It’s A Gift

My mother celebrated her 99^th birthday on August 10^th and she continues to amaze. We had lunch with her recently along with my daughter Jenn and her children. (See the featured picture). At 99 she still has an amazing ability to engage with anyone, but especially with children. She soon will have 12 great grandchildren and the older ones in particular love their time with mom-mom. She somehow makes each of them feel like they are her favorite. It’s a gift.

A friend of mine once said about mom: “She is both interested and interesting”. My dad used to refer to her as the “Brains of the Operation”. (Click on this link to read the story about the night I realized why) Unlike most of us, mom is a good listener. Last week, after our lunch with the grandchildren, I asked her how she does it. Mom explained that throughout her life she has been around people who like to talk. She said that she has always enjoyed listening, because that is how she learns. She followed that up with: “Did you know that your cousin Maureen’s husband Bob McGee, had a master’s degree in speech therapy. I know a few things about Bob, but that I didn’t know. My cousin passed away last year and Bob still calls mom. He is one of the many, caught in her spell. At 99 she is still learning. It’s a gift.

Mom at lunch with my son Brian and his family

For the readers of this blog you might remember the piece we did on Mom Mom’s potato salad. (Click on the link for the full story) It is one of her specialties that is a family favorite. A few years ago I did a FaceBook live piece with her. She was great. Her years in front of a classroom made her particularly good in front of the camera. After we finished the live take and turned the camera off, she took one last taste of her masterpiece potato salad and exclaimed: “Boy that’s good”. Mom can cook and communicate. It’s a gift.

The last year hasn’t been easy for mom, as it hasn’t been for many. Mom continues to talk about the “Little Miracles” in her life. (Click on the link for the full story) She talks about how she likes something sweet with her toast in the morning and the homemade jam that my cousin Virginia from Maui made and how it magically appeared. And how her iPhone continues to automatically display pictures of her great grandchildren. She doesn’t know how it works, but she loves it. Through it all, she decides to focus on the positive. It’s a gift.

A favorite picture of Mom doing a reading at our daughter Jennifer and her husband Ethan’s wedding.

Mom started doing readings at weddings years ago. Our son Brian asked her to read something my father had written. Mom called me and said that might be difficult given that most of dad’s writings were commencement addresses and political speeches. I told her to pull a piece of something dad had written and just tell a story. From that she has developed an art that provides a memory for the special couple and all in attendance. An investment banker friend of my sister came up to her after a recent performance and asked her: Did you ever think of starting a business? We could call it: “Rent a Mom-Mom”. Again, it’s a gift

Happy birthday mom-mom. You are a gift!

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

A House In The Hamptons Is Like Having A Lake House

If you tell someone that you are going your mother’s house in Westhampton, you usually get asked if you are going to “The Hamptons”. As in where the rich and famous spend their summers. It is true that there is a lot of stupid money, and stupid people, in the Hamptons during the summer. However, there are lots of normal, very nice people there as well. And yes, you might have seen Shaquille O.Neil eating an ice cream cone in Bridgehampton last week.

I try to explain to my friends in Memphis that having a house in the Hamptons is a lot like having a lake house in Iuka Mississippi. The more you try to explain this, the worse it gets. Then I try to explain that my mom lives in Westhampton which is the “Poor man’s Hampton”.

The story that I think categorizes this fact the best is told by Ina Gartner the Barefoot Contessa. Ina opened her first Barefoot Contessa shop in Westhampton. After a few years she decided to move to Easthampton. Early on in Easthampton she noticed a customer hemming and hawing over her Lobster Salad. Her initial reaction was that her (then) price of $40 per pound was too high. She asked the man if she could help him and he said: I am just not sure if I need 5 or 8 pounds. She knew then that she was in the right Hampton. There is lots of stupid money in Easthampton.

So maybe you can’t buy $40/lb. lobster salad in Iuka Mississippi. My buddy has a lake house in Iuka and he loves the practice where when you come to a four way stop in the road, drivers exchange finger waves by raising their index finger off the steering wheel. In New York a finger wave usually involves the middle finger, but that is different story.

Another, itty bitty difference between Iuka and Westhampton is the weather. As I write this, it is a bright sunny July day and the temperature is 75 degrees with a cool breeze off the bay in Westhampton. It takes pretty good air-conditioning to get to 75 degrees at mid-day in July in Iuka. OK, so maybe there is a difference.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

Dinner under the arbor in Westhampton

Brian and Lauren enjoying a cool breeze on Moriches Bay.

The Seven Dollar Tomato

There are good things and bad things about spending the summer in Westhampton. And, sometimes even the bad things are good.

When you tell people that you are spending the summer in the “Hamptons”, quite often you get that look. You know the one, it is where someone looks at you as if you are too cool for school. My buddy, the “High Rolling Redneck” from Memphis once flicked his finger off of his nose when I told him my mom lived in Westhampton. My mom, who is one of the least pretentious people on earth, has taken to telling people she lives on Long Island, versus Westhampton, just to avoid that look.

One of the really good things about summer in the Hamptons is the local produce. Everyone has heard about the rich and the famous, but the truth is, historically, the Hamptons is more famous for its farm produce, than its celebrities. There is a local farm stand that we have been fans of for over 40 years. It is one of my mom’s favorites and she has gotten to know its owners. Not only are the owners good farmers, but they are really good business people. They have built a reputation and expanded their offering to meet what the market will bear.

To me, very little says summer more than a home-grown tomato. In Westhampton, you usually don’t get the real thing until August. To push the season, our local farm stand has found a local source (probably New Jersey) of tomatoes that gets a decent tomato to market a little bit early, but you have to pay for it. Hence:

The Seven Dollar Tomato

Mom’s favorite farm stand sells a bunch of them. They have even come up with ways to ripen them (see photo below). The early tomato is sold as an “Amish Tomato” which builds on the mystique of the farm stand’s elderly owners long flowing white beard. My guess is that he is more likely a good presbyterian versus Amish, but one thing is for sure, he is a good marketer and I buy his Seven Dollar Tomato. They also sell a full offering of produce, and emphasize local wherever possible. I once heard a New York City-ite right off the expressway, ask the bearded owner if his pineapple was local. To his credit, and marketing skill, he didn’t laugh at her, but you can.

Note: The farm stand offers a wide range of produce, some it local and some not so much. Notice how they ripen their $7 tomatoes under the shelves.

If you ever make it to the Hamptons, make sure you check out the farm stands, just be sure that you don’t pay too much for the good and the bad. But,then again, even the bad is good.

The Seven Dollar Tomato Caprese Salad

Check out the recipe