When Life Hands You Lemons, Cook and Drink Wine

Tonight, I'm following in Amber's footsteps from her post 'Keeping up With the Joneses' and getting real. This past week has been mind-numbingly upsetting. While my husband continues to look for work, a very good friend found a fabulous job. I'm thrilled for her, but green with jealousy!!! On top of that, all my efforts to get financial aid to pay for my son's college tuition, have come to naught. Apparently, you have to be homeless and living on the street and send in notarized photos to prove it, to get any money. And this is for a kid who is interning with the head of the University of Wisconsin Genetics Department and helping with the protocol to change the expression of the gene in utero identified for certain types of autism. As a sophomore in college he is already doing micro-surgery. But the worst of it all, my dear and closest friend is losing her battle with cancer. We can no longer hope for a cure. Next to my mother's death over twenty years ago, this will be the biggest loss of my life.

So how do I cope with this kind of stress and upset? I cook, drink wine and talk to my friends on the phone. And I do it all at the same time! Now this takes practice, so exercise caution the first time you try all three stress relievers at once.

Here I am slicing leeks, for sole, and talking to my good friend Maureen.

Here is my favorite pot. It's like a security blanket to me and where I cook most of my meals. It can go from stove top to the oven.

The completed dish is sole seasoned with salt and pepper then lightly sauteed in olive oil and a bit of butter.On a bed of linguine with caper, lemon, wine and parsley sauce. My husband and son 'at table' enjoying the fruits of my stress-filled day.