We are on the final leg of Bacon Month and I have had a ball participating. This is my next to the last post involving bacon. My family will be very disappointed that it is over. Thanks Julie at White Lights on Wednesday, once again, for letting me participate. As usual, below the recipe you will find the Rafflecopter link where you can enter for this week’s giveaway – so generously donated by July and then below THAT will be all the recipes of the participants for this week. There are lots of fabulous recipes!
BUT FIRST I want to tell you about a very proud moment in my life. It came about just last week and for some reason I feel compelled to tell you about it. After thinking over how I would tackle this particular subject I decided that someone may need to hear this, probably someone who is struggling right now with a child that is having difficulty in school.
This is about Top Girl. When she was 3-years-old, my parents and I took her to the fair. As we walked down the fairway, she asked and then begged to play one of those carnival games that no one every wins. I was adamant that I would not be wasting my money on such as that but she was insistent. Eventually, I gave in. What happed next was stunning. We walked up to the nearest Carney where I laid down my dollar (it was 1984) and told him my daughter wanted to play. He kind of smirked while demonstrating and explaining what she had to do to win one of the prizes. Would you believe that she won THREE before we walked away? I am pretty sure the Carney thought she was actually a small adult who was only talking like she was three-years-old and hustling him. I still have two of those prizes- mirrors that had pictures super-imposed on them. I began thinking Top Girl was some kind of genius!
That held until Top Girl entered first grade. She struggled every single day and had a tutor who tried like the dickens to help her learn to read as we did at home. Her whole life was spent with the alphabet and primary books even throughout the summer. By the time she was in second grade, not only did the kids know she couldn’t read and bullied her – but so did her teacher, Sr. Phyllis. When she came home with bruises on her thighs from Sr. Phyllis grabbing and squeezing them, I made the first of many trips up to the principal’s office. We tried many methods to deal with her severe dyslexia and ADHD – some are laughable now, like the one where she had to balance on a balance beam while reviewing her spelling words. All I knew was that she HAD to learn to read because that is the root of all education. I made a self-hypnosis loop tape that, for several years, we turned on each night when she went to bed . I told her on the tape that she discovered her own way to recognize words and sentences as well as comprehend all she read. I told her she was smart and beautiful with the self-confidence of a person who was completely comfortable in her own skin.
Top Girl was 9-years-old when she learned to read. Her first book? “French Fries Up My Nose” or something equally as strange but who cares? She was reading! She went to summer school until she was in 6th grade. That’s when she discovered author L.M. Montgomery. She was the author of Anne of Green Gables and many other novels – which I bought her anytime she asked for one. She made it through school after that excelling in many classes although not in English. She also developed quite a talent for winning prizes in those claw machines. While the mirrors in the back of the machine prevents those of us who “see correctly” from picking up a toy and dropping it into the chute, a person with dyslexia has no trouble, just like in the carnival games. Top Girl has won hundreds of stuffed toys in the claw machine.
During those years, I wouldn’t allow her to be put in special classes because she was not going to get special treatment as an adult – I know that’s not the correct choice for everyone, just us. No medication either. Testing in any subject was pretty awful so when she decided she wanted to go to the University of Oklahoma – after all she WAS the editor of the high school newspaper – I was concerned because admission hinged on achieving a certain score on her ACT. She sent in the application and told them she would like to come to their university but she was unwilling to take the ACT exam because she felt it was a poor indicator of intelligence. To my surprise, they told her they would accept her if she would just take the test afterward so they would have a score to put down. She agreed so they sent a full acceptance letter and in about 4 months, she took the ACT test.
About half-way through her stint as an undergrad, she came home crying telling me that she had to take Spanish in order to get a BA degree and it had taken her 9 years to read English! The University did waive that requirement but replaced it with another, just as difficult: Statistics. I never let her blame anything on the learning disabilities because that’s not how real life is and what if I died? Who would help her then? She made it through undergrad in 5 years. I then insisted she move on to her Master’s degree. She was not very happy with me, but since I was her mom, she agreed and got that degree as well – at the same time she got her first full time job. From that first job, she got promoted at a pretty good clip and during this last year, her 9th, she took a management position in IT (computer stuff). At that time, I got worried. She is a young woman in a predominantly male field and she was going to be their boss.
What drove me all those years was fear that she would not be able to take care of herself if something happened to me – I mean, I’m her mom and we’ve been on our own since she was two-years-old so I’m the only person she can depend on. Last week she came home saying she had gotten her evaluation for her first full year in the IT position and then handed me the evaluation to read. In all but one category, she achieved an “Exceeds Standards”. Her supervisor said in his notes that she was extremely well organized and never harbored hidden agendas. She increased the amount of work her staff did after having eight of her 15 employee positions cut – not by coercion, but by streamlining their way of doing business. Without gushing over her, he makes the reader understand just how well Top Girl has adjusted to her new position and how he could not do without her wisdom and dependability. What a proud moment for me. I can die now and she will be fine. Whew!
That was a bit of a long story, but I told it in order to offer hope to those parents who have already or who will receive a call from school saying that little Johnny or Mary has dyslexia and/or ADHD/ADD. With the exception of the bullying (which was brutal) nothing that she went through was THAT bad and besides, when she sees those who bullied her, almost without exception, those people are struggling in life. It’s hard work and there will be tears involved, but it does not mean that your child will not be successful – it DOES mean that your child will not ever read out loud at work because it still doesn’t come fast, but it comes and that’s all that matters. So have faith, there is hope! Oh yes, buy your child a digital watch instead of one with hands and numbers – it’s a problem for those with dyslexia.
Now let’s talk about Bacon and Beer and Mushrooms and even a little asparagus!
Here’s what you will need:
1 bunch of asparagus, roasted with salt, pepper, olive oil and a little parm (425F for 12 minutes)
1 Cups of Mushrooms, sautéed in olive oil
I can of beer (I used Anthem’s Golden One brewed by a friend’s son)
2 Cups heavy cream
1 stick of butter
6 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
2 Cups freshly grated Parmesan
1 Pound thinly sliced bacon, fried crisp and roughly chopped
Pasta, whatever kind you want – I used Angle Hair
1 bag of scallops – I used giant sea scallops and the bag had about 15.
Directions:
Roast the Asparagus, sauté the mushrooms, and fry the bacon all at once (in different pans of course) and set aside.
Pour out all the bacon grease out of the pan but using that pan, pour in the can of beer and put in the garlic. Let it simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
Add cream and allow to simmer another 5 minutes.
Then put in the butter and parmesan stirring well.
Finally add the bacon asparagus and mushrooms.
Once the pasta is cooked and drained, put the scallops in a little olive oil cooking about 3 minutes on each side – don’t let them overcook!
Plated pasta noodles, then a few scallops and finally use a label to drizzle the alfredo sauce on top.
Sprinkle extra parmesan and green onion on top for more color.
Enjoy and please enter the giveaway and check out all the other fabulous bacon recipes!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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