Rock To Wind A String Around

3 in a row, it’s like a Christmas miracle or something…

So, my mom has been steadily replacing furniture since my dad died on the 8th.  She bought an entertainment center on the day she made funeral arrangements and saw chairs  she liked while she was there, so the day after I arrived, we went out to buy those too, and we added the end tables she liked as well.  A couch and additional end tables soon followed (and there is talk of a new area rug and new lampshades).  This is all shopping she and my dad have been talking about, but the time is NOW, which is good.   Couch shopping is apparently suggested for the bereaved and really, anything that removes my dad’s empty chair from the living room is an excellent idea.  As a disabled person, my dad spent a great deal of time in his recliner and it is so. incredibly. empty. right now.

Anyway, I’ve distracted myself from the recipe portion of today’s entertainment.  The current end tables all sport wide drawers or other storage, the new tables do not, so we’ve been working to find new storage space.  My dad inherited his mother’s secretary after she died in1985.  It is a beautiful piece of furniture, but it’s been more or less a shrine–my parent’s have added a bit to the things it holds, but nothing was removed.  Tonight I suggested we sort Nellie’s things, box the remainder and use the secretary as replacement storage.  We’re still negotiating this, but in the meantime have begun to declutter the secretary’s drawers.  My mother often claims that I am a good deal like Nellie (ok, maybe she complains).  We are both fairly meticulous, we like to iron, and apparently, we shared a mutual love of office supplies and kitschy cookbooks.  How ducky of us both!  The recipe I share is from a book called  “Unusual Old World and American recipes.”  It was produced by Nordic Ware, you know, the pots and pans company?

Anyway, this is a gem, and so worth sharing.  I present to you,  “Sausage Cake!”

• 1 pound pork sausage
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup cold, strong, brewed coffee
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Tell me that doesn’t sound tasty and direct from the Old World?

Bon Apetit!

Popped over to Habesha Child to find this short little meme.  Always late to ride a trend wave, I thought I’d do this now, so as to be one of the cool kids.

I am reading:

Searching for Whitopia by Rich Benjamin.  It is fascinating, well-written, and more than a little scary.  I just finished  Homer & Langley by EL Doctorow, and it was pretty fab too.  Living in the neighborhood with the best library in the country, I am spoiled rotten.  I hear about a great book and can instantly put it in my book bag of reserves.  The books fly my way pretty quickly, so right now my shelves are groaning–I have the newest Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro volumes, and I’ve got more than a few other gems in my reserve queue.

I am drinking:

a little water in a disposable cup.  Elliott’s inability to load the dishwasher properly led me to ban the use of said dishwasher for one week.  Sadly, he is no better at washing by hand.  Sometimes refining behavior through the use of natural consequences is very taxing…

I am listening:

To  The Killers–the Hot Fuss album at the moment.  They are a welcome break in the endless loop of Black-Eyed Peas served several billion times daily for my aural enjoyment.

I am watching:

the latest season of Big Love,  Ugly Betty, and Masterpiece’s brilliant presentation of Clueless, I mean Emma.  I am also waiting for season 6 of Mary Tyler Moore to arrive–the depth of my love for that show cannot be denied!

I am loving:

this cozy winter day.  Sad that Albert is away for an extra day this week, I’ve ‘turned my frown upside down’, and have begun to splash a beautiful yellow (one shade darker than the new kitchen paint) all over my dining room walls.  It is an illness, but I love to paint and I’ve waited far too long to cover those bland walls.  This is the first day at home in an eon–it’s nice to get the impromptu painting done.

We’re almost a week into the new year and it still feels like holiday time.  While the decorations are packed away, my arm and the frigid weather and Elliott’s brief illness have kept us from jumping into 2010 with both feet.  We’ve spent another few days at home, and while that’s been a real boon to my decluttering and reorganizing efforts, we’re all a bit bored, especially with Albert back to work after 2 weeks at home.  I’m not complaining as much as I’m yawning.  I’m bored and ready to plunge back into life.

I received some nifty camera equipment for Christmas, so I’m thinking (a bit) about joining my compatriots in the quest for 365 (when I finally decide, it will be 353, or something like that…).  Maybe tomorrow’s wordless wednesday will be the start?

A longer post in a day or two, whenever I’m able to use two hands freely once more!

Arrived at my mil’s vacation house here in the oldest city only to find that the internet wasn’t working.  some colorful tale-telling on my bil’s part got it turned on, well, in the nick of time.

I’ve got nothing of note to report–we’re here and ready to drink deeply from the Fountain of Youth.  Realness tomorrow, I promise!

I posted  a non-post yesterday, a link to EOR’s blog, but a post nonetheless, and it disappeared.  I was running in 40 different directions yesterday, trying to get us on the road so i didn’t view the post after I published.  I’m pretending this didn’t happen–

This post is not a day late

Dressed and ready for the first part of Art for Ethiopia–the 4 inch heels and DRESS come later–for the afternoon, a cute top and jeans while families come by for photo sessions and to bid for art.

Denver is supposed to be hit with an incredible snowstorm, but we’re thinking dry thoughts.  So far, so good.  If time and NaBloPoMo permit, I’ll try to do a quick recap before the end of the day.

Ta!

off like one, in hopes of finding treasure in the west.  I’ll try to update later in the day, if not, let’s consider this today’s NaBloPoMo, shall we…

a little sadness* in my otherwise lovely universe…

A million years ago, while I was still in college, I developed plantar fascitis.  Blame the cute little flats I wore all over campus, the sneakers with too many miles on them that I wore for frequent workouts, whatever.  Since then, it’s never quite gone away,  but it was manageable until about a year ago.  With daily workouts and a summer of flipflops compounding the problem, I limped into the orthopedist in August. After confirming the plantar fascitis and a sizable heel spur  He put me on a strict no flip-flop diet, I bought new Nikes, added orthotics to everything I wear, and have mourned the loss of the majority of my shoe wardrobe.

Albert, in a fit of extreme niceness, cashed in some AmEx points for a Zappos gc for me last week.  He thought I could begin rebuilding my shoe closet with some  new winter boots.  I shopped, and shopped, and called Zappos only to find that cute boot + removable insole do not = available at Zappos.  I know, this is a real cry me a river moment, but I do miss cute shoes, and the gift certificate is now being used for the kids, who also seem to need shoes every 5 minutes.

Still searching the world for a black wedge heel boot with a removable insole.  In case you know something I don’t…

* I know that my search for shoes knowing that most kids in Ethiopia have none is extremely shallow–I blame NaBloPoMo for my need to reveal.

2 months into my gluten free  life, I realized that chocolate was an immediate culprit in the world of migraines.  While the absence of gluten made me feel a  thousand times better, a few sundrops or a little nutella on my gf waffle was enough to cause a great deal of pain in the next few hours. It took a while to suss this out–it wasn’t until I took  the trip to Florida to clean my parents’ garage that I noticed a daily headache that seemed to occur a few hours after a little afternoon pick-me-up that looks a fair bit like a Trader Joe’s fruit and nut bar.

While I haven’t been entirely migraine-free since July, the reduction in frequency and severity strongly correlates to my breakup with chocolate.

Sad about this, but resolute, I haven’t had chocolate for about 4 months, um, until the treat bags were dumped.  After checking the gf Halloween candy list, I indulged.   A couple of fun-sized candies on Thursday seemed to cause no ill effect; I had another couple on Friday, and again I felt fine, even victorious. I was pretty sure that the absence of all of those other irritants made an illicit love affair with cocoa possible once more.  Restraint was the order of the day–there would be no declarations of love shouted from rooftops.   Instead, I imagined a few down and dirty meetings–a little hot fudge here,  a fabulous Martha cookie there.  Today has crushed all hope of a reconciliation.  I loved chocolate once more, and again, it kicked me in the head…

Today’s opportunistic migraine brought to you by the letters m&m.