I was unpacking a box tonight when I came across a cassette tape my Great Grandpa Watson mailed to my mother in 1979. We’re coming up on 30 years ago. I sure do miss my great-grandpa. I think I was about 12 when he died. We were as close as we could be. He used to write me letters when I was very young. He used a typewriter that had both black and red ribbons — very high tech at the time, those ribbons.

I’m going to find a cassette player tomorrow and start transcribing the message for the tape. It’s too precious a keepsake to let go to time. Tape only lasts so long.

My dad found the diary his father kept in WW2 as he traveled to Italy. He was killed on the beaches almost as soon as they landed. It’s a short journal, but it says so much. He speaks constantly about how proud he is of his son, my father. Dad was not even two when his father was killed in action. On a side note, he just recently got to see his dad’s grave in Enzio, Italy a couple of years ago. It is heart breaking to see the pictures of him crouched, touching the stone for the first time.

My dad and I have spent endless hours researching family history. I can trace my ancestors in my surname line back to the 1350’s.

My pioint is that when I transcribe this tape and enter it to my family tree software; I will giving generations to come a little look at one of their own distant ancestors.

Back on September 5th I blogged about how even though I live right here where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the “home team”, my home team is still the Washington Redskins. I was born in the DC suburbs and lived there until I was 18. I moved back for several years after college, as well. It’s as close to a hometown that I have, though I am actually in the market for one that will meet my needs a little better

You don’t see a whole lot of Redskins t-shirts or other fan gear down this way. I get pretty excited when I do spot a Skins jersey or hat. I just got home from taking Gigi to her swimming lesson and as I was sitting in the early evening sun (90 degrees), I looked over and a little toddler girl came walking by all dressed up in a little Redskins cheerleader outfit! You can bet I got into a great conversation with her mom. Turns out we are from neighboring towns in Virginia.

I was browsing around the Official Washington Redskins site online and feeling little misty eyed. I still have firm memories of going to both of the Superbowl victory parades in the 80s. I could do without the Redskins Crocs, though.

Gigi’s birthday is not until February, but she just found this book I got that has instructions for about two dozen really cool children’s birthday cake ideas. She is going through it as I write; trying to figure out what she wants me to make for her birthday. Of course, I will agree to most anything, because when it comes down to her actual decision – she won’t really settle on it until about a week before her birthday.

She likes the one that looks like a castle. It almost seems too simple. It consists of stacking various square-cut cake pieces and making turrets out of inverted ice cream cones. But, it seems her favorite is the Barbie doll cake. You use a round cake layer and on top of it you place a cake that has been baked in a 2-quart oven-safe bowl. Very easy. Just stick Barbie in the top of the cake, so the cake looks like a dress, and then decorate any way you wish. The local bakery makes a version, but they charge way too much and I’m not fond of their cake or their frosting. Home made is ALWAYS better. No box mixes or canned frosting in my house, thank you very much.

It might be fun to do the doll cake and just add the basic frosting. Then I can let Gigi and her friend decorate the skirt with candies and sprinkles. It will get messy, I’m sure, but part of being a kid is being allowed to make a mess.

There are a lot of places I want to see in my lifetime. Sadly, I’ve not had the opportunity to travel as much as I like in the past 8 years. I suppose I can chalk that up to an unwilling partner. Now, though, my schedule is mine to make. I have a lot of lost time to make up and I intend to get around to making it up very soon.

One place I would like to begin with is London. Actually, there are various places in the U.K. I want to see, but I imagine I will begin with the city and work my way out. When it comes to my tourist style, I am that person who likes to see the local museums and historic buildings. Yep, I’ll be a typical London Tourist.

I grew up just a smidge outside of Washington, DC. What that means is that until I was old enough to get out and explore other cities, I had no idea that museums, public buildings, parks and walking tours are usually not free. I think my first realization of this was going up to New York City while I was in high school so I could see the Museum of Modern Art and being shocked out of my socks that I had to pay to get in. Everything in DC is pretty much free and when I was growing up., my family took advantage of that fact by spending as much free time as possible in the District.

But, I digress. What I mean to say is that upon visiting London, I will want to make time for as many attractions as possible and since you have to pay to see them, the best deal in hand is to buy a London Pass. The Pass is a one-time fee card that gets you into 56 charging tourist attractions in London, as well as the ability to skip standing in lines. I’m actually OK with lines. I’ve become a much more patient person lately. Nonetheless, I’ll want to be able to squeeze in as much as possible and all time savers are welcome.

Globe Theatre, here I come.

The star fruit are really coming in like gangbusters now and I just hate for them to go to waste. My mother had been cutting the tree down to the root and on the years where it actually grew back and bore fruit, she had been putting the fruit in the trash.

This year I decided to fully take advantage of the tree. I have not done so since 1998, when I dehydrated slices and put them in glass jars to keep for snacking. Yum!

This morning I noticed there were several fruit that needed to be used. I was not in the mood to make jam or anything more complicated, so I got out the juicer. I have a Jack LaLanne, so it takes every bit of the juice out of anything you put in it. I used three large star fruit and out came on oversized juice glass full to the brim.

A good quality juicer is absolutely worth your money. Lesser juicers might leave behind a lot of pulp. Using a blender will mean you have to strain the puree before you drink it. My LaLanne juicer left behind only a few bits of very dry skin/seeds. It made the most of the juice.

Star fruit (or carambola) juice is phenomenal. You have to wait for the fruit to be deep yellow, though, I have seen a lot of references online about people adding sugar or Splenda to the juice, but that would have something to do with the variety. Carambolas come in two varieties: sweet and tart. The sweet variety is larger and less acidic. The fruit on my tree are very sweet and most likely the Golden Star variety. That seems to be the most common here in Florida.

A ripe star fruit yields juice that tastes like a banana-orange smoothie, but more mellow. You do not have the acidic quality of the oranges, so all the better.

According to the USDA, one cup of raw star fruit contains:

91% water
45 calories
trace protein
trace fat
11 grams carbohydrate
310 iu vitamin A
29 mg. vitamin C
223 mg potassium