I wouldn’t want to make a habit of reposting myself.  I have too many things to share with you.  But this Halloween I decided to give you another look at a post from last October 29th.  It’s one of those things I can look back on in life with pride (even though pride is one of the seven deadlies). It’s just that I had so much fun creating it, and then so much fun retelling it. So here goes, and for you first timers, let me introduce to you someone very dear to me:

Chefanie and her next of (pump)kin
OCTOBER 29, 2015
When I was working in Dublin as a manager of a well known gourmet fresh food store, one of the fun parts of the job was decorating the shop for various holidays. And sometimes the company would even have a contest among all the other branches for best/most creative display. It created some friendly and fun competition that involved the staff, and saved money on hiring outside window dressers. The Halloween Pumpkin decorating contest was one such example.

The first year we did it, I decided not to do anything scary with the pumpkin. Many of the customers are families with small children, and I wanted something festive but friendly. Besides, I am a wuss when it comes to anything remotely frightening. Thus CHEFANIE was born. A life size pumpkin chef. Everyone loved her. She was festive but not frightening and she was a foodie! Since I began my tenure at the company as a chef, I dressed her in my old chef’s uniform. She was coined “The freshest member of staff” and not surprisingly she (we) won the contest. That’s me in the pic congratulating Chefanie on the good news.

Then I moved to another shop and brought her back to life at that location. We had loads of compliments from the local community, especially since the other businesses had such scary displays. In fact, the local butcher nearly had the whole town having nightmares with the ghoulish and bloody pumpkin presentation. But sadly we didn’t win our company’s competition that year as Chefanie couldn’t be a repeat awardee. I guess it was kind of like having leftovers.

So when I went to manage yet another shop the following year, I decided to pull out all the stops. I brought Chefanie back to life but also brought along her next of kin…or next of pump-kin to be more exact.

She and the fam were a massive hit. People walking past or even driving past the shop would stop just to have a closer look and take a picture with her! Since I spent my day off in the shop working on it I was delighted to see the warm response. The good news is, we (they) won the contest!

So here is a little synopis of each “character” in the gang.

Meet Chefanie, our freshest member of staff and her NEXT of pumpKIN! You may have seen her before, but this year after a little makeover she is bursting with beautiful Kurly Kale hair, cauliflower ears, pungent pupils in her garlic bulb eyes, a nice red hot chill pepper nose, GB eyebrows (green beans folks), and although a bit long in the tooth (made with corn), she still has her proper cinnamon stick tie just to stick with tradition.

Chefanie and Co. are passionate about good quality Irish grown and reared ingredients. Food is a family affair, especially when making something as special as Beef Bourgignon. While Chefanie oversees everything, each of the other members play an important part in the lovingly slow steps of this perfectly autumnal meal.

“SAMmolier”, her husband (with his cork details, who often likes to rest on a magnum) has aged well and knows a thing or two about wine. Therefore he chooses the perfect French Burgundy available to marinate overnight our Wexford reared Hereford Beef.

“Sous”, the big sister of the brood is the image of her Mum. She likes to tie her Kurly Kale hair in Gubbeen pig tails, and with her small onion eyes, garlic teeth, sugar snap pea nose (better for smelling the sweetness of life) makes sure there is depth of flavor to the jus!

“Herb” may look like a rebel with his Rosemary mohawk, tarragon tongue, sage ears and bay leaf eyes, but don’t let appearances food you. He is the most delicate and nuanced of all Chefanie’s offspring. He is so dedicated to the creation of the Beef Bourgignon that he gave up all his Thyme for the cause!

“Spice Girl” can be quite dear with her expensive taste and is known to have fiery mouth from time to time. But of all of the children she definitely has stars in her eyes (star anise that is). She has many colorful elements such as cardamon pod ears and a nutmeg nose, but her clove and pink peppercorn hair is her pride and joy!

“Rooty” rambunctiously pitches in to help with rustic hand picked veg. He has quite an earthy personality with his parsnip eyes and radish nose but is most proud of his carrot top hair.

Last but certainly not least are the Twins, “Baby Button” and “Little Pearl” though they are so small, they are very important! As you can see by their mushroom ears and pearl onion ears, they add the final touches to the delicious and classic dish.

There are so many things to talk about (for instance the three BOOs, which of course one is a BAA since there has to a black sheep in every family) regarding this festive display. But mainly that Chefanie has her ‘MEAL BARROW” filled to the brim with Beef Bourgignon (which is ‘peppered with Love’ as her pepper mil says) to keep the customers Happy on Halloween and beyond!

So whatever you are deciding to do with your pumpkins this year, just know that they really can have a purpose and personality. That is why someone started calling them a “Jack o Lanterns”

Love to you and your Boo,

YDP

These days there are so many designated events on the calendar such as “national donut day” or “international bacon day” that it is hard to keep up. Not that I have anything against them, I love donuts and bacon. But today is a day I hope most of us can get behind and support. World Mental Health Day. I wrote about my own experiences with depression here on the blog before. The main importance of that was to demystify the stereotype. I am a cheerful person, how could I have gone through depression? Well I did and by my sharing I hope to enlighten and encourage others.  It is also a way to remove the stigma. And that is why I love this day so much.

I’d like to think that today people would take the opportunity to talk, share, connect and let our humanness shine forth. Social media is all well and good.  Even though I am late to the game I love it.  But unless it is serving a higher purpose then what is the point?  There are many folks out there where social media is their life line. And many have shared with me their struggles with mental health.  When someone is there to listen and empathize it means we are not alone. We can support one another even if we don’t live in the same town. “Seek first to understand, then be understood” as the saying goes.

Why is talking so important? Well I’ve always said it is “better to talk it out, than take it out.” By that I mean that if people are suffering from mental health issues, they can take their frustrations out on themselves through self harm, addiction or even suicide. They can take it out on another through abuse or abandonment. The destructive cycle just gets perpetuated. However when the illness is channelled in a more positive way such as talking (and possibly medication) the cycle can be broken.  That is what happened in my case.

From my experience living in Los Angeles for more than 35 years, there are more therapists than supermarkets and dry cleaners combined. In fact many people have more than one therapist. Talking about “issues” seems to be a bit easier for Americans anyway, as the stereotypical Yankee is chatty and open.  As for addictions, AA meetings have become the new “pick up” place. Some alcoholics anonymous meetings in L.A. literally have a line around the block. Everyone is trying to get in!  But there can still be a stigma about deeper mental health issues such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia for instance. This is a generalized statement only based on personal experience, but people will talk about depression and anxiety but if you want to discuss more severe forms they kind of check out. Okay that’s TMI.  Whereas if you talk about cancer and its various stages they aren’t as squeamish. Does this make sense?  So even though Americans are more open there is still work to be done there.

In other parts of the world such as Ireland it is only recently that people are really able to freely discuss mental health issues. One person who has been a massive role model is Social Media Influencer Rosemary MacCabe.  In fact in one of the first times I watched her on Snapchat she showed her journey to her therapist appointment and was open about her struggles with mental health. This is so important for people to see as it normalizing it. In the next snap she might be out shopping for new shoes or meeting a friend for brunch. The same as if she had a sore knee from too much training. But no one would blink about a knee. Yet when you say depression and anxiety in Ireland it has been known to make people recoil. Oddly enough, though the stereotype of an Irish person is joyful and cheery, often that isn’t the case, in the deeper sense. But now it is becoming acceptable for people to admit that without the fear of judgement and rejection.

In essence today is a day that is so needed in modern day society.  With so much information at our fingertip what we also need is a caring human being to hold our hands and tell us it is going to be okay. We have probably all been touched by mental health issues in our small circle whether family, friends or ourselves. It is okay to not be okay as the saying goes. So if you are racing around today and find someone upsets you for walking too slowly, take a deep breath and try to smile. That person just might be going through a bout of depression after the birth of their child.  And if you are feeling overwhelmed with work commitments and starting to feel anxious to the point of hyperventilating, its okay. Take a deep breath and talk about it with someone you trust. Chances are they’ll understand. We are all broken in our own unique way.

I once heard the quote, “we aren’t human beings trying to be spiritual, we are spiritual beings trying to be human”. Let’s embrace our humanness by reaching out to another that might need a hand. It will help us too I am sure of that!

Be Kind! Give Hugs, Real or Virtual,

YDP