MOM'S FISH TACOS, THE BLUES, AND COUNTING MY BLESSINGS, BIG TIME!

I was just having one of those days, yesterday; you know, kinda blue. Blue for a few reasons, starting with..............

***Pudding cups. The kind that Jello makes that are in all the stores, and are prominently displayed right now on the grocery store's end-caps, because it's back to school time, and pudding cups are popular in kid's lunch boxes. Lunch boxes...hmmm, don't hafta pack those anymore....which made me sad the other day, and is making me tear up, writing this. Maybe this is what happens to moms - of - only - children......the kids just grow up too fast, and them WHAM, they're gone, and we're left with nobody else to mother but the family dawwggg. Sigh. I know this happens to all moms (well, if we've done our jobs correctly and set our children free to explore this wonderful world we live in, anyways), but it's all just happened so FAST. And that's all I'm sayin' on this subject, for now anyways.

***Methotrexate. Or, more specifically, how Methotrexate is failing me, which led to my rheumatologist just looking at me and shaking her head, pitifully. Because it seems we've tried everything else, and everything else just hurts my liver too much to take it anymore. And Methotrexate is just making me MORE sick--sheesh, like I NEED that! So I'm running out of options, except to go back to that horrible / wonderful Prednisone, which I hate / love.

***The state of the economy, and how it's affecting us all. Because even though Big Daddy is so blessed with his wonderful job, we've lost soooo much money, like everyone else, in our retirement account, which just makes me sick to my stomach. Not to mention our real estate--it's no secret our house is on the market, again (which TOTALLY exhausts me), and we're probably "under water" at this point, because we built when prices were at their absolute highest (2004, before the "crash"), and now it seems that we'll just have to give our wonderful home away. I'm just getting too old for this! Hey, anybody wanna buy a house?.................

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Enough of that blues nonsense. Despite it all, I really do try to always look on the sunny side. Because that's just how I roll! My one little pity-party day was Friday, and well, by Friday night I was over the MOON with happiness and gratefulness, because.......

***This movie opened...................

Am I the only one who has been counting the DAYS until opening night? Big Daddy and I got to our beloved STRAND THEATRE bright and early, for fear of the flick being sold out, and let me tell you that this was one of the best movies we've seen in a long, long time; it's not everyday that you laugh, you cry, AND the entire audience applauds at the ending. The bestselling book was awesome, and the movie did it justice--another rarity, I know!

***This came in the mail, just for me..................

A delightful little chicken pitcher, to add to my chicken pitcher collection (doesn't everyone have that collection, I ask?)...sent by my dear friend Marianne, who owns this shop.............

If you've been reading this blog for long, you know this is my favorite shop in the whole wide universe, Old and Everlasting, in Cazenovia, New York. You should check out Marianne's website and blog.....I will be making another pilgrimage to her shop very soon for her Fall Open House. Nirvana, absolute Nirvana!!! Thank you Marianne--your thoughtfulness and great timing are so heartfelt to me!

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As you may remember from my last post, Abbie requested Fish Tacos for her "last supper" (doesn't that sound so dramatic and final?). So of course I made them....they're my mom Carol's recipe, and we LOVE LOVE LOVE them to death! Best thing about her fish tacos? They come together lickity split--you can actually use frozen and breaded fish filets, straight from those cute little Gorton's Fishermen! How great is that?

To start, you'll need to assemble your cabbage mixture. Combine shredded cabbage (if you want to get really fancy, use red AND green!), cilantro, chopped red onion, lime juice and salt.............just look at this COLOR!!.............

Refrigerate cabbage mixture until ready to use. For the avocado topping, mix together 1 very ripe mashed avocado, salt and sour cream..............

Also refrigerate this mixture until ready to use. Bake your fish filets until crispy (Mom says if you don't want to use the frozen fish filets for dietary reasons, you could use several pieces of any mild white fish, sprinkled with lemon and pepper seasoning and baked until done). Cut filets into chunks............

To assemble tacos, place several chunks of fish filets into each tortilla. Top with avocado mixture, cabbage mixture, Jack cheese and maybe some hot sauce, if desired. Absolutely delicious....thanks, Mom!

Here's the recipe.............

MOM'S FISH TACOS

1 package of 6 Gorton's Breaded Fish Filets, frozen

6 or 8 flour tortillas

Salad topping:

Shredded green cabbage and / or

Shredded red cabbage (about 2 cups shredded cabbage, total)

1 / 2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 / 2 small red onion, chopped

1 / 2 lime, squeezed

1 / 2 tsp. salt

Avocado mixture:

1 very ripe avocado, mashed

lime juice

salt

1/ 4 cup sour cream

Jack cheese

Hot sauce, optional

Combine all salad topping ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use. Combine all avocado mixture ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use. Bake fish filets per package instructions. Cut into chunks. Heat tortillas and place several chunks of fish filets into each tortilla. Top with avocado mixture, cabbage mixture, Jack cheese and hot sauce, if desired.