Cook'n With Nana

Cookin’ With Nana is more than just a cookbook – it’s a celebration of family, tradition, and the simple joy of gathering around the table. Passed down through generations of country living, these recipes capture the essence of fresh, wholesome ingredients – straight from the garden, farm, or local market.

From the rich flavors of garden-fresh vegetables and home-raised meats to the comforting aroma of time-honored herbs, this collection brings the heart of country cooking to your kitchen. Crafted over decades by three generations of farm homemakers, each dish is a loving tribute to the warmth and care that make family meals unforgettable.

Whether you’re reaching into your backyard garden or selecting the finest produce from the store, these recipes promise to fill your home with the tastes and traditions of a simpler time – fresh, healthy, and made with love.

Welcome to the table. Welcome to Cookin’ With Nana.

For a Greater Good: The Tom Swann Story

I wrote this book because you and I both need some inspiration from time to time in a tough world. I came out of the closet in 1992 as a gay Marine Corps veteran and civilian worker with a secret clearance for the Department of the Navy. I was assaulted and faced discrimination and retaliation from Navy officials. I was living with advanced AIDS. I suffered and persevered while the ACLU represented me in litigation against the Navy. I am the last federal employee to have his access to classified information challenged by the government based on being a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Our historic successful ACLU litigation against the Navy prompted the Navy Secretary to add sexual orientation protection to the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policy for all civilian employees. The Navy added this protection more than four years before the other branches of the military. Now DEI and the EEOC are being shut down, and we seem to be going backwards. My story will shed light on how difficult work was before DEI and why these programs are so vital for our nation.

The fact that the ACLU and I accomplished this is inspiring. It means you can persevere through adversity and your hopes can be fulfilled. First, have faith in a higher power, and second, believe in the person you see when you stand in front of a mirror. You must never give up hope or give in to discrimination.

Journey to Freedom

Journey to Freedom is the compelling true story of a family’s quest for prosperity across three continents. First, as refugees from Indonesia, an island chain in Southeast Asia, to Holland, a tiny country on the continent of Europe, and finally as immigrants to the United States, a world power country in North America. These exceptional people, made strong by the horrors they survived during Indonesia’s War for Independence, passionate by their optimism and fearlessness to create new beginnings, were the backbone of my Dutch-Indonesian family and the significant influence of my childhood and identity as an adult.

Journey to Freedom is a tribute to my mother and grandmother whose sacrifices and bravery gave my sister and me resilience, determination, and the best of everything in life.

Although the dates may sometimes not be historically accurate, the experiences are true, and consequently, the deep emotion with which I composed these chapters was genuine and gut-wrenchingly heartfelt.

Perspective

Perspective: Wouldn’t you rather live in more than three dimensions?

There has to be more, right? A way to do it all, have it all, be it all – and, most importantly, to smile at the true beauty of life as you discover your unique place within it.

The key lies in understanding perspective: its definition, application, and significance in every situation you encounter. Life is a delicate balance, and finding that balance in how we interpret, establish, and maintain perspective can transform everything. A shift in perspective might just be the key to unlocking a better, more fulfilling life. No downside to that, is there?

Join me as we explore the pervasive role of perspective in the pursuit of the good life.

What to Do When You Don't Know What You're Doing

Do you feel stuck? Like you’re not where you want to be and have no clear picture as to where to go or what to do next? Like you don’t know what you’re doing?

You’re not alone.

Stephen Covey, Mark Manson, James Clear, and many others have authored some pretty fantastic books in the realm of personal development and self-help. The principles of self-help and personal development are all strikingly similar. Each author, or “guru,” takes the principles and adds their own spin. Reading these wonder guides is meant to inspire you. But unless you go forward with that inspiration, it will just be short-lived.

To actually change your life and see results, you need to put work in.

“What To Do When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing” is not a regular run-of-the-mill self-help book; it is a self-discovery journey, which has you put in the work. Ultimately, inspiring yourself and taking your magnificent discoveries to put a plan together to help you achieve things beyond your wildest dreams.

Rethinking Race

Rethinking Race: A Memoir was written as an act of compassionate antiracism. The book invites people to better understand their role in fighting racism by calling them into the struggle rather than calling them out. It is the true story of everyday challenges and triumphs that an African-American mother and her husband, who is identified by most as white but is a citizen of an Indigenous tribal nation, encounter as they try to help their son develop a positive multiethnic identity. Rethinking Race illustrates how one person’s thinking evolved from taking race for granted, as an immutable part of our identity, to seeing it as a very impactful illusion. It is a story of how we can move beyond the false dichotomies of black and white, shaming and blaming to better articulate our rich individual uniqueness while acknowledging our common humanity. The book raises the possibility of becoming aracial, not through colorblindness, but rather by examining racism more closely and coming to understand how each of us creates race every day.

Uijongbu

Uijongbu unfolds in the wake of the Korean War, in a town left ravaged and rebuilding just beginning got recover. At the U.S. Army Base in Uijongbu, just south of the Demilitarized Zone, an unplanned economy emerges, intertwining the lives of American GIs and young Korean women. This delicate and complex connection fuels both romance and disaster, creating a tapestry of relationships that are as hopeful as they are heartbreaking.

Through a series of stories that vary from humorous to heartrending, the author captures the resilience, warmth, and humanity of the Korean people. The novel paints an intimate portrait of a time and place marked by love, loss, and cultural connection. Uijongbu is a haunting reminder of war’s lasting impact, and a poignant testament to the indomitable human spirit.

Polliwog Hunting

This is a story about Darkness. It’s also a story about Light. It is in essence a memoir and a diary woven together by flashes of memories. There is a learning through those memories that sometimes Light can be shadowed by the Dark.

This is a story about a family. A family that was hindered in being all it could have been because of the Darkness. One that was intermittent in its visits and left radically affected souls in its wake.

This is my story. A story about an ordinary young girl in a seemingly normal family. It is a glimpse into and a reflection of the memories I have sorted through in my journey into healing. It is a story about bravery and learning to live fully in the aftermath. There is much power within courageous healing and the hope that can unfold with it.

Through Less Than Perfect Eyes

Through Less Than Perfect Eyes follows the life journey of Keith Canty, exploring the challenges and triumphs he faced from childhood to adulthood. Raised by a single mother in a low-income household, Keith encountered many trials and tribulations along the way.

This book reveals how he persevered through adversity, overcoming obstacles that seemed insurmountable. Through it all, his unwavering belief in the Creator of the Multiverse became his source of strength, guiding him through life’s hardships.

A story of resilience, faith, and determination, Through Less Than Perfect Eyes is an inspiring testament to the power of perseverance and belief in something greater.

Evolving with the Infinite

Evolving with the Infinite is an impressive, scholarly, thought-provoking examination of the purpose of life and humanity’s role in the cosmos. It is a courageous quest for answers to life’s ultimate questions. The material in Evolving with the Infinite presents a fresh coherent theory of a worldview that builds bridges between science and spirituality, a new paradigm of reality that brings together science, philosophy, metaphysics, theology, cosmology, psychology, sociology in a logical systems-view of All-that-Is. If the author had to choose a single subject field, it would be: “Philosophy.”

Read and learn about:

Life after physical death
Personal and cosmic evolution
The urgent need for a wisdom society
Divine powers of love, wisdom, and logic
The mysteries of life; its meaning and purpose
Spiritual consciousness versus physical awareness
A map for conquering fear and gaining personal power
Relationships of spirit, mind, brain, and consciousness
The difference between gods and the spirit of creation
The liberating power of forgiving and letting go
How freedom must be won by personal effort
Life as an opportunity for spiritual growth
Living wisely by the directives of creation
A new cosmology versus the big bang
What truly is love and compassion
The living and evolving omniverse
Unknown, lost civilizations

The book:

Is inspirational and positive but also realistic.
Aims to help readers on their individual paths of evolution.
Makes use of graphics and charts to illuminate important relationships.
Is trans-denominational and aims to heal the rift between science and religions by presenting a holistic and comprehensive worldview.
Clearly distinguishes between information, knowledge, and wisdom. Knowledge is recognizing the truth. Wisdom is living it.
Presents a realistic path toward a wisdom society.
Offers a new and realistic alternative to the Big Bang cosmology.

Odyssey of a Street

The Cardo book is a thriller intended for the lecture of students passionate about architecture, archaeology, and history that challenges and teaches. It is a provocation to confront riddles of town planning and history that lie in front of us, but one didn’t dare to “lift the glove’.

When an ancient game was discovered chiseled on one of the Cardo pavement stones, it was only the start of a whodunit. Only more archaeological diggings (11 pits on the 180-meter length of the street) brought up the solution three years later.

But why didn’t the archaeologists find any Roman remnants?

Here we direct the stage limelight on Justinianus, emperor of Byzantium, an ebullient personality and passionate builder.

The mistrust of the archaeologists in the vision of the architects dissipated, and it turned out to be a fruitful collaboration that went on for 12 years: a real odyssey of a discovery.

The book, which is richly illustrated and narrated by the leader of a team of architects that won the first prize in a national competition for the renewal of a part of the Jewish Quarter in 1971, teaches not only historical periods of the developments of Jerusalem through the ages but also touches on the architectural dilemmas of how to rebuild and integrate into part of the historical city of Jerusalem after the Six-Day War period.

No One Is Perfect, but There Is Someone Who Is Perfect for You

In a world that glorifies perfection, love is often considered an impossible pursuit, flawed, messy, and heartbreakingly elusive. But what if love was never about finding someone flawless? What if it was about discovering the one whose imperfections align beautifully with your own?

“No One Is Perfect, but There Is Someone Who Is Perfect for You” is a deeply moving exploration of the truths we often overlook in our search for connection. With poignant storytelling and raw honesty, this book challenges the fairytale illusion of love and unveils the magic of finding someone who truly understands you, imperfections and all.

Through laughter, heartbreak, and profound realizations, this book will redefine the way you see relationships, reminding you that love isn’t about settling for less or striving for perfection; it’s about embracing the imperfect journey with the perfect person by your side. Heartfelt, inspiring, and refreshingly honest, this book is for anyone who’s ever questioned love, chased an impossible standard, or wondered whether true connection really exists. Maybe perfection isn’t the answer. Maybe love is found in the beautiful imperfections that bring two souls together.

Are you ready to see love differently?