jo burgess hannon

fit for today, fit for life

Are you a fair weather fan?

by 2 Comments

sounders, hawks, dawgs win

It was a great weekend to be a Seattle sports fan.  All of our local teams brought home a win.  Honey and I have spent years (and a lot of our entertainment dollars) going to football games, soccer matches and the occasional baseball game.  One huge benefit living close to a major city; any weekend you can generally find professional sports, musicals, live music, plays, great new restaurants to try.

A few years ago, when the Seahawks became serious NFL contenders, the energy in the Seattle area was contagious.  Pop up vendors starting selling Seahawks gear at the gas stations. 12 man flags starting flying from office buildings, houses and cars.  Local businesses strung blue and green lights around their buildings. Though most of the talk was about the most recent win, some long time fans became disgruntled. They complained that you were merely a fair weather fan if you hadn’t cheered on the Hawks through the losing seasons.

I admit, sometimes I’m that fan. I like to see winners win. Some seasons it gets old watching your team lose game after game.  So this week I am celebrating the wins of the weekend and I am going to ride the Seattle sports high. Go Dawgs!  Go Hawks!  Go Sounders!

 

10-4 Big Buddy. What’s your handle?

by Leave a Comment

CB_Base_Station

My dad’s trucker handle was Triple B. He had a CB (citizen band) radio in his semi-truck, his personal truck and a large base unit on the kitchen desk. Every morning he said hello to the truckers in the area who were running the same channel as him.  Advice on picking your handle was to make it personal and descriptive, relate it to something you enjoy, maybe a nickname you were already being called. This advice is oddly similar to tips I read as I was picking my blog name. My dad called my mom Half Pint, me Lil’Jo. I called my brother Scott Snot, though it never stuck as his CB handle.  I had not heard the term ‘handle’ in years; maybe since childhood.

IMG_2338

And then I went to The Bloom Workshop. Topics ranged from blogging, social media, photography (I have a lot to learn), styling a shoot, calligraphy and more. 1/3 of the women in attendance were ½ my age. As the session was ending we started exchanging contact info. There were no business cards, no pen and paper being used. I was asked, “What’s your handle Jo?” Wait, my handle? The trucker term from the 70’s?  Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds, 10-4 Big Buddy?

Everyone had their phones out finding each other’s handle on Instagram; not Facebook, not adding each other’s personal contact info in the phone address book, Instagram. We stood with phones eye level looking up each other’s handle.

I was out of my comfort zone most of the workshop, yet at the same time excited to be a part of this group learning new things. I met Melissa from the blog  The Inspired Room. I met Jennifer from I Heart Organizing. These are two women with huge presence on the web, with thousands if not millions of followers depending on the social media platform. There was all kinds of new lingo and old lingo used in a new way.

IMG_2331

 

I’m learning, exercising my brain. It feels good.

This is the Truck Driver’s Daughter, signing off.

Catch ya down the road.

 

 

 

Bandit, “I take my hat off for one thing, only one thing.”

burt reynolds as Bandit
Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit

How do you dish out advice?

by Leave a Comment

Jo & Corinne 1997
Jo & Corinne 1997

Honey and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary a few weeks after we watched our daughter start day one of her marriage. I got to thinking about my early-married days. As a newlywed I was green in the relationship department. I had little experience offering an encouraging word, voicing the good, fighting fair.

A few years into married life, I was sitting at the counter in my mom-in-law’s kitchen. It was just the two of us and I am sure we were sharing a snack of some sort. She always has some treat to offer. It was a casual conversation; I don’t really remember the details. Sometime during our chat she mentioned she never corrected Gary, my father-in-law, in front of other people. I didn’t think much of the comment at the time.

Jo & Corinne 2015 (thank you www.folk&lore.co)
Jo & Corinne 2015 (thank you www.folk&lore.co)

‘Don’t correct your husband in public.’ Though today I consider it the best marriage advice ever personally received, I am not sure when it actually dawned on me that she was trying to help me out. I’m still working on it. Honey might agree.

When given the opportunity to evaluate, critique or advise someone, how do you go about it? Do you look for the areas to praise? Do see only what you think they need to change? What are the first words that come out of your mouth? I hope I can use Corinne’s example and serve it with lots of sugar and spice.

Who taught you how to cook?

by 1 Comment

redcurry

I am the youngest of 5 kids. By the time I was 9 or 10 and interested in the kitchen, my 3 oldest brothers no longer lived at home. Scotty, 2 years older, was deep into sports and hardly ever home for dinner. My dad was rarely home before 8 or 9pm. My mom became a warmer. She worked full time and was progressing in her career. She warmed up Swanson TV dinners, Campbell’s soup, made Hamburger Helper, Kraft Mac & Cheese.

I went off to college with my warming skills, knowing little more than how to brown ground beef. I didn’t even know how to chop a vegetable, as mom always used dried onions, garlic & onion powder, Johnny’s seasoning.

I got married. Honey knew how to cook. His mom taught him if you have a recipe and the ingredients you can make anything. Together we started going to the library, checking out cookbooks and making our grocery list. On a tight budget we made dinner together most nights. I got pretty good at following a recipe.

But I REALLY learned how to cook from the Food Network. I watched Rachel Ray cook her 30-minute meals. Ina Garten, Giada De Laurentiis became my obsession. I watched Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Iron Chef, Mystery Diner, Restaurant Impossible. I became inspired, downloading recipes, studying and copying their skills. My family was always willing to try something new. The only dinner table rule: everyone try a bite, no negative comments until dinner was over. We voted with our thumb if we would try the recipe again. Many never made it back to the table. Some recipes were down right awful.

The Chew was my cooking turning point. Michael Symon encouraged me to figure it out with what I liked, what I had in the fridge. Michael and the rest of the Chew crew suggested lots of options when they shared a recipe; substitute this protein for that, use this veggie or spice instead of what the recipe called for. My confidence grew. My knife skills improved. I really started to enjoy cooking.

Last night I made my version of Mackenzie’s Spaghetti Squash with Thai Peanut Sauce. I used what I had on hand; stir frying a few shrimp and bok choy to add on
top. It was delicious. Yummo!

spag squash peanutsauce shrimo

Leave a comment on your cooking story.  I would love to hear how you learned to cook, what recipes you love to make, who your influences were.  Jo