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2026 you are not particularly bright so far, just the wolf moon.

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It’s hardly into the new year and already it’s kind of depressing. It’s 4 January, and our president essentially performed an act of war without congressional approval. In the wee hours, as in early Saturday morning, the US struck Venezuela and removed the president and his wife to New York. Maduro is in New York because U.S. special forces captured him in this raid in Caracas and they have brought him and his wife to face federal charges dating from 2020, including drug trafficking , weapons charges, and “narco-terrorism.”

This article in an online journal called “The Conversation” is well worth reading on this:

https://theconversation.com/the-us-has-invaded-countries-and-deposed-leaders-before-its-military-action-against-venezuela-feels-different-272682

It might be too much to ask all of the armchair warriors and foreign diplomacy and constitutional and congressional scholars on Facebook to actually READ something versus just jumping on the Internet tar and feather bandwagon.

I felt obligated to shut down comments on posts on my blog’s Facebook page. I do that to bring the temperature down because it is the correct and responsible thing to do. I am not practicing censorship because it’s MY page. If people don’t like that, that is on them. It’s not their personal platform which maybe is something they don’t get. It’s only censorship if they can’t ever speak their opinion at all. What I am saying is they need to take their flame war elsewhere.

When I post something without the ability for people to leave comments, it means keep your cray cray to yourself and your page. Do not private message me. I have been receiving rather vile as well as idiotic private messages.

And FYI The Monroe Doctrine, proclaimed by President James Monroe in 1823, was NOT necessarily designed for this Venezuela’s it all. It’s also not the Roosevelt Corollary (as in Teddy’s era) or Cold War as used by Kennedy and then Reagan. This is most definitely yes still a controversial aspect of US foreign policy and should not be part of the toys used by a greedy grabby never served in the military man baby.

Donroe or Monroe, I am not debating it or having my private messages polluted with nonsense- by all means people discuss it on their own personal Facebook pages but I do not have to ride the crazy train.

A friend of mine quipped that the Epstein files must be pretty bad and intelligent beings do need to question the timing, yes? But even if Maduro being removed is possibly a good thing for the Venezualan people are there other motivations at play here including but not limited to oil and mineral rights?

The 4th day of a new year we need to contemplate where we are going. It’s frightening in my opinion. And it’s frightening what people don’t want to see and that includes our elected officials in Washington D.C.

So now this afternoon there are protests supposedly happening about Venezuela? Protests are getting to be like fireworks. So many and does that make their value dissipate?

A friend of mine wrote today:

As a daughter of a Vietnam Vet who I lost in 2025 after his post-war life battle from Agent Orange…this is a horrible time to have 13 & 18 year old boys.
I wish my dad was here to tell me it will be ok.

Another wrote:

I just explained to my boys what a military draft means.

Someone else I know said:

I had a ton of people calling me a Trump apologist when I said no war in Gaza and now people are calling me a liberal for saying no war in Venezuela. Some of us actually are anti-war and pro-rule of law!

There have been people who had arguments against my opinion which weren’t quite polite but not overly rude that I didn’t remove (or them) but it was about obviously I was never part of an EMS or lost a family member to drugs. No I fortunately never lost a family member to drugs, but lost a friend and two women I know have had drugs make them widows. I have had plenty of friends who have been on EMS crews for years and NOT one has spoken up all drug overdoses are stamped “Made in Venezuela.”

I think we live in a very different world today, so much so I honestly don’t trust that peaceful protests will remain as such. Sadly, No Kings in West Chester proved me right.

I will never say that people shouldn’t stand up for what they feel at the core of their being, but we live in a world that doesn’t necessarily respect that, at least in this country.

Dachau 2026

And then there are the tones of World War II Europe that seem to hum in the background. I have a friend in Poland now on a trip who sent me two photos that stopped me cold.

Auschwitz 2026

Do you know the meaning of the verbiage over the gates? It is “Hard Work is Freedom.”

These first concentration camps were at first prisons for the intellectuals, professors, journalists, etc. Poland has done a great job of preserving Auschwitz. The buildings there were carefully constructed and made of stone and bricks. So they still stand. That’s where Mengele conducted his eugenics experiments. Down the road from Auschwitz are other places like Birkenau, which was put up quickly essentially just to kill people. Only the chimneys remain.

Why do people choose not to remember and even respect the ghosts of World Wars past? When people stopped paying attention to World War I, World War II happened. If we continue to ignore the lessons of the past or try to rewrite history, the past could actually repeat itself.

I am not being an alarmist or conspiracy theorist. The markers exist and if we aren’t careful as a society and country, things our parents and grandparents never wanted us to experience may be come our new normal.

Now who will read this post? When it’s lots of words, that is debatable. We live in a world where people don’t read or research a thing. They read it on Facebook or TikTok so it must be true.

Look I wish we didn’t have to look at history, but we must. If we don’t look at history, even ugly inconvenient, horrible history we may be doomed to repeat it.

I am still tired of how people do not respect that sometimes there is no dialogue to be had when people merely want a break from the social media nonsense of others. We live in a world where everyone seems to think whomever gets all the toys, wins. That is unrealistic and unsustainable.

I think I am growing less patient with the craziness and hysteria on social media. People are such sheeple. And they have zero respect for boundaries of anyone.

Today’s world is a study of past is prologue as well as past is present. I don’t know that that’s a good thing.

Good night.

day 1 on 2026: happy new year

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The word of the year should be grateful. Not the misused, overused version of faux Christianism found on social media, but the feeling at the core of your being inside your truth.

humans suck some days

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(Photos courtesy of Pennsylvania, SPCA)

This post from the Pennsylvania SPCA had the following verbiage on Facebook :

Her name is Tangi.

Yesterday, she was found outside our shelter, sealed inside a taped-up box in the freezing morning air.

When we opened it, scared eyes looked up at us. She was shaking and so stressed that she was hypersalivating, clearly overwhelmed by everything around her. And yet, the moment a hand reached toward her, she leaned in, gentle and searching for comfort despite everything she had been through.

Throughout the day, during medical testing, behavioral exams, and every check we needed to do, Tangi just wanted to be near someone. She followed staff closely, rested her head against anyone who knelt beside her, and cried when she was left alone. All she wanted was to feel safe.

We are incredibly grateful someone spotted that box when they did. It was less than 30 degrees outside when she was abandoned. We truly sympathize with the circumstances her previous owner may have been facing, but we also want everyone, including pets, to remain safe. If you ever need help with a pet, please reach out to us, or any shelter or rescue in the area. And if you must surrender an animal urgently, please come inside and speak with someone.

Tangi is currently on a stray hold in case an owner comes forward. If no one does, she will be made available for adoption, and we know she’ll steal hearts quickly.

For now, she is safe, and so, so loved.

⬇️ to see Tangi.

I would like to know what in the hell is wrong with people? You’ve all these people in all these stupid social media groups wanting to get their Joey and Jill a puppy for Christmas. Well half of those puppies will end up in rescue after Christmas and I’ve said it before that’s how I got one of my best dogs. He was a Christmas puppy years ago who held no interest after a couple of months.

Then you have these people that are just dumping puppies. Case in point is a puppy that was posted to Ludwig‘s Corner Veterinary Hospital.

The post was updated to say no owner was NOT located and the dog is probably going into an already overcrowded rescue system.

Who dumps a puppy at Christmas?

Who tapes a dog up in a box and leaves it in bitter cold weather outside a shelter, where the box was almost missed?

And then they’re all the dogs that Main Line Animal Rescue has been posting that seemed to have been dumped in Lancaster City and other parts of Lancaster County.

I just can’t with this. It’s bad enough when dogs end up in rescue because their humans die and there’s no one to take them, but I just don’t understand people dumping their dogs.

Dogs give us unconditional love and so much joy. And people irresponsibly get dogs and then they just dump them.

It’s not just around here or PA in general. It’s like an epidemic all over the country. Our animal companions, much like human beings are not just disposable.

And then there are the people who assume if something happens to them, that certain people in their families or in their lives in general will take their pets. You can’t assume that you need to have a conversation.

All of these rescues are short on funds and often supplies. So if you want to do something meaningful this Christmas, don’t just shove a cute puppy under the Christmas tree that your kids may or may not really want. Adopt a rescue instead and meet your furever friend that way.

I’m sorry but human beings in 2025 have shown themselves in a lot of cases to just be assholes , whether it’s politics or pets.

Rant over. We need to be better humans.

a very special friendraiser for bryn mawr rehab center

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Lee Lee Jones and guest

Sometimes by luck and happenstance you get invited to something really, really special – it’s the season of giving, and I never ask people to give to anything, but it would be really cool if you considered this:

https://giving.mainlinehealth.org/blog/blog-posts/2025/05/07/lee-lee-jones-endowment-fund

I ended up here literally just by luck. The hostess of this private holiday friendraiser invited me to come, and I offered to donate photos to the cause.

This is something which literally touched my heart.

The backstory: Back in 2016, Lee Lee Jones was your average student home for Christmas. She was a graduate student at The University of Pennsylvania where she was working towards a graduate degree in social work. A lifelong rider, she was enjoying a December ride when the horse she was riding spooked and threw her. Although wearing a riding helmet she was still knocked unconscious.

As the story continues, allow me to share part of the story from her namesake fund page on the Main Line Health website:

She was airlifted to the Level 1 Trauma Center at Christiana Medical Center, where she was rushed into emergency surgery. Due to significant brain swelling, doctors removed part of her skull. Lee Lee barely survived the night and remained in a coma for 7½ weeks. She was diagnosed with Diffuse Axonal Injury, a severe traumatic brain injury.

During her time in the ICU at Christiana, Lee Lee faced numerous complications, including pneumonia, MRSA, severe respiratory distress syndrome, and neuro storming. Once stabilized, she was transferred to Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital in an emergent state—non-verbal, almost completely paralyzed, and only able to open her eyes slightly.

Over her nine-month inpatient stay at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital and continued outpatient therapy over the past eight years, Lee Lee has made remarkable progress. She relearned how to swallow, walk, and perform daily activities. Thanks to the dedicated and experienced team at BMRH, Lee Lee has regained significant independence.

Not all families can endure the financial responsibility which comes with these treatments and stays, hence the fund. There is such a need for these endowments because in my humble opinion the medical community has not lost their compassion but health insurance companies kind of have. For all of the money insurance companies make in this country, they really need to realize that they can have more generosity at times. Maybe some health insurance executives will see my post and donate to this endowment fund, for example?

When I was growing up I devoured the books about Jill Kinmont and she was incredibly inspirational to many of us, but because she died in 2012, a lot of people have forgotten about her. Jill Kinmont Booth was a was an American alpine ski racer and schoolteacher. Her life story was turned into two major Hollywood movies The Other Side of the Mountain and its sequel The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2.

Obviously, Jill Kinmont was well into adulthood when we learned about her as kids through the movies in the 1970s. Through the movies we learned that Jill in 1955 was the reigning national champion in the slalom, and a top hopeful for a medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics, a year away. As an 18 year she suffered a near-fatal skiing accident that resulted in paralysis from the shoulders down. She fought her way back with rehab, very primitive compared to what patients have today. She eventually graduated from college, married had a long career as an educator, first in Washington State and then in California. She was also an artist. She lived as a quadriplegic for more than 50 years. That doesn’t make her story Lee Lee’s story, but it reminded me of young women who overcome great obstacles after accidents to continue their lives.

Lee Lee Jones is a remarkable young woman and I also find her incredibly special and inspirational. Just as I find her friends, family, and support system. I was honored to meet her, her family, one of her nurses, friends, and her former boyfriend, now an adult with his own family. His name is Kareem Rosser and he is another major part of this story, and a driving force behind this endowment becoming a success at Bryn Mawr Rehab. He is doing this out of love. Love still for Lee Lee and her family with whom he remains incredibly close. He also does this out of an amazing ability and desire to pay things forward.

Kareem began his life in one of Philadelphia’s toughest and baddest neighborhoods. It was in West Philadelphia and known as “the bottom.” I actually know where this is because once upon a time when I was barely 21, I got not one but two flat tires there on my way home with a friend late one night. We had been dancing at the. Pagano’s and been to the then Chestnut Cabaret. It was the era before cell phones and a Philadelphia cop just happened to drive by and would not leave us until a tow truck arrived. I remember we said to him in our young invincibleness that we would be fine on our own and the cop said to us no we might not, this was “the bottom.”

When Kareem was 8, he discovered a stable full of horses in Fairmount Park. Chamounix Stables. Through Work to Ride he learned to ride and play polo. Eventually he earned a scholarship to Valley Forge Military Academy. In 2011 he led his Work to Ride team to a National Interscholastic Polo Championship. Next in In 2015, he led Colorado State University to a collegiate National Championship.

Kareem is on the board of Work to Ride and is an Executive Vice President today of Work to Ride , and has led development efforts there since 2018. This non profit completed an amazing state of the art barn renovation project not so long ago. He is also the co-founder of the Philadelphia Polo Classic.

Kareem was Lee Lee’s boyfriend at the time of her accident. They were in love and then life had a plot twist.

Kareem is still close and devoted to Lee Lee and her family. This shows how the power of love is so integral to life itself, and how it grows and changes yet remains a constant.

Kareem is also a best selling author. He was also one of the nicest people I have met in a while.

Compassionate and honest and eloquent. Listening to him speak was just wonderful. Hearing about Lee Lee through his eyes and how her accident affected him and her friends and family.

One of the things I liked about listening to Kareem speak with his openness. He wove the tail of his life and how it intersected with Lee Lee’s. And the small world of it all, one of his closest friends is the son of an old neighbor.

Learn more about Kareem here:

https://kareemrosser.com/

Now is the season of giving I am going to share a video of the speakers I recorded during this event so you can learn more about this fund and you can also go to Bryn Mawr Rehab’s site :

https://giving.mainlinehealth.org/blog/blog-posts/2025/05/07/lee-lee-jones-endowment-fund

If you have it in your hearts, this holiday season before your end, please consider even a small donation. I think if you’ve ever known anyone who’s had a traumatic brain injury, you will be interested in supporting this fund.

Thanks for stopping by. Please note that I have not been compensated to write this and I made a small donation to The Lee Lee Jones Patient Assistance Endowment Fund.

so many municipalities with pooper…err…sewer problems?

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Developer Eli Kahn at 12/1/25 Tredyffrin Supervisors Meeting

So this is an interesting one at the end of the supervisors’ meeting last evening, Tredyffrin Township’s bumbling and inefficient zoning officer (I am entitled to my opinion and I’m being understated because I don’t understand why she has a job, but I digress) pops up rather nervously to announce to the supervisors that are developer was there with essentially a problem.

What was the problem? Something to do with the sewer and how his workforce housing project was essentially being potentially charged too much if it goes forward the way it is for sewer capacity they’re not going to use, right?

Here is the recording of that portion of the meeting:

I don’t understand how it was just sort of popped on the agenda like this do you? I’m not saying he shouldn’t be heard because he should be heard, and this is a developer whose projects I am not generally speaking fond of, but when you listen to this meeting snippet, do you really think he’s wrong? I actually don’t. (Shocker, right?)

This project was introduced at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025:

Click to access 01162025-planning-commission-meeting-minutes.pdf

Click to access 12162024-bos-public-meeting-minutes.pdf

So this is a trend we’ve seen being proposed in other municipalities and not just by this developer. It’s all about redeveloping these old commercial properties and these office buildings that have become obsolete whales and making them into living units, and in some cases, schools?

So I have to ask are we potentially replacing one problem with another problem? To be clear l, I’m not saying I’m against workforce housing if it actually happens. But I also look at these plans for this housing and so many of the units are these little itty-bitty things so what about workforce housing for families?

But I’m not going off on that tangent today that’s just something I think about. We definitely need affordable housing for all stages of life, but do we really need more apartments? I keep asking that question.

So the reason Eli Kahn went to Tredyffrin has to do with sewer. And sewer capacity and what he is paying for. It’s an interesting conversation. Listen to the video. So he’s telling the supervisors that they have problems in their sewer fee structures I guess? Basically he’s saying it’s not a one-size-fits-all?

I find it interesting, just like I find it. Interesting how it all kind of got plopped at the end of this meeting.

What is it with sewer fees and sewer capacity and municipalities out here so you have the thing that West Goshen Sunshine uncovered that’s on her Facebook page about fees paying health insurance bills of supervisors?

And then, of course, we have West Whiteland Township, trying to do the right thing for residents being sued by the Exton Mall developer and why? If there isn’t really sewer capacity, how should they be able to build as much? I don’t understand. it’s not like that’s the only problem on that site is there? Not enough parking correct? Too many houses for the area because of the density already existing correct?

https://vista.today/2025/11/exton-square-mall-redevelopment-plans/

https://www.phillyvoice.com/exton-square-mall-redevelopment-lawsuit-west-whiteland-board/

Anyway, I found it interesting because here there are these three municipalities with issues involving sewer so what does that say?

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. It’s a lot of poopy problems, yes?

thanksgiving thoughts

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Thanksgiving. It’s one of those holidays where we always want it to be like a Hallmark Movie only if we’re real, sometimes it’s not.

When I think of awkward Thanksgiving meals, I think of the time I went to my friend’s family celebration at Merion Cricket Club. Now I will admit going out for Thanksgiving to a restaurant or a club is weird for me. I like cooking Thanksgiving dinner. But this one year I was a singleton so I went to this particular celebration.

Now this was old Merion before all the updating on the decorating. It looked really pretty. The dining room was still the old dining room. We were in the room next to the dining room on the other side of the hall. I got seated next to an overly friendly older relative. As in mid to late 70s. Let’s just call it and “oh grandpa please moment.”

We’ve all had awkward moments, but trust me, nothing worse than being seated at a holiday meal next to a uncomfortably friendly relative of the one who invited you and you have to sit there politely with a smile plastered on your face wishing that this old dude would just stop. It was so awful I was embarrassed for him.

Then there are the miscellaneous memories of Thanksgiving growing up. One time at the old Greenhouse restaurant in Radnor. They cooked your group your own turkey and you took the leftovers home. They served your party family style. That was the year we had more house guests than room to fit them in the dining room.

When I was really little I remember Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle’s house up in Northeast Philadelphia. Both of my mother’s parents were alive back then. It was crowded but alive and fun, which was definitely not the feeling one got at my late father’s sister’s house. Those were the obligatory not so much fun and lots of frosty pretense Thanksgivings where the toilet seat in the powder room was as chilly as the lack of heat in the house and the personality of my father’s family who hosted.

There were plenty of super joyful Thanksgivings growing up. I have memories of ones in Philadelphia and hysterical laughing over how long was that god damned turkey going to take? Being with family friends in Summit, NJ and Bethesda, MD and more. A kaleidoscope of happy memories and voices of those now gone I can still see in my head, especially memories of Mrs. C in her kitchen. And the eventuality of my sister and I hosting Thanksgiving feasts.

Then there were the purgatory years for me. Many moons ago, I was in a different and looking back, a honestly difficult and terrible relationship. I would have to make the trek with someone who shall not be named because they don’t deserve it up to parts much further west.

The holidays including Thanksgivings I liked because that sister-in-law of this person and her mom set a beautiful table and made such an effort over every guest.

The holidays, including Thanksgiving at his sister’s were another story.

First of all, let’s talk about the ugly brown crockery plates that always showed up as “good china.” Maybe I am being a snob, but somehow I really don’t want to eat dinner on plates that seem to be the color of dirt do you? and then there was the fact that the turkey was served in the cheap tinfoil container it went into the oven with. And these were the holidays where everybody stood around with the superiority of misfits and malcontents, and basically criticized anyone who wasn’t there, sort of defeating the point of the holiday, right?

The other thing about those purgatory years were the car rides. Essentially a lot of each ride coming and going I was yelled at in a closed space. It was abusive. And I wasn’t answering back. I just sat there, hoping it would stop….for almost a decade. Abuse towards women takes all forms and they all matter, don’t they? To this day, I have I think a form of PTSD from this and a definite aversion to loud, bullying mansplaining.

And during those years I worked really hard to just participate, contributing food, etc. it was always wasted on those people, but I did get a chance to work on my recipes so it wasn’t all bad and the dogs were nice, as well as the kids at the time. From those years, I had the takeaway of what I did not want the rest of my life to look like.

Like I keep saying, I actually like cooking Thanksgiving. Sometimes I think it’s just to have turkey sandwiches the day after.

I know people don’t like preparing for Thanksgiving because of the work. And yes, it is work, but happy faces around the table enjoying the meal are worth it. but that doesn’t mean we’re all getting our Hallmark families for the holidays. So we make the best of it some years. As humans we are flawed, even the mean-spirited, whom it’s hard to give grace to. But hey, they wake up the next day as miserable as they were on Thanksgiving and that’s its own kind of penance.

Thanksgiving is historically a day where it is not about one upsmanship and pretense. It’s about being thankful and grateful.

It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest. It began as a day of giving, thanks between the original residents of this country, the Native Americans, and the immigrants, reaching these shores for a better way of life and certain freedoms.

Now it is still supposed to be that, only we seem to be evolving into a country that doesn’t represent what the Pilgrims and founding fathers intended. We seem to have become what they left Europe over and fought a revolution for?

How do we get back to the goodness in this country? I am not saying goodness doesn’t exist, it just seems to be in hiding, doesn’t it?

I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. Don’t expect it to be perfect, just enjoy the people you are with and the once a year deliciousness (hopefully) of the dinner. Support local businesses on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

Try to be kind to one and other and pray for a day when we wake up to the current being an American nightmare.

My dinner won’t cook itself sadly, so Happy Thanksgiving and signing off.

xo,

Carla

(for those who still do not think I am a real person and I play records backwards for hidden messages.)

well hello shady contractor builder from paoli, and thanks 6abc for the story/investigation!

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Screenshots from Action News 6ABC Socials

Well dayummm Chad Pradelli, you knocked this one out of the park! What a tale of a slezoid!

So yep Action News for the win on this story. I mean come on. It’s hard enough to find a good contractor in today’s environment. And this guy? Wow.

ACTION NEWS INVESTIGATION

MAIN LINE CONTRACTOR ALLEGEDLY TOOK THOUSANDS, LEFT JOBS UNFINISHED | INVESTIGATION

By Chad Pradelli and Cheryl Mettendorf

Friday, November 14, 2025 11:15AM ET

PAOLI, Pa. (WPVI) — A Main Line contractor is the focus of an Action News investigation.

He is accused of taking money, not finishing jobs, and using alleged stolen funds. But his victims say he is still able to drive around in pricey cars.

The contractor’s name is Mike Monaghan. He’s catered to those with money on the Main Line. His alleged victims say he played the part, but when it came time to build and finish projects, he didn’t deliver….

PAOLI, Pa. (WPVI) — A Main Line contractor is the focus of an Action News investigation.

He is accused of taking money, not finishing jobs, and using alleged stolen funds. But his victims say he is still able to drive around in pricey cars.

The contractor’s name is Mike Monaghan. He’s catered to those with money on the Main Line. His alleged victims say he played the part, but when it came time to build and finish projects, he didn’t deliver…..Investigative reporter Chad Pradelli went to Monaghan’s Paoli home to get answers and hear his side of the story.

Listen to the video that I have embedded above to get the whole gist of it. But oh my goodness what a scammer he sure seems to be right?

Please note I haven’t been able to look him up on the state website because apparently the Attorney General Dave Sunday’s website for looking up contractors etc is still down and how is that? Lack of functionality was reported by Brett Sholtis is The Philadelphia Inquirer on November 1, and it’ still spins and spins?

But I digress.

Home Improvement

So this guy? What a tool. And yep there are a bunch of civil and criminal docket things.

It’s crazy.

serenading….chester county voter services!

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Please let Barry Dee at All Politics Are Local which version is your favorite!

Karen Barsoum you’re famous!

dear recipe philly, sometimes the timing in life is just not right

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What some of the people that spend so much time criticizing me don’t realize is I love to cook. I also love to garden, which is of course why I have a separate gardening blog.

A while back a friend sent me a link to a website. It was for something called Recipe Philly.

So on a complete whim, I submitted the pasta sauce recipe taught to me by my great aunts and my paternal grandmother. It’s mostly their recipe, but I tweaked it and wrote it down.

I know that this sauce recipe is good enough to compete with. I’ve actually had people who are professional chefs, and in the restaurant industry tell me so over the years. I also just love the idea of the sauce I learned to make as well as gnocchi in a kitchen at 11th and Ritner when I was a little girl, could be shared with a broader audience.

I still have very distinct memories of the big ceramic top kitchen table that used to hold 8 or 10 of us at one time being cleared for first chopping up vegetables and what not going into the sauce, and then as a workstation to make the gnocchi.

The gnocchi is also another recipe that I finally wrote down because I was taught how to make it by feel. You could just feel when the dough was right.

When my father’s mother would sometimes babysit us when we were in high school and my parents were traveling for my father’s job at the time, I would have these memories of Saturday mornings, and even Sunday mornings, waking up to the mingled smell of fresh coffee and garlic and onion Starting to cook in the bottom of a Dutch oven for sauce.

It was these memories that I was all excited to bring to this competition. And I’m hardly a reality show person. But it was because this was really kind of a cooking thing I was interested. Finally, I’m at a place in my life where I have the time to do something like that.

But life throws you curveballs. I was interviewed on a zoom submitted my application and invited to compete tomorrow in Philadelphia but at the same time this was happening, I have a dog who developed cancer. And the reality of life and the responsibility to my pet means I can’t leave her for 8 or 10 hours right now.

So this morning, I had to decline. I had my recipe ready. I had my photos. I had my recipe card. They want it filled out done and a copy of my application. I sent the producers who gave up their valuable time for me an email apologizing. I didn’t want to just not show up that would be rude and disrespectful of their time and energy into this project which I think is a fun as well as cool idea.

If my recipe had been chosen, it would’ve been featured in this brand new restaurant opening in Philadelphia. If my recipe had been chosen, I think it would’ve amused the ghosts of my ancestors. This recipe was obviously taught to my great aunts and my grandmother by their mother, who immigrated to this country with her husband their father has a very young woman for a better life. This recipe is part of the DNA of my American story because we are a country of immigrants.

Those people, who would’ve been my late father’s maternal grandparents came here for a better life. If they hadn’t existed, the future generations of which I am part of the current present generation never would have existed.

So for the time being, I don’t get my home cook moment, but for the love of my dog, I just can’t do it. And I really wanted to. But sometimes the timing in life and being a grown-up and being a responsible pet owner have to come first.

If these people at Recipe Philly would ever want to talk to me after today about my recipe and competing when they actually film, I would welcome that opportunity. But sadly, I know that’s not how the process works, so it’s just not my time.

A girl can dream though…..

where’s karen barsoum, chester county?

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This photo is from a Google search and it’s just a screenshot

Well, it’s no secret that election day was a total study in incompetence, gross incompetence, on the part of the Chester County Director of Voter Services Karen Barsoum. I am starting this post reminding the knee jerk reaction chorus in the rear of the attention span auditorium that I am not an election conspiracy theorist. I am not a voting conspiracy theorist I am not saying there was malicious intent, what I am saying is there was gross incompetence.

karen barsoum needs to go: chester county has made independents invisible on election day.

I am really, quite honestly tired of the people defending this woman. She’s been here long enough and worked in another voter services department in Berks County prior to this that she should not have screwed things up this election or the spring primary where she actually left an entire row office race off of the ballot.

This is something procedurally that it remains the same. There’s one procedure in the spring, there’s another procedure in the fall. Epic fail, pure and simple.

I have mentioned before the crazy amount of turnover in that office. That’s because people don’t want work with her, in my opinion. People need jobs, so if they aren’t taking jobs in that department or constantly leaving, there’s a reason.

Basically, we have heard from everyone, except Karen Barsoum. Her socials are suddenly quite quiet and seem scrubbed as well.

She should’ve been front and center at the county commissioners meeting yesterday, even if just to make a brief statement and leave the room. Everyone has been apologizing for this situation except her. And to be honest given how much she loves the sound bite going back to Berks County, I find that odd.

Obviously to stand up and own is not as fun as being on 60 Minutes or quoted in USA Today or whatever, but you have to have a accountability for the good and the bad and she doesn’t ever seem to have accountability and it’s time for her to be accountable. Then it’s time for her to go.

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/11/chester-county-pennsylvania-pollbook-error-provisional-ballots-elections/

She needs to show her face to apologize to all of us residents in Chester County, and then she should go.

#firekarenbarsoum

From Barsoum’s time in Berks County
From her socials when she was crowing about being on 60 minutes



Snippet from Info Wars