Lessons Learned....

It was a gorgeous fall weekend, with the temperatures yesterday getting a little unseasonably warm. On Friday, I got the last of my daffodil bulbs planted. I have 600 now in the ground. I'm curious as to how many of those will actually come up next Spring. I will be sure to post a pic of the first little yellow faces that pop up! Also on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, three rare days in a row, I had my sportscar out on the road. Since the Fall temperatures are a little chilly to troll around convertible-like, I put the rag top on and went cruisin'. Hitting these tight, twisty country roads with all the fall colors a-blazin' is just that much more gorgeous (and fun!) when I can do it in my little roadster.

So at church Saturday night, our pastor continued his series on the 10 Commandments. We're up to #6 "Thou Shall Not Kill". Well, I know I've never taken a life and I'm going to assume that no one in our congregation has either.....well....I'm not quite sure about that guy who sits a couple rows behind us.....lol....just kidding. Instead of the sermon that would apply to no one, he twisted it to make it apply to us ALL. It was all about murdering people with our words. Character assassination. Talking unkindly about others. Well, HELLO!? Who is not guilty of that? Over the past couple of years, I've gotten a lot better at 'taming the tongue', as the bible says. I'm very, very careful about what I say to and about people. Before I speak, the thought rolls through my mind--"are you tearing down or building up?". If I stumble, I am quick to apologize and ask for forgiveness.
B-U-T....there is one person in my life who is my downfall. All I have to do is hear his name and I usually blurt out *jerk* or some other horribly, colorful descriptive word or phrase. I get off a phone call with him and I just grit my teeth and do my best Yosemite Sam imitation: razzin'-frackin'-rickin'-rackin'. This man exhibits some very unpleasant personality traits. He's mean and condescending, judgmental.....oh the list goes one and on and he brings out the worst in me!

Well, God certainly was talkin' to me through that sermon, because this guys face and name was rolling through my head and heart the whole time. I know that I cannot change him and the way he is, but what I can change is the way I react to him. You see, people who are hurting, hurt others. If there was ever someone who deserves compassion, it is he. If there ever was someone who could use a prayer to soften his heart, it is he. If there was ever someone who could use a soft, kind thought thought about them, it is he. Ok, God. Message received, loud and clear. Since Saturday night, when he has come to mind, I have surrounded his face and name with pleasant thoughts and words. So far, so good.

"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

~Psalm 34: 13-14

Red Leaf....

....this little guy is holding on for dear life as all his buddies have all but fallen to the ground. I don't think this years' Fall was as brilliant and colorful as ones in the past, but it was lovely, none the less. There are stretches of twisty country road back here that have been my favorite routes to travel lately only because of the tunnel of colors I could fly through. Beautiful.

Later today, I will plant the rest of my daffodil and tulip bulbs as I already prep for next spring. Since this is a new house, the planting and landscaping is pretty much a blank-slate right now. The builders landscaper was very kind to plant a few daylilies around the property instead of his usual foundation plantings. I've added numerous ones to them, thanks to Broadwells Nursery out in Angier, which has the bestbestbest selection for next to nothin' prices. But I gotta get these bulbs in. I love daffodils and have already planted about 300 bulbs with another 300 to go in the dirt. Told ya! I love my front and back yards to be a sea of those little yellow cups in the Spring. I don't plant them formally, just scatter them about. I don't normally plant tulips because my squirrels end up eating all the bulbs before they get to bloom the first time. Maybe in this new location the squirrels won't have such high-end appetites? Probably not, but we'll see.

I'm also kicking off a Mina project through my church today and am counting on my neighbors to help me. This is all about taking your blessings and gifts, multiplying them and releasing them back into the community to help others. THAT is what loving one another is all about, right? I am taking orders for my holiday breads that I will 'sell' for $10 with all the money going to Interact of Wake County, one of my favorite charities. Cassie will be my runner today and deliver little fliers out to all their mailboxes. I hope I get orders for more than I can handle! I'll keep you up to date on how it goes. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

October....

I'm sitting here in my office working. Well, 'working', because I am spending more time staring out the window. There is a longing in my heart today to be outside, not in the office. The leaves right now are just gorgeous. More and more of them are falling today though, as a breeze is blowing. My backyard is a sea of yellow, orange and red--both on the trees and on the ground...

"O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all....."

~Robert Frost~

Comfort food & big sweaters....

ahhhhhhhh, Fall. The beginning of the 'nesting' period for me. I love striking the fire, watching the leaves change and then fall. Enjoying the Charlie Brown specials for the 1000th time. The snuggling onto the couch on a cold night in my comfy sweats, soft sweaters and big, fuzzy socks. I also love breaking out my favorite comfort food recipes too...mmmmm.....mac n cheese, chili, soups, casseroles, etc....

For me, someone who has lost an incredible amount of weight (140 lbs!) and now has to constantly police what she eats to keep the weight off, this time of year can pack on the pounds! We move less, we wear bigger clothes and we eat differently (and heavier) than we do in the warmer months. There is a great article in the News & Observer today called "Maximize comfort, Minimize calories" that I found very helpful in making substitutions. It really is not about denying yourself all that good stuff, rather substituting for lighter dishes that will still give you that warm-in-the-belly feeling. There were some great suggestions in the article, like instead of big, heavy creamed up soups, how 'bout Tomato soup with cracked black pepper? For your favorite mac-n-cheese, use low-fat cheese instead of full-strength. Can I just tell you now--don't go 'fat free' on cheese, you might as well chew on a pencil eraser....seriously, just don't go there. On grilled cheese, use 1 slice of cheese instead of 2. For me, this equation would be: use 2 slices instead of my usual 4! = ) See? I cut it in half...that does make a difference!

I love the idea of a baked apple with maple syrup or a bowl of warm, homemade applesauce with cinnamon instead of double crusted apple pie. If you want that pie, make it single crust instead of double crust. Spiced gumdrops and jellybeans are a good little snack instead of leftover Halloween candy. Use chicken broth in mashed potatoes instead of cream and butter. Use maple syrup (natural source) in your sweet potatoes this year instead of all the brown sugar (processed source) and butter. The article also suggests other 'comfort' signals too, like when it's dark at 5 p.m. this winter, light a candle in the kitchen or put some mulling spices on the stove.

Don't set yourself up for unpleasant surprises this spring when you pull our your shorts and tank tops and find none of them fit. It's not about denying yourself or eating all 'rabbit food'... just some simple substitutions can help make these upcoming holidays and cold winter months a little lighter and healthier, yet still with all the comfort you want and need!

Kitty-sicle.....

I love cats and have always owned one since college. Cheetah was my first love. She came from the SPCA in Garner and was solid black with gorgeous green eyes. Then we added Leo and Stevie, a brother and sister team that Sal and I adopted right before we got married from the North Shore Animal League up on Long Island, NY. Priscilla was an adoption from a co-worker who was left with the cat when his engagement broke off....he wasn't crazy about cats, but his fiance' wanted one. And Casper came to us from one of Sals clients who was getting married to a man who was deathly allergic to Casper. Cheetah, Stevie and Priscilla have since passed on which leaves us with Leo and Casper still. The two boys. Leo is the alpha-cat as he has seniority in the house. He is now 19 years old and is puttering around fine, but more like an old man now--slower and not a sleek looking as he did in his younger years. Casper, that gorgeous guy above, is 13 or 14. We're not quite sure how old he was when we took him in, so we guess-timate.

Now that Fall has firmly settled in and I have now added the big, warm, fuzzy blankets and one heated blanket to the bed, these two rarely leave it. Sleeping for me has become a challenge as Leo will only sleep wrapped around my legs or between my feet or partially over one leg and head resting on the other. Getting out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom becomes quite the project as I try not to disturb the sleeping feline prince. Casper only gets on the bed during the day when he can sprawl out wherever he wants all by himself....or sometimes with his sleeping buddy......

Leo & Casper...snuggle buddies

Pumpkin dunkin'.....

We had a brisk little storm roll through last night. It went from quiet, still and a very bright half moon to very windy and cloudy within minutes. Then the rain came. It rained for only about 20 minutes, but it brought change. It was a cold front moving in so once the rain pushed through the temperatures dropped about 20 degrees and I gotta say, it got cold last night. I think the low went down to 52 last night. Now I know I sound like a weenie and that that is not very cold to most, but you have to understand I've spent the last five years in San Diego and 52 in San Diego is downright frigid. I guess my blood has yet to switch back to east coast livin'. So this morning I am sitting here writing this in shorts, a long sleeve sweatshirt and big, thick, fuzzy socks. I gotta say, the socks are not doin' their job 'cause my toes are freeeeezin'. Might have to get a 2nd pair. Yep....attractive.

In addition to leaves turning and cooler temperatures, another sign that Fall has arrived is when my daughter requests that I make Pumpkin Dunkin' Sticks. She loves having them for breakfast with a big glass of milk. They are softer than a doughnut with somewhat of a shortbread consistency. They are very pumpkin-y and spicy and kinda delicate, while not being overly sweet. Here's the recipe if you wanna make 'em. I've had the recipe for years and can't remember where I found it. I think it was Better Homes and Gardens, so thanks to them for this great little stick of tender deliciousness!

Spiced Pumpkin Dunkin' Sticks

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Cream Cheese Glaze (below)
freshly grated nutmeg for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, groundnutmeg, ginger, salt and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.

Place dough in a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I use a ziptop bag with a corner snipped off). Pipe dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet into 4-inch long strips. Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes or just until firm to the touch but not browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

Drizzle Cream Cheese Glaze over half of each cookie. If desired, sprinkle with grated nutmeg. Let stand about 2 hours or until glaze is set.

Makes about 30 sticks.

Cream Cheese Glaze: In a medium bowl, combine 2oz softened cream cheese and 1 Tbls softened butter. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add 1/4 tsp finely shredded lemon peel, 1 tsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp finely shredded orange peel; beat until combined. Beat in 3/4 cup powdered sugar. Beat in enough milk (2-3 tsp) to make a glaze of drizzling consistency.

To store: Layer sticks between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Fall flavors.....

Things have been rather slow these past few months in my catering and baking department. Certainly slower than what I want them to be. A friend had to remind me that God blesses us on His time-table, not ours. I forget that waaaaay too often and get waaaaay too impatient for my own good. Sometimes I need a little reminder. The very next day........I was asked to provide a massive amount of baked goods for a church event on Sunday and it looks like this will be a weekly event to cook for. So I not only get to provide for my church, but for 200 very deserving people who help out the church every single week. From a business standpoint, that's 200 new potential clients! YAY! God is gooooood!

With the Fall season ever present, my menu includes quite a few of those wonderful Fall flavors like pumpkin, apples & pears, cherries, cinnamon & nutty ingredients. It is a brunch for a group who will be on the go throughout the morning, so the food needs to be portable. Scones, muffins, breads--sweet and savory and tarts are on the menu so far. This is one of the sweets I'll be making. It's a Pumpkin-Chocolate Marble Bundt. Let the baking begin!

For the LORD your God will bless you
in all your harvest
and in all the work of your hands, and your
joy will be complete.

~Deuteronomy 16:15

Fall nestles in....

My weekly Farmer's Market visit Saturday morning is for the fruits and veggies I need for the week. But this weekend, I walked away with something money could not buy. That soul-satisfying feeling I get when I see and feel the Fall season approaching. It is my favorite season. The time when my big, chunky sweaters come out of storage, my fireplace comes out of hybernation, the leaves start to turn and that chill lingers in the air. At the N.C. State Farmer's Market, the earliest fall Mum's are now for sale....the last of the summer tomatoes are being clearanced....and the apples are taking over. I've feasted on so much watermelon these summer months and now that they have seasoned out, I anticipate the switch over to my favorite fall time fruit--apples. There are so many varieties with all the different flavors that they offer. From sweet to tart to tangy to mild and all tastes in between. The farmers are starting to roll out their first harvests and this weekend I bought a half-peck of Jonagold apples, which is a cross between a Jonathan apple and a Golden Delicious. It is a great eating apple, which is my intention this week, but it's also a great baking and cooking apple, too.

The Blue Ridge restaurant inside and down in the belly of the North Carolina Museum of Art served it's last meal Sunday. It is moving into the new museum buildings that will open next spring and I was there to bid it farewell. Over the years, my Mom, brother and I along with friends and other family members have enjoyed many a meal there, so it seemed only right that we close it down, too. I had what they call the "Southern Falafel". It is a veggie patty made of Black-Eyed Peas, rice, parsley and many savory spices. It is served on focaccia bread with a cucumber-yogurt sauce. I got their Quinoa Salad on the side, too. Both were amazingly fantastic. We sat there for about 3 hours and ate and chatted. It was wonderful. The new restaurant will open next April and we have already made the date to be there on it's opening weekend.

Being one never to pass up a sale, I had to stop in the museum's gift shop on the way out as they had everything 65% off. I found a cookbook called "An Appetite for Art: Recipes from the North Carolina Museum of Art" by Elizabeth K. Norfleet. It is a gorgeous cookbook. There are 225 pages of yummy recipes like Smoked Trout, Asparagus Chicken Penne Salad, Sweet Potato Pudding, Baked Sausage and Wild Rice and something called a Southern Comfort Cake that makes me wanna bake it and get some Southern Comfort right now! Interspersed with all those recipes are some of the most beautiful pictures of still-lifes that you can find at the museum, most involving food in some form or fashion. It is one of the more visually stunning cookbooks I own...and I bought it for $5.98. It felt like I was stealing it for that price, but I am soooooo happy I own this one! A new cookbook for a cook is truly like putting a kid in a candy store. It is wonderful to try new dishes and recipes, but it's more about the new inspirations, flavors and ideas for your own recipes that will be born from these.

AHHHHHH....Football season

North Carolina State University Wolfpack begin their football season tonight. My dad was a professor at State during the golden years of Lou Holtz being the head coach. Every season we got tickets on the 'staff' side of Carter Finley Stadium. I remember looking across the stadium where the students, visitors and marching bands sat. They certainly looked like they were having a lot more fun over there than I ever did over on the stuffy staff side of the stadium....I realized later when I went to college myself that I didn't wanna be on the side with all the drunk college students either! I do remember those sitting on the grassy hill on the righthand side of Carter Finley were the most fun to watch. They would roll down the hill to chase down the extra point and field goal balls. When fights ensued for the gameball, that's when the nets behind the uprights went up. Bummer. Now the remodel of CF has bleachers over there, so 'the hill' no longer exists.

Getting ready for gameday was a process at our house. Mom would start popping popcorn several hours before--she was a popcorn freak growing up. She ate it allllll the time. The kernels she popped for the game would go into a big plastic wrap lined brown grocery bag. Yes, we would eat some of it, but most of the folks around us knew her as 'the popcorn lady' so it became the community bag of popcorn! I don't think they let you bring stuff in like that anymore. The tailgating that went on hours before the game in the parking fields were amazing. I was always so blown away with the 'living room' set ups some tailgaters had--nice chairs, massive grills and food that went waaaay beyond just hotdogs and hamburgers! We would bring blankets to the games to either sit on or wrap around us when it got chilly. Those metal bleacher benches were brutal on a butt after one hour. After six hours, you were numb and frozen!

As every game day passed and fall released more of her bite, it was more and more fun and chilly. Wolfpack football and Fall went hand in hand in my childhood....
So as NC State hosts South Carolina tonight at (the completely remodeled) Carter Finley, all those wonderful memories have come flooding back and they take me to a really warm place in my soul.

Oh yeah..... GO PACK!!