NEW YEAR'S EVE!

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."

~ Benjamin Franklin

CHEERS!

'WELCOME WINTER! CAN SPRING BE FAR BEHIND?' ~ PORK TENDERLOIN with CRANBERRY PORT SAUCE / WILD RICE PILAF

O, wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

'OLD MAN WINTER'

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PORK TENDERLOIN with CRANBERRY PORT SAUCE

~ Super easy holiday fare

3 pounds pork tenderloin ( l large or 2 smaller)
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried oregano
garlic powder
cracked pepper

1 cup ruby Port
1 cup whole cranberry sauce

• Spread mustard over tenderloins. Sprinkle with herbs, garlic powder and cracked pepper.
• Bake at 325º for 35 to 45 minutes depending on size, basting frequently. Remove meat from pan to rest.
• Add port to pan and deglaze, scraping bits from bottom. Add cranberry sauce and adjust seasonings. Slice pork diagonally and serve with sauce.

WILD RICE PILAF

1 cup wild rice, cooked in chicken stock according to package directions

4 Tbsp. butter

1/4 tsp. minced garlic

1 finely chopped onion

1 small finely chopped green pepper

1/2 finely chopped red pepper

4 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, green pepper, red pepper, and mushrooms. Saute until vegetables are soft. Toss vegetables with cooked wild rice and parsley. Season to taste with salt & pepper. (6-8 servings)

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home."

~ Edith Sitwell

DECEMBER MAGIC 'FIRST SNOW' / WINTER ROSE ~ CHICKEN ALOUETTE / ROASTED VEGETABLES with PECAN GREMOLATA

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."

~Norman Vincent Peale

Poinsettia 'Winter Rose'

(Euphorbia pulcherrima)

December Garden

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CHICKEN ALOUETTE

~ Classic holiday favorite from Southern Living (Dec 1991)

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1 (17 1/4 oz.) package frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 (4-oz) container garlic and spice flavored Alouette cheese

(1/2 cup chives/onion flavored cream cheese may be substituted)

6 skinned and boned chicken breast halves

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 beaten egg

1 Tablespoon water

flowering kale leaves for garnish

• Unfold pastry sheets, and roll each sheet into a 14 x 12-in. rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Cut sheet into four 7 x 6-in. rectangles; cut second sheet into two 7 x 6 in. rectangles and one 12 x 6 in. rectangle. Set large rectangle aside. Shape each small rectangle into and oval by trimming off corners. Spread pastry ovals evenly with cheese.
• Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and coarsely ground pepper. and place in center of each pastry oval. Lightly moisten pastry edges with water. Fold ends over chicken; fold sides over and press to seal. Place bundle, seam side down, on lightly greased baking sheet.
• Cut remaining large pastry rectangle into 12 x 1/4-in. strips. Braid 2 strips together and place crosswise over chicken bundles, trimming and reserving excess braid; braid 2 additional strips, and place lengthwise over bundle, trimming and tucking ends under. Repeat procedure with remaining strips. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 hours, if desired.
• Combine egg and 1 Tbsp water; brush over pastry bundles. Bake at 400º on lover oven rack 25 minutes or until golden brown. Garnish with flowering kale. ( 6 servings) Delicious served with roasted vegetables.

ROASTED VEGETABLES with PECAN GREMOLATA

~ Sure to become an autumn favorite from old (Nov 2003) Bon Appetit.

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1 lb. medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, then crosswise

1 lb. medium parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, then crosswise

1 lb. turnips, peeled, halved, cut into 1-inch thick wedges

1 1/4 lbs. brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved

6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

coarse salt & freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup pecans

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 oz.)

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, divided

1 Tbsp finely grated lemon peel

1 clove minced garlic

• Preheat oven to 425-degrees. Toss carrots, parsnips, turnips, and brussels sprouts in large brown with 3 Tbsp. oil. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with salt & freshly ground pepper. Roast until vegetables are tender, tossing often, about 1 hour. Transfer vegetables to large platter; cool.
• Using on/off turns, chop pecans in processor until coarsely ground. Transfer ground pecans to small bowl.; stir in grated cheese, parsley, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, lemon peel, garlic and 1 Tbsp. oil. Season gremolata to taste with salt.
• Drizzle vegetables with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil and remaining 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Sprinkle gremolata over vegetables just before serving. (8 servings)

'LET EVERY DAY BE CHRISTMAS' ~ HOLIDAY CACTUS / HOLIDAY CRAB CAKES

“Let Every Day Be Christmas”

~ Norman W. Brooks

Holiday cactus

(Schlumbergera truncata)

~ portrait overlay

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HOLIDAY CRAB CAKES

~ As an appetizer or entree, this family favorite is always a hit.

(easy broiling as tasty as frying)

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1 lb. good lump crab meat

1 cup panko crumbs

2 large lightly beaten organic eggs

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

4 finely chopped green onions

1/2 diced red bell pepper

1/2 diced yellow pepper

1 Tbs. chopped green chilies

2/3 cup mayonnaise

coarse salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

2 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter
Hungarian paprika
chopped green onions or chives

• Combine all ingredients. Gently fold in crab.
• Preheat broiler. Using scoop, drop onto Pam sprayed baking sheet. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with chopped green onion or chives and a dusting of Hungarian paprika.
• Broil approximately 6 minutes or until golden.

THANKSGIVING and/or CHRISTMAS CACTUS

Collectively, Christmas-, Thanksgiving- and Easter Cacti are often called "Holiday Cacti." The first two are members of the genus Schlumbergera. The plants most often sold ... as "Christmas Cacti" (by which name they sell best) are Schlumbergera truncata cultivars. These are clones selected for their colours and growth habit and given cultivar names. Their flowers are asymmetrical (zygomorphic), not normally pendent, but bent somewhat upward at the ovary, so that they grow outward, rather horizontally from the tips of the segments on branches which are usually much more erect than those of the true Christmas Cactus.

BEAUTEOUS REX BEGONIA ('Showboat of the begonia world')

"Every breath is a giveaway dance between you and the plants."

~ Susun Weed

Rex Begonia

(texture portrait)

Rex Cultorum Begonia

(American Begonia Society)

Rex begonias are the showboats of the begonia world and are a type of rhizomatous begonia that are grown for their multicolored leaves.

The leaves come in every color, pattern and shade, and every size and shape. All Rex Cultorum types are descended from the Indian species B. rex that was crossed with other types of rhizomatous begonias.

Rex begonias do bloom but are not grown for their blooms which pale in comparison to their spectacular leaves.

POINSETTIA 'NOCHE BUENA' ~ THE CHRISTMAS STAR

"Flowers seem intended for a solace of ordinary humanity."

~ John Ruskin

Poinsettia

(Euphorbia pulcherrima)

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Poinsettia

The first december birth flower is the Poinsettia which equals celebration, success, reassurance, and good cheer.

Also known as the Mexican flame leaf or Christmas star or Noche Buena , the poinsettia, is a plant known for its striking red displays at Christmas time. It is often used as a floral Christmas decoration because of its festive colors. Poinsettias are native to southern Mexico and Central America, where they may reach heights of sixteen feet. They are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States ambassador to Mexico, who introduced the plant in the U.S. in 1825.

A Mexican legend explains how poinsettias came to be associated with Christmas. Apparently, a child who could not afford a gift to offer to Christ on Christmas Eve picked some weeds from the side of a road. The child was told that a humble gift, if given in love, would be acceptable in God's eyes. When brought into the church, the weeds bloomed into red and green flowers and the congregation felt they had witnessed a Christmas miracle.

The Aztec Indians prized poinsettias and considered them a symbol of purity because of their brilliant red color. They made a reddish-purple dye from the colored "flowers", which are actually modified leaves called bracts. They also made a medicine against fevers from the latex sap of the plant.The "birth flowers" are actually large bunches of colored leaves; the flowers themselves are in the center of each leaf bunch, but rather small and inconspicuous.

NAKED NOVEMBER ... 'AND THIS IS THE WAY OF LIFE'

November

(Hubbard Lake, MI)

"Have you ever noticed a tree standing naked against the sky,

How beautiful it is?

All its branches are outlined, and in its nakedness

There is a poem, there is a song.

Every leaf is gone and it is waiting for the spring.

When the spring comes, it again fills the tree with

The music of many leaves,

Which in due season fall and are blown away.

And this is the way of life."

~ Krishnamurti

November

(Hubbard Lake, MI)

THANKSGIVING BLESSINGS ~ 'BE THANKFUL FOR THE MANY THINGS ... JUST TAKE THEM AS THEY COME'

Be thankful for the many things

That make this old world hum;

And if you can't have what you want,

Just take them as they come.

(treasured vintage Thanksgiving postcards)

GRATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING ~ NOVEMBER FULL MOON

"The day, water, sun, moon, night -

I do not have to purchase these things with money."

~ Plautus

NOVEMBER FULL MOON

(Freezing Moon - 'Gashkadino-giizis(oog)'

~ Ojibwe

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"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow."

~ Edward Sandford Martin

AUTUMN GIFT TO 'SWEETEN OUR LIPS' ~ PUMPKIN CHILI

"For ....we can make liquor to sweeten our lips

Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips."

~ Henry David Thoreau, 'Walden' (1854)

Autumn Texture Overlay

(original photo at Franklin Cider Mill, Franklin MI)

PUMPKIN CHILI

~ A delightful autumn twist on traditional chili, rich in flavor and ... the simmering smell ... simply divine!

(a repost seasonal favorite in case you missed it)

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2-3 lbs. lean ground beef

2 large chopped onions

1 chopped red pepper

1 chopped green, yellow, or orange pepper

2 (28 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with juice

2 cans rinsed black beans

1 large can pumpkin puree

1 can sliced black olives

1 bottle (12 oz.) Pumpkin Ale

(e.g. America's Original Pumpkin Ale - Buffalo Bill's Brewery

or Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale)

2 heaping Tbsp. chili powder (or more to taste)

2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 pinches of brown sugar

coarse salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

sour cream

chopped green onions

• Cook beef in large stockpot until well browned. Drain excess fat.
• Add onions and peppers and cook until soft. Add tomatoes and juice, beans, pumpkin, black olives, beer, spices, brown sugar, salt & pepper. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Adjust seasonings. Let rest a bit before serving or refrigerate (even better) and reheat.
• Ladle hot chili into bowls and, if desired, top with dollop of sour cream and chopped green onions. Warm White Cheddar Scallion Muffins are delicious on the side.

Note: Easy make ahead treat for Thanksgiving house guests.