A Merry, Slippery Christmas!

SockSliders
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

The guys got socks from Grandma Goetsch and the first thing Riley (center) did was put them on and slide across the kitchen. I think he might have actually been headed to the bathroom and nearly broke his neck. That's when he announced this wonderful phenomenon. They spent the better part of half an hour sliding up and down the kitchen.
"These are great," Nate said. "My feet are warm, but not sweaty!"

We had a wonderful evening last night. Beginning with Swedish meatballs and culminating with the sock slide. The only sad part of the evening was the Taylor's gift had not arrived. And we hadn't noticed. I ordered him a video capture card for his Playstation in mid-December and it never arrived. But I thought it had. He had ordered a device from Amazon about the same time using his birthday gift certificate from the Bullers. When that came we wrapped it up thinking it was the Christmas present. We finally got a shipping confirmation this morning from the other company. So he'll have another gift day next week.

We are about to head to a friend's house for Christmas dinner. My Vegan Chocolate Bundt cake will be a hit...I'm sure of it.

Merry Christmas everyone! Whether you are shoveling snow in the midwest or building an ark here in the southeast, we wish you a safe and happy day.

Teeth and the Medicaid System

"When was the last time you saw a dentist?" I asked Riley last night.

He did not remember.

I asked because Nate had his 6-month check last week and it reminded me that I'd not thought of that for Riley. Riley seems to be okay tooth-wise. They look good, he doesn't have bad breath, but still and all it's not good to go years between dental checkups. Although many students do.

The questions was interesting in its' timeliness. About 2 hours later he broke one side loose on his retainer. It's a permanent retainer that is bonded to the back of his lower front teeth.

And he turned 19 today, so his Medicaid runs out.

A couple of friends at church (that's where we were when it happened) suggested a dentist in Lancaster. Apparently he does lots of Medicaid work. I called there this morning and got a VERY UNHELPFUL person with VERY POOR GRAMMAR.

I explained his situation and mentioned that this dentist had been the one to do the retainer oh so many years ago.

"Nope, he's not our patient," she said. "He ain't in the computer." (at this I gritted MY teeth and took a breath)

"Well at any rate, is there any way you can squeeze him in today to either fix the retainer or pull it the rest of the way off?" I asked.

"No," she said. "We don't got no more appointments before the first of the year."

Now here, gentle reader, picture me using a tiny bit of my training in pranayama...breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out... and pulling on my knowledge of ahimsa (non violence)

"Hmmm...," I said. "Do you have any suggestions for me with this type of EMERGENCY?"

"No," she said.

Well, fortunately I am a woman with a network. I called our family dentist in Charlotte, who referred me to a dentist/orthodontist in Pineville. They do a lot of Medicaid work and were not at all concerned about navigating the system for me. I took him there at 11.

I sat in the dentist office with Riley for a while folding cranes, trying not to be sick about how much it could cost. The receptionist verified that he still has coverage through December. And they could bond the retainer back on. But that wasn't covered. Could I pay the $72? Yes. And I made an appointment for him to have a checkup on December 29. Now we have to get the paperwork done so he can continue with Medicaid after the month runs out.

I've baked his birthday cake (yellow, with cream cheese frosting. Yuck. He's getting plenty of grief about this boring combination), and tonight we'll order Chinese (his favorite). Right now there are LOTS of noises coming down the stairs. I have Nate, Taylor, Riley, Mitchell and Ryan up there. It's fun listening to them.

The Boys are Back in Town!

collegelaundry
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

...as my laundry room attests.

MensaBoy Joseph

BobNativity
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

MB made his acting debut last night as Joseph in the live nativity at the Billy Graham Library.

King of Sharpies

He: "The paint is coming off my glasses and the place doesn't think they can do anything about it."

Me: "Isn't there a warranty?"

He: "Apparently not."

Me: "Well, you're the king of Sharpies. What's holding you back?"

He: "I already tried that on Taylor's and it didn't work."

My Mat & Me

MyMat&Me
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

First let me begin this post by acknowledging that some of my readers will be convinced that I have gone off the deep end. But I'm counting on the few I know that have some yoga experience to understand what I'm talking about.

My yoga mat, even though this one is brand new, is my own personal clubhouse.

And I am the only member of the club.

I'm the only one that steps on my mat and I have a entry ritual too, just like any other club might have for its' members.

I unroll my mat green side up. It doesn't have a top and bottom per se. It is actually intentionally reversible. The bottom is a light blue and has a different texture to it. But when I unrolled it for the very first time last week I knew immediately that the green side was the "up" side. This is a permanent decision now, because when I washed it I draped it over the shower rod in the bathroom and later when I pulled it down the blue side got a snag from the shower curtain rings. I felt slightly sad when that happened but not a lot. It was sort of like when you get a new car and get that first scratch in it. It's over then. No more worrying about the first scratch.

So I unroll my mat by flipping it out and then I straighten it. If I'm fortunate enough to be on a surface that has no lines then the straightening is pretty simple. But on surfaces where there are lines, like edges of linoleum or wood or some other flooring material, I have to straighten the mat so that it lines up with those lines.

I never, ever step on my mat with shoes on. So I remove my shoes and lay them aside and put my red shawl and my strap within arm's reach. I also put my socks there in case I need them during svasana.

When I step on my mat, the world around me dims. It's kind of like bokeh in a photograph. A good photographer will adjust their aperture to put the subject in focus and then blur out distractions in the subject's background. Really cool bokeh, really strong bokeh, will cause the background to have very little definition...sometimes you can't really even see what the items in the back are. It's like that when I step on my mat.

The amount of dimming is controlled by me. If I am interested in the other students, I'll tune in my ears and open my eyes to what is going on around me. If I'm not, I will tune in only to the teacher's voice or the music playing. Much of the time I will go a step further and close my eyes.

When I'm on the mat it's just me and the asanas or pranayama. I work out my body and think about how grateful I am that it serves me so well. Sometimes I get frustrated with it. The Foot of Doom really caused endless trouble not just with my body but also with my mind and spirit as I struggled to do asanas and fought through pain and frustration. All of that happened on my old mat. I find it interesting that the pain left right as the new mat arrived. It's like a whole new practice right now.

Yesterday I wrote about using Yogi Liz's mat for a while. Her mat has affirmations and signatures on it from various teacher training things she has gone to. As I used the mat I would read these writings and feel affirmed myself, even though I knew they were intended for her. It was sort of like staying at friend's house while they are out of town and then rifling through their correspondence. A little weird.

I do not always practice with a mat. Especially at home. But when I use a mat, I use my own. It is like my own special home. I succeed and fail on it. I am happy and joyful and sad and frustrated and angry on my mat. It is my clubhouse.

(Re)New(ed) Feet on a New Mat

Feet on Mat
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

So you've all been listening to my ENDLESS whining about my "foot of doom," as my jazzerbuddy Terri calls it. No? Then you must not be reading me on Facebook.

Lucky you. I'm a champeen whiner!

Anyway.

First I broke (a stress fracture) the 3rd metatarsal on my left foot. In the process of having that taken care of, the "ultra-fashionable" boot they had me wear caused my somewhat dormant Plantar Fasciitis to come roaring on with a vengeance.

Well, I think I'm close to declaring myself HEALED!
Yup.
No.
Pain.

How did this happen? Well, the treatment ranged from Earth shoes (x2), Super Feet insoles, distance Reiki healing, prayer, laying on of hands, acupressure massage by my massage therapist, athletic tape, very old Birkenstock sandals, icing and...a thicker yoga mat for those times when one MUST be barefoot...yoga!

Yogi Liz graciously allowed me to borrow her personal Jade Harmony mat for a bit to see if the thicker mat would benefit. You'll see in my next post why I felt particularly touched that she would allow me to borrow her mat. Mats are very personal, somewhat intimate items and to loan it to someone else...well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't let just any old tom, dick or harry use mine.

But the thicker mat really helped keep me in yoga during the last couple of very painful weeks.

The Jade Harmony is a rubber mat. Quite thick and quite heavy. And the rubber smell never really goes away. To wash one is a major commitment as they can take days and days to dry.

So I decided to order a thicker mat of my own. While I like the Jade mat, Liz was able to order me a Kulae (pronounced coo-lie--long 'i') wholesale. So I was able to get an $80+ mat for about $36. The Kulae is made of TPE or Thermo Plastic Elastomer. It is a composite material that is 100% biodegradable and recyclable, and is 100% free from PVC, Chlorides, Dioxins, Latex and Rubber (free from allergens). It's a resilient, highly elastic material that is composed primarily of styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymers. (this whole last bit was stolen directly off the Kulae website. I'm pretty sure they won't care.) I bought the Kulae Ultra, which is almost 1/2-inch thick. Pretty spongy.

So now I'm breaking in a new mat. The hardest part is getting it to be not slippery. I've washed it once already and will probably have to do that again another time or two.

But my feet don't care. They are HAPPY!

Backyard Headstand or "Dump-the-Migraine-Pose" or "Look Mom! No Feet!"

headstand11.16.09
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

I posed the question whether one should go to Jazzercise for a migraine or do yoga.
Yogi Liz suggested headstand, shoulderstand, plow, svasana and alternate nostril breathing first. If I felt like Jazz after that, go then.
Well, I was so relaxed from laying in the backyard watching the birds that I skipped Jazz after all.
But I did get Taylor to take this photo. I'd been wanting a photo of my headstand. He popped off about a dozen shots. After about 8 he was ready to leave, and then I decided to try straightening just a little more. I'm glad I did. My legs were probably at about a 330-335 degrees in those photos. I'm much happier with this. Maybe tomorrow, if it's not really cold out, I'll get him to shoot Wheel pose.

Too Ugly to Photograph

But this has got to be the BEST potato soup I've made to date!

1 large leek...chopped
1/2 large onion...chopped (just to add a little bit of a sharper onion flavor)
2 cloves garlic...smashed, chopped
BUNCHA BUTTER

Throw that in a pot. Keep it low because you don't want the butter or the onions and stuff to brown. Salt liberally, Red pepper flakes liberally, cracked black pepper liberally. Once the leeks start to break down, pour in some vegetable stock that you forgot you had open.

While that simmers for a bit:

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut up
3 or 4 carrots, peeled and sliced thick

Put that in the pot. Add stock until you have the amount you want in there. Add dried basil, bay leaf, and then adjust salt and peppers. And then? If you think it needs just a little more richness, add the rest of the butter that you were too scared to put in the first time. Or maybe cream, or just some milk. Whatever.

Simmer until the potatoes and carrots are done. Smash them around a bit with your potato smasher.

Eat it.

WHOA! A great post-yoga late supper.

Strozzapreti with Roasted Tomatoes

Strozzapreti with Roasted Tomatoes
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

I made this recipe the other night for supper. It's from the New York Times: a series they call "recipes for health.," I've tried a couple of the recipes now and I have to say I'm hooked! I'll try to go back there every week and see what's up.

Anyway, strozzapreti is a hand-rolled, hollow pasta. In Italian the word means "priest choker." Rather than summarize the origin of that, I'll past the Wikipedia story about it here:

"There are several legends to explain the name "priest choker".

One is that gluttonous priests were so enthralled by the savory pasta that they ate too quickly and choked themselves, sometimes to death. Another explanation involves the "azdora" ("housewife" in the Romagna's dialect), who "chokes" the dough strips to make the strozzapreti: "... in that particular moment you would presume that the azdora would express such a rage (perhaps triggered by the misery and difficulties of her life) to be able to strangle a priest!" Another legend goes that wives would customarily make the pasta for churchmen as partial payment for land rents (In Romagna, the Catholic Church had extensive land properties rented to farmers), and their husbands would be angered enough by the venal priests eating their wives' food to wish the priests would choke as they stuffed their mouth with it. The name surely reflects the diffuse anticlericalism of the people of Romagna and Tuscany."

Ha! I do have to say that the explanation about choking the dough to make it is pretty accurate. And it is a very thick, chewy pasta. So as a food it is highly choke-able. At any rate, it was fun to make and the guys immediately volunteered that we should have it again. I do have to say, though, that it took about an hour to make the pasta. I suspect each time I make it, it will take less time. I had a pretty good rhythm going by the time I was half-way through the batch so it went a lot faster. It doesn't really make a huge pot of pasta. But it's so thick and filling that it was plenty for the three of us with another small serving left for my lunch. The recipe says it serve two, but I think you'd be uncomfortably full. Also...I almost forgot...another reason I like this recipe is because it calls for fresh tomatoes, which I love. But fresh slicing tomatoes are a no-no in our house when they are out of season because they taste so plastic. Cherry tomatoes, however, are pretty good and available all year around.

Strozzapreti with Roasted Tomatoes

SAUCE:
12 oz (about 22) cherry tomatoes, halved
3 T olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 C finely grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
1/2 C firmly pack fresh basil or parsley leaves

PASTA:
1 C grano duro flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
Salt

First the sauce:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, gently toss the tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon of the oil and 4 of the garlic cloves. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet, cut sides of the tomatoes up. Roast until soft and collapsing, about 45 minutes. Do not allow them to dry or brown.
Meanwhile, in a food processor combine the remaining garlic clove, cheese and basil or parsley. Process until very finely chopped. It will look granular. When the tomatoes are done, immediately spread the cheese-herb mixture on top of them and mash them lightly with the back of a spoon so the cheese melts. Drizzle with 2 more tablespoons of olive oil and set aside.

The strozzapreti:
Mound the 1 cup of flour on the counter, make a well in the center and drop in the eggs and flour. Using your hands, mix the eggs in the well, gradually pushing in more and more flour to make a pasty dough. Add more flour if needed, but don't let it get too stiff. You don't want it to be too sticky to shape with your hands and you don't want it too stiff and dry. Think about play-dough. Make it a little bit stiffer than that.
Roll the dough out onto a floured surface (wooden surfaces work best) until it's as thin as you can make it. Be sure you have enough flour down that you can pick up the dough easily. Cut the dough into strips about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. Don't worry about being exact.
Pick up a strip and wind it around a skewer. Bamboo would best but I just used a metal kabob skewer. Squeeze it onto the skewer (choking the priest) and then slide it off the end. It takes a little practice to get it down, but after several you'll figure out your own technique. Lay the strozzapreti out on a plate until you are all done.

Cook the strozzapreti in a large pot of boiling salted water. You want the pasta to be tender and slightly chewy, but cooked through. When it's done, drain it and pour into a large bowl. Immediately add the tomato mixture, tossing quickly.

Fixing the New NewsFeed Feature in Facebook

I'm sure they meant well.
But it's really annoying.

I found this link on Chris McGinn's FB page. It is courtesy Michael Monahan, who is not my FB friend, but is for sure a regular one! Thanks Michael! Michael was frustrated because he couldn't see all his Mafia Wars family updates. He's not my friend on FB, so I sent him a message when I couldn't make his first fix work.

Here is what he wrote:


First, if you're looking for the video tutorials for fixing the News Feed in Facebook, they are now on YouTube. There are two you absolutely need to see to undo the new changes that lets Facebook decide who you see in your news feed. Here are the video links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hub70yn5u84

This is the updated original video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8BzznYT5Dk

This is the additional video. You need to do this to manually make sure that all of your mafia/friends are showing up in your feed. Even after doing all of the steps in the first video, Facebook was still not showing all of my friends, including a member of my top mafia!


If you've seen the video, and you're still having trouble, please check the following:

If you have NO edit link at the bottom, you have to HIDE one post! Pick something other than mafia wars, hover your mouse to the right and select hide. Now go back to the bottom, and see if you have the edit link.

If after following all the steps, you have the edit button, but it isn't showing the "edit news feed" box, but an edit box that simply allows you to hide or unhide friends or applications, the fix is to go to the top of the home page. Click on NEWS FEED. As soon as that finishes loading, click back on LIVE FEED. Now go to the bottom and click edit.

Make sure that after you clear cookies, you LOG OUT of facebook! Log back in then follow the rest of the steps in the video.

For help with other browsers, follow these links to clear your cookies, then follow the other steps in the first video.

For Safari go here:
http://support.verio.com/documents/view_article.cfm?doc_id=4069

For Google Chrome: go here
http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95626

For Opera go here:
http://hdc.tamu.edu/reference/documentation/?section_id=792

For IE 8 go here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835

For IE 7 go here:
http://hdc.tamu.edu/reference/documentation/?section_id=788

For IE 6 go here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/customizing/clearcache.mspx

Shroom? Condos?

Shrooms101109
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

A friend refers to this as a photo of mushroom condos. They do look a little like some sort of multi-family housing, don't they? Aw. Sure they do. Use your imagination, for pete's sake!

It's finally cooling down here in the Carolinas. We are wearing SHOES. And SOCKS. And even the occasional JACKET. Yup. Of course, that doesn't mean we might not have an 80 degree day on Halloween, but things are definitely seeming rather fall-like here.

Mensa Boy is busy trying to put new rubber coating on the dishwasher rack. We had noticed brownish spots appearing on some of our dishes...the edges. Finally he decided to get to the root of the problem and discovered that the coating has started to come off in spots and the bare wires are rusting. New rack: $75. Bottle of rubber coating: $6. Keeping Mensa Boy busy and happy ("I'm sure having fun doing it!" he crowed.): PRICELESS.

Next project? Finding a way to replace the passenger rearview mirror on Big Green. I sideswiped a garbage cart last week. Photo to follow.

Time to retreat upstairs. Turns out that bottle of rubber coating stuff has a bit of an intoxicating aroma.

Operation Foot Rehab

Operation Foot Rehab is underway and I think I'm making progress.

This summer I sustained a stress fracture of the third metatarsal of the left foot. The ensuing treatment, which involved a special shoe, caused the plantar fasciitis to flare up to epic proportions. It was bad enough that my friend Terri actually dubbed the foot the "Foot of Doom." It caused real psychological problems for me, as it not only hindered by jazzercise, but also my yoga practice, and intermittently caused me to double over in pain as the heel would seize up suddenly and go into spasms.

Now, due to the miracle of prescription drugs and Birkenstock and Earth Shoes, I think I am working my way to normalcy.

But I am also working on my stance. I tend to pronate, which contributes to the arches falling. So I have put on a stretchy bracelet I bought from the Dorcus Widows Fund and I use that to remind myself to keep standing so that my weight is evenly distributing among all three points of each foot. I'm also working on making sure my feet are parallel and pointing forward. The bracelet reminds me to check. I'm starting to notice I'm doing those things more automatically now.

The prescription anti-inflammatory runs out in about a week. We'll see how the pain is then.

Squash Soup

A squash recipe I plan to try. I like roasting it but it's time to branch out!

Savory Squash Soup

Shrooms

Shrooms101109
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

I went stomping around in the woods today with Yogi Liz and her young son Jared. We had a great time! And didn't really get lost. Not much. Just once for a few minutes but we found the trail. Jared is a real trouper. We were out there a couple of hours and he never flagged. I took my camera with me--the first time in many months that I've taken photos. It felt good to have it out looking for things to shoot. Jared did some shooting too. That kid can really see stuff. And Light! He shot a photo of me in a log and mentioned that he thought it would be good shot but "a little dark by your eyes." He was right! I can't tell you how many times I've failed to notice how the light is playing on someone's face, only to discover it when I got home and loaded it up.

We walked around on an 85-acre patch of property that is currently being held in trust by some bank or something. One of the creeks... maybe six-mile?... runs through it, although it is pretty dry right now. And there are woods and meadows. Four-wheelers have been running around in there and we found some paths that had been mowed and/or bush-hogged through there. We speculated that perhaps the paths were cleared so that potential buyers could get around to see the property. It doesn't matter. We enjoyed the paths, both man-made and deer-made, and had a great time.

I came home and did a nice yoga practice that involved backbends and inversions. For the second day in a row I was able to do a headstand in the middle of the room and stay there for a little more than a minute. I'm pleased about that. I'll try to do one each day for a while I think. Yesterday in class we did a twisted head-to-knee pose (Janu Sirsasana) and I think I'll also try to do those for a while. It did great things for my side ribs.

Call a Spade a Spade, Why Don't Ya?

I hate props. In anything. Especially in yoga. I like to have my hands empty in life and on the mat. Heck, I don't even like to carry purses! Will I ever be a backpacker? Probably not. That would involve carrying my house on my back. The word "carry" is just not part of my vocabulary. I like to roam through life with my hands swinging free and unencumbered.

I'm only willing to use a strap in yoga because the one I have is cool and soft and just the right length and feels good on my bare feet. It's silk. And yeah, it's helpful at times. But I still only use it when I have to.

So today we were doing extended hand-to-toe pose (Utthita Hasta Padangustasana). Here's a photo. We were using straps to hold our feet up. I did fine standing on the left foot, which is weird because that's the foot that's been bothering me. But I simply could not find my balance on the right foot.

"You could move to a wall," YL said.

"Yes, but you know I'm too stubborn," I said.

"You could let your ego go," she said. (or something to that effect)

Argh. She's right. I do have an ego thing in yoga. I am more flexible and also have quite a bit of strength. When I am unable to do some pose, I'm not likely to admit it.

"You know I hate props," I said.

"Well, girlfriend," she said. "You might as well lose the strap then too!"

yeah yeah yeah. She's right.

DARNIT!

Cold Busters

Everyone has their own way of coping with colds. Copious amounts of orange juice, hot tea, water, chicken soup, over-the-counter-medications, sleep, etc.

I get bored. At least my taste buds do. I get tired of having my mouth taste like the bottom of a birdcage for days. Orange juice and birdcage taste don't really work for me as a winning combination. I like hot tea but there's the whole caffeine thing. And of course I put sugar in there. So between the sugar of the orange juice and the sugar AND caffeine in the tea, I end up feeling kind of worse. Chicken soup is good, but can be a bit dull on the tastebuds too.

I pretty much don't use any otc meds for colds unless I absolutely can't sleep at night. I've always ascribed to the theory that letting the cold run its' course is better than beating back some of the symptoms only to have them rage back worse than before. Sinus stuff is notorious for that.

I stopped using sinus stuff a couple of years ago when we got hooked on neti pots. We each have our own (mine is a special one...green ceramic...theirs are plain white boring ones). Here is a link on WebMD about them. My Dad has used salt water to clear his sinuses for as long as I can remember. But he puts table salt in his palm, adds water, and sniffs it up. That's waaaay more painful. I like to use sea salt in my neti pot. For some reason it seems to be milder on my nasal passages. Mensa Boy adds a little baking soda to his with the salt. But I think he still uses table salt. I use the neti pot whenever I'm stuffed up or if my nose is running and I feel like I'm sniffing a lot. I could be wrong, but I feel like I'd rather rinse that junk OUT than sniff it IN. So when I start sniffing, I do another rinse.

This time I've also taken to using a sinus rejuvenation oil that came with my pot. It was there in the box and I just never seemed to think I needed it before. Last night as I got ready for bed I decided to give it a try. BETTER THAN VICKS! The oil contains green myrtle, inula graveolens, rosemary verbenone, eucalyptus dives, peppermint, spike lavender. I don't know what the second stuff is, but I don't care. You just tip the bottle on your fingertip and then touch just inside each nostril with your finger. You get a menthol-type of feeling down your nasal passages at first. I was able to get to sleep quite well with my nose clear and unclogged. Drug free, too. The bottle says you can do it 3-4 times a day so I've done it each time I've used the neti pot today. The oil is by a company called Baraka, which is the company that made my neti pot.

I've also switched up the tea drinking. Instead of just black tea, I've been drinking some Yogi tea that Yogi Liz gave me yesterday. She gave me two teabags each of the Cold Season and Throat Comfort teas. The Throat Comfort tea is very nice, but I wouldn't say that there is anything that sets it apart from the Twinings herbal teas, which are less expensive. But the Cold Season tea...now that's a different story. The blend of cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and clove really give the tea a heat that helps with the bronchial and nasal discomfort. I liked that. But dang, that stuff is expensive. I seem to remember that it's about $7 a box! Another tea I like, that Yogi Liz also hooked me on, is Stash's chai green tea. This tea also has that winning combination of cinnamon, cardamom, clove and ginger, along with some other goodies.

So all this got me to thinking that it might be time to try the Yogi Tea recipe in the back of a Kundalini yoga book I've been reading. Here is the recipe:

• 2 quarts water
• 15 whole cloves
• 20 black peppercorns
• 3 sticks of cinnamon
• 20 whole cardamon pods (split the pods first)
• 8 fresh ginger slices (1/4" thick, no need to peel)
• 1/2 teaspoon regular or decaf black tea leaves (approximately 1 tea bag)
• Dairy or soy milk and honey or maple syrup to taste

Preparation:

Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Add cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, and ginger. Bring to a boil, then pull back the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, add black tea, and let cool. Strain and store in the refrigerator. Reheat when you want a cup and add milk and honey to taste.

This is great stuff! Whole cardamom can be hard to find. I buy mine from Penzey's online (because we don't have a store), but I'm thinking you could probably locate it in Indian or Asian grocery stores. Also, Yogi Liz suggests keeping the spices that you strain out. She makes another smaller batch with that as a way to stretch the bucks. I've put all but the ginger slices into an old Penzey's spice jar in the fridge.

So that's what I'm sipping as I write this. I think the black pepper really kicks this up to a whole new level of immunity-boosting. I don't add milk. I may try that. But I'll add it one cup at a time.

So. The soup. The chicken soup I've always made when someone has a cold has always been just run-of-the-mill. Simmer a bird, add onions, celery, carrots, bay, salt, pepper. Then add noodles or rice. blah blah blah. If your mouth already is bored, this soup, while good, is not really going to wake it up.

So I went back to the ginger. Mensa Boy hadn't gotten home with the ginger root for the tea yet, so I pulled out the minced, jarred ginger I have in the fridge. I whisked in a good heaping teaspoon-worth. Then I crushed up three big cloves of garlic and tossed in a pretty good-sized helping of red pepper flakes. I could actually TASTE this soup. This time we just poured it over basmati rice in our bowls. I didn't bother with the carrots and celery. I didn't hear any complaining!

So that's what I did today. Oh, and the sleeping. Lots of sleeping. And the cookies. Did I not mention the cookies? I end up munching on cookies periodically through the day when I have a cold. Birdcage-mouth, you know.

Stir-Fried Tofu and Peppers

I wish I had taken a photo of this before we ate it. It was gorgeous. And a winning supper, too!
Apparently the original recipe calls for beef, but this tofu version was delicious. Tofu is a hard sell for my guys but I think I'll try it on them. Peppers are a piece of cake. They like those. We've had sausage and pepper pasta several times lately.

Stir-Fried Tofu and Peppers

I discovered this feature on the NY Times called "Recipes for Health," and I'm going to make a point of checking for new ones every couple of days. The next one I think I'll try is Pasta with Walnut Sauce and Broccoli Raab.

Today I hung out all day with Yogi Liz. We started with her morning yoga class and capped the day with her evening one. Both classes were an introduction to Yin Yoga, which I've been doing on my own for several months now. I may regret doing two in one day...I'll know tomorrow, that's for sure!

Glee!

I stumbled upon this show on Fox the other day and was instantly hooked. Here is the website.

An adorable Spanish teacher (Will, played by Matthew Morrison) decides he will take over the high school Glee club after the former teacher is dismissed. He was in the club when he was in high school and has those glory days stuck in his head. "Back when I was here at this high school, the Glee club ruled!" he proclaims to the student body at an assembly.

The Principal agrees to let him work with the club, but he has to PAY $60 a month to keep it going. And monitor detention for several months. He is up against a malevolent cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester, who is played by Jane Lynch of "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind," as well as many other comedies by Christopher Guest. Sue wants Glee to fail because her budget is cut to allow for some of the expenses. One showdown between Sue and will starts with:

"Sue: Iron tablet? It keeps your strength up when you menstruate.
Will: I don't menstruate.
Sue: Neither do I."

The music is fantastic and every character has something that makes you want to say they are your favorite. You've got to give this show a try. Go to Fox on Demand and watch each episode. The main problem I'm going to have is watching on TV. We don't have surround sound. But when I watch on my laptop I have a nice sound system with a subwoofer so the music really stands out.

"I Don't Know about Tomorrow

I just live from day to day."

The words to an old Gospel hymn by Ira Stanphill, circa 1950.

Recently we've had a lot of things happen at our house. Complicated stuff. Nothing life-threatening, mind you. So don't worry about that. We've just found ourselves in situations where we are given opportunity to help some guys who have needed us.

We feel fortunate that we can help. Fortunate that we have the means to help.

But a question I get asked by friends and family is "what are your long range plans in this situation?"

Yesterday I felt kind of beaten down by that question. It's a reasonable one, but one I just could not answer. It's a question that I myself would normally would be asking. I'm a planner, a plotter, an organizer. And so my lack of a plan, and being asked about having one, kind of weighed on me. I began to feel inadequate because I don't have one.

But after talking it out, praying it out, thinking it out, I've come to the conclusion that, for now, it's best to just not have one. To just roll with the punches. To take each day...each minute...as it comes.

"I don't know
About tomorrow
I just live from day to day
And I don't borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to gray
And I don't worry about my future
For I know what Jesus said
And today He walks beside me
For He knows what lies ahead
Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to under-understand
But I, I know, I know, I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds, who holds my hand
Oh yeah, yeah, yes, hey, yes
Who holds my hand"