A: Improvisation

Q: What do jazz and Thanksgiving have in common?

I didn't grow up with jazz; bluegrass, folk, rock and/or roll, even classical, but not jazz. I came to it late in life, during grad school and beyond, mostly thanks to my lighting design mentor at CalArts, my then-not-so-soon-to-be husband (we met in 1987, moved beyond "just friends" shortly thereafter, and married in 1999: you do the math), and my work with the Jazz Tap Ensemble (right up to the time of starting my second career).

Now I know that there's plenty of improv in rock, bluegrass and the like, but somehow improvisational cooking reminds me most of jazz. Maybe because I learned more about forms and rules in relation to jazz improv, whereas I'm relatively less "schooled" in other types of music, and improv cooking works as long as you know the forms and rules.

Anyway, this year's Thanksgiving meal was the kind of cooking I like to do best; guided by recipes, but on familiar enough ground that I can feel free to do my thing. And it was especially good that I was feeling adaptable on this one, because although I delivered what I had planned, there was a miscommunication between G-man and I on what time the meal was to start. We had talked about anything from 2 to 6 PM, and I left it up to him to finalize with Bill and Ron.

I'd heard DH say "afternoon" when I asked, and I assumed it was the 4 or 4:30 time we'd talked about. At 10:30 this morning, with the marble pumpkin cheesecake in the oven, I was feeling all relaxed when I checked in on that start time -- oops, 2:30 NOT 4:30. We hustled together and got the bird (parts) in the oven, and I think we served a bit after three o'clock. Not bad. Of course, when the compliments came in on the food -- "That's why we make you wait; so you'll like it no matter what 'cuz you'll be starving."

But back to the menu; most of the items were inspired by one or more "real" recipes, as noted...

• Gingered Carrot Soup (from the Williams-Sonoma Mayo Clinic Cookbook, except I added a pinch of curry powder, and we went for "half-n-half" instead of non-fat evaporated milk)
• Spinach & Granny Smith Salad, with green onions, toasted pecans & a little raw grated ginger
  
• Carrots & Celery Sticks with ranch AND blue cheese dressings, for my son with the incredibly narrow sense of what constitutes an edible vegetable these days
• Slow Roasted Herbed Turkey Breast & Thighs with Gravy (a "mash-up" of the Cook's Illustrated slow roast turkey in pieces and a Barefoot Contessa recipe)
  
• Roasted Delicata Squash with Hot Jelly Glaze (Martha Stewart Living) - and I threw in a few fingerling potatoes I had sitting around as well, which were surprisingly good
• Fennel, Italian Sausage & Cranberry Multi-Grain Dressing (improv: I've been making it for a few years, and this one featured brown & wild rice with wheat berries & rye - not bad!)
  
• Cranberry & Apple Gelatin Salad (from the good old Joy of Cooking, although I used to call my MIL every year for the recipe until she took pity & hipped me to its origin; made sugar free thanks to Splenda and the folks at Jello)
• Sugar Free Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake with Praline Crust and real sweetened whipped cream (this was a keeper, at least three recipes used as inspiration, with a low-carb crust of ground pecans, butter, a hint of cinnamon, and Splenda -- delicious, so I'm glad I did write down what I ended up doing as it might be repeatable!)
  

Duel of the Fates

This one is for Juj -- although I think someone else may appreciate it too:

Better, or worse than this, apparently the real lyrics are a Sanskrit translation of a Celtic poem - scroll down to Cie Sharp's additional lengthy comment on 5/12/03.  Apparently some people have too much time on their hands (including my husband, for finding this, and myself, for posting it here!)

Another year, another blog post... and no Sunday supper

I have made another circle around the sun, and I'm thankful. My family members serenaded me appropriately, and so we move on.

This evening, I had to confront my fatness in photographic splendor, as we had our sitting for the church directory. It's so much easier to retouch in your mind what you see in the mirror than what the camera captures, but I'm not sure it will motivate me to lose the weight. Though it should, as I'd be healthier AND happier (at least when I have to look at myself).

This weekend, I made it to one 'big girls' party (for the Weintribe's new addition), and one 'kiddos' skating party (for siblings who go to school with J, who ice-skated FAR longer than I did!) Luckily, this left me without time to make Sunday supper, but with time to make the rounds and check out the blogs of my virtual and face-to-face friends; I've kept the circle small, but still rarely catch up these days.

This week, I'll cook a small T-day feast, hopefully somewhat healthful and low-sugar without being boring or too nontraditional. Then I'll thank my lucky stars that I can ask G-man to put up the tree and be in charge of making sure the decor looks good.

So, my life moves in small circles, sometimes the same, and sometimes slightly off-kilter, but overall I am one lucky middle-aged woman, wife, mother, daughter, etc.

For the record...

I did get up, shower decently early, and make it to church with Julian. However, it was overly hot in the sanctuary, and so all both of us wanted to do afterwards was head straight home. I basically spent the next six hours mostly passed out napping, so the guys went out to dinner with Ron and brought me back a little something.

So no Sunday supper from me. Am I coming down with something? Can't tell, especially since I seem to feel better now. Ah, well.

Whoa - 101 posts...

Didn't notice that that last post from the G-man was #100, so I am claiming the distinction of #101 since starting this blog last summer (2007).  Not a great record, but not bad.  Of course, this post is going to be a bit random, but que sera, sera!

Due to the cosmic chaos that they call weather in North Texas, I now have three green tomatoes sitting on my windowsill, and they may ripen.  We received some plants from a homegrown-tomato-obsessed friend last spring, and planted them far too late and gave them too little water and attention.  But somehow two of them survived the summer heat, giving me one miniature plum tomato to taste, and then started to thrive in the very warm (but no longer brutal) heat of September.  They even started flowering, and set some fruit.  However, a small cold front has finally arrived (and about damn time, too; mid-November is not the season for short sleeves, IMHO), and tonight, as I drove home from a 10:00 PM grocery run, I saw the bank sign say it was 37 (or maybe it was 39?) degrees.  So, after I put the groceries away, I went out and plucked the three biggest tomatoes.  If the plants aren't dead in the morning, there are still a few small green orbs that might grow a bit more but for now -- let's see if at least ONE of the ones I picked will ripen.

In other news--

Last Sunday's supper was a homey feast more fitting for this weekend's weather (I think we had to turn on the stupid AC last weekend!)  Elsa and Ron joined us for

• Hungarian Beef Stew from Cook's Illustrated (a.k.a. paprikash), with wide egg noodles, of course - very good, but despite CI's dire warnings, G-man and I agreed to try it with some smoked paprika next time
  
• Green beans & cauliflower, pan sauteed with red bell peppers
• Green salad with fennel and mushrooms
• Broiled fresh pineapple and Halloween candy for dessert

Tomorrow, my plan is

• Wedge Salad with blue cheese dressing
• Shepard's Pie - my ground beef version with mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes on top
• Roasted squash with ginger, paprika, etc.
• Fro-yo & sugar-free ice cream for dessert

And for the two Thanksgiving potlucks at work this week -- at least one will be graced with my favorite pumpkin bread pudding.

And now, I'd better contemplate our Thanksgiving menu...turducken? barbecued turkey in the Weber? tofurkey? (just kidding on that last one; I love turkey too much for that!)

Which Jesus do you want?

This was an interesting reflection on our political and theological ideas, out at HuffPost.com. I think it points to serious differences in American conceptions of the Christian life. Enjoy!

Which Jesus Won?

G-man

How did it get to be November already?

September and October are gone in flash, filled with stressors both fun -- Horizon Women's Retreat, birthdays, anniversary, autumnal and All Hallow's E'en festivities, early voting -- and more mundane -- worrying about our parents' health (as well as my own; however, nothing a little exercise and meditation wouldn't cure), uncertain economy, corporate restructuring, hyper intelligent six-year-old who ranges from tyrannical to heartbreakingly sweet in a blink of an eye. Anyone want to take bets on how few posts I manage between now and the New Year?

All I can say is thank goodness that we "fall back" tonight and Daylight Savings Time finally ends; I need that extra hour of sleep (although I am already wasting here at the computer). That whole right-wing government plot to extend DST that held off until AFTER Halloween was really stupid.

But November holds my two favorite holidays: Thanksgiving -- all the food and family of Christmas without the gift-related anxiety, and my birthday -- just for the cake. And this year, I might just get an early birthday present of an American President I can feel optimistically cautious about. If the weather would just cool down and behave like fall (sweaters, please!), I'd be thrilled.

Tomorrow, I will tackle a vegan meal for the wonderful young ministerial intern at our church and his wife, along with the three of us and uncle Ron. Part of me wanted to stay "pure" all the way, but G-man wanted a little turkey sausage on the side to stir into his stew -- besides, he said, she's not even a vegetarian! So I am going to adapt a couple of recipes slightly to make them vegan (yes, I picked up special margarine as well as soy milk), and serve:

• Lentil Pate from MSL (have done this before and enjoyed it - will forgo the egg whites this time)
• Homemade Country Bread with Oat Flour from Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu (somehow, the thought of home baked bread seemed to anchor the meal for me)
• Green Salad with Fresh Fennel
  
• White Bean and Sausage Stew in Pumpkin Bowls from MSL (with a few adjustments, including sausage on the side)
• High Heat Roasted Green Beans
• Aztec Chocolate Pudding Cake from dear Nigella (with a soymilk substitution), and a variety of ice creams: one delicious non-dairy option for the vegan (and me!), one local sugar free for the diabetic (and me!), one basic standby everyone else (and me!)

To all my friends and loved ones that I am so bad about staying in touch with: I think of you often, and my early New Year's resolution is to take more time to make sure that you know that. November might seem a trifle premature, but given that we didn't get out any holiday cards last year, this gives me a chance to work on that in pursuit of my resolve. (Is dat English? Never mind, T-Rob, don't answer that!)