There’s always room for giving thanks

So many people I know are giving a big sigh of relief today that Thanksgiving is over. Not so, me. It and the Winter Solstice are truly my favorite Holidays. Thanksgiving is about family, love, abundance, sharing. It is a time for gathering your loved ones around you and holding them tightly. For the last 4 years I have gathered with a small group of friends who have become my family. One of our crew moved this year and we felt her absence. I feel so lucky to have people I love, people to cook for. It is important to me to get out the good china, the nice tablecloth. Our feast is a potluck and I know I can taste the love.Yes, it is about food as well, which for me translates to being about the cooking. We had only 2 meat eaters at our feast and I cooked a whole, all be it small, turkey. I will happily have leftovers for some time.

I give thanks for all the love in my life, my family who has known me since birth, my friends whom I cherish, and my larger communities I am blessed to be a part of. I am lucky to belong to a world wide circle of people who live the way of Huichol Shamanism, and I am also lucky to belong to a large online community of personal chefs, many of whom I have gotten to meet in the last year.

I give thanks for the skills and talents the Creator gave me which allows me to love the work that I do. I give thanks to our Earth Mother for all the beautiful food She blesses us with, and all those who labor to bring it to our tables.

I pray for those who are hungry, who will be cold this winter, and those who are lost and lonely. I get to pick and choose what it is I feel like eating tomorrow. I get to sleep in a great bed tonight. I have a fire burning in my fireplace.

I give thanks.

Bread!

As a person working on living gluten free for almost 15 years, I have struggled with finding good bread. Believe me, I have tried many brands and have worked on learning to bake it myself. In one word, ugh! Most gluten free breads do not taste good, most are a weird texture. In the past few years, I have basically given up. And, recently, am moving towards a world that is not only gluten free, but flour free, so bread is out. But, there are those days when a sandwich calls my name.

I have mentioned the name Mark Sisson before in another post. He advocates a caveman diet… no grains! He recently gave a link to this recipe which is the reason for this post. You can find the original recipe here, which gives the nutritional info and it is always interesting to read peoples’ comments.

Foccacia Style Flax Bread

2 c flax seed meal

1 T. baking powder

1 tsp salt

1-2 T sweetening power from artificial sweetener ( I will NEVER advocate using artificial sweetener. Please inform yourself about aspartame. I used xylitol, which kept it very low carb but have no problem recommending sugar. It just would change the nutritional information)

5 beaten eggs

1/2c. water

1/3 c. oil ( I used olive)

Preheat oven to 350º. Prepare pan ( a 10×15″ pan with sides works best) with oiled parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Mix dry ingredients well. Add wet to dry, and combine well. Make sure there aren’t obvious strings of egg white hanging out in the batter ( if you look at the photo carefully, you will see that dreaded string!) Let batter set for 2 or 3 minutes to thicken up some ( leave it too long and it gets past the  point where it is easy to spread) Pour batter onto pan. Spread it out from the center into a rectangle an inch or so from the sides of the pan. Bake for aboutg 20 mins, until it springs back when you touch the tope. Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want.

oh, this is good. It is moist. There is a bit of a bitter aftertaste from the flax but it is not really noticeable.  I actually followed the recipe exactly, which is unusual for me but in recipe testing, that is important. I can see many variation possibilities. How about adding some soaked raisins and cinnamon for a breakfast treat ? Or, add some garlic and rosemary for a more traditional foccacia ?

As a personal chef, I often have clients who are gluten free and I plan on making this a regular part of my menu. It is easy. It is delicious. It is healthy. What more could you ask for ? A simple thing like a tuna fish sandwich brought me much satisfaction today. And yes, there was mayonaisse involved.

Pears

I have so much fun this time of year watching the birds in my neighbors’ pear tree. It is loaded with pears that they leave for the birds. I think most of the birds get a bit drunk on all that yumminess. I have a love/hate relationship with pears. I love the taste and have a very narrow window of eating opportunity. If they are not the exact degree of ripeness… ewww. Too ripe and I cannot abide the mushiness, not ripe enough and they feel very weird on my teeth! Cooking them solves some of that issue. Some years I have made pear sauce or pear butter. This year I have a new favorite savory recipe.

Winter Squash stuffed with Sausage and Pears

adapted from Weight Watchers

serves 8

4 medium acorn squash ( you could use Delicata or some other small globe squash. I cannot remember the name of the kind I used!)

16 oz. chicken sausage ( sweet italian is good, I used pork and thus it was no longer a weight watching recipe)

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 c. chopped pears

1 1/3 c. part skim ricotta cheese ( I used soft goat cheese)

2 T chopped fresh parsley

1 c. panko or soft bread crumbs

2 T parmesan cheese

2 T olive oil

Preheat oven to 350º. Cut each squash in half crosswise and remove seeds. Cut a small slice off each squash bottom to help it stand upright. Place squash, cut side down in a baking dish. Bake uncovered, for 45 mins.

In a large skillet, cook sausage, onions, and garlic until sausage is no longer pink and onion is tender. Remove from heat, drain off any fat. Stir in cheese, pears, and parsley. ( I added some sage as well)

Turn squash cut side up in the baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon sausage mixture into the baked squash, mounding the mixture as necessary. Bake uncovered, about 20 mins. or until squash is tender.

Stir together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over filling. ( feel free to use more cheese if not concerned about calories). Drizzle with olive oil and broil for 3-5 minutes or until crumbs are toasted.

For my personal chef clients, I offer this as a meal in and of itself and suggest they make a salad. If you wanted to continue the pear theme, add some sliced raw pears and crumbled blue cheese to that salad.

Pear season is passing, so give this a try.