Lights On Bright No Brakes

For Women, Walking the Road Less-Traveled With Food, Family, Adventures, and Friends

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LAST STOP: GRAND RAPIDS

November 9, 2018 by Mary 19 Comments

  Everyone has a brussels sprouts story. This is mine. When we moved to Aspen from Des Moines in 1988, we bought a house that wasn’t grand but situated on lovely property abutting Red Butte Mountain and surrounded by 40-some evergreen trees. Along with moving too many belongings, we also packed up our shovels, pitchforks… 

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Filed Under: Aspen, Breads, CookTheBookFridays, Desserts, Doris Greenspan, Everyday Dorie, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Uncategorized, Veggies

A DAY in the LIFE of a RANGER

June 15, 2018 by Mary 12 Comments

Since the mid-1990s, with a time out for Michael-care, I’ve been a volunteer wilderness ranger in the Colorado Rockies. During those 25-some years my life has changed dramatically but the one constant has always been my ranger gig. Hitching myself to Smokey Bear’s wagon was a bit of a stretch. Never considered a rough-and-tumble outdoorsy… 

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Filed Under: Aspen, Desserts, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Main Dishes, Salads, Uncategorized, Veggies

VERY FULL TART, VERY FULL SCHEDULE

May 10, 2018 by Mary 9 Comments

When I was in second grade my teacher had us raise our hand if we wanted to be a nurse, fireman or fill-in-the-blank, when we grew up. She never asked if anyone wanted to be a juggler. Yet most of our lives have probably been a juggling act. How well do you juggle? These days… 

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Filed Under: Aspen, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Main Dishes, Pastries, Uncategorized, Veggies Tagged With: Plenty

VIGNETTES de PARIS

April 16, 2018 by Mary 17 Comments

It’s been 5 weeks since I arrived in Paris with 2 small suitcases, keys to an Airbnb rental (first time ever) and a blank slate. Albeit unnerving, the onus on me, there’s freedom in that. If my friends and family questioned the sanity of this adventure, I didn’t know it. That was truly a gift…. 

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Filed Under: Around My French Table, Aspen, Desserts, Doris Greenspan, French Fridays with Dorie, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Main Dishes, Pastries, Seafood & Fish, Veggies

BEFORE FLYING ACROSS the POND…

October 20, 2017 by Mary 10 Comments

As you’re reading this post, I’m throwing last-minute essentials into my suitcase before leaving for a week in London and Edinburgh. Thanks to the low-fare transatlantic carrier Norwegian Air International now with more direct flights to London than any US airline and a British travel agency, I found a vacation package unable to ignore. TWO… 

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Filed Under: Aspen, CookTheBookFridays, Desserts, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Uncategorized, Veggies

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS…

September 14, 2017 by Mary 15 Comments

Did I ever mention my appointment with a Des Moines, Iowa psychologist. In my mid-thirties, I was needing counseling and advice. After talking to me for 30 minutes he remarked that ‘I would hit my head incessantly against the wall to get something done.’ Heck, I smiled broadly, got all puffed up, considering that a… 

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Filed Under: Aspen, Breakfasts, CookTheBookFridays, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Main Dishes, Soups, Uncategorized, Veggies

WHAT MAKES ASPEN TICK?

September 1, 2017 by Mary 10 Comments

If my walls could talk, their words would be sad. Last Saturday a 21-year old man lost his life while climbing nearby Capitol Peak. Among Colorado’s 58 fourteeners, peaks that rise more than 14,000 feet above sea level, Capitol, at 14,130 feet, is acknowledged as the most difficult. Devastating as one hiking death can be… 

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Filed Under: Fruits, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Uncategorized, Veggies

#Everyonehasastory, #Cookthebookfridays,

February 3, 2017 by Mary 13 Comments

“Everyone has a story, the air is full of stories.” Isabelle Allende Do you realize January 2017 has packed its bag, left the house and won’t return? Already two days into February, it’s Groundhog Day. Punxutawney Phil saw his shadow. Looking ahead, (or, not,) Super Bowl Sunday, the Oscars and Presidents’ week-end are in the… 

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Filed Under: CookTheBookFridays, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Main Dishes, Meats, Uncategorized, Veggies

SNOW STORM=FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS…OUT

November 17, 2016 by Mary 21 Comments

COOK the BOOK FRIDAYS. SCALLOPED POTATOES with BLEU CHEESE and ROASTED GARLIC Tomorrow (Friday) I’m headed West. First stop, Anthem Country Club in Henderson, Nevada where I’ll drop my bags for six weeks. Michael and I lived in ACC the last 8 years of our marriage. What I positively know is I wouldn’t have survived… 

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Filed Under: Aspen, CookTheBookFridays, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Uncategorized, Veggies

LIFE on the SAFE SIDE: A LIST

June 3, 2016 by Mary 22 Comments

Can you handle a How-To List? Realizing you’re involved in your own lives, I can hear heavy sighing. Take a deep breath. Grab that leap of faith. Today’s post is loaded with gems of wisdom. Lifesavers. For you. And, loved ones. It’s also CooktheBookFridays. Our recipe is Fattoush, David Lebovitz’s ingenious salad loaded with ‘a… 

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Filed Under: Aspen, CookTheBookFridays, Desserts, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Main Dishes, Salads, Uncategorized, Veggies

HUGH, BEES & WILDLIFE REFUGES

January 27, 2016 by Mary 13 Comments

My end-of-month post is often a favorite since I’m meeting unique recipes and buying ingredients that have never graced my pantry. Michael was a meat and potatoes, Oreo cookies, chocolate marshmallow pinwheels and Häagen-Dazs guy. If there was a bag of Snickers around, hip, hip hooray. He did love spinach, if it was creamed, but… 

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Filed Under: Cottage Cooking Club, Fruits, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Main Dishes, River Cottage Veg, Salads, Uncategorized, Veggies Tagged With: Merced Wildlife Refuge, Morro Bay Bird Festival, San Luis Wildlife Refuge complex

IRRESISTIBLE FARE and SNORKLE UPDATE

November 6, 2015 by Mary 5 Comments

Last summer when we finished cooking through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table, I seriously considered signing off. The major reasons I began LightsonBright. as I’ve often said, were not only to bring structure to a chaotic time but also to chronicle the journey of rebuilding a life. Besides completing the cookbook, I also felt… 

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Filed Under: Around My French Table, Aspen, Doris Greenspan, General Post, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Salads, Uncategorized, Veggies Tagged With: Buvette, jody Williams

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MaryThis blog is for anyone who is taking the road less traveled, turning the lights on bright and never putting on the brakes. Learn More...

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Here’s Something About Mary

MaryThis blog is for anyone who is taking the road less traveled, turning the lights on bright and never putting on the brakes. Learn More...

Follow Me – I’m Everywhere

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