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A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

September 8, 2020

Is it a passion or…not so much?

In On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King shares a story about his son, Owen, who, when he was around seven years old, was so inspired by Clarence Clemons, sax player in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, that he asked for his own saxophone and lessons. King and his wife were thrilled. Maybe their son would be a prodigy! But King figured out pretty quickly that it wasn’t going to happen because Owen, he said, only practiced when he had to and never played just for fun during his free time. King didn’t see the point in making his son, who was less than enthusiastic, stick with it. “What this suggested to me was that when it came to the sax and my son, there was never going to be any real play-time; it was all going to be a rehearsal. That’s no good. If there’s no joy in it, it’s just no good. It’s best to go on to some other area, where the deposits of talent may be richer and the fun quotient higher.”

King tells this story to encourage writers to read and read and read. His point is that people who want to become writers should think of reading not as a chore, but as a joyful activity that they should want to do all the time if they’re serious about writing. Duly noted. But this story has always resonated more for me as a parent trying to navigate the endless stream of opportunities available to our kids.

[Read more…] about Is it a passion or…not so much?

Filed Under: Life Shannon 2 Comments

September 4, 2020

Uncle John’s Sausage & Cheese Puffs

When Tim and I got married twenty-five years ago, I meant to give cookbooks as favors to our wedding guests, who’d shared their favorite recipes with us. I didn’t manage to produce the cookbooks in 1995, but I’m hoping late is better than never! I think sharing these recipes (more than 100!) will be a fun part of celebrating this milestone anniversary—and celebrating our friends and family, too.

Oh, these sausage and cheese puffs. It’s hard to describe how delicious they are and the amazing alchemy that takes place with just a few simple ingredients.

The recipe is from my Aunt Karna, but you can see she wrote “John” on the index card. Karna is 100 percent Norwegian, but she’s embraced my Italian family’s cooking. She and Uncle John are wonderful hosts, and a favorite dinner at their house is grilled Italian sausages served with roasted red peppers. (Is there anything better than roasted red peppers?)

I always make the sausage puffs on New Year’s Eve, and I often bring them to gatherings because they’re delicious at any temperature. And they always get gobbled up.

Sausage and Cheese Puffs

1 pound Italian sausage

1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

3 cups Bisquick

3/4 cup water

Cook sausage, drain, and let cool. In large bowl, mix Bisquick, cheese, and water. Add sausage and mix. Roll into one-inch balls. Place on cookie sheet, two inches apart. Bake at 400 degrees for twelve to fifteen minutes or until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

P.S. My mom’s version of the recipe adds two tablespoons of softened butter to the mix. For me, whether or not I add butter depends on how greasy the sausage is.

Filed Under: The Wedding Cookbook Project Shannon Leave a Comment

September 3, 2020

Thinking About School Rituals

I wrote a Facebook post recently about rituals and my worry that while we’re doing online distance learning, our two high schoolers would feel the loss of the myriad ways their school creates community through morning announcements (including recognition of birthdays), saying the pledge, playing music over the loudspeaker between classes, Candy Fridays—plus I’m sure a bunch of other ways that individual teachers provide consistency while defining values and identity. The idea of losing these meaningful rituals at a time when my kids need more stability, not less, bummed me out.

Our daily rituals were more obvious when the kids were little, especially the favorite night-time routine of dinner, bath, and bedtime stories. My hope is that the intentionality of those rituals helped our kids become secure, well-functioning young adults. And I want to continue to help them feel secure. But after doing a lot of thinking on the topic, I started to feel like the best thing I could do for my teenagers was to trust that their teachers would find ways to create those rituals remotely and instead focus on creating my own routines and goals and holding myself accountable to them. Lead by example, as it were.

A friend shared a joke on Facebook: “Last year, it was do one thing every day that scares you. Now it’s do one thing every day.” Oh, I can relate. In the spring, with the uncertainty of not knowing if we’d be going back to “real life” any minute, I found it difficult to commit to any long-term projects, like Organizing All the Photos. Mostly, I found it hard to concentrate. I spent a lot of time trying to keep up with information, both medical- and policy-related, about the coronavirus. Plus, all of a sudden, Tim was working from home and the two who’d left the nest were back. I was glad to have everyone safely under one roof, but there were a lot of distractions. At the end of the day, I decided to go easy on myself and just focus on being as present as I could and keeping the place going as gracefully as possible.

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Filed Under: Life Shannon 3 Comments

April 9, 2020

Birthday in the Time of Coronavirus

A few months after Tim’s spinal cord injury in 2010, some friends stopped by the house with a pie. We sat around the table and they asked how he was doing. Tim was asked that question a lot, but this time he stopped and thought for a moment. Then he said, “Other than the accident itself, this has been a wonderful experience.”

Today is Tim’s birthday and maybe this seems like a strange thing to be thinking about to mark the occasion, but I’ve thought about his words a lot over the past month since the coronavirus took over our lives.

[Read more…] about Birthday in the Time of Coronavirus

Filed Under: Life Shannon 2 Comments

January 6, 2020

Marilyn K’s Frikadeller (Danish Fried Meatballs)

When Tim and I got married twenty-five years ago, I meant to give cookbooks as favors to all of our wedding guests, who’d shared their favorite recipes with us. I didn’t manage to produce the cookbooks in 1995, but I’m hoping late is better than never! I think sharing these recipes (more than 100!) will be a fun part of celebrating this milestone anniversary—and celebrating our friends and family, too.

The first recipe I’m sharing is from my mom’s best friend and my honorary aunt, Marilyn Kycek. Marilyn passed away after a long cancer battle soon after we brought Lily home (I’m grateful that they got to meet each other), and it’s a loss that continues to be deeply felt. I think about Marilyn every time I sit at the piano because I have a wonderful photo of her and Yo-Yo Ma right over middle C. My mom snapped it at an event at the Ordway Center in St. Paul and it makes me smile every time. Don’t they look like they’ve known each other forever and are having the best time? That’s the beauty of music—it connects us all. Marilyn’s son, Jeff, was one of my best friends from fifth grade on, and we even went to senior prom together and had a blast.

[Read more…] about Marilyn K’s Frikadeller (Danish Fried Meatballs)

Filed Under: Food, The Wedding Cookbook Project Shannon 1 Comment

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Hello! My name is Shannon Taylor. I'm a long-time writer and editor from Minnesota surprised to find myself on an island in the Pacific Northwest. I'm sharing this adventure with my husband, four kids, and two dogs. I “published” my first newsletter when I was nine, and I’ve loved sharing ideas, stories, and information ever since. I hope you find something here to inspire you and help you create a comfortable, cozy life.
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That time the dance studio opened in town but not That time the dance studio opened in town but not enough people signed up for adult tap so my husband did because I was so bummed and then he had to perform “Cowboy Casanova” in the recital. 😂❤️ Such a good sport. (This varsity athlete and Division 1 college lacrosse player said learning tap was the hardest thing he ever did. 😂)
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