Haiku - Girl on a wire.

Girl on a wire,
no safety net below her,
walks on bloody feet.

-|KXM|-
01/28/2011

January 2011, looking back.

I’ve been feeling as though I need to write a post, but I’ve not been particularly inspired.  2010 slipped out of her prom dress, and 2011 snuck in the window with little fanfare.  Today feels no different than yesterday, and I’m not looking forward to the coming year with any  particular anticipation.  This post is an edited version of the letter that went out with my holiday cards last month.  I like to use the holiday season as an opportunity to reflect upon the year that has passed and share some of the milestones with my friends and family, because even those with whom I speak regularly don’t always get all the information, and it is a nice exercise for me to review all that has happened.  It is very easy to forget what one has done!  

It’s hard to believe that it has been a whole year since I wrote my last annual winter note, yet at the same time, it seems like a distant memory.  I have survived more than half of my graduate program, though I think my sanity probably has a few more dings in it.  While I remain hopeful that this will lead me to good things, it has certainly not been a picnic.  I have 3 more classes to take—two this spring:  Economics for Public Affairs and Nonprofit Management, and then a capstone course over summer.  In the meantime, there is some talk of a potential new opportunity in my current job. 

Though my day job and my classes take up most of my time and energy, I have managed to do a few things this year.  I continue to serve as the Secretary of my neighborhood association.  In December, we had our 4^th annual holiday party which was wonderful and delicious as always.  I truly love that seeing my neighbors (and discovering what delectables they have brought for my consumption) is one of the things I most look forward to in the holiday season.  A new holiday tradition for me is an annual party thrown by some neighbors to raise money for the local food bank.  The family lives just down the street from me and have renovated a turn-of-the-century farm house, restoring it to a single-family home and infusing it with their seemingly boundless creativity.  Among the many awesome things that they do, is this annual soup party, now in its 18^th year.  They provide several amazingly huge pots of amazing soup, friends bring sides and desserts along with their own bowls & spoons (for which awards are given in various categories), and in the middle of their table is a large bowl for monetary contributions to the local food bank.  This year, the party raised $2200!  These are the kind of people whom I am astoundingly grateful and proud to count as friends and neighbors. 

Any recap of 2010 would be incomplete without at least a passing mention of SNOWMAGEDDON!  As noted in my last tome, the University of Pittsburgh rarely closes—even a Secret Service perimeter cutting through campus and snipers on the rooftops only caused afternoon classes to be canceled for one day.  Normally, we’re expected to show up for work like we’re the Postal Service (classes may be canceled, but staff still must report for work or forfeit a vacation day).  This year, however, Mother Nature finally beat Mark Nordenberg.  The epic snowstorm of February effectively shut down the City of Pittsburgh for three days.  Minus shoveling 3+ feet of snow off my 75ft driveway, it was actually a lot of fun to have snow days!  

In March, I again worked with a friend from Regent Square and the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh on our third community workshop to help homeowners make well-informed decisions about renovations that will accomplish their goals while avoiding mistakes that will lower the value of their home in the long run.  2010’s workshop focused specifically on energy efficiency, and in 2011’s will be on improving curb appeal.

In April, after the snow melted, I participated in the Amizade Water Walk for Women’s Rights which raised money to help a community in Tanzania have access to fresh, clean water which will not only have an obvious impact on the community’s health, but will free the women and girls from the arduous daily walk to fill cisterns of water that they must carry back to their village.  We walked 1.1 miles carrying 1.1 gallons of water to represent the estimated 1.1 billion people in the world who do not have access to clean water.  Thanks to the great generosity and support of my friends and family, I raised over $400.  I called upon their kindness again in October, and they helped me raise $335 for Farm Sanctuary, a farm animal rescue and advocacy group, by sponsoring me in the 2010 Walk for Farm Animals. 

Also in Spring, I had the weighty honor to officiate the wedding of two dear friends on Memorial Day.  It was an amazing experience (I had never done such a thing), and I am truly humbled that they asked me to participate in such a special way in this important occasion.  Based on the feedback, I think the ceremony was a success, and I am hopeful that it marked the beginning of a wonderful lifetime of love for my friends (and now their new baby!).

Last year, I reported on the wonderful visit I had with my friend, D, who came to see me from Slovenia.  This summer brought another European visitor, M, this time from Sweden.  My Swedish friend came to see his Pittsburgh sweetheart (also my friend), and I was very happy to spend some time with them over dinner and exploring a bit of Oakland, including a tour of the Cathedral of Learning’s Nationality Rooms and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  I’ve known M for about eight years through the web and letters, so it was a true delight to get to spend time with him in person, and I’m so very happy that my friends found one another.  

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended in late August/early September, as the nation was in an ignorant furor over the proposed Cordoba Community Center in midtown Manhattan.  I was happy and most grateful to accept the generosity and friendship of the Turkish Cultural Center and join them at their Iftar tent to celebrate community at the end of their daily fast.  Each night for the last week of Ramadan, members of the TCCP sponsor a meal and invite the public to come break bread with them, serving 100-200 people a day.  TCCP actively participates in interfaith and intercultural dialog in Pittsburgh, and I thank them for their tireless work to promote peace, friendship, and understanding, even as they often must face bigotry in their own home. 

The following week, I enjoyed my annual pilgrimage to the Scottish Highland Games in Ligonier, and later in the month, one of my cousins and her boyfriend moved in down the street.  It has been great to get to spend time with them and get to know my cousin better.  I’m hopeful that they’ll be staying in town for a few years so we’ll have some more time together before they most likely head back west.  

I was delighted to spend Thanksgiving with my mother, a good friend from India, and her mother who spends 6 months a year with her.  It was an honor to cook my friend’s mother’s first American Thanksgiving, and to share pullau and kheer with mashed potatoes, mushroom barley soup, and winter squash gratin.  In the America for which I am grateful, we are blessed to know friends from many places, break bread together, and get to know one another so that we can make sure that peace is always more important than chauvinism, and that love will ever cast out the seeds of war and ignorance.  

 My America also tastes a heck of a lot better.  ;-)

I hope that whatever celebrations you have this winter season are filled with light, food, friends, and family, and that they have called you to embody that greatest of all human aspirations—agapé love.  May the winter chill curl you inward to reflect, restore, and renew your soul so that you may greet 2011 with clear eyes, an open heart, and vigorous spirit.  

With much love and great gratitude for the amazingly beautiful, brilliant, kind, generous, creative, and compassionate people in my life—I wish you all health, wealth, and happiness in the coming year and always.

Thanksgiving Menu

Well, clearly, at the beginning of fall, I was all a-fluster with culinary inspiration which I happily shared with you back in October. Though I cooked up a storm in November and December, I didn't seem to find the time to take pictures or write about it, and I'm not thinking I'm going to find much time in the coming months to do so either, so I'd like to share my Thanksgiving menu before I am completely submerged by my evil economics class this semester.

I was delighted to stay home this Thanksgiving and get to cook.  This all sort of happened at the last minute, but I rustled up a nice meal for me, my mom, a friend, and her mom. It was extra special because my friend is from India and her mom was visiting at the time and I got to cook her first American Thanksgiving meal, and I love Thanksgiving! Once you get past its questionable origins, you are left with a day of celebrating harvest, friends, family, and gratitude around a table filled with delicious food. How can you beat that!?

So here is the menu:

Starters

• Mushroom Barley Soup
• Salad (mom)

Entrees

• Apple, Leek, and Butternut Squash Gratin
• I have now made this several times and it is a true crowd favorite! Super easy, less the peeling and slicing of the squash and apples, the sherry and leeks provide a superb backdrop for the sweet and savory apples and squash. You can use any type of hearty winter squash or pumpkin.

Sides

• Kale & Olive Oil Mashed potatoes
• OMG good. I made mine with buttermilk, and I used both red and green kale. Heidi is right that the kale will stain the potatoes, so if you are making it for a fancy dinner, be sure to blend in the kale just before serving for the best appearance. (It will, however, still taste great reheated later...)
• Rich Brown Gravy
• Mom likes this gravy even better than most turkey gravies. I have never once, in my many years of making this recipe, had it cook as fast as the directions say, and I also often add like a tablespoon of cornstarch (be sure to blend smooth with a little water before adding it, or it will lump up in the gravy) to help thicken it a bit. It is delicious with sauteed mushrooms blended in as well. 
• Scrumptious Green Beans
• Mattar Pullau (Aromatic Indian rice dish w/peas) (friends)

Desserts

• Pumpkin Pie (mom)
• Apple Oat Bars
• Kheer (Indian rice pudding) (friends)

One of the things I wanted to make, but ended up scratching once I realized that I had enough food for a small army to feed a dinner party of four, was Roasted Vegetable Ragoût w/Creamy Polenta. Since I had bought all the ingredients already, I made it the following weekend and it was deelish!

I intend, in the near future, to put up a page with some resources for vegetarian cooking--whether you're just interested in expanding your cooking horizons, looking to reduce the amount of meat you eat, or worried about what to cook up for one of your twig and berry eating friend, I have some links that I think will help you think a little differently about vegetarian cuisine, particularly if you have little experience with that style of cooking and think it is all twigs and tofu and "weird ingredients." :-D


Until then, however, I hope you enjoy some of these recipes! If you give something a try, leave me a comment below and let me know how it goes! Bon appetit!

(And, as always, if you find a broken link, please also let me know!)