as requested...recipes

nothing tickles me more than to share a recipe. here's the two requested by Gentle Readers of yesterday's blog:

Cranberry-apple-cornbread stuffing

1 cup dried cranberries
2 apples, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped
1 bag cornbread stuffing crumbs
1 bag cornbread stuffing cubes
1 32--oz box vegetable broth
2 Tbs olive oil
4 Tbs fresh sage, chopped
4 Tbs fresh thyme

saute the onion and celery in the olive oil until soft and mostly transparent. in a large bowl, combine the cranberries, apples, onion, celery and cornbread crumbs with the broth. when all ingredients are moistened, add cornbread crumbs, sage and thyme. this is enough to stuff a large (22 lb) turkey plus a 8x8 inch serving dish. feel free to use real cornbread - if you do, use half the loaf cut into cubes and toasted, the other toasted and torn into rough crumbs.

baked pineapple-butternut squash

1 stick salted butter
1 box dark brown sugar
8 cups butternut squash, cut into cubes
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
2 Tbs orange peel
1 Tb cinnamon
1/2 Tb nutmeg
maraschino cherries, if desired

in a saucepan, melt the butter and sugar together. add in the orange peel, cinnamon and nutmeg. in a greased baking dish, combine the squash and crushed pineapple. pour the butter-sugar mixture overall and stir to coat thoroughly. dot the top with the cherries. this will bake gently for three hours or more in a slow oven (325) right along with the turkey. it can be made in advance and reheated in a microwave as well. it's done when the squash is soft.

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.

on the menu

this year thanksgiving at my house was delayed...Beloved and i were up at five am on thanksgiving morning making green bean casserole and candied yams for the soup kitchen in hartford. we got home around 1 pm, collapsed and slept til 5. i like the way this enables our children to meet other obligations with other parts of their families: my son hosted his dad, my oldest daughter went to her brother-in-law's.

but as my kids once told me, it's not really thanksgiving til i cook the turkey dinner. today is my day.

here's what's on the menu:

roast turkey with cranberry-apple-cornbread stuffing
mashed potatoes
gravy
cranberry sauce
baked pineapple butternut squash
string bean casserole
baby peas
crescent rolls, courtesy of mister pillsbury

and for dessert:
apple pie
pumpkin pie
frozen chocolate creams with cherries on top

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.

i have a question

when it comes to privacy, i'm usually all for it. what i choose to do behind closed doors to my body and with my body is nobody's business but my own and i am quite comfortable with the prospect of someday Answering to any Higher Authority for any use i may make of said body.

im also not a exactly a touchy-feely person - unless tequila's involved. so i totally sympathized with the passenger who told the TSA agent "don't touch my junk." i totally get why a female passenger might describe a TSA pat-down as "practically a strip-search." i would object to that, too.

but what i don't get...what i really don't get...is why anyone would object to the full body scanners.

so what if they're like x-ray machines and people can SEE your junk? we ALL have junk, right? we ALL have nipples and butt-cheeks and belly buttons and pubic hair, right? so so freaking what?

in the name of security, i think i'd rather sashay clothed through a full body scanning machine than have ANYONE touch any part of me. and so what if some TSA agent in some distant room gets his jollies off by watching me? so freaking what?

i mean, seriously, Gentle Readers, have we really LOOKED at each other? sure, i understand there's questions about what the TSA could "do" with those pictures, but what does anyone think they COULD do? does anyone find those images sexually appealing?

and if they do...well, to that i say, whatever gets you through the night.

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.

falling like an axe

summer's crumbled into fall all of a sudden this year...autumn crept up on me, seemingly by surprise. The colors were so bright and so intense, i guess i didn't notice the leaves falling. this morning i looked out and over the ponds and into the woods - a view i haven't seen since mid april.

a few patches of emerald cling to the lawn, the dark green pines stand sentinel, but mostly the world's gone bronze and copper. even the silver willows have turned to gold.

the Angel chapters are falling into place. libby was accepted into the National Honor Society, my son's in the process of buying his first house. my grandaughter kicks and rolls in DreamTime, growing the seeds of the next generation, even as i so very briefly carried hers. my mother is going back to the hospital, Beloved wrestles with his own demons.

the crows on the newly bare branches are screaming this morning, the sky is turning pewter gray. the world is turning all around me. in the reflection on the pond, however, everything is still.

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.

updates in annie-land

suddenly winter feels like more than just a distant memory.

i walked the puppies yesterday morning in the middle of howling storm filled with hail and sleet and snow.

it's too cold to walk barefoot any more inside,let alone outside.

i've been working hard on the Angel book. so far, i've been really pleased with the progress. i hope you do check out our blog, Gentle Reader - karen my co-author has really spruced it up and i've been adding posts daily.

at the same time, other stories are running rampant through my head and i've found myself keeping a couple files open "just in case."

at the same time, i've been doing some deep work on myself - burrowing under and deeper, peeling away more and more of that which no longer serves.

it's been painful at times, but mostly it feels good.

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.

worried about holiday over-eating?

...join me and my co-author, karen m. rider, on our blog - Eating...the Angel Way - for a gentle approach to food and body image as well as tips for how to manage holiday eating...

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.

please join me...

and my co-author, Karen Rider and i, on our blog...Eating...the Angel Way...for a gentle and loving approach to food and body image.