Two Rainy Day Improvisations and Garden Musings

Last night was rainy. Again. And cold. The day started out so beautiful, all sunny and warm and full on springlike. I started to work on garden plans now that the soil is finally starting to dry out a smidge and Mr. Seasonality and Roommate D. have begun the project of turning the soil. Still a ways to go since I wouldn't let them disturb my winter crops that are still in the ground. This week I need to use mass amounts of beets, a stray turnip, a few baby carrots and one or two parsnips hidden in the bolting arugula. Potatoes that were overlooked last fall are poking their fuzzy green rosettes out of the earth and I feel actual pain that I'll have to dig them up for the greater good of the spring plantings. At the Cabrillo farmers market on Saturday, we picked up a few seedlings to get us started: some lettuce (which the slugs won't let grow from seed in the garden patch), chervil, a black krim tomato, golden sage (Mr. Seasonality collects sage plants of as many varieties as possible), and new for me are sorrel and a jurassic looking artichoke. Which are tied with asparagus and chard for first place as my favorite veggie. Ok, and zucchini.

So when I woke up today, I decided that the sun meant it was time to weed the back fence where the legumes are going to be direct sown as soon as the soil resembles a marsh just a little less. I whistled my way out there and started yanking on crabgrass and cleavers. And then it started to rain. I went back inside. And the sun came out. Hmm, I thought. I'll try again. Shucked the fuzzy slippers for sneaks and out to the garden. Where it immediately started to rain again. This scene repeated a number of times before I stopped caring about getting wet and cold and just went for it. I'm hoping to get a couple peas in the ground tomorrow, but it could be dumping rain for all I know.

Tonight, warm and quick food was definately necessary after class that I underdressed for. Note to self: if I think I'm being optimistic about spring temperatures, I really need to put aside the flip-flops and opt for the down jacket. I'm discovering that miso is such an ideal food for a busy/lazy grad student; it is almost instant, infinately modifiable, healthy, and best of all, leaves minimal dishes to clean up after. Follow that with a coconut rice pudding eaten in front of a roaring fire and all is truly well in the world.

Improvisational Miso Soup

Miso paste

Boiling water

Really, that's the basic. Just put a spoonful of miso into a bowl, add a couple tablespoons of hot water and mix it until it is smooth, then add enough hot water to make the desired amount of broth. It's really important not to actually boil the miso itself, as that kills off all the beneficial microbes that help your gut. From here, you can add:

Baby spinach greens

Freshly shelled peas

Fresh grated ginger

Chopped scallions

Even rice noodles, which only need to be soaked in boiling water (aka, miso broth!)

For the next step up, start out by making a broth or dashi. To do this, bring some earthy ingredients to a boil that need to actually be cooked, add a little seasoning, some veggies and voila! Broth! Here's what I used:

2 pieces of wakame, broken into small bits

5 shitake mushrooms

1 tsp soy sauce

A dash of ume vinegar

This was brought to a simmer in about 3 cups of water for about 10 minutes, until the shrooms were tender. If I had had it, I would have included ginger. Then I added:

A handful of baby spinach

A few spears of asparagus, broken into bite-sized portions

And simmered until asparagus was done, but still bright green and crunchy, the way asparagus should be. This was stirred into 1 tblsp of miso and thoroughly enjoyed. It served one. Just me.

Improvisational Rice Pudding

This one is dairy, wheat, and sugar-free. And it still manages to be delicious and cozy. This makes 2ish servings. One if you are like me and just can't stop eating it.

Bring to a boil:

1 can of low-fat coconut milk

1/2 cup rice (I've used and enjoyed both basmati and arborio)

Miniscule pinch of saffron (optional)

Handful of golden raisins (optional, but highly recommended)

1 or 2 tblsp nuts, chopped (I like pistachios, but almonds would be tasty too)

Cook at a simmer until milk is mostly absorbed and the rice is done, around 20 minutes. Take the pot off the flame and stir in:

1 tsp rose water

1 tsp ground cardemom

honey to taste

To make it your own, consider substituting part or all of the coconut milk with almond milk; swap out the raisins for chopped dates, currants, dried apricots or figs; almonds, walnuts or even pine nuts for the pistachios. If you don't like rose water, try orange blossom water or vanilla or almond extract. The cardemom is non-negotiable for me, but I'm a cardemom freak. It is also a Chinese herb that warms and wakes up the Spleen and transforms Dampness, so I add it to most of my cooking. See my previous post on Dampness for more info.

Lamb Stew and Greek greens

I've been absolutely craving red meat lately, which happens about once a year for me. I generally subscribe to the philosophy of 'if your body really wants it, give your body what it wants'. Everyone's is different. So I've been making lamb stews for the last couple weeks. The surprise is that Mr. Seasonality has actually been eating them with as much gusto as me! He has been a non-red-meat-eater for, well, a long time. But the body's demands are hard to deny, and he has felt that this dip into carnivory is nourishing and good. I know that in a week or two, my own need for tender lamb cooked until it falls apart on the fork will be replaced by the Spring time desire to consume all things green and sprout-like. With lots of Meyer lemons, naturally.

Tonight's dinner is a mix of these two desires: meat and veggies. The meat portion is adapted from Deborah Madison's brilliant book, "Local Flavors", and is a recipe for lamb shanks braised with onions and rosemary. The veggie portion is inspired by Martha Rose Shulman's version of Spanikopita, which, brilliantly, uses chard instead of spinach. Always nice to find another chard lover. I just took out the crust and played around with it a lot.

Greek Greens Bake

Wash and stem:

2 large bunches of greens, chopped (if using chard, reserve stalks and chop finely)

chop:

½ onion

sauté until soft in a wee bit of olive oil with the chard stems.

Add and cook together for a few minutes:

1 leek, white and pale green parts, sliced

then add:

½ tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried dill

But you can use any herbs, either fresh or dried to your taste. This is what I had on hand.

Add in the greens and cook until greens are soft and wilty. Set aside and cool.

In a bowl, beat together:

2 large/jumbo eggs

¼ cup greek yogurt (I know it's weird, but trust me)

¼ to ½ cup feta cheese

add in the cooked greens and

½ tsp lemon zest

Pour into a non-stick 8x8 baking dish and bake at 350

Lamb Shanks Braised with Onions and Rosemary:

4 lamb shanks, rinsed and patted dry

1/4 cup flour for dredging

salt and pepper

3 cloves of garlic, 1 crushed and minced, 2 sliced thin

Rub the lamb with salt and pepper and crushed garlic. Stuff the slivers into the folds of the meat. Dredge the shanks in flour.

In a Dutch oven or cassarole dish, heat on medium high:

3 tblsp olive oil

Brown the meat on as many sides as you can and remove to a plate.

Brown the onions in the dish for about 7 minutes and add:

3tbsp chopped rosemary

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 or 3 tblsp balsamic vinegar

Add the lamb back into the dish and add:

1 cup red wine

Bring to a boil and simmer until it is reduced by half.

Add:

3 cups of liquid (I used 2 cups chicken stock and 1 cup water)

And bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. You can continue to simmer over the stove top or you can place the dish in the oven at 325 to cook all afternoon. Stove top it should take about 2 hours for the meat to start falling off the bone.

Love Your Spleen

It's the rainy season in California, with the southern regions actually getting hit harder than those of us in the more northern or central climes. At least we seem to get a couple days break here and there so that the water on the patio can drain away (away from the garage!) and give the plants some opportunity to manufacture food. Plants other than mold, I mean.

I find rain to be comforting and annoying at the same time. How is that possible? Maybe because instead of being at home curled up in front of a roaring fire sipping hot chocolate (or licking it off a spoon, 'cause it's so thick and tasty) and cooking meaty stews, I'm in classrooms all day with foggy

phlegm-head. Ever notice how in damp weather, your brain decides to go on strike? And then when you absolutely force it off the picket lines, it does critical thinking and computations at

the speed of a herd of turtles swimming through peanut butter. Yup. That's 'damp stagnation', as we like to call it in the world of Chinese Medicine.

Dampness is a Yin-type pathogen, which means that it is heavy and usually comes on gradually. It is the evil that, according to a brilliant teacher of mine, "can and will obstruct the qi mechanism". Which I'm sure means a whole lot to y'all. Here's what I think he means. Qi likes to move, it needs to move because the body is in a constant state of adjustment to reach relative homeostasis. Without the stasis. All the little things that constantly act to push us out of balance like the person in line behind you sneezing on the back of your neck, or eating just one piece too much of birthday cake, or looming deadlines, our beautiful bodies have to continually adjust and readjust to compensate for and keep us in a not-sick state. Movement is necessary. Which is why, when a heavy Yin pathogen like Damp comes in, Qi stagnates. The darn Damp blocks the Qi from moving. Why, you may ask? Have you ever been in Santa Cruz on a summer morning when the fog is in? It's like there's a silent grey blanket wrapped around everything. The air is perfectly still and even the sounds are muffled. Dampness. I think that might be a new curse for me.

So what prevents us from walking around in a state of foggy oblivion every time a cloud rolls by? The Spleen. Sounds funny, I know. I keep thinking of that movie, Mystery Men with Paul Reubens playing a character whose superhero name is the Spleen (said with a lisp and spit flying everywhere). But I promise you that you can't love your Spleen (the Chinese version) too much. It is completely different from the anatomical spleen (see how one is capitalized and the other not?), and is seen as being the digestive power of the body. It is in charge of moving and transforming food and water into pure nourishment, which is Qi and Blood, and then bringing that nourishment to every single cell in our bodies. The Spleen transforms and transports, and it really, really doesn't like Dampness. No surprise since it is such an engine of movement and anatomical alchemy. If the Spleen is weakened, then Dampness takes advantage of that toehold and grabs on with all the strength of its clammy little fingers. The Spleen tries to fight it, but is blinded and deafened and bound and gagged now. It's an epic battle. This is when we start to feel foggy headed, tired, maybe even a little bloated or over-full. We might not have a whole lot of an appetite. Joints may ache, muscles feel heavy, and there may even be some dreaded mucous.

How can we rescue our poor little Spleens? Well, by taking very, very good care of them to prevent any damage or weakening of their function. As my mother says, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". And how do we do that, you may very well ask? In a few simple ways:

1. Eat warm, cooked food that is nourishing and not greasy

2. Get good sleep but not too much

3. Get good exercise, but not too much

4. Limit your intake of dairy, sweets and alcohol

and the one that I think can vie for first place,

5. Eat a good (warm) breakfast

The reason for this is because the Spleen likes warmth and dryness, hates cold and damp, so we try to limit foods and environmental exposure that are energetically or physically cold and damp, while increasing things that are warm, dry and strongly aromatic because that can punch through the haze of dampness like sun drying up a puddle. Dairy, sweets and alcohol, as well as food right out of the fridge and raw food, all have a cold, damp energy which injures the Spleen. And that is what we are trying to avoid. Breakfast is important because it is the first meal of the day, it primes our digestive system and sets the level at which it functions for the rest of the day. We want to eat warm, nourishing food for breakfast not only because that wakes up our Spleens, but because it also has the potential for keeping us off of the insulin rollercoaster that is caused when we don't eat breakfast or eat something sugary and quick burning. Like pancakes or muffins or cold cereal. All of those foods spike insulin levels very quickly. When that happens, the body says whoops, that's a wee bit too much, and insulin levels drop just as quickly. All those sugars leave the bloodstream and go into our cells and suddenly we're hungry again an hour after eating.

What has been found is that if we start our day with this kind of spike and drop in insulin, it is really likely that the rollercoaster will continue throughout the day. The problem is that too much insulin (like the kind we get from spikes that repeat throughout an entire day) can over time cause our cells to develop resistance, which in turn, can lead to metabolic disorders such as type II diabetes. Don't take my word on this, but do some research on your own. There is a lot of good info out there on metabolic disorders and insulin resistance.

What constitutes a good breakfast? Something warm. Something that has protein in it to keep your insulin down and give you good energy throughout the day. If it is a cereal, then think about whole grain cereals. It should be something that tastes good to you. I'll post some of my favorite breakfasts a little bit later. For now, I need to go rest my foggy head.

Meditations on an Almost Spring Season

Well. That was a longer absence from this blog than I had intended. I'm sorry to have left you in the lurch for more than a month now, but hopefully I can make it up to you in the future. I'll just say that some things came up that required my full attention, but now life is slowly straightening itself out and un-kinking. Which is good.

It's February (how did that happen, by the way?), which means that here on the California Central Coast, Spring is extending tender, unsure tendrils into the hibernating earth and psyche. The acacias are heavy with their chartruse, sneeze-inducing blooms; the redbuds are trying on their frilly pink frocks, and the camellia outside the kitchen window is laden with tight, cabbage-like buds and a few pink, waxy rosettes. Yesterday was so lovely and sunny and warm that it was torture to stay indoors while little fluffy clouds danced across a jewel-blue sky. But today, as Mr. Seasonality observed, it is as though winter has taken a huge breath in and is about to blow out. Hard.

Such is the nature of spring. It is the season of change, of growth and potential, of plans laid out and often frustrated. It alternates between cold and hot, winter and spring. In Chinese Medicine, it is the birth of Yang, when vital energy is on the rise and waiting to burst forth in a shower of vibrant leaves. The element of spring is Wood, which is also associated with the color green and the qi of wind. When I lived in Boulder, I remember the springs to be ferociously windy, sometimes knocking over fences and newspaper stands, but here it isn't as windy. At least not physically. Wind is the qi or energy of change, it is the most yang of the climate energies, it induces movement and shakes things up. Which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes not. Likewise, Wind can be a pathogen, and on its blustery heels can be tacked any of the other pathogens. It enters the body quickly, and its symptoms change rapidly and it often leads to many other more unpleasant things. Common colds are an example of a Wind invasion.

One of my brilliant teachers tells us that like is drawn to like, so that if you have an internal state that is out of balance, it is vulnerable to pathologies. An little internal Wind means that you come down with a whopping cold or flu, but before you manifest the symptoms, things are already out of whack. You are simply attracting the pathogen that your internal state mirrors. Wind likes the upper body, so during spring, even though it may be warm out, still cover up your shoulders and neck and head because conditions can change in an instant. Scarves are really good. Get enough sleep, but not too much, and be sure to increase exercise during spring, especially if you can get outside to move around. The governing organ of Wood is the Liver, and the Liver does not like to be sedentary. It likes movement. While it is still cold out, consider doing gentle stretches like yoga on a regular basis (regularity is vital to the Liver) or smooth, non-draining movement forms like Tai Qi or Qi Gong.

I'm not a fan of traditional cleanses myself (I find them to be more draining than replenishing), but a supportive cleanse of whole foods like a congee or kitcheree fast would be appropriate during this time, especially when supplemented by lots and lots of leafy greens. Because no matter what else you may call it, Spring is the time for greens.

Today I wanted something green and light and tasty, and unknowingly, I picked the perfect dish to make in honor of Spring. Each of the ingrediants is the lovely, fresh green of early spring and highly nutritious as well. I'm having a love affair with Meyer lemons, as it is my belief that they are sunshine in fruit form, but if they are not available, normal lemons will do just fine. An interesting note: sour taste goes to the liver, but restrains it, so may make some stagnations worse. However, the aromatic peel of citrus fruit is quite moving, and its aromatic nature is light and fresh and dispels stagnation- particularly good for sluggish digestion and bloating. I think this is particularly true of Meyer lemon peel, which I believe has the added quality of alleviating depression due to qi stagnation, frustration, and repressed emotions. Fennel is also a carminative (digestive, gas dispelling) herb. It's hard to not like the sunny smell of this dish and feel just a little bit better about a cloudy, cold, almost-spring-but-not-quite-there-yet day.

Savoy Cabbage with Meyer Lemon Butter and Tarragon

(Adapted from Deborah Madison)

½ cabbage if large, whole if small

1 leek

1 large bulb fennel

Thinly slice all and cook till tender with a wee bit of butter and a pinch of salt

¼ cup of tarragon, add to chopped lemon zest

1 meyer lemon, with zest finely chopped and juice reserved- cook juice down to 1tblspn and add

1 tblsp butter

mix half of herb/zest blend into cabbage and half into butter, then toss it all together

Last-minute gifties

Oh, I've been a bad blogger, leaving this poor little outpost lonely and devoid of attention for so long. What can I say, except that finals are unavoidable and all-consuming. And with vacation following closely on the heels of Christmas, I can say that there will be few posts while I am lounging on a beach far, far away.

Speaking of Christmas, now is the time for last minute gifts, a not-so-favorite tradition of mine. I'm sure you all experience this as well, how quickly the month flies by from Turkey day to New Years. Oy. I'm a big believer in the handmade gift. I love giving and recieving things that have real work and love soaked into them from conception to wrapping, it seems much more in tune with the spirit of the season. And for those of us with very limited financial resources, it is a chance to give a meaningful, thoughtful gift that requires more time than money.

A gift of oneself is always welcome, whatever talents you have, whether it is massage, accounting, nutritional counselling, jewelery making, etc. Last year I made coupons for my family for a knitted item of their choice, and offered suggestions of what I could make (sweaters *not* a possibility). I ended up making something that they have each enjoyed and used throughout the year, and in the color that they picked themselves.

This year I haven't been knitting so much, but have been exploring other options for gifts. Here are a few of my favorites:

FROM THE KITCHEN:

1) Cookies. Everyone loves cookies during the holidays; its one time of year when sugar, butter and wheat abound, diet be damned. Lottie and Doof just finished a great 12 days of cookies, which offers a bunch of beautiful and tasty sounding options. Smitten Kitchen also has beautiful selections like key lime meltaways and crispy salted oatmeal white chocolate cookies. For the gluten-free baker, try looking at recipes from Karina's Kitchen, which has some tasty sounding treats like brown sugar buckwheat thumbprints, and mint chocolate cookies.

2) Candied citrus peel. This is a tradition with me, and it's not at all difficult, only a little time consuming. Feel free to experiment with various citrus, but my favorite is still orange. I tried grapefruit last year with mixed results. I liked it, but it was a little strong flavored for many of my family members. Just be sure to use only organic fruits, as non-organic ones are liberally sprayed with nasty stuff, and the peel is what you will be eating.

3) Jams, jellies, preserves. Use whatever is in season, which right now is pretty much apples and pears. Apple butter is a nice option or pear and ginger jam. Canning is not scary, it's actually really fun. And it makes your whole house smell amazing. Make it nice and pretty by cutting out a square of cloth and putting it under the screw-on part of the lid, over the actual lid.

4) Granola in a pretty jar or cellophane bag. The ingredients are fairly inexpensive and the process is pretty easy. You can make it however you like it, but I've been dying to try this recipe here.

KNITTING:

1) Hats. Once you get the hang of knitting in the round, basic hats are a breeze. Knitty has some great free patterns for lots of things, and here is the index for hats.

2) Fingerless gloves are quick and fun to make. This is a really great pattern for women, and this one is it's mate for guys.

3) Scarves.

4) Hot water bottle cover. I'm one of those people who are always cold, even when it's 70 degrees and sunny out, so I love hot water bottles. And because I am, well, kind of strange, I love these way more than heating pads. You don't really need a pattern, just knit a rectangle large enough to fold in half that will enclose the water bottle and stitch up the sides. For the opening, you can either knit a cuff, which I like, or close it with buttons or ribbons to let the bottle in and out. Here is a nice pattern.

SEWING:

1) Pretty pillowcases. Especially flannel. I can't embroider, but if I could, I would do initials.

2) Microwavable pillow. Can you see the pattern of things to ward off cold? This one is easy and fun, you can get all creative and stuff with it. Just make a pillow of any size or shape (square is easiest) out of muslin and sew up all sides but for a small opening. With a funnel, pour a mixture of rice, buckwheat hulls, flax seeds and/or herbs like lavender and rose petals into the opening. Sew shut. Make a fuzzy or soft cover that is easily removable. Make sure not to microwave the cover, as it can melt if its made out of polartec fleece or polyester, that's why we like the muslin for the actual pillow.

3) Kitchen stuff, like placemats, hand towels, napkins can all make nice heirloom gifts, especially when you choose nice fabric that suit the personality of the reciever. Or monogram them to really personalize them.

MISCELLANEOUS:

1) Bath salts. Mix together epsom salts, sea salt and a wee bit of baking soda with some essential oils if you have them; dried lavender or rose petals or lemon peel if you don't. Lavender bath salts are a lovely and relaxing choice. If you want to make it more moisturizing, add a small amount of jojoba, almond or olive oil, but be careful as this addition will make the tub slippery.

2) Wordle. Put together some well-thought out words about the ones you love and they will arrange them beautifully into custom artwork. I love this.

3) Locally grown tea. If you happen to grow your own herbs, these can be mixed into a nice herbal tea that you can package in a jar or tin to gift. Mints, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lavender, rose hips, lemon peel, chamomile all make good tea herbs. You can even buy heat-sealable tea bags to make them professional looking.

And that's about all I've got. Hope it helps you all to have a fun, crafty, old-timey holiday season filled with the spirit of giving and gratitude. Blessings to all of you.

The Crisp that Stole Thanksgiving (backup vocals by pumpkin pie bars)

For Thanksgiving, my mom and I were in charge of desserts. Oh, what a task. Having to be around sugar and butter and chocolate... well, someone's gotta do it. I don't bake very often, and I work very hard to avoid anything resembling pastry dough. For some reason I just don't make it. It seems like a lot of work to me, but that's probably because I don't do it often enough. Hmm. I think I may have made pie crusts once or twice but my aversion is so strong that I'm sure my lack of definate memory has to do with the traumatic failure of said crust. Therefore, my mom got pie duty. Pecan pie, to be exact. We don't cook with corn syrup, so she substituted brown rice syrup, sucanat and a wee bit of molasses for sticky sweet stuff. I was a little wary at first, but it turned out even better than your typical pecan pie, partly because I wasn't prying sticky gluey nuts out of my teeth for hours. And there was whipped cream. Of course. Because you just can't have pie without whipped cream.

I did the pumpkin pie. Now, you may ask how someone so pathologically adverse to pie crusts winds up making pumpkin pies. Easily, I would answer. Just turn them into pumpkin pie bars. Aha! A month or so ago, I stumbled across a recipe for pumpkin pie bars with an oatmeal cookie crust and did a test run. You know, just to make sure I wouldn't feed my lovely family some inedible leaden mush. Not becuase I would enjoy them. Nope. And if Mr. Seasonality tells you that I ate almost the entire pan myself after yanking it out of his hands, ignore him. Best of all, I think, they can so easily be made gluten free! Not many desserts will do that for you.

Then, I thought that perhaps there should be a third dessert just to have options. Because even though I don't understand it, there are some people out there who don't like pecan pie or pumpin pie. So I decided to do something easy and quickly put together, but that wouldn't steal the show from the pies, and ended up with an apple cranberry and orange crisp to keep things festive. To my amazement, the crisp ended up being the favorite dessert of the evening. Not only tasty, but because it is fruit, it's easier to trick myself into thinking that I'm actually being healthy! I chose to sweeten the filling with agave syrup, but you could easily substitute with honey or maple syrup. Or plain sugar, but increase the orange juice.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Adapted from the recipe found on Framed which was adapted from the recipe by Joy the Baker.

Pre-heat your oven to 350. Line a 13x9 pan with parchment paper or just grease and dust with flour.

For the crust, cream together:

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix in:

1 cup oat flour

1/3 cup millet flour (or use any combination of flours you want to make a total of 1 1/3 cups)

1 cup oats (not instant oats)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Pat the mixture into the pan and bake for 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, for the filling, beat lightly:

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Add and whisk well until there are no lumps:

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 tblsp pumpkin pie spice (I used a mix of cinnamon, allspice, cardemom and ginger)

Mix in:

1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree (or if you have it, homemade pumpkin puree)

Pour over the cookie crust and sprinkle over the top:

Chocolate chips- as much as you want

Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool. Cut into squares. Devour.

Apple Cranberry Orange Crisp

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

For the crispy topping:

¼ c brown sugar

¾ cup sugar

1 cup oat flour

1 cup millet flour

¾ c oats

6 tblsp butter

1 tsp almond extract

For the filling:

16 oz cranberries

6 or so apples, peeled, cored and chopped into bits (I used fuji apples)

1/2 c dried cranberries

zest of 2 valencia oranges

juice of ½ orange

3/4 c agave syrup (taste the mixture and sweeten more if needed)

1 tblsp cinnamon

Pour filling into a 13 x 9 pan. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the top. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling juices get thick and bubbly. Eat with lots of whipped cream.

Giving Thanks

I'm sure Thanksgiving is a tumultuous time for all of us, what with the family and food and all the issues that come with those two loaded topics. I love this time of year, not only because of the time I get off school, but because I get to spend time with my family and get to cook massive amounts of my favorite kinds of food. But, like so many, I am conflicted. To me, it seems that this holiday, which originated as a harvest festival of sorts, has devolved into one of the most celebrated consumer gluts of all time. It is a holiday that urges us to not only eat, but also to shop; the day after Thanksgiving is the single biggest shopping day of the year. I love my family and I love food, but I'm not quite sure about this holiday.

I admit that my love-hate relationship with T-day has a large portion of guilt measured out like a spoonful of week-old mashed potatoes. I have a hard time celebrating the day that the pilgrims had their huge feast giving thanks for surviving and thriving in the New World. Why? Well, while this holiday is symbolic of the comraderie between the pilgrims and the Native Americans, we all know what happened after that. I believe genocide is not an exaggerated term here. So it feels false to me to celebrate this partnership, when it seems to me that my ancestors took advantage of the Native Americans and then betrayed that friendship. Or at least hospitality. And, yeah, I had some ancestors there, so it's kinda personal to me.

Guilt, gluttony and family dynamics. Fun.

In the Five Element style of acupuncture, it seems to me that these core issues of the holiday revolve around the element of Earth. Earth is all about giving and recieving, nourishing, sympathy, mothering, and the idea of home. There's more, obviously. It also has to do with obsession, smothering, need for sympathy from others, the victim complex, over eating or denial of nourishment, cyclical patterns that are unconsciously perpetuated, overthinking. The attitude or virtue that can cut through the cyclical sympathy of Earth is simply.... gratitude. There is a fantastic scene in the movie "Joe Vs. the Volcano", where Joe is in the middle of the ocean on a tiny raft and out of the black sea, an impossibly full moon rises over him. He stands on his raft, dehydrated and delirious, arms stretched overhead towards the hugely glowing orb, and says, "thank you for my life. I had no idea how big... Thank you for my life". In the presence of such beauty that it stops us in our tracks, it is both humbling and centering. Gratitute opens us to the blessings of the present moment. That is how I feel in the presence of my family. So in this season of Earth-type pitfalls for me, I am grateful for my family, friends and partner, whom I love without end. I am grateful for my life.

I find it interesting that the very pitfalls of this holiday hold within it the essence of it's grace. So let us give thanks.