies as well as big cities for the delights of a wonderful no fat, meringue cookie. I was looking for the kind you have to slowly bake for hours, the ones that melt in your mouth and whittle down to nothing but yum.

Some cookies are too hard and some are too flakey and some just have too little or no flavor. Some that look really good fool you the most.  The kind you get in the little clear plastic boxes get old quickly and there is nothing more unpleasant about a cookie than having it taste old.

At the La Crème Bakery I found the treasure I have been looking for forever. More

We Are Leaving Thursday for Amsterdam: My Writings from the Last Airport Waiting Room

26 Jul 2010 1 Comment

by Sheila Clapkin in International Travels

Dear God,

We leave Thursday for Amsterdam and my mind is filled with memories of the last time we flew.

Get me out of here. I can’t stand it. Maybe if I just close my eyes it will be less stressful. I can’t shut out my ears. I tried, but somehow all of my senses are screaming to see, hear, and feel. I spent many years unraveling what I learned, replacing it with new learning, re-learning, re-programming and re-hashing, getting the wrong, right and now I want it straight like it is, but this is unexpected.  I was taught constructive ways to relieve the stress, but I have to tell you all of us here are on over load.

I am in an airport waiting room. The television is blasting with enough snow to cover a mountain range in the Alps.  The lady next to me on the right has been coughing for the past 5 hours. Some of kids are sleeping on the floors leaving small snaking pathways to and from the restrooms. The ones that are not sleeping are whining, screaming and driving everyone around them crazy, especially the harried and tired parent/s.  I just want them to shut up. Hey, just for five minutes. More

“Natives” Are Home from our Tour in Santa Barbara

21 Jul 2010 7 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Day Trips, Food and Restaurant Experiences, Sightseeing In California

When we talk about Natives on Tour, the natives consist of our whole family. We get along great, usually, and enjoy going on tour with each other. There are many adventures and experiences that can only be taught by going on tour. Come with us next time. Got any good ideas for the next tour?

We are home from our lovely Natives on Tour in Santa Barbara.  Did we go to the museums? Yes. Did we go to the Zoo? Yes we did and we enjoyed the grounds almost as much as seeing the penguin feeding, the giraffes, the flamingos, the gorillas, the huge guinea pigs, the lion, the elephants and visiting amongst ourselves.  Did we get to the Mission, no not this time?  Did we go to Sterns Wharf, drive on the wharf, and hang around watching the fisherman, buy candy and shop? Yes, we did.   Did we do the whole State Street thing from the Museum of Art to Cabrillo BLVD.? Yes we did.
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Today’s Bits and Pieces: It is Your Choice

21 Jul 2010 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Reflections

My daughter received a lovely gold and ruby watch as an inheritance.  She said every time she put it on, she felt bad luck surrounding her.  Subsequently, her sister borrowed it and felt equally surrounded with bad vibes.

One day, I saw the glittering watch was lying on my daughter’s dresser.  I put it on and felt inspired, hopeful, warm and friendly.  I asked to borrow the watch for a few days and was granted my request.

During my visit with this watch, I can’t say there are such things as vibes housed in inanimate objects or that truly, I/we would feel good or badly towards anything other than what we set out to feel.  What is lucky for some is absolutely the opposite than for others. The power here is in the thought and the belief.

In wearing this watch, I have set out to observe the truth as I see and feel it.  So far, I have been able to observe that there are near tragedies every which way you turn and equally near opportunities for good to  happen.  My observations are that you have to choose what you want to do, to see, and feel and whether it is on the good side or on the bad.

Today the watch is hidden in the back of a drawer among receipts of paid bills.

Natives are on Tour Again in Santa Barbara, California

20 Jul 2010 1 Comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Day Trips, Family Activities

Tomorrow, all seventeen of us we will head up to Santa Barbara, which is an hour and 20-30 minutes from home for a three day, two-night visit.  We will all be staying at a quaint little B&B.  I say that now because I really have not seen the place up close and personal. We will though, very soon.  We have an outline of places to see and have left plenty of time for beaching.  We will be located 1/2 block walk to the beach and I understand they have a wonderful playground on our beach, which will be perfect for the kids.  Our list of things to definitely see begins with the Santa Barbara Zoo. You know that this zoo is one of the nation’s smallest, but most enjoyable, and family friendly. There are over 600 animals, so how small can it be??? More

Natives On Tour of Hollywood Return Home

12 Jul 2010 4 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Day Trips, Family Activities

We are home, all seventeen of us, from our “Natives on Tour in Hollywood” adventure. We did not feel like natives, we felt like tourists. Yes, before you can ask, we saw the Hollywood Wax Museum, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and The Guinness World Records Museum. All of these entities need upgrading. But when in Hollywood, like when in Rome, you do and see what they have available to you. We ate at Miceil’s Pizza where nearly umpteen million years ago I went on my first date. It felt out of the ordinary to be sitting within sight of the table where I sat with a stranger eating my first taste of pizza, switching gears and looking at our family all sitting, eating, laughing, and enjoying the moment.  We also ate at The Pig and Whistle, which is housed in a most wonderful, historical building and the food was very good. Morning came and we found our large party at Mel’s Diner, which was a perfect beginning of day two. By the way, you must also  know that we ate our way all day at the coffee establishments and the various “snackettes,” mixed with an abundance of shopping and the offer of tours offered along the boulevard. There is no shortage of food, fun eating, shopping and people watching in Hollywood. In the middle of our jaunting, a huge cloud spread across the skies and within five minutes it started to rain. Hey, this is Southern California. It does not rain here in the summer. But it did. You should have seen Hollywood Boulevard with everyone scrambling for every nook and cranny to stay dry. The streets thinned of people and were soaked.  Ten minutes later the rain had stopped and the streets began to dry. More

Natives on Tour in Hollywood

08 Jul 2010 3 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Day Trips, Family Activities

Our family lives in Los Angeles, California. It is a hop, skip, and a jump on the new subway to get to Hollywood Blvd, where we have six rooms reserved at the old (1927) Roosevelt Hotel. All seventeen of us are natives of Los Angeles, but we are going to play like tourists in Hollywood. There is enough to keep us constantly busy. We have two days on Hollywood Blvd and one night at the hotel. I will keep you posted on our adventure:Natives on Tour In Hollywood.

Our plans have us lunching at Musso and Frank’s, touring the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with all of the characters on parade, viewing the stars of famous people on the Boulevard, seeing Toy Story 3 at the El Capitan, dining at The Pig and Whistle,  and swimming at the hotel. The next day we will breakfast at Mel’s Diner, go on a tour of the Kodak Theater, walk the Walk of Fame, view the Wax Museum, and Ripley’s Believe it or not. Some of us plan to go to the Max Factor Museum while the others go on their appointed rounds.  We want to make certain that we save enough time to enjoy the hotel and all its glory as well as seeing all of the wonderful places we have outlined for our adventure:  Natives on Tour in Hollywood.

Hattie McKay

03 Jul 2010 3 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Fictionalized Memoirs

I have decided to volunteer at a rehabilitation center and everyday, when I enter The Oak Hills, I see my future self strapped to the bed, being pumped and sucked, poked, jabbed, turned, swabbed and looking for someone to tell my story to, someone who would listen it. I approached several agents with the idea of telling the stories of the patients in The Oak Hills, and they felt that it was too depressing. Yes, in fact, more depressing than they and I ever realized, but equally uplifting, a side they did not see. My thought was and still is, that if you become depressed at knowing the possible, probable future, perhaps your present will brighten and you will seize the moment to live it fully.

One day, I spotted a woman whose wheel chair was placed in front of the double doors leading off to a sun filled patio.   I peeked in on her, she sat up in the chair and I could tell she was deciding what to do with the attention.  I smiled and told her that I would like to tell her story and she said, “You can tell my story, you can tell it in twenty breaths.”

“ What if it takes more?” I said.

“If it is more, then, we will have to deal with it,” she said.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“ Hattie McKay,” she said.

“ You’re looking good, Hattie McKay.” I said.

“ You’re looking good, too,” she said.

Hattie McKay was a little woman with strong hands and arms. Her face showed deep lines of age and hard work. She strained to remember and was always polite and answered a question with a completely formed sentence with a nice little pleasantry added on the end. One day when we were talking she winked at me and motioned for me to come close as if she had a secret to tell that would shake the earth. More

TWO POINTS SHORT

03 Jul 2010 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Poetry

You have to know that no matter how good you are and how many wonderful deeds you do in your life, when you come to knock on St Peter’s gate, he will greet you with such grace, he will look up your score and let you know that you are one of the best, but you are just two points short.  As you turn to walk the other way, you may remember This Poem.

TWO POINTS SHORT

You do not need to know who I am to hear my voice.

I am obscured from you by an absolute choice.

You may want to start spending your efforts and your time

But if you do the meaning will be lost in the rhyme

Getting old and realizing your name becomes the focus of the day

You haven’t lost it; it is just located further back than you can say,

Having your bloated body plucked, sucked, poked, and rolled in a loop

Life has become centered on the waking moments giving way to pee and poop

You wonder and wander back to a remembered time when you were the king of the ball

You remember it well, that foggy hog stealing your memory; all

Changing the order of things blocking thoughts, ideas, and dreams

You are strapped to the mattress, but they don’t have your mind, but neither do you.

It can’t be night again, what happened to the events of the day, your debut

Was it yesterday or the day before when you arrived here in this cave, a tunnel of being?

Peace and hopelessness resigned, calming your mind leaving your ears to ring.

You have given of your time and moved along as they have prescribed,

Where’s the light at the end of this event.  You’ve certainly tried.

Ahh, here is the help, here is the light, it shines on somewhere; it is waiting for you.

You see the light shining in prisms, you and the others in the room, here’s your crew

You move towards the line that is forming, as you are whisked along to the front

You are the center of attention. Are you the only one?

You hear the voices discussing all that you have done.

Your deeds, contributions, indications, hesitations, retributions and tribulations

Your strivings generate peace through instruction, love through modeling, contributions

Your prerequisite for truth and honesty shine through the assemblage piled high

Your cooperation in matters concerning the masses is legendary, essential, will never die

Your quest for trustworthiness and loyalty among all is illuminated time and time again

Your visions and hope for humanity won prizes, awards and claims a distinction; Bien.

Your responsibility towards justice and mercy for all mankind gave you benevolence

Your charity and kindness have been rewarded by never keeping us in suspense,

But through the loving, guiding, teaching, training, giving, hoping, and caring,

Doing and saying the right thing came as naturally as the load you were bearing

You find out you are two points short for eternity’s entrance fee.

Pearly Gates sure looked good all along the way, the ones now you can actually see.

No entrance fee dear soul not for you or me, go back, do it again for an eternity.