Thanksgiving=Happy

"Nothing is either good or bad. It's thinking that makes it so."

--William Shakespeare

Most days I choose to have an attitude of gratitude and my days are better for it. Today being Thanksgiving and all, that is especially true. I am truly grateful for all the blessings in my life. 

Because it's Thanksgiving and I've been seeing "Happy Thanksgiving" greetings everywhere, I pondered its meaning. Do we really mean "be happy while you're giving thanks today"? To me, it seems like it should be "Thanksgiving=Happy." I know that when I'm looking for things to be grateful for, even if it's been a particularly crap day and I don't feel like I have anything to be grateful for, when I start making a gratitude list, my attitude improves. If I am giving thanks, for the big things and even the smallest things, overall, I'm a happier person. 

I hope you had a Thanksgiving=Happy day today and carry that over into every one of your days! 

Ye Olde Pumpkin Pie

Oh, pumpkin pie, I so enjoy your fragrant deliciousness. I haven't had the honor of making the Thanksgiving pumpkin pies in a few years. There was that one year a few back when we had Thanksgiving here and I believe I made the pies. I think that may have even been vegan pumpkin pie that year. This year, I volunteered to bake and thought I'd share the process with you!

Something you should know about me first, I'm a "make the crust from scratch" kinda gal. What can I say, I'm my mother's daughter. She taught me well. 

Pie Crust

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

2/3 cups vegetable shortening

6-9 Tbsp. VERY cold water (I usually add a couple ice cubes to a bowl of water while I'm cutting the shortening into the dough and then use that.)

Measure your flour, salt and shortening into a bowl. Using a pastry cutter, mix everything together until it is crumbly. It should look like small pebbles, #1 (click the photo to get a closer look). Then add the water, three to four tablespoons at first, then mix. Then add at least two more tablespoons of water and continue to mix. the dough should begin to bind together as you're mixing/stirring. Depending on how well it's coming together (or not) you may or may not need to add the remaining water. Once it starts getting close to a ball of dough, dig right in with clean hands and bring it all together. You should end up with a ball of dough like #2. Cut the ball of dough in half and wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least a half hour. 

When the dough has had enough time to chill in the fridge, put one round of dough on a floured surface and roll it out (#3) until it's just a bit larger than a 9" pie pan. Carefully fold the dough circle in half, (but not pressing it together) then in half again to transfer it to your pie pan. Unfold the dough and form it into the pan. It can be a tricky process, but do like Tim Gunn says and just make it work. The finished shell should look like #4. Repeat with the other lump of dough. Yields two pie shells.

If you're not feeling up to the dough challenge, you can totally cheat and buy ready made pie crust, but then you won't have the satisfaction of making your own. Just try it! 

On to the pie. I used the recipe right of the can of Libby's 100% pumpkin. Apparently that's the one my mom's been using all these years!

Famous Pumpkin Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

4 large eggs

1 can (29 oz.) 100% pure pumpkin

2 cans Evaporated milk

2 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shells (see above)

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into unbaked pie shells.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350; bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. My pies baked for close to an hour so you have to keep an eye on them and let them do their thing. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours, then serve or refrigerate. 

The sugar-spice mixture.

The eggs, sugar-spice mixture and pumpkin prior to mixing. I used my mixer, but you can do the mixing by hand.

Ta-da!! It's pumpkin pie, fresh out of the oven. I cannot wait until tomorrow to eat it up!

The Revolution is Love

I came across this short video clip yesterday morning as I checked FB. A lovely family friend had posted it to her page. I watched it and was intrigued. Then I watched it again. I watched it a couple more times yesterday and I'll probably keep watching it. Charles Eisenstein is the man featured in the video and he brings up so many amazing points about what's possible in our world. He's an author and a professor.

Here are a few of my favorite ideas, paraphrased as best as I could capture them. Watch the clip and you'll hear it yourself.

"This movement isn't about the 99% defeating or toppling the 1%. You know the next chapter of that story, which is that the 99% create a new 1%. That's not what it's about. What we want to create is the more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible. A sacred world. A world that works for everybody. A world that is healing. A world of peace."

"Everybody wants to live a life of meaning. And Today we live in a money economy where we don't really depend on the gifts of anybody. We buy everything. Therefore we don't really need anybody....It's really hard to create community if the underlying knowledge is 'We don't need each another.'... Joint consumption doesn't create intimacy. Only joint creativity and gifts create intimacy and connection."

"Love is the felt experience of connection to another being. The economist says that 'More for you is less for me.' The lover knows that more for you is more for me too."

"Love is the expansion of self to include the 'other'. That's a different kind of revolution. There's no one to fight. There's no evil to fight. There's no 'other' in this revolution..."

More, please. I'm going to dig into what he's written.

Anthro Revisited

Yeah, I've got another Anthropologie set for you! Are you mad, bro? So maybe I did max out my "wouldn't it be nice?" credit card! Ha! Every time I play around on Polyvore making these outfit sets, I remember how much fun it is to style outfits. I love pulling fun looks together. 

One of my favorite looks is wearing these kind of shift dresses over skinny pants. So I pulled two looks together using a pair of skinny cream cords as the base. You get two really simple, yet pulled together outfits. They would be perfect for an office casual work situation.

I love that you can really mix and match with all these pieces so easily. The jackets would go with either dress and so do the shoes. I'd love to actually try these looks on at the store! Sometimes things layer really well and sometimes they just don't and you end up feeling lumpy. If that ended up being the case you could wear the dresses over leggings for winter or bare legs when the temps warm up a bit. Or skip the dresses and pair a simple t-shirt or turtle neck under either jacket with the cords. 

What do you think? Are you buying either look with your "wouldn't it be nice?" credit card? Or perhaps you have some similarly shaped pieces in your closet already that you could pull together for a similar silohoutte? I'm feeling inspired, we'll see if the inspiration carries over to my outfit tomorrow or later this week. 

Sunday Dreams

Anthropologie has come to Grand Rapids! It's been open for a few weeks now and I finally took the time to visit. Everything in the store is lovely! I wanted to buy pretty much everything.  Of course, you're saying. That's the general idea. It's probably been  about two years since my last Anthro visit. I was in NYC, and there's one right by my brother's office.  

I enjoyed my visit, but there's definitely a "the 1% are everywhere" vibe in our location. I never got that when checking out the store in New York or Chicago. I heard one mother talking to her tween daughter about just hiring another decorator so their house can be redone by spring. Another set of shoppers - a mother, father and daughter were so well dressed and groomed, they literally looked like they had just done a photo shoot. Lots of brand new high-end vehicles in the parking lot. For us real folks who rarely pay retail, but prefer the kind of quality and interesting design Anthro offers, they do have great sales. So don't be scared to check it out! Scope things out that you love and scoop them up on sale.

Instead of actually maxing out my credit card during today's visit, I did some "wouldn't it be nice?" shopping for the blog. Since it was a lovely day to be curled up enjoying the indoors today, if money were no object, the items above would totally be my jam for doing some weekend chillin'.

Are you a fan of Anthropologie? If you're local, have you been to our new store yet? 

Everything (Mostly) In Its Place

I don't know what your housekeeping secrets are, but I have heard a lot of people say, "we should have people over more often because the house really gets cleaned top to bottom." You can add my name to that list. While I keep my house pretty clean, when I'm super busy, the regular cleaning gets a bit neglected.

A couple weeks ago, I did a major clean at Casa Starr Fish and vowed to keep things from getting overly neglected by using a couple rules:

Everything has a place. Everything in its place. In other words, if use something, I put it back where it goes. If I'm making food in the kitchen, the kitchen starts clean and ends clean. No dishes left in the sink. Counters clear. Getting ready in the morning, all my "products", hair dryer, etc. go back where they belong.

Clean Sweep before bed. For anything that managed to not be put back in it's place, I do a sweep around the house and put those items away. The paper (I know, I still get the paper delivered. I'm a writer, I feel an allegiance to the printed word.) goes in its recycle spot. The mail gets sorted/recycled. I empty the dish strainer of the dinner dishes.

These two rules have kept the house fairly clutter free for more than two weeks. I obviously need to "clean" clean - kitchen and bathroom surfaces, floors, etc. on the regular. But keeping on top of the clutter  makes doing the real cleaning less daunting.

What are your clean house secrets?

One with Nature

Taking the time to capture this image while raking leaves made raking the leaves less horrible. 

Dig and Ditch

Dig it: The new show this season called Revenge. I'm watching it on hulu.com right now (multitasking all the time, yo!) and one part made me gasp out loud! Good stuff!

Dig it: Chocolate pudding from Marie Catrib's.

Ditch it: Cars that idle outside my house. First of all, who are you? It's unnerving and it's bad for the environment. Get in your car, start it and go. Or stop the car, turn it off and get out. It's not that difficult. In/out. Done. Quiet.

Ditch it: The neighbor dogs that bark incessantly when outside and they want back in. The neighbors get a ditch for letting them each stay out and bark. For the record it's two separate neighbors and dogs. Ugh!

Dig it: OccupyWallStreet. Today was the two month anniversary of the start of this movement. There was a groundswell of people in New York today marching about all day. I was checking out the ustream livefeed and it's so amazing, almost like you're there. History is being made.

Dig it: Soda water with ice and the juice of one lime.  Fizzy and delicious.

Ditch it:  Bad fluorescent lighting. Whenever I see it blaring out of someone's house, I shield my eyes and wonder how anyone can live with that light. It's so harsh and terrible.

Ditch it: Focusing on the negative or that which we wish were different. There are some many more productive ways to channel our energy. I realize that and I know the "ditch it" items on this list could be considered as me complaining.  Those thoughts have been floating around in my head for a week or so and I needed to get them out and set them free so I can focus on the good things around me. So there, I'm hopefully done with them.

Dig it: People who have a genuinely positive outlook about life. That kind of energy is captivating!

Since we're focused on the positive now, tell me what you're digging on these days!

What the Skull?

A relic from the Halloween party I went to.

This. That. And the Other.

It's been a while since I've done a "my brain on random post." So in no particular order, this is some of the stuff that's been shuffling around in my head for the last few days.

• I really need to start running again. It's been four weeks since the marathon. I was sick for about two weeks. Coldish. And now I'm just really enjoying my free time. I keep saying "maybe tomorrow..." One of these days, that will come true because I really WANT to run, not because I feel like I HAVE to.

• I lost my road map along the way for when you have a crush on someone and you have no idea how they see you, if at all. I'm like my 14-15 year old self, crushing on boys all over the place. Playin' it cool, but feeling like, where my skillz at, yo?

• I finally raked some leaves tonight after work. I kept thinking the whole time, "I so need to pay someone to do this." There's a ton left to do and very little daylight to work to light my way on the job after work. Bah!

• I'm slow to adapt to change that others foist upon me. I have yet to try the new Blogger interface. Anyone else try it? It took me forever to move to the new Twitter. Now Gmail has a new look. For crying out loud.

• I want to try making these deliciously tasty-looking pumpkin doughnuts.

• Currently smelling like a combination of pine needles, mint and medicine-y goodness thanks to a massage tonight. It probably sounds terrible, but I'm digging on it.

And I will leave you with this: one of Mike Doughty's songs (Lorna Zauberberg) that I cannot stop listening to since seeing him on Saturday. This video is from this tour's stop at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, so its all current!

A Mike Doughty PS

I saved the best Mike Doughty bits for last!

During the show, Mike let us all know that a "high-fi recording" was being made of the show. At some point soon it will magically appear online and I will download it and relive the show whenever I desire. Yay!

Mike was super fabulous and chatty during the show, which I loved. And then...then he said he'd be around after the show to say hello, sign autographs and what not! Did we hustle around after the show to make sure we got to meet him? Yes, we did! We had to wait in a bit of a line, in front of this annoyingly drunk girl who claimed to have had more fun at the show than anyone else there. N put it like this: she was drunk, but there was something else off about her. I tried my best to behave and not turn around and punch her out so we wouldn't have to endure her nonsense.

My Mike Doughty autographed ticket, along with Golden Delicious, which just happens to feature his handwriting!

Thankfully, the line moved quickly and we were soon standing in front of Mike Doughty saying hello. I told him that I've been a fan since the Soul Coughing days (TRUE!), but in light of how that ended, I probably shouldn't even mention that. He agreed, and kindly thanked me. He then signed my ticket! Unfortunately, due to the number of people, they weren't allowing photos. I may not have a proper photo, but the moment is there in my mind's eye.

Mike Doughty at House of Blues

As mentioned in the previous House of Blues post, I was in Chicago over the weekend to see Mike Doughty play his lyrically delicious musical program at the House of Blues. It's a great venue to see an artist like Mike Doughty. First of all, it's beautiful. I found out the music hall itself was modeled after the Estavovski (Stavovske divadlo) Opera House in Prague. So there's that. Then, it's fairly small. If I had to guess capacity, I'd say no more than 1,500. And since google exists, I can now tell you that capacity is 1,300.

Looking up at the box seats.

The opening act was a three piece called Moon Hooch. Two saxophones and a drummer, making some interesting and pretty cool music. They said Mike found them playing in the subway in New York and asked them if they wanted to go on a national tour. Yes and Also Yes had to be their answer, as they're currently touring with Mike. My favorite number was a dub step reminiscent song with contra bass.

Moon Hooch

Next up, of course, was the main event. The reason for a three hour each way drive from Grand Rapids, none other than Mike Doughty. He played with His Band Fantastic Band. They played a lengthy set with many of Doughty's more known songs including the current Na Na Nothing, 27 Jennifers, Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well, I Hear the Bells (contains one of my very favorite lines, "You snooze, you lose. Well I have snost and lost.") and Bustin' Up a Starbucks.

Mike Doughty

Mike Doughty and His Band Fantastic

On the drive into Chicago as I got more and more psyched to see him play, I wondered aloud if he'd be chatty with the audience. He was. Early on in the show he asked people what songs they wanted to hear. Many called out current material and others hopefully called out Soul Coughing songs. Seeing that the band broke up in the midst of tensions about the deal they'd made to equally share the rights to songs Doughty wrote, it's no surprise that he was quick to quash any hopes of hearing Soul Coughing material. He also spoke often about how his current music is available for purchase, but that it could also be ripped off online, which he actually encouraged.

Andrew "Scrap" Livingston on bass (r) and Mike Doughty.

It was such a fun show! I first heard Soul Coughing the summer of 1997 and have been a fan of Mike Doughty's voice and lyrical stylings ever since. So happy that he played Chicago and that I was able to go check him out.

House of Blues Chicago

I had no idea how cool the House of Blues, Chicago is you guys! Someone should have told me sooner! Of course, I knew it existed as a concert venue, but that's about it. I went to see Mike Doughty play there last night and was amazed at the entire experience. LOVED it! First of all, I love me some folk art and this place is jammed with it. Of course it makes sense and all, blues culture and the folk art asthetic go together, duh! My friend N and I had dinner downstairs before the show and I couldn't get enough of the art and decor in general. I think I even said, "I want to live here. I love it!"

So I did some searching and the HoB is, of course a chain. There are 13 locations throughout the country. Chicago opened in 1996. The first location opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1992. It's no longer open, but there is a Boston location. Obviously Chicago isn't the one and only, although this location felt authentic, not chain-y, which I appreciated greatly.

A tiny taste of the art/decor. This is from the "front porch" before you walk into the restaurant area on the first floor.

Yours truly, at dinner. This pic was originally super dark, but after tweaking with the levels, the overall vibe fits.

Crossroads at House of Blues Cornbread appetizer. Love the mini skillet and it was delicious!

Crossroads at House of Blues side of cole slaw. Red cabbage, carrots, cilantro and a light dressing.

Crossroads at House of Blues Trio of Cheese Rigatoni. I don't remember all three cheeses, but there was a hidden blanket of melty cheese in the middle of that mess of noodles. The sauce had a nice kick to it.

Clink clink clink

What my left wrist looks like lately. The stack of metal bangles combined with my trusty and non-traditional-looking Swatch. Until finding this combination, I've never really been a fan of wearing a mess of bracelets at once, but I love the tiny musical clink, clink, clink notes that emanate from my wrist now.

Na Na Nothing

Taco Boy

If you ask most people in Grand Rapids to name a locally owned place to get a burrito, they'll likely name one of three places - the Beltline Bar, Maggie's Kitchen or Taco Boy. Taco Boy is a bit of a Grand Rapids restaurant institution. The Beltline Bar is known for wet burritos, and to be honest, I haven't been there in ages so I won't carry on about it (not my favorite). Maggie's Kitchen is a favorite spot of mine, but it's nowhere near my office, so it's more of a weekend/day off place to grab a bite. Taco Boy, on the other hand, has a location close to my work and we eat lunch there OFTEN. And by often I mean at least once a week. Sometimes twice, usually it's when one of us didn't go on the first visit of the week.

The first time I ever went to Taco Boy was in high school. I had friends that lived near one and they kept talking about how if we ever go, the "taco meat burrito" is the only thing to order. It's known as their best menu item. This vegetarian has even had one. It was back in the day, before I stopped eating meat.

These days I get their bean and cheese burrito with onions and it does the trick. The other gem about Taco Boy is their hot sauce. It's awesome! It's gotta be home made. They keep it near the counter and as you can see in the photo, you fill up as many tiny cups as you need and administer it as needed. It's on the spicy side. I'm a bit of light weight when it comes to hot sauce...it only go through two cups. One of my work friends who digs on the hot sauce uses five, so you get the idea!

It's nothing fancy, really, it's just good. The food is consistent. The decor is pretty simple and clean. They get an interesting mix of people - office kids like me and my work pals, dudes working the trades - there are usually a few work trucks in the parking lot. Everyone's a Taco Boy at heart, because it's soo good!

The Interrupters

I'm listening to an interview with Ameena Matthews on The Story. She's featured in a documentary called The Interrupters about "violence interrupters" in Chicago. This is something else! The movie apparently played at UICA and I missed seeing it. I didn't know! So bummed that I missed it. It looks amazing. Check out the trailer and a clip below and you can listen to the interview with Ameena by clicking The Story link above. Powerful stuff!

Happiness

Today is my mom's birthday! I was fortunate enough to be able to celebrate it with her! We went to out to dinner - veg Pad Thai! Then we had dessert buffet from Marie Catrib's! Peanut butter pie, chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and carrot cake. So grateful for my mom! Happy Birthday, mom! I love you!

Oatmeal Bread

This recipe has been a favorite of mine for years. It's my mom's recipe and I've literally been making it since probably middle or high school. Long time, folks! In my book a recipe works when the actual prep is super simple and the end result is tasty and you find yourself going back to it time and time again.

This bread is delish for a weekend brunch or with soup for a quick dinner. Try it and see how you like it.

Oatmeal Bread

3 cups flour (I've used plain white flour or a combination of white and whole wheat)

5 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. salt

1 1/2 cups quick oats, uncooked (If you use old fashioned oats, give them a spin in the food processor to break them down a bit.)

1 1/4 cups milk (regular or soy)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 lg egg

Heat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9"x5"x3" bread pan.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. You can use a sifter to mix everything together or just use a whisk to stir all the dry ingredients together.

Combine the milk, honey, oil and egg in a smaller bowl. Whisk to combine. Then stir the dry into the dry ingredients. Mix together well until all the dry bits are incorporated and you've got something that resembles bread dough. Spread dough into the pan. Bake 55-60 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack before serving.

Dry ingredients, minus the oats. I used half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour.

Wet ingredients.

Wet and dry ingredients mixed together = dough.

Fresh out of the oven! Chilling on a wire rack.

Hi

I saw this simple little missive at a stop light while I was out running errands this afternoon. I wonder about the person who painted it and how many people among the thousands who must stop at that light every day actually see it. For Grand Rapids folks, it's the 28th Street West exit off 96 heading east.

I'm so happy I spied it and that I had enough time to capture the image to remember it by. I love it when I'm present enough to see and experience the unexpected. It always makes me think that anything can happen. Wonderful, amazing things!

Here's to experiencing the unexpected and welcoming wonderful, amazing things into our lives!