Today we’re told there’s a huge spike in the number of Americans checking out how to move to Canada! Don’t do anything rash, folks, but the Welcome mat is out😍
Thank you, Lynne. And thanks for Roosevelt's good words. But it really is the end of a rope, and we're all (collectively--even those who voted for him) dangling over a cliff. It's a long way down.
Red berries against a blue bowl. I especially like that image. These posts are always fascinating. I learn something new from reading them each time. Today, however, I honed in on the idea and action of gratitude. And, I agree that gratitude is something we need more of -- for each other and for our own lives; a thank you to those we meet in the course of a day and a thank you to the universe for this life. It's a bumpy few days ahead of us, so I need lots of gratitude today, and the beauty of red berries against a blue bowl. Happy Election Day. VOTE.
Stephers, I found Elizabeth Berg's lines first, on a search for a cranberry quote. Then I searched on the terms cranberry+blue+bowl > images, not expecting anything, and was delighted to find several beautifully illustrative ones. I am almost hourly amazed by the ways we can interrogate the huge data cache that the web offers us. Another reason to be grateful to a generous universe!
We're almost a week into November and I am just getting around to reading All About Thyme for the month. I will definitely need that Clean Out the Refrigerator Day. It's scary in there! Today is a big, anxious day so maybe I will go into the kitchen and make some Guy Fawkes treat and hope it staves off any plots.
But I have a brand new computer and (to me) giant monitor screen whose lighting I have so much more control over. My eyes are thanking me! So I want to catch up on my Substack reading and get back to formatting my book. Then there are more files to transfer and Folk Herbalist's Journal articles to upload. I'm feeling thankful for this busy-ness on this particular day.
Yes, I have a big job this week--guest editor of the Story Circle [quarterly] journal. All the articles are in, and I'm editing. Fun, but a lot of it . . .
Congrats on that new computer. I'm sure that will fuel new creative energies. You go, girrrl!
The cloves bring to mind a time my husband had a tooth hurting and had to wait through the weekend. I gave him a clove to bite on. It helped so much the dentist had to have him stop using it and come back the next day because my husband couldn't help him locate the painful tooth. It has to be used with caution, but it really works in an emergency.
I love sweet potatoes baked. I didn't think I liked them until I got older and tasted them for the first time without all the sweet gooey toppings that were too sweet for me.
I've used clove oil for the same purpose, Penny. You have to be careful, though--it's concentrated! I diluted it with veg oil and put it on a scrap of clean sponge.
The only thing I don't like about sweet potatoes is peeling them--hard on my arthritic hands. There are just the 2 of us, so I keep a supply of frozen SP french fries.
Sweet potatoes are a regular part of our meals here. At least a couple of times a month. Usually baked or roasted, sometimes with fruit (apples, oranges, or fresh figs). Even though we enjoy them as a healthy choice now, I still smile with delight at the memory of the casserole with the marshmallows, which I just adored as a kid!
It looks like our Thanksgiving is going to be 6 people, only one of whom has a drive of more than 10 minutes to get here. I'll see what others want to contribute before I plan my own cooking. Grateful for the company of family and friends, and may come back to this blog for hints once I know what I'm cooking. I would really like to try the cranberry sauce recipe; haven't made that in a while.
Here's hoping that you all have a November with lovely food and lovely people.
Lovely to be able to celebrate a holiday with nearby friends. I'm remembering Sunday dinners on my grandparents' little Missouri farm, when you never knew who/how many were going to show up, via car and even (believe it!) buggy. Grandma would run out to her chicken coop and grab another young rooster for the frying pan. Have a wonderful TG!
Appreciate the history on favorite vegetables of November that we eat throughout winter, at least. Didn’t have real cranberries, not from a can until college. Our housemother at Jamison (one of the 16 co-ops at Oregon State, where you worked 10 each week to help with room and board) had been married to a plastic surgeon in Hollywood. Mrs DeCarle had cooked with several Hollywood chefs and stars, so she shared recipes and how to make dishes far more fancy than any of us had seen. I remember making cranberries with oranges, soufflés and chocolate mousse with her. It was one of the incentives to complete college and have a career that would allow me to cook a wide variety of foods. For family Thanksgiving I am the one who makes the candied Sweet Potatoes, a 4th generation recipe. We also bring the smoked salmon we have brined and smoked ourselves and gluten free low sugar pumpkin pie. Food traditions are important and adapting them to be healthier and still taste good even better!
As an Anglo-Canadian I’m always interested in Thanksgiving, which was a revelation when I moved to Canada a lifetime ago. Love cranberries, often add leftover cranberry sauce to my morning bran buds. Indian/Hasty pudding is new to me, not sure if the family would be interested in trying it though. Am very much into gratitude, often stop in stress times to remind myself of something for which I am grateful as a mental oasis. I’m holding you in my prayers for tomorrow, a nail-biter for us, too 🙏
Thank you for the sympathy--the whole world has a stake in this election. Harris is up by 19 points globally, 47 vs 34 Trump (who is strong in the Eastern Bloc, of course). It's a dangerous situation.
I keep jellied cranberry in the fridge for myself and enjoy it several times a week. And Molly (our heeler) takes cranberry to fend off any UTI. It's such a healthy plant!
I am truly delighted with this November All About Thyme. It is jam packed with things that I love! Thank you for all the good links for things like the Yorkshire parkin and pudding stir-up (which includes wonderful Christmas cake recipes for many dietary needs!) Will absolutely be making your cranberry sauce. I usually make a similar one but will look forward to the punch of those spices that you include.
Did you know Washington state supplies a high percentage of all of those cranberries that are harvested? True!! Will have to give cranberry mustard a go, too! All in on sweet potato anything! lol It is very curious that I can picture the glutenous cylinder of corn mush you describe below, but I don't ever remember tasting it?? Looks like some veggie version of it is in my future, too. Maybe fried in peanut oil? . I do remember my mother making Captain's Breakfast for us when we were out of packaged cereal. It was a favorite of mine! Being buttered cinnamon toast - torn into hunks and covered with hot milk. Still do a gluten free version with soy milk to brighten my day when it is chilly.
Love the idea of making a habit of sharing our gratitude. I enjoy Karen Davis' substack posts in part because she greets the birds, trees, leaves and clouds in the sky as she takes their pictures. A wonderful habit to cultivate in ourselves, to greet and regard that which is other than ourselves. Here's a recent post. https://open.substack.com/pub/karendavis/p/i-wonder?r=2l04ge&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Oooh thanks for the get weird with cranberries link! I see a few that look like fun! Will have to start my cranberry playtime early this year. On a side note, I have been learning how to enjoy horseradish as a replacement for the onions and garlic I no longer eat. I never thought I would actually like horseradish. But I now find I am developing a taste for it. Admittedly in very small amounts blended with other things. Which who knows, may include cranberry sauce! : -)
Here's what I'm thinking of doing--baking a Yorkshire Parkin then a meat pie from all the things I founds in the refrigerator when I clean it out on the 15th. The first will be fortifying to do the horrible second.
I love cornmeal mush sliced and fried. When I was young, I stayed at my Grandparents house while my parents worked. My Grandma would fry up cornmeal mush until golden brown in bacon fat and then drizzle maple syrup over it. Served with a few strips of side-pork I was in heaven. I've been looking at recipes on how to make my own cornmeal mush to slice and fry. It doesn't look too hard to do. New project to go along with making bread every week.
I can remember Mom opening a can of cornmeal mush--it came out in a yellow cylinder that she sliced and fried with bacon. (Now, you can buy it in a plastic-wrapped cylinder.) In the 1940s, the gov't put on a big advertising push to get women to use corn instead of wheat. https://www.fredopie.com/food/2017/3/28/holy-week-culinary-traditions-from-new-mexico-part-2 Let us know how yours turns out, Karen.
I will. My farm market partners with a number of Amish farms in Indiana and one offers heirloom, open pollinated, organic corn. This might be my next experiment in the lab, oops, I mean the kitchen. I love trying new things.
I paused subscription a month (I think) by accident. Please ignore.
Judy, please go into your account and restart it. I can't do that from this end. Thanks!
Today we’re told there’s a huge spike in the number of Americans checking out how to move to Canada! Don’t do anything rash, folks, but the Welcome mat is out😍
If we were 30 years younger . . .
My very best friend/soul-sister, a Marylander now living in Big Pine Key, has been saying the same thing 🥰
Either way! We’re all anxiously watching and waiting 🤞🙏
What can I say, my friends? Tie a knot and carry on, praying hard.
Lynne, after I replied, it occurred to me that FDR might have been borrowing a British saying. "Carry on" says it better than "hang on" (his words)!
Thank you, Lynne. And thanks for Roosevelt's good words. But it really is the end of a rope, and we're all (collectively--even those who voted for him) dangling over a cliff. It's a long way down.
Thank you for this fabulous letter, Susan! I can't wait to delve into all the goodness, as well as the link to the Thanksgiving dinner origin story.
I love baking and will make the sweet potato rolls. I love sweet potato pie, too. To me, it's better than pumpkin!
Yes, pumpkin gets all the attention, doesn't it?
Red berries against a blue bowl. I especially like that image. These posts are always fascinating. I learn something new from reading them each time. Today, however, I honed in on the idea and action of gratitude. And, I agree that gratitude is something we need more of -- for each other and for our own lives; a thank you to those we meet in the course of a day and a thank you to the universe for this life. It's a bumpy few days ahead of us, so I need lots of gratitude today, and the beauty of red berries against a blue bowl. Happy Election Day. VOTE.
Yes, vote! Only WE can fix it!
Stephers, I found Elizabeth Berg's lines first, on a search for a cranberry quote. Then I searched on the terms cranberry+blue+bowl > images, not expecting anything, and was delighted to find several beautifully illustrative ones. I am almost hourly amazed by the ways we can interrogate the huge data cache that the web offers us. Another reason to be grateful to a generous universe!
We're almost a week into November and I am just getting around to reading All About Thyme for the month. I will definitely need that Clean Out the Refrigerator Day. It's scary in there! Today is a big, anxious day so maybe I will go into the kitchen and make some Guy Fawkes treat and hope it staves off any plots.
But I have a brand new computer and (to me) giant monitor screen whose lighting I have so much more control over. My eyes are thanking me! So I want to catch up on my Substack reading and get back to formatting my book. Then there are more files to transfer and Folk Herbalist's Journal articles to upload. I'm feeling thankful for this busy-ness on this particular day.
Yes, I have a big job this week--guest editor of the Story Circle [quarterly] journal. All the articles are in, and I'm editing. Fun, but a lot of it . . .
Congrats on that new computer. I'm sure that will fuel new creative energies. You go, girrrl!
The cloves bring to mind a time my husband had a tooth hurting and had to wait through the weekend. I gave him a clove to bite on. It helped so much the dentist had to have him stop using it and come back the next day because my husband couldn't help him locate the painful tooth. It has to be used with caution, but it really works in an emergency.
I love sweet potatoes baked. I didn't think I liked them until I got older and tasted them for the first time without all the sweet gooey toppings that were too sweet for me.
I've used clove oil for the same purpose, Penny. You have to be careful, though--it's concentrated! I diluted it with veg oil and put it on a scrap of clean sponge.
The only thing I don't like about sweet potatoes is peeling them--hard on my arthritic hands. There are just the 2 of us, so I keep a supply of frozen SP french fries.
I have an automatic potato peeler for the same reason. It works like the manual apple peelers and peels anything, but it has batteries.
Sweet potatoes are a regular part of our meals here. At least a couple of times a month. Usually baked or roasted, sometimes with fruit (apples, oranges, or fresh figs). Even though we enjoy them as a healthy choice now, I still smile with delight at the memory of the casserole with the marshmallows, which I just adored as a kid!
It looks like our Thanksgiving is going to be 6 people, only one of whom has a drive of more than 10 minutes to get here. I'll see what others want to contribute before I plan my own cooking. Grateful for the company of family and friends, and may come back to this blog for hints once I know what I'm cooking. I would really like to try the cranberry sauce recipe; haven't made that in a while.
Here's hoping that you all have a November with lovely food and lovely people.
Lovely to be able to celebrate a holiday with nearby friends. I'm remembering Sunday dinners on my grandparents' little Missouri farm, when you never knew who/how many were going to show up, via car and even (believe it!) buggy. Grandma would run out to her chicken coop and grab another young rooster for the frying pan. Have a wonderful TG!
Appreciate the history on favorite vegetables of November that we eat throughout winter, at least. Didn’t have real cranberries, not from a can until college. Our housemother at Jamison (one of the 16 co-ops at Oregon State, where you worked 10 each week to help with room and board) had been married to a plastic surgeon in Hollywood. Mrs DeCarle had cooked with several Hollywood chefs and stars, so she shared recipes and how to make dishes far more fancy than any of us had seen. I remember making cranberries with oranges, soufflés and chocolate mousse with her. It was one of the incentives to complete college and have a career that would allow me to cook a wide variety of foods. For family Thanksgiving I am the one who makes the candied Sweet Potatoes, a 4th generation recipe. We also bring the smoked salmon we have brined and smoked ourselves and gluten free low sugar pumpkin pie. Food traditions are important and adapting them to be healthier and still taste good even better!
When you have time, Pamela, please tell us about your salmon brining/smoking. I wonder how many people still do that--not many, I'm sure.
As an Anglo-Canadian I’m always interested in Thanksgiving, which was a revelation when I moved to Canada a lifetime ago. Love cranberries, often add leftover cranberry sauce to my morning bran buds. Indian/Hasty pudding is new to me, not sure if the family would be interested in trying it though. Am very much into gratitude, often stop in stress times to remind myself of something for which I am grateful as a mental oasis. I’m holding you in my prayers for tomorrow, a nail-biter for us, too 🙏
Praying hard, Susan. Such a narrow margin. May sanity prevail 🙏
Thank you for the sympathy--the whole world has a stake in this election. Harris is up by 19 points globally, 47 vs 34 Trump (who is strong in the Eastern Bloc, of course). It's a dangerous situation.
I keep jellied cranberry in the fridge for myself and enjoy it several times a week. And Molly (our heeler) takes cranberry to fend off any UTI. It's such a healthy plant!
Cranberry now comes in tablets for those of us with UTI's.
Again - WONDERFUL information. I am constantly impressed. THANK YOU, Susan!!! And Happy Indian Pudding Day!!!
And to you, Carolyn! Be well.
I am truly delighted with this November All About Thyme. It is jam packed with things that I love! Thank you for all the good links for things like the Yorkshire parkin and pudding stir-up (which includes wonderful Christmas cake recipes for many dietary needs!) Will absolutely be making your cranberry sauce. I usually make a similar one but will look forward to the punch of those spices that you include.
Did you know Washington state supplies a high percentage of all of those cranberries that are harvested? True!! Will have to give cranberry mustard a go, too! All in on sweet potato anything! lol It is very curious that I can picture the glutenous cylinder of corn mush you describe below, but I don't ever remember tasting it?? Looks like some veggie version of it is in my future, too. Maybe fried in peanut oil? . I do remember my mother making Captain's Breakfast for us when we were out of packaged cereal. It was a favorite of mine! Being buttered cinnamon toast - torn into hunks and covered with hot milk. Still do a gluten free version with soy milk to brighten my day when it is chilly.
Love the idea of making a habit of sharing our gratitude. I enjoy Karen Davis' substack posts in part because she greets the birds, trees, leaves and clouds in the sky as she takes their pictures. A wonderful habit to cultivate in ourselves, to greet and regard that which is other than ourselves. Here's a recent post. https://open.substack.com/pub/karendavis/p/i-wonder?r=2l04ge&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Sandy, if you want to have fun with all those wonderful Washington state cranberries, here are some very weird ways: https://lifehacker.com/14-ways-to-get-weird-with-cranberries-1849706421
Thank you for the link to Karen's post--that's an especially lovely one! I restacked it.
Oooh thanks for the get weird with cranberries link! I see a few that look like fun! Will have to start my cranberry playtime early this year. On a side note, I have been learning how to enjoy horseradish as a replacement for the onions and garlic I no longer eat. I never thought I would actually like horseradish. But I now find I am developing a taste for it. Admittedly in very small amounts blended with other things. Which who knows, may include cranberry sauce! : -)
Fascinating on so many levels. I especially liked all the information about cranberries.
And here's more, Kathy: https://lifehacker.com/14-ways-to-get-weird-with-cranberries-1849706421 We like that cranberry-mustard glaze (last item) on meatballs and meatloaf.
Here's what I'm thinking of doing--baking a Yorkshire Parkin then a meat pie from all the things I founds in the refrigerator when I clean it out on the 15th. The first will be fortifying to do the horrible second.
It's hard to find the Brit favorite golden syrup here, Pat--I've used honey instead. You're right about "fortify." It is definitely a fortifying bake.
LOL! In my case Pat, that would include all of the things that are not sporting blue-green mold and that I can identify.
I love cornmeal mush sliced and fried. When I was young, I stayed at my Grandparents house while my parents worked. My Grandma would fry up cornmeal mush until golden brown in bacon fat and then drizzle maple syrup over it. Served with a few strips of side-pork I was in heaven. I've been looking at recipes on how to make my own cornmeal mush to slice and fry. It doesn't look too hard to do. New project to go along with making bread every week.
I can remember Mom opening a can of cornmeal mush--it came out in a yellow cylinder that she sliced and fried with bacon. (Now, you can buy it in a plastic-wrapped cylinder.) In the 1940s, the gov't put on a big advertising push to get women to use corn instead of wheat. https://www.fredopie.com/food/2017/3/28/holy-week-culinary-traditions-from-new-mexico-part-2 Let us know how yours turns out, Karen.
I will. My farm market partners with a number of Amish farms in Indiana and one offers heirloom, open pollinated, organic corn. This might be my next experiment in the lab, oops, I mean the kitchen. I love trying new things.
Ah ha! "Lab." You let it slip. 😍 Have fun!