The American Dream...

What is the American dream? When someone talks about how they just want the American dream everyone agrees and says they want it too. But does anyone really know what it is? I think it depends on the person. Not everyone wants a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, dog, and two kids. Not all women want to get married, have kids and be a stay-at-home parent. Not all men want to commute to the big city wearing a tie and work a 9:00am to 5:00pm job. America is the land of possibilities. It does not matter where you come from, you can accomplish whatever you want to. My dad, for example, came from a broken home with two alcoholic parents and no money. He dropped out of high school when he was a sophomore to race motocross and party. When he decided to leave the motocross industry, to provide for his family he worked as a truck driver, fireman, butcher, and he started his own business all at the same time. My dad worked hard and became a successful small business owner. Once my mom was able to get a good promotion at Shaw he quit all those extra jobs and was able to accomplish what I call the American dream. He would go fishing when he wanted to and if he wanted to sleep in he did. He was able to go on vacations with the family and my mom was eventually able to take early retirement from Shaw. My dad lived the American dream and even though he did not come from much, he was able to leave behind not only a great legacy, but also proof that dreams can be accomplished. Having said all that, I believe that the American dream people making goals for themselves and doing whatever they can to make them happen.

Good Times

I have a lot of memories associated around food. Whether it's Holiday traditions or meals with friends, some of my fondest memories have a connection with food. One specific example that sticks out is when I went to St. Vincent Island on a mission trip. The first night we were there one of my team members offered me an ackee fruit. What is an ackee fruit? Well to be honest, I am not quite sure. It looks like a pecan that still has its green covering. To eat it you have to bite the green coating and pull the "filing" out.  The filling is hard to describe but it has a tart flavor and a leathery texture. You then suck on it till you reach the seed. The memory that comes to mind when I think of this fruit is sitting on the roof of the villa in Kingstown overlooking the ocean. Hannah, Zach, and I would sit on the roof during the evening while eating ackee and watch the sunset. There was something so calm about those nights that make you wonder why you don't stop more often. Another fun part about ackee, other than eating it, was seeing who could throw it the farthest. There were mango trees across the street and we would try, unsuccessfully, to hit the magos with the seeds. Even though we had very little luck with that, we still got a good laugh watching one another. All I can do is smile when I think about ackee fruit and the memories of St. Vincent that comes with them. I was very sad when I realized that do to the strict customs rules, I could bring back any ackee fruit. Since this fruit is uncommon and different from the Jamaican ackee, I decided to add a picture.

What am I eating?

This past Monday night I had a brave spell and decided to make homemade ravioli. When I say homemade, I mean homemade! I made the pasta and the spinach filling. When I think about all the raw ingredients I realize that even something homemade can contain a lot of "processed" things. Eggs, pepper, and spinach are the only ingredients that I would consider to be raw in the ravioli. All of the rest are not in their natural "state". Where did all of them come from? I would like to think they were grown by a cute old farmer somewhere, but I do not think that this is a correct image. All I know the food could come from China or Mexico, isn't that where everything in America comes from? Most of my family members have their own gardens and I think there is a huge difference from home-grown to mass produced. The biggest difference in the food is not necessarily where it's produced as much as it how. All most Americans care about is how fast it takes to cook, not what is in it or where it comes from.