EMPTY NEST

I was living in California when Gregory went off to college.  His father and I had an Empty Nest. After a time I took stock of my life.  I was in a very unhappy marriage and had been for several years. So, with the support of my parents and son, I made the difficult decision to end a twenty-one year relationship. Divorce is never easy and it certainly takes its toil.  But, I was proud of myself for being strong and confident enough to go forward on my own. After all, when I first got married, I was twenty-one and living with my parents.  And, as the saying goes: "you never know someone until you live with them". Now in Georgia, I'm indeed lucky that Greg and his wife, Grace live close by, and I'm so grateful that they moved here from California. Thank you both.

Laura left home for the University of Georgia and Leland and I had an Empty Nest. While at UGA, Laura studied for a semester in Cortona, Italy ("Under the Tuscan Sun" location). We were fortunate to visit her (along with Greg, Grace and my sister, CA). We rented a lovely villa nearby. She then attended UMass at Amherst and subsequently studied in  Costa Rica and Guatemala. Although, we missed our "Boo", Leland and I adjusted, because we have a wonderful marriage. After Laura graduated, she lived with us for a year, while substitute teaching. She then decided to "spread her wings" and move to Charlotte, North Carolina where she has made a wonderful life for herself teaching art at two elementary schools.

I love being a mother, grandmother and auntie.  I am proud that the children are independent and living admirable lives. Being parents is not always an easy task but knowing that the children were taught to "spread their wings and fly away" with confidence, means a job well done on our part. And, the bottom line is we have each other and that the children know we would welcome them with open arms at any time.

Recipe: Crab Meat Quiche:

2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 cup crab meat (I buy the cans at Costco)
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk eggs, sour cream, milk, butter, flour, salt and black pepper in a bowl until thoroughly combined, gently stir crabmeat and swiss cheese into the egg mixture. Spread the filling into the pie crust.

Bake quiche in the preheated oven until the knife inserted into the filling comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. This recipe pairs beautifully with the aforementioned buttermilk Jell-O salad.

Reading: "First Family" by  David Baldacci. Actually, I recommend all of his books.

Hope you are enjoying this blog. I am having a delightful time doing it. It's fun to go through my old recipes looking for some to share.  And truly, I only suggest novels that I have enjoyed reading. Have a great day!