by Karen Creamer | Jan 10, 2023 | Connection, education, family
I have renewed my goal of learning to speak Italian this year.
Why Italian? Because half of my family of origin was from Italy. The other half is from Ireland, and I already speak English. 🙂
Also, I want to go to Italy and visit where my grandparents were from. Learning Italian makes me feel closer to that goal, which is, sadly, already about ten years overdue.
This is the second foreign language I’ve studied so far. I learned French when I was younger. I began in seventh grade, continued in high school and college. I remember sitting in the language lab in college and having no fun whatsoever. The end result is that I can understand and read some French, but I am (and was) a poor speaker of it. Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Jan 8, 2023 | (it's all about the) food, Comfort, Connection, family, italian, recipes
I have been making Pastina for decades, since my children were babies. Back then, they called it “Stini”, and sometimes I still do. It was a quick, easy, comforting thing to eat and they loved it.
Making Pastina was also a tradition, because my mother and my grandmother made it for me when I was a baby and for all the years after that.
Over the past several months, I have been having trouble finding Pastina at the grocery store. I had quite a stash so I didn’t worry too much about this at first. I preferred Prince Pastina but decided that Barilla or Ronzoni would also be fine. Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Jun 6, 2022 | (it's all about the) food, #getoutside, Connection, family, health
Have you ever eaten dandelions?
When I was little, my grandmother would send me out to the yard to pick dandelion leaves. After I brought them in, we’d put them in a large bowl and soak them in salt water, rinse, and then soak them again, and then soak them again (because third time is the charm), and then rinse well, making sure to get all the grit out.
When foraging outside, it’s important to pay attention to where the greens are located. For example: are they close to the road where car exhaust could adversely affect them? This time, I only had to venture to the back porch because this year, my husband made a planter with dandelions for me. Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Jan 17, 2021 | #getoutside, Being BRAVE, Catching women being brave, Connection, education
Now that I am no longer watching ANY propaganda—whoops!—mainstream media, I have so much free time to fill with learning and doing new things!
I found Brooke Whipple’s YouTube channel, Girl in the Woods, and I love it.
Why do I love it? Let me count the ways:
I tested it with my one word for this year by asking, “Does this ALIGN with my values?” Freedom? Check. Being brave? Check. Getting outside? Check.
Also, one of the absolute best ways to get out of your head (read: anxiety producing thoughts) is to ground yourself in your body, and one of the best ways to do that is to get outside and be in nature.
So in addition to being able to pretend I am out in the woods alone building a cabin, I also am learning a lot exactly what skills are needed for this. You know, just in case I ever decide to be brave and actually do it! Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Oct 8, 2020 | Being BRAVE, Connection
Lynda’s wonderful radio program is on Sunday mornings. I was lucky to be invited to talk with her recently. If you’d like to listen in, you can either stream it online at www.wlobradio.com or in Maine you can listen on WLOB 100.5 FM or 1310 AM. It will air at 11am on Sunday 10/18/20.
by Karen Creamer | Aug 2, 2020 | Being BRAVE, Clarity, Connection, education, health, no fear, Someone's gotta say it
I decided to treat you all to some stream of consciousness thoughts I had this evening.
I was thinking about how so much of what I was taught in school turned out not to be true. Actually, this is an understatement, because not only was this information not true, it was in fact the opposite of truth.
I began thinking about Fauci (I am sure you have heard of him. If not, turn on any mainstream news channel and you probably hear his name and opinions ad nauseum). Fauci, in my view, is doing his best to ruin our country. Keep reading
Karen Creamer
