I do love presidential trivia.

I have a different problem that I face at this time of year. I love to cook and I love cooking “holiday” food. Not enough that I am going to roast a turkey in July, but enough that I have considered making holiday meals from other regions and cultures at the appropriate times that have no personal significance. So what is the problem with Thanksgiving? I visit Mom on Thanksgiving and there, I eat her mouthwatering vittles and come home with leftovers. Score! But, I’m not going to cook my own Thanksgiving spread when I know I am going to eat heartily at Mom’s.

Enter Franksgiving! For my purposes, Franksgiving=Thanksgiving dinner one week early.

So as you see in the bad picture taken by the dying camera, there were roasted turkey legs, homemade cranberry sauce (with pecans), cornbread dressing (with celery, onion, green pepper and onion), sweet potatoes (baked in spiced cider), mixed greens (with liberal quantities of onion and garlic brightened with lemon juice) and whole wheat macaroni (well, penne) with cheese.

Alex was interested only in the turkey and cranberry sauce. I was glad to see that he was interested in the turkey, as I was not. Sometimes, Alex and I like to eat like Jack Sprat and his wife, I guess.

Full bellies. Good times. No complaints.

When it is just you and the road before you and a lot of miles, there is a lot to think about. Today I realized that one of the things that I like about running is that it is a time when I explicitly feel thankful. Especially when I am running in a race. I can’t tell you how many things I thought about today and felt thankful for. Like my health. Without my health, this accomplishment would have been impossible. When I run, I don’t take it for granted. I was grateful to have parents who allowed me to become who I am. Grateful to have the wonderful son that I have. Grateful for my job. And believe it or not, I had a moment when I felt grateful for my country. My country!! Now that, I have to admit, that’s something I regularly take for granted. But when I heard the national anthem followed by “Oh Canada” it made me think about what opportunities that being raised here, under the circumstances that I have been raised, have afforded me, the opportunities Alex will inherit. It feels good to me to think about those things and take the time to really feel grateful. Maybe I run to chase that feeling.

Now, if you know me well, you know that it would be insincere of me to pretend that I only thought these good, wholesome, grateful thoughts. There were plenty of not so great thoughts in there too. Not bad thoughts, but just observations. I spent a good quarter mile thinking about the woman in the brown pants who had liberally powdered her thong panties. How would I know that? I could see the powder outline through her pants. Then there was the woman with the “mission marathon” shirt. I was going to read the rest of the shirt, but much of the text was hidden as the shirt crept into her numerous rolls and folds. (Hey, I’m not dissing the rolls and folds, but seriously, next size up.) And then there are all the butts. When you’re running that long, you see a lot of them. And upon watching all of that bouncing and jiggling, and jangling and, I don’t know, kersplankering, I was grateful for the one I have. It is by no means perfect, but I decided today to stop hating on it. Maybe I ran to chase that feeling.

Then, I thought twice about what I was going to say, and thought of something that Alex said recently:

“If I get it out to say it, I’m not going to say it. I’m going to put it back in my head.”

As parents, we all  have to make the decisions that seem right to us day after day, minute after minute. The last thing any parent needs is yet another person slinging judgment…even if it is just to make a little joke.

So, I declined.

I can’t tell you when I started knitting the Chevron Rib Tank. I can tell you this though, I know I was still married at the time, because I remember working on it as a passenger in the car when my then husband was driving. Eventually, I finished knitting the thing, but by that time, it was too small for me. No fault of the knitting or the yarn, ahem. In the last year, I have been running and trying to exercise more regularly and lost some of the weight that I had put on in the two years prior. When cleaning and accessing my belongings, recently, I came across this piece of knitting and felt brave enough to try it on. Lo and behold, it fit. I would have worn it the next day had the ends been woven in.

So, I decided that before it becomes too cold to even think about a tank top that I would finish with the top already. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it did not take me a bazillion years (or a trip to the store) to put my hands the appropriate needle for the task. Twenty minutes and several pounds later, I have a top that I can wear. Probably just once before the weather makes that prohibitive.

Yea to finishing what you start!

6:15 Wake up and get myself ready for the day

6:45 Wake Alex up and get him ready for the day.

7:00 Breakfast

7:30 Leave for school

8:00 Drop Alex off at School

8:30 Meeting at work

12:00 (or so) Try to squeeze in a lunchtime run (and on a day like today, fail)

5:30 Go pick Alex up from School

6:30 Meet Alex’s dad to drop Alex off

7:00 Meeting

8:00 (or so, varies) Head home.

8:30 get home, try to wind down, go to bed.

Get home and waste time on the internet or playing a silly game like Burger Rush.

Drag self to bed.

Along with apples and pumpkins, pears are one of the tell-tale signs of the season to come. I love pears, and have been known to eat them to the point where the core is merely a string barely holding onto the pear seeds. My pear-love is one of those taken-for-granted loves. Pears have so much potential, yet I barely delve into the possibilities. So, I decided, at least, to make pear butter.

So, I looked up a recipe. And went to town. Now neither the yogurt nor breakfast grains have to be naked!

The recipe that I used was pretty basic and called for 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water for every pound of pear that you used. I added cinnamon, allspice and ground ginger. Alex can’t wait to have some!

Goal number 8 is to improve my drawing. This, like improving cardio endurance or improving one’s cable-knitting skills, is a matter of practice.

Yesterday, when I was wasting time on the Internet, I came across an image on Sugar City Journal. It was striking to me. Her image appears to be collage, it is of little red riding hood as she approaches the woods, the wolf peering at her from behind a tree. I bookmarked the page to return to it later.

I decided that this image, one that was so striking to me would be a good candidate to draw. I did a very quick and hasty freehand sketch of the image last night. This morning, with the sketch sitting on the table where I write this blog, it called to me, saying, “paint me.” I think that the image could have been really cool done with watercolors; however, it was sketched on a recycled sheet of copier paper and I wasn’t interested in making a big mess so close to my computer. I turned, instead, to my super cheap student cakes of gouache. Then, I went at it. Without referring again to the original image. It is interesting to me to see the ways that my memory of the image were different than what I originally saw.

It occurred to me that I haven’t drawn or painted in so long that I don’t even know where my supplies are. I have paper for this sort of thing, a variety of (cheapo student) brushes. I have all sorts of supplies to make these things happen, things that I have accumulated over time, the pack rat that I am. However, I have failed to create an environment in which doing these things comes easily. Once I committed to the idea of putting pencil, then brush to paper, this took little time at all, and was, indeed satisfying.

I am not beating up on myself, after all, I have a young son, a full-time job that challenges me, and other hobbies. I try to cook well, and exercise and get enough sleep. There is much going on and little lazing about on a nearby couch passively taking in the flicker of a TV. (Confession: I do waste a lot of time online.) Ultimately, though, this is about choices, about being responsible for the allocation of what may be one’s most valuable resource, time.

Things to think about.

I am really proud of this tomato because it grew from a plant that I started from seed. I didn’t maintain the plant, but take satisfaction in the success of the seed starting. Woo-hoo, heirloom tomato. Seeing the tomato, the vegetable of summer (in my mind) makes me feel like the season isn’t winding down.

At the grocery the other day, I came across squash. I am a summer gal who thinks that if you’re not sticking to any surface upon which you sit, then it is not hot enough. However, I have to admit that there is something seductive about squash. I like to look at them, marvel at the variety that exists. I always have grand plans to take advantage these guys when they’re plentiful, but I have yet to do it. I think this will be the year. Already, I have several recipes earmarked. The squash will ease me and mine into the crisper, cooler season.

]]> http://sherlonya.net/blog/archives/281/feed 0 http://sherlonya.net/blog/archives/270 http://sherlonya.net/blog/archives/270#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:26:57 +0000 admin http://sherlonya.net/blog/?p=270

Earlier this week, I decided that I would power up the rice cooker and make a bunch of rice. I figured with it’s versatility, I could come up with a lot of ways to use the rice.  And I have been, it has been featured in breakfast this week as well as in more than one lunchtime salad. However,  imagine how fated it felt when I came across a recipe that called for 2.5 cups cooked brown rice. I just needed a few additional ingredients and dinner was mine.

Alex was not a fan of the arugula, nor the shallots, nor the green onions, but he liked the rice and cashews.  I’ll definitely make this again. I also think that the sauce would be good with tofu, nuts, shallots and green onions. I’ll have to try that soon.

Heidi Swanson posts some amazing recipes. I haven’t tried nearly enough of them, but her recipes are of those I return to again and again which a big statement from me as much as I enjoy the novelty of a new recipe.

Just thinking about her recipes makes me want to whip up some Lively Up Yourself Black Lentil Soup or Curried Egg Salad.