'BONE STRUCTURE' ~ WINTER LANDSCAPE

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."

~ Andrew Wyeth

Michigan Snowy Countryside

'WARM MEMORIES' (HUBBARD LAKE) ~ COMFORT FOOD (RYE BRISKET with VEGETABLES)

"Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories."

~ From the movie An Affair to Remember

MOONSET/SUNSET

(January 21, 2011)

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RYE BRISKET with VEGETABLES

(30 year old recipe adapted from Bon Appetit)

Whole brisket (8 pounds)

2 large chopped onions

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 packages onion soup mix

1 bottle chili sauce

1 can beer

3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

3 slices rye bread

8-12 large carrots

cracked pepper

chopped parsley

• Rub brisket with garlic and place on bed of chopped onion in tight covered roasting pan. In order over brisket sprinkle fresh pepper, Worcestershire sauce, soup mix, chili sauce, and beer.
• Lay carrots around brisket. Tear bread in small pieces and tuck under brisket so liquid is covering bread. Cover and place in oven at 350 º for 45 minutes.
• Reduce oven to 275º and cook for 2 hours and 15 minutes or until done. (Check to see if bread is covered by liquid).
• Remove and cool. Slice and arrange meat and carrots on oven proof platter. Cover with foil.

GRAVY:

Take bread, onions and 2 cups liquid from pan. Place in blender until blended. If too thick, add more liquid. Adjust seasoning. Return to pan and blend with remaining liquid. Abut 1/2 hour before serving, reheat meat and carrots. Arrange on serving platter. Pour part of gravy over sliced meat. Serve remainder separately in sauce boat. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

'Wa-gi-daa-king' Winter

(Hubbard Lake, MI)

View From Top Deck

Snowy Woods

January Sunset

(Hubbard Lake, MI)

WEDNESDAY WANDERINGS ~ JANUARY FULL MOON / LONE WINTER LEAVES

"Don't judge any man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins."

~ Indian Proverb

January Full Moon

'Great Spirit Moon' ~ Obijwe

(Gichi-manidoo-giizis)

Lone Leaf on a Branch

One leaf left on a branch
and not a sound of sadness
or despair. One leaf left
on a branch and no unhappiness.
One leaf left all by itself
in the air and it does not speak
of loneliness or death.
One leaf and it spends itself
in swaying mildly in the breeze.

~ David Ignatow

"The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living."

~ Russian Proverb

Winter Dew Drops

"Man's life is like a drop of dew on a leaf."

~ Socrates

"Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain."

~ Henry David Thoreau

'GOD PAINTS IN MANY COLORS ... '

"White ... is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black.... God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white."

~ Gilbert Keith Chesterton

[British author, 1874–1936] “A Piece of Chalk,” Tremendous Trifles (1909)

'THINK PINK' ~ THE COLOR OF HAPPINESS (COLOR OF THE YEAR) / SPICY BAKED 'PINK' SHRIMP

"If you want to be happy forever, make a garden."

~ Chinese Proverb

ORIENTAL POPPY

(Papaver orientale)

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SPICY BAKED 'Pink' SHRIMP

~ a simple one plate 'happy' supper

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp. Cajun or Creole seasoning

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley

1 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 pound uncooked large shrimp, shelled, deveined

lemon wedges

French bread

• Combine first 7 ingredients in 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake until shrimp are cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
• Garnish with lemon wedges and serve with crisp fresh French bread and favorite tossed salad topped with feta cheese.

Garden 'Happiness'

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A Color for All Seasons

Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it.

“The intensity of this festive reddish pink allures and engages. In fact, this color, not the sweet fragrance of the flower blossoms for which it was named, is what attracts hummingbirds to nectar. Honeysuckle may also bring a wave of nostalgia for its associated delicious scent reminiscent of the carefree days of spring and summer.”

PANTONE 2011 COLOR OF THE YEAR

'IN THE PINK' ~ BRANDIED BEAN & SAUSAGE CHOWDER (NATIONAL SOUP MONTH)

"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world."

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Happy Thoughts of Early Spring

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BRANDIED BEAN & SAUSAGE CHOWDER

~ Perfect Winter fare, sure to make you 'happy'

2 lbs. special bean soup mix

(e.g. '16' bean assortment --- with large lima, navy, red kidney, baby lima, great northern, speckled lima, black, pinto, cranberry, pink, and black-eyes peas, green and yellow split peas, lentils, etc. )

3 lbs bulk Italian sausage (one plain, one hot or spicy and one fennel )

3 quarts organic chicken broth

1 large chopped Spanish onion

3 large chopped garlic cloves

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 large chopped green pepper

1 large chopped red pepper

1 lb. peeled and diagonally sliced carrots

1 can (28-ounce) Italian style diced tomatoes

1 jar (32-ounce) sugar-free pasta sauce

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 cup chili powder

1 Tbsp. oregano

1 Tbsp. basil

1 tsp. marjoram

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. crushed rosemary

2 whole bay leaves

freshly ground cracked pepper to taste

Lawry's Seasoned Pepper to taste

coarse salt to taste

juice of large lemon

1 hefty cup brandy

• Wash and soak beans. Cover with cold water and soak 2 hours or overnight. Drain. In large pot, bring beans to boil in enough cold water to cover and simmer gently about 45 minutes, adding more water if necessary.
• While beans are cooking, saute sausage in large stockpot, breaking up large pieces. Cook until browned. If too lean, add a bit of olive oil. Drain off excess grease leaving a few scant Tbsp. Saute onion, garlic, and peppers. Carefully pour in chicken broth. Bring to boil.
• Add parsley, carrots, canned tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, brown sugar and seasonings. Reduce heat. Add drained beans and simmer one hour or until beans are tender. Stir in brandy before serving and adjust seasonings.

This hearty soup is great served with crusty sourdough or heavy multi-grained bread. (don't forget the sweet butter or, better yet, a dish of balsamic infused olive oil topped with crushed red pepper flakes.)

'In the Pink'

(Home & Garden)

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"Almost all words do have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone's eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too."

~ Gladys Taber

WELCOME THE NEW YEAR ~ 'AN OPEN BOOK ...'

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

~Edith Lovejoy Pierce