wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

"Let us in!" 

Ah, Days of Thanksgiving past. What a memory.

Last week we were in Cleveland for a couple days and drove home on Todd's birthday.  A stop at Sheetz to fill up the car and a purchase of coffee and Little Debbie Donuts took care of the on-the-road birthday breakfast. He LOVES those little powdered nuggets. One year I bought a powdered donut Christmas ornament for him, but it was Hostess, not Little Debbie, powdered donuts. Big difference.

I waited too long to place the Thanksgiving pie order and got shut out of apple pie. Pumpkin and cherry were still available. My daughter and I took a drive to a farm market in Yellow Springs to get apples and the market just happens to be right across the road from the well-known sunflower field. Even with the decay, there is a loveliness in the sunflowers' last days.

And this is what the holiday is about...all of us together. A driveway full of cars, a house full of the ones I love the most - a full and happy heart.

take care of yourself

My son-in-law and I had a conversation about modern medicine vs. holistic health. Was one better than the other? Holistic health sets itself apart from conventional medicine because it focuses primarily on restoring balance and treating the whole body, rather than isolating the symptoms and diagnosing a specific condition. We both agreed that both practices complement one another and can coexist. Holistic health empowers people to take charge of their health and keep their bodies naturally strong while modern medicine takes care of the infections and viruses that the body can't fight off. Many medical providers are beginning to see the value of traditional techniques and holistic practices and are working to incorporate them into their treatment services.

monday's mulling: smiling and writing lots of lists

It's the Monday before Thanksgiving. The kids - all eight of them (my 4 + 2 sons-in-law + 1 daughter-in-law + 1 fiancée), two little grandsons, and one dog - will fill the house. One of the Chicago crew is already here, the other Chicago bunch and the Cleveland bunch will arrive on Tuesday, and my Dayton son and his fiancee are just around the corner. Fresh sheets are on the beds, bathrooms are spotless, cribs are ready for the little ones, the refrigerator is at that delicate balance where there's food ready to eat but room to spare for the Thanksgiving fixings.

I like to write my lists by hand - planning the menu, then writing my grocery list with each dish and its ingredients listed. Then comes the official list that goes with me to the grocery store. In this you-can-do-everything-on-your-phone age, I'm an anachronism as I carry my list and scratch through the items as they're place in my cart. 

Christmas is one month from today...yikes! With Thanksgiving being so late, the transition to Christmas is a quick one. The kids will be back in three weeks to celebrate the family Christmas. The list writing for Christmas has begun: decorating, gifts, menus, lots and lots of to-dos. Seeing all of this "stuff" on paper is overwhelming but at the same time therapeutic. This is a road map to my goals and boy, oh boy, the miles are piling up quickly!  

first snowfall

Thursday, the 21st of November, two months into autumn, we woke to the first snowfall of the season. Around 7:30 a.m., I looked out my door. The air was crisp, the birds were silent, the neighborhood was cloaked in a peaceful hush. The children arrived at the school bus stop and the layer of snow muffled their excited little voices. I always love when it snows early enough to still catch some autumn colors on the leaves.It’s the clash of the seasons where autumn says, “I’m not done yet,” and winter replies, “I’m on my way.”

          "Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers." ~ Kahlil Gibran

happy birthday!

Happy Birthday to this loyal Cleveland Browns fan, a DAWG who bleeds brown and orange. He’s been through it all, starting as a 7 year old kid watching the 1964 Championship onto The Kardiac Kids, The Mistake on the Lake, The Drive, The Fumble, The Move, Rebuilding Since 1999, Factory of Sadness, The Helmet, and like the Energizer Bunny, he keeps on going! No matter what the Browns do, one thing never changes: Pittsburgh stinks. And for this past Thursday Night Football Game and an early birthday present, you and the kids watched the Cleveland Browns play the Pittsburgh Steelers in a snowstorm and the Browns won, bringing their record to 3-8. The less than stellar record doesn't matter. THE BROWNS BEAT PITTSBURGH!

Happy Birthday to this guy...Todd, House, THouse, the Godfather, the Toddfather, Cheese House, husband, Dad, and Grandpa.

And after 2 months and 1 week, we are once again the same age.

Happy Birthday, youngster!

the friday feed: kale

When did kale suddenly become an “in” thing? This leafy green has been with us since 2000 BC so how did the kale craze only start in 2012? Kale became popular quickly because of the super food trend and because of the variety of ways you can prepare it. Once people started hearing about how nutritious it was they went crazy gaga over it. It provides high amounts of vitamins and calcium, supposedly contains chemicals that prevent cancer, decrease cholesterol, and reduce the absorption of dietary fat. It became a hit with those who were following the organic and farmers markets.

My brother and sister-in-law grow kale in their garden. We were visiting and my sister-in-law mentioned that she had some kale in her fridge and would I like some. "Sure!" and she handed a grocery bag full of big leafy greens to me. Wow. What to do with all this kale. Todd is not a big fan; I like it but don't love it.

So what to do with 2 pounds of kale. Answer: To take care of the first pound of kale - Beans and greens with some kielbasa and fire roasted tomatoes.

A few years ago my daughter gave a cookbook to me, Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables by Joshua McFadden. In it is a recipe for a pasta sauce made with kale. Green, very green, pasta sauce. The ingredients are simple - kale, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan, salt and pepper. I chose Orecchiette, aka "the little ear", for this dish. 

It's a bright and refreshing sauce, light and tasty in the spring and summer, and brings and pop of flavor and color to the fall and winter months. 

throwback thursday

It's that time of year when the streets are lined with leaf piles and the leaf trucks come by to suck them up to take them to the city's compost pile. 

In our former house, we had a few trees in our yard, our neighbors had a lot of trees and those leaves blew into our yard. We also had two big dogs and their droppings got covered by the leaves. A Facebook memory from eight years ago popped up and it brought a smile and chuckle. 

It's that time of year...

In the backyard we have a small hill, nicknamed Turd Hill, where Ted and Hunter typically stop and drop. Yesterday was the day for fall clean up and the hill was covered with leaves and the dogs' land mines (they're 150 and 90 pounds. No little Tootsie Rolls from these guys!). It was a lovely day, not a crappy day, to work outside. 6 hours later my yard and gardens were clean, my boots have been scraped and scrubbed, and yes, I was pooped!