Happy New Year and the First Recipe for 2010!

In the Southern US, New Year’s fare traditionally includes Hoppin’ John, a stew of black eyed peas (for luck), and collard greens (to symbolize money). This year, my family needs not only luck and money, but good health. In hopes of bestowing this trinity on ourselves (and all of you) with the coming New Year, I’ve evicted the traditional hog jowl or hock from this recipe, and turned into a lovely, healthful vegetarian salad. It’s delicious!


Happy New Year to you all, and Bon Appétit!

Oodles of Noodles

Every family has at least one. You know what I mean - the saucy, pasta explosion of a child, forever captured on film. The Spaghetti Photo.

You know you've got at least one (and if you don't, you've either lived a sheltered life or don't dare ask your mother, for fear of what embarrassing photographic evidence of your gappy-toothed childhood she will unearth - probably from a tidily arranged and oh-so-cutely decorated scrapbook).

I'm not afraid.

It's spaghetti night here, and I recently gave away the last of our bibs...

Happy Holidays to All

I will be taking a few days off, as I'm sure many of you will. Enjoy your holiday, love your family, and look forward to the best of the new year!

Thank you to everyone who has been around for our family in this challenging year - we couldn't have made it through without you!

Best wishes,

Jen and Family

Mom Gets a Moment Alone

My family has gone for a short road trip, and I find myself alone, save for two tuckered out dogs. Hooray! I had forgotten what it felt like to be in my house without a chorus of "I'm hungryyyyy", "Molly/Scout/Dad/Sleeping Beauty, stop touching my stuff", or the newly added "How many days until Santa comes?" accompanying my attempts at working peacefully.


Alas, here I am this evening however, and I have whiled away the solstice dusk by drawing. As you can see, I’ve made the top of the blog resemble a refrigerator. Amateur? Yes. A well-spent evening of child-free sanity? Indubitably.

What do you think?

Wristbands Are Here!

They're here, folks..."Amelia's Journey" wristbands! Our silicone wristbands are orange, the color of leukemia awareness, and come tagged with a copy of Amelia's "Monarch" painting and a short bio.


A gift of $10 will get you a wristband, and all proceeds will be used to offset the costs associated with Amelia's 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy treatment.

To order, please email JourneyToWellnessMaine@gmail.com.

Thanks for your support!

PS- When you order your band, your location will be added to the "Amelia's Wristbands Around the World" map at the bottom of the blog. Pretty cool, huh?

Will Work for Pellets

Monday, December 14th was the first day of maintenance treatment. Though I somehow expected it to be like this...

Nice News

I just haven’t much felt like writing lately. Remember when you were picking on your little sister, and your mom would say (in a voice just shy of a raptor-like shriek – a screech which I have unfortunately added to my arsenal of parent-gone-mad vocalizations), “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? Well, in the interest of holiday spirit and goodwill to humankind, I’ve turned my creative energies elsewhere for the time being. Seriously, who wants a missive from Debbie Downer in their inbox when one has festive parties to attend and themed cocktails to consume? Not I!


In the meantime, I've been gathering materials for a really groovy terrarium that I shall begin construction on soon. I've been making jewelry and a movie and relearning piano and hiking and taking pictures and refining my skills in paint.net. It's been fun! While I apologize for my unexplained hiatus, it was in your best interest as my readers and my best interest as, well, me.

Onward to the nice things I can finally say.

Thanksgiving Wishes

It is 8:30 AM as I write, and I am relaxing, drinking my coffee. I know that many out there can’t say the same thing, as I received a 6 AM phone call to inquire “just what do you do with a leek?”. But I, dear friends, have decided to keep it simple. After all, we have much to be thankful for this year, and how can I reflect on that if I’m panicked about cooking a turkey and accompanying spread for a bunch of guests?

Creativity Might Be the First Sign of Battiness

We've been home a lot lately. With millions of viruses circulating throughout the snotty-nosed set, chilly weather, and a rigorous home chemotherapy schedule, we just haven't been able to get out much. "The Hermitage", as Big Pink is now known, is a large comfy house, to be sure, but even the most palatial of homes can feel like a mouse house when you spend too much time in it.

So we've found creative outlets for ourselves. I have been amusing myself with paint.net. Here is my latest creation, a poorly executed but wickedly funny rendering of Jamie as Gunther, Swedish Pop Sensation...

The Pharmaceutical Farmer's Market

Though this is hardly breaking news to the majority of my followers (being natives of Southeast Ohio as I am) the farmer's market in Athens, Ohio is fantastic. Let me say it once again. Fan.Tast.Ic. It’s big, it’s well-known, it’s well-supported by the community, and it ought to be a model for other small-town farmer’s markets around the country.

Recipe of the Week - Pumpkin Black Bean Chowder

I know, I know...the angst associated with this delayed intensification phase of treatment is sapping my culinary creativity. At long last, though, for your dining pleasure, is my Pumpkin Black Bean Chowder recipe. It's vegetarian and quite satisfying on a cold late autumn day.

Steroids, Joyful Steroids - Part Two

So, I apparently exceeded my character limit in my previous post. I blame the Mayo Clinic for publishing such an extensive list of side effects for oral steroids (though perhaps should point my finger right at the source, no?). However, let's continue, shall we?

...and this tiger.

The kids also made a very hilarious comedy video. If I can figure out how to upload it in an expedient manner (opposed to the 1-plus hours it is telling me it requires), I will share with all of you. It's quite funny. Really.

That about sums it up.

Update: Amelia has been of of steroids for nine days, and is now beginning to act like a human again (though a human that seems not to require sleep). She didn't make counts to begin her newest chemotherapy (that is, her immune function is too low), but we are hopeful for Monday. Though it proved to be a challenging couple of weeks, we are happy to be at home, instead of hospitalized due to some sort of infection or other strange-but-not-uncommon event. Amelia is cheerful, Molly is Molly, and we are hanging on for the ride.

Steroids, Joyful Steroids - Part One

It’s been a weird week. Amelia is approximately halfway through delayed intensification, and has been taking many chemotherapy drugs, including – dum dum dummmmm – the wicked steroids. The Mayo Clinic lists potential side effects of oral dexamethasone as follows:

Jennifer Is…

Van Morrison’s mama said there’d be days like this. Mrs. Morrison was right. When they come, they smack hard. I don’t think my mood today really quite fits with “depression” – I prefer the quaintly vague “melancholy”. Doesn’t that lovely adjective conjure images of Victorian ladies, all bustled and corseted, discreetly spiking their afternoon tea with laudanum – all of them knowing that each other is hiding, but all feigning polite happiness nonetheless? Anyway, despite the sun and relatively warm temperature, I’m full of a gnashing discontent.

Recipe of the Week - Ragu di Alces con Gnocchi di Patata

I've put a Maine spin on this traditional country Italian dish. Moose is startlingly similar in flavor and texture to beef or bison, but is almost completely free of intramuscular fat due to its natural, grazing diet. Despite that, it makes for a rich and hearty addition to this stew. Indeed, this dish could be made with any number of different game meats in Bologna, the region from which it originated.

The Kloud-Kolored Metallic Mamamobile*

Remember that Whitesnake song “Here I Go Again”? Most of you guys that were teens in the glory days of MTV surely have an image burned into your corneas - a lively video of one Tawny Kitaen, all eighties hair and collagen injections, sprawled atop the hood of David Coverdale’s Jaguar. Well folks, in celebration of yesterday, I have recreated old Tawny’s famous pose for your viewing pleasure. Really. But you can’t see until a little later. So no peeking! I have bravely assumed this compromising position to celebrate a new addition to my family – a car! For me!

Cooking For A Cure in the News

Check out the Capital Weekly article about our project at
http://capital.villagesoup.com/news/story/cooking-for-a-cure/201538

Thanks for spreading the word, Sam!

Recipe of the Week - Root Vegetable Hash with Mustard Glazed Beet Greens

It's getting cold and brisk here in Maine! This hash recipe was just the thing to warm us up after an afternoon outdoors. I incorporated other root vegetables to boost the vitamin content and add layers of flavor, and found some beautiful beet greens to round out the healthfulness and color of this dish. My method of finishing the hash in the oven might be unconventional, but it serves two purposes: it frees up space on the stovetop for cooking the eggs and greens, and using the same pan for hash and greens boosts the taste of the earthy beet greens with the "fond" (stuck-on bits of hash) leftover in the bottom of the pan.

Psychological Yoga and the Theory of Carpe Diem

Originally Posted Aug 22, 2009 9:05pm

Carpe Diem (Noun): The act of living for the moment and enjoying the present.

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks at the Betit homestead, weeks which staple to my forehead the greatest lesson of all – that when cancer is in your midst, you must live one moment at a time. Though “carpe diem” has become a bit cliché since Robert Sean Leonard shouted it from the summit of his desk in “Dead Poets Society” (a movie and an actor I do confess my love for), I have vowed to keep Horace’s notion at the forefront to anchor my mind in our new reality. Though I am fighting my own nature to adhere to this edict – I bear an intense and innate dislike of surprises of any sort – I have realized that to preserve order in our cosmos, I must be prepared for any and all surprises, and of greatest import, enjoy every possible calm moment, as it is likely to change in an instant.

News From the Poolside

Originally Posted Jul 28, 2009 6:20pm

Though my vegetable garden suffers, its potential for verdant victuals masticated into a wasteland of sad, naked stalks, I raise my head in triumph – the glorious sun has returned to us! I may not have the opportunity to crowd my plate with ratatouille, stuffed squash blossoms, and sun-warmed tomatoes with olive oil and the intoxicating terroir of my own herbs, but I can rejoice in the fact that the little slug-inators have shriveled up and dried into husks of their destructive, slimy selves under the golden Soma rays of mi amigo del sol. Quoth Nelson, “Ha Ha”!

Recipe of the Week - Whole Wheat Pizza

Early this week, Molly requested homemade pizza for her birthday dinner. This ended up becoming a meal where the kids could work very independently on their creations! The recipe follows.

Rain, Rain, Go Away…Amelia Is Finally Ready to Play!

Originally Posted Jul 17, 2009 6:33am

It seems that the other Portland on the 44th parallel has carbon-copied its climate and stapled a rain-soaked missive onto my evergreen state. Our plague of slugs now count mosquitoes, and – gasp – a second-coming of black flies, in their slimy, buzzing ranks, thus causing me to throw up my hands and leave my garden to their will. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be treated to an heirloom tomato from my own patch of earth this year, but folks, I’m not holding my breath. Oh well, there’s always the Farmer’s Market.

Mission One Accomplished

Originally Posted Jul 10, 2009 12:51pm

I am thrilled to report that after 29 days of intense chemotherapy, Amelia is now in remission. Her bone marrow aspirate last Thursday showed no leukemia cells, and she is now considered to be an “early rapid responder”, which drops her into the “standard risk low” category. This is, of course, the ideal when faced with leukemia, and gives her the best possible odds of cure (which we’ve never doubted anyway).

Day 29 - Buh Bye Steroids!

Originally Posted Jul 4, 2009 6:31am

Induction is officially complete! Along with a heaping bowl of Raisin Bran and an egg that rolled out of a Flintstone’s-caliber chicken, Amelia swallowed the last of her steroids this morning – and punctuated her meal with a whiny “I’m still hungryyyyyyyyyyy”. It’s incredible to think that one small person has the capability to triple the entire family grocery bill!

According to Amelia’s oncologist (whom we met with on Thursday – more on that later), we should start seeing Amelia’s mood, sleep, and appetite return to a more normal state after the steroids clear her system in the next few days. I look forward not only to having my girl smile again, but to banishing the convenience food that has bred like bunnies (expensive organic bunnies, that is) in my freezer and pantry. It will be a wonderful day when I can again cook a meal with yummy foods from our Farmer’s Markets.

Recipe of the Week - Apple Crisp

Amelia, her friend, and I made this crisp for dessert this evening as a special fall treat. Again, the increased whole grains and fiber in this dish are helpful to wee bellies that struggle with the effects of chemotherapy, and the addition of a full-fat icecream provides much needed calories to prevent excessive weight loss - plus it's just good!

An Open Letter to the Kind Folks of the World

On one of the last sunny days before this rainy Maine summer, our 5 year-old daughter Amelia was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia – ALL for short. She had been fatigued, cranky, and her lovely complexion grew more sallow with every passing day in the weeks leading up to our frantic tour through three hospitals. We attributed it to end-of-school year burnout, a growth spurt, a lurking virus, even – we hoped – undiscovered diabetes.

The day before ALL became part of our lexicon, Amelia fell in a parking lot. She was holding hands with her little sister, who began to run, as free-spirited toddlers will. Amelia couldn’t keep up. She stumbled to the asphalt and scraped her knee, which began to bleed profusely. It struck me how very thin her blood was, watery and almost completely without color. So when, at one A.M. on Friday, June 5th, a pediatric hematologist/oncologist pulled us out of Amelia’s glass room in the Intensive Care Unit at Maine Medical Center, I knew his opinion before he spoke the words. I had a glimpse of the road before us, paved with spinal taps, a compromised immune system, caustic drugs, frequent hospital stays, surgeries, and hair loss. My little girl had cancer.

Princess or Professional Wrestler?

Originally Posted Jun 24, 2009 4:41pm

Great news...Amelia's Day 14 bone marrow showed that her blasts (leukemia cells) are down to 1%. This is a very positive outcome and bodes well for her future treatments. This shows that her body is responding very well to the chemotherapy, and that achieving remission by Day 29 is very realistic indeed.

Recipe of the Week - Lemony Cannellini Bean Dip

Amelia and I developed this variation of hummus as a way to include more protein and fiber in our diets. It is wonderful as a sandwich spread (topped with grilled vegetables), or as a dip with fresh veggies and pita chips.

Garlic has natural antibacterial properties, and the beans and generous amount of olive oil contain healthy fats - all important for an infection-vulnerable child who is losing weight from chemo. Enjoy!

Friday

Originally Posted Jun 12, 2009 6:41am

Good Morning Everyone -

Amelia is expected to be taken in for marrow aspiration and spinal chemo between 10 am and noon. We're hoping for earlier, since she can't have anything to eat or drink beforehand, and might get a bit cranky! Because it is the weekend, the results won't be in until Monday. I will let you know as soon as we know!

Thanks and Good News

Originally Posted Jun 10, 2009 7:36pm

First of all, I must express our gratitude to you all. I always knew that Amelia was loved by many, but the outpouring of support from friends old and new is absolutely staggering. Truly, words cannot express what this means to our family and Amelia's healing process. Thank you all!

On to the great news (wishing I had some Monty Pythonesque animations for this announcement)...

Gifts For Stephen King

Originally Posted Jun 8, 2009 6:28am

Though I have talked to many of you about Amelia's ALL and what it means to her, I want to post a short explanation lest the health oracle medMD (and jebus forbid, wikipedia) give the wrong reading:

Recap

As our friends and families know, I have maintained a CarePage blog as a way to communicate to so many about Amelia's health. Her page has saved me hours on the phone (time is indeed precious these days) and has been invaluable in that regard. In order to get you, dear readers, up to speed on our lives over the past few months, I've chosen to repost some of my CarePage entries in the coming days. Following is one of my first posts, shortly after D (diagnosis) - Day:

Rainy Day Pumpkin-Granola Muffins

Early in treatment (and sometimes beyond), kids often experience digestive problems. These muffins are high in fiber and low in sugar to improve the functionality of little tummies. Sweet foods can have a metallic taste as a result of chemotherapy drugs, so the mellow flavor of the pumpkin may be just enough, and the recipe allows for lots of help from the kids.

Amelia and I invented these muffins on one of the many rainy June days upon our return home from the hospital.

Cancer Mise En Place

In the June bug dusk between the close of my penultimate semester of culinary school and the naissance of the rainiest summer in Maine’s recent history, my 5-year old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Suddenly, life became alarmingly different – I quit my summer chef job, we were hospitalized to begin Amelia’s intense chemotherapy regimen, the counter-surfing puppy’s obedience classes were cancelled (and yet to be rescheduled-more to come on that story), and my family’s diet of Farmer’s Market victuals and Slow Food fare transformed to bland hospital chow and expensive organic convenience foods.