Taking into account that I was a painfully shy, eye-glass wearing (before they had the technology to crunch-down 'coke' sized eyeglasses), chubby teenager who had finally made her way into a circle of friends, you can well imagine how excruciatingly painful the 1969 move was. I'm having 1969 style flashbacks as I write this!

For those who are frustrated decorators and/or real estate agents and are curious to know, we moved to Amityville on the border of Massapequa Park. The house was a split level; three floors. The living room, dining room and kitchen made a nice L-shape on the main floor; a short set of stairs led to the master bedroom and to my grandmother's bedroom (please pause and add bucket loads of pathology to the picture, as my mother and grandmother were not the best mother/daughter act ever), and then a second set of short stairs led to another two bedrooms - mine and my brother's (who - please note - had dropped out of college and was in danger of being drafted).

The main floor was covered by orange sculpted carpeting. My bedroom walls were covered in black and white daisy wallpaper; an exact match to my black and white daisy bedspread, with a splash of lemon yellow pillows to break it up.

Let's review: It's 1969. I am an awkward, to say the least, freshman in high school. We move. I am Miserable (with a capital M). My mother has a strong aversion to depressed teenagers.

Mother and grandmother lock horns and spend a good deal of time bitterly embattled over the "A-1 Steak Sauce Fight of the Century." Sides are taken and aluminum foil walls are built in an effort to keep the A-1 from running from the family's meat into my grandmother's slab.

My brother is in danger of being drafted, which has sent my mother into orbit, like you can't even imagine. Oh - my father? He's at work and even if he's home, he's pretty much silent. The color scheme is pretty, I'll give her that! Sixties design is the best!  ... Read On!

Yay! Whoopie!!! I happened to switch on The View this morning, just at the right moment. The 'girls' were talking about an 'obese' couple who wanted to adopt but were turned down by the adoption agency because they were too fat! The man, as I remember, had a BMI of 42, and 40 was their limit  ...  Read On!

 12 Tips: How to have a great conversation

I realized, while schmoozing at a party, that I was having such a good time talking to everyone, one by one, sometimes two at a time, that food became secondary. Before I knew it, the evening was over, and I'd only ingested a small bowl of chili and some fruit. I didn't have anything to confess to Our Lady of Weight Loss. Miracles do happen!!! ... Read On!

Off the Couch Cooking:  3 fat-melting, to-die-recipes, recession proof recipes

The more time a nation devotes to food preparation at home, the lower its rate of obesity. In fact, the amount of time spent cooking predicts obesity rates more reliably than female participation in the labor force or income." ~ Michael Pollan, Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch, The New York Times Magazine, August 7, 2009.

If cooking, as many anthropologists and social scientists believe, is the key to our humanity, separating us from the 'beasts,' what is the decline in cooking doing to our culture, to our lives?

Well, it ain't good! Harvard economists found that the decline of home cooking can explain a good portion of the increase in obesity in America.  ...  Read On!

diets don't work ... Listening Does!

Did you know ... 211 degree water is hot, but at 212 degrees, water boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a train!n ... Read On!

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Organic Brown Betty Casserole

Ingredients
1/2 lb. ground beef (Organic beef)
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 med. Sweet onion, Vidalia chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
5 tomatoes, diced
3 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Oregano
1/2 tsp. Basil (fresh - I have some growing in my living room!)
3/4 lb. zucchini, sliced thin
Parmesan cheese

Instructions
In pan, sauté ground beef in oil until lightly browned. Drain excess fat. Add onion, green and red peppers, tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil. Cook until thick. Arrange zucchini slices on bottom and sides of shallow 1-quart baking dish. Cover with meat sauce, sprinkle with cheese. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

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