Bei der Einrichtung von ACT-Remote-Datenbanken für den Außendienst mit der Aufteilung der Datensätze nach Vertriebsgebieten ist uns aufgefallen, dass dieses mit SAGE ACT nicht professionell möglich ist. Für eine professionelle Vertriebssteuerung sollten die Außendienstmitarbeiter nur für Ihr bestimmtes Gebiet oder Kundenkreis die erforderlichen Datensätze erhalten und bearbeiten. Für diese Aufgabenstellung gibt es bei ACT seit Jahren die Funktion der Datenbank-Synchronisation. Hiefür wird eine für den Außendienst bestimmte Datenbank (Remotedatenbank) aus der Hauptdatenbank erzeugt. Die Selektion der Datensätze wird mit dem vorher erstellten Sync-Set definiert.

*Bildquelle Handbuch SAGE ACT

Nach dem Installieren der ACT Remotedatenbank (getestet mit ACT!11. 1.183.0, Hotfix 1) auf dem Rechner des Außendienstmitarbeiters werden die gewünschten Kontakte passend zu der Sync-Set-Abfrage angezeigt, aber in der Firmenansicht werden alle Firmendatensätze mit den Historien und Notizen angezeigt. Der Benutzer der Remotedatenbank kann nun auf Firmendatensätze zugreifen, die nicht für ihn bestimmt sind.

Laut der Dokumentation von SAGE sollte das anders sein.

*Bildquelle Handbuch SAGE ACT

Für Kommentare zu diesen Beitrag würden wir uns freuen.

Here are Ways #s 4 and 5 from the last post which promised you 5 Ways to Be More Great-full (Boost Your Gratitude Attitude)…

#4: FAMILY (or couple’s) GRATITUDE BOOK
We just spent a very pleasant hour doing this great art & writing interactive project. So simple and yet so meaningful and fun! Quality family time!

We do not watch television, nor do our children. We are dedicated to parenting consciously and strive to support a vibration of love in our household. Yet, given that my husband and I are both entrepreneurs, with seven businesses between the two of us, and given that our children are still quite young, we know how important and sometimes challenging it can be to come up ideas (not to mention time, energy and materials) for positive family experiences.

I myself am about the least craftsy person you will ever meet and can draw a stick figure on a good day! So believe me when I tell you: Yes, you CAN do this project, and probably with what’s already available in your home. It really ranks high on simple, high on fun, high on memorable, and low on expense. (I can NEVER do those Origami things, puuleeeeeazzze, can we talk?)

Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time to do this Family Gratitude Book…but of course so is any day that ends in “y.” Monday, Tuesday…. Enjoy!

Materials:

All you need is:

Some blank paper (we used printer or copy paper, white)

Construction paper

Ribbon or brass brads to secure the book

Markers, pencils, hole punch and/or scissors

Optional: Stickers, stamps, other art supplies, scrapbook, photos

Definitely: A little bit of time and lots of love!

We started by making a brainstormed list of everything we are grateful for. You can do this any way you like; follow your own creative impulses & inspiration. We have four family members, so I decided to color code what we wrote on this collective page or you could just all write and draw without attributing who said/drew what, or make a chart, have sections of the page, etc. The things my 6-year-old called out first were written in yellow, my 10-year-old chose blue, I picked purple and my husband green. We made a color key on the page and wrote and drew various things we are thankful for: Our dog came first, followed by a lovely torrent such as family and friends, food, a good home, music, the Earth, music, health, God, life and so on.

Then I gave each family member a separate page on which to do whatever they like, the only requirement being that whatever is on the page relates to or represents what they are thankful for. We stuck in some more blank pages, so we can add more later as we are inspired.

The kids each got to pick a color for the front and back covers. The older did the words, the younger did the drawings. We punched holes, added brads, all signed the masterpiece and voila! A Family Gratitude Book.

Not only a wonderful way to spend part of our Thanksgiving Day, but a precious keepsake, and, I trust, a new family tradition as well. We will be sharing this book with family all weekend long and inviting them to add to it as well. And of course, it can be done any day! Every day bears its own gifts if we just open the package.

Today we focused mainly on what we are thankful for in our current lives (now), but we could also include wonderful memories (past) and gratitude for all the blessings on the way! (future)

Alternative for Couples: You can also do this as a Couple’s Gratitude Book or Journal, a beautiful way to show appreciation and deepen connection. So few marriages last or are happy, as we all know, and I am blessed to have a deliriously, deLIGHTfully ecstatic marriage, 12 years strong and better every day. One of the reasons is of course, the selection of the right mate; but in order to do so, we had to do the necessary self-healing and inner preparation to bring whole, healthy individuals to the relationship. Much of this work is presented in my book: The Radical Self-Love Workbook. But it is also essential to nurture even the best of relationships, and my husband and I do so daily in many creative ways such as this.

More tips on love and relationships are at

www.LoveandSpirit.org

and at my love blog: loveandspiritblog.wordpress.com.

Whether you do the Gratitude Book as a homemade book like we did today, like a scrapbook or journal, and whether you do it as a family activity or a couple’s relationship-enhancer, it will help you see your life through the eyes of love and gratitude, and bring you even closer with those you love. Enjoy! And I welcome you to send me a comment or email to share your experience.

#5: Honor the 4 Directions and 4 Sacred Elements:

Earth, Air, Fire, Water

You do not have to be Native American to appreciate one of their traditions, which is to honor the Medicine Wheel, facing each of the four directions, thanking each one for their gifts. This is also a tradition in all indigenous cultures including pre-Christian Europe (a.k.a. Wicca, Druidry, paganism, et al.), Africa, Australia, Hawaii and South America.

In fact, if you scratch the surface beneath contemporary religions on any part of the Earth, you will find an ancient shamanic tradition that honors all the directions and all of nature as sacred.

All things follow this cycle of birth, growth, fruition and quietude, whether we are looking at seasons, a lifespan, a day, or a garden. The beauty of Medicine Wheel ceremony and the paradigm itself is that it can be applied to our lives in so many ways.

So how do you honor the directions and elements, to give thanks for what they give to us so generously? Here are a few ideas:

* Altar: Create an altar to each direction or a Medicine Wheel altar encompassing all the directions/elements. This can be in your home or outside. My husband specializes in creating Medicine Wheels as a sacred practice on the land, and has helped others to do this as well.

* Cherokee Dance of Life – You would need to learn this in person from someone who has learned it, oral tradition. This is an incredible moving meditation to all 4 directions, peoples, and elements which also honors Mother Earth and Father Sky, balances their energies as sacred partners in our hearts, and helps us give away the gifts of Spirit that are our special medicine to share with the world through our right work and service. Occasionally my husband and I share this Dance with our community. If you live near Sacramento, and would like to experience this dance, let us know so we can invite you. Or perhaps Spirit will guide you to another teacher of this beautiful tradition.

* Drum, chant, play flute to each direction

* Give offerings such as cornmeal, tobacco or sage smoke to each direction

* Speak aloud from your heart to each direction and give thanks

* Sweat lodge

* Vision quest

If you do either sweat lodge or vision quest, please do so with the guidance of a Native elder to be sure you do it properly and safely.

* Journal or journey (shamanic meditation) to discover what power animals comprise your personal Medicine Wheel of your own energy field. I love to lead these meditations when I am called to do so. Honoring your own inner Medicine Wheel supports a strong aura and keeps you connected to your spirit guides, if this resonates for you.

Associations with Each Direction

Depending on which culture or even which tribe you consult, there are somewhat different associations with the directions, colors, elements and meanings, the medicine or power that direction helps us receive and embody. The one I am most familiar with follows but this is not dogma, merely a summary of what I have found to be the more universal associations. Follow your own heart and work with any spiritual practice in the way that resonates for your own heart and inner truth.

While I have a small amount of native blood, I was adopted and was not raised in that tradition. I discovered shamanism after my initiation and spiritual awakening 15 years ago. I do not claim to be a tribal elder or teacher of any one tradition. I am an interfaith minister, meditation teacher, hypnotherapist, energy healer and intuitive life coach. I have been on the path of Spirit, studying, practicing and sharing healing and wisdom teachings from many cultures for several decades, so I offer here a simplified summary as a starting point for your discovery journey. You would do well to study more in depth with a local teacher steeped in the particular tradition that calls to your spirit, and of course feel free to research further on the Web, in books, classes, and listen to your own inner guidance. I always say the best way to pray, do ceremony or ritual is the way that feels best to you, with harm to none, of course. But we do need to honor the specific traditions so they are not all diluted through multiculturalism.

From the East we have the yellow people (Asia) and the gift of Air, Brother Wind, clarity of vision, inspiration, the new day, new beginnings, establishment of purpose and intention, and springtime.

From South, we receive the wisdom of the black people (Africa), Fire. The tools, strength, perseverance and energy to follow through and manifest, midday/ noon, summer, also humor and passion, innocence and trust.

The West gives us the culture of the Red people (such as Native Americans), the setting sun, Water, emotions, the fall season, self-evaluation toward completion, looks-within time, peace, rest and healing.

And the North represents the White (European) people and all their cultural gift. The sacred mountain, winter, midnight, time to slow down, go within and be still to receive guidance for what comes next. Completion, what you keep from the past cycle and all that you have accomplished and learned. It is also associated with the Spirit and wisdom.

Note: You can also honor the other 3 directions: Earth (below), Sky (above) and Center (within).

I hope you enjoyed these five creative ways to give thanks and I wish you abundant blessings on your journey!

Finally, in the spirit of Sufi mystic poet Rumi, I invite you to kiss the ground. Blow kisses to the sky. Bow to everything. Everything is sacred.

With Love,

Sage

More resources for your path, including free special reports on abundance, love, transformational classes, soul and energy healing sessions, intuitive readings, matchmaking and more are at:

www.LoveandSpirit.org

Taylor@LoveandSpirit.org

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

- Rumi

Happy Thanksgiving!

“The eye, altering, alters all.” – William Blake

I recently saw the movie Up with my family and we were touched by the sweet message that it is the most simple moments that have the most meaning for us. I call those moments, like when Russell sits on the curb counting red and blue cars with his dad and then with his new (grand)father figure at the end of the movie, the “pearls on life’s necklace.” Individually, they are precious and delicate, yet strung one after another, they form a true treasure.

In an earlier post, I shared several reasons why it is so essential to enhance our gratitude attitude. So now, as promised, here are some fun, practical ideas for how to become even more grateful (great full), how to count more of those pearls and value them with your heart, while they are in your hands:

1. My Feet Touch the Earth.

A Native American custom is to give thanks to Mother Earth each morning upon rising, when your feet first touch the floor or ground. This helps us remember that the land we live upon is alive and sacred, worthy of our deepest respect and greatest appreciation. It also helps you receive her bounty, through food, health, abundance and every good thing you can touch or experience through your senses, and to feel more grounded and “in your body.” Another thing I love about this practice is it takes zero extra time; it’s just a shift in consciousness, and isn’t that what we are most striving for?

2. Write a (different kind of) Thank-You Letter.

Well, you already know about the traditional thank-you-for-the-gift kind of letter. I believe it’s on the Endangered Species List. (When’s the last time to sent or received one of those?) I highly recommend we resuscitate these as they bring and spread so much joy, especially the kind of letters, cards and notes you can actually…what’s that called?….Oh, yeah, TOUCH with your actual hands and reread over and over without having to go online. What a concept!

In addition to writing to give thanks for specific gifts or favors you have received, I propose you explore writing Thank-You Letters to:

* Your loved ones…just because

* Yourself

* God/The Universe

* Your Body

* Money

* Your Ancestors

* The Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Sun, Moon, Stars…

You see, the possibilities are as infinite as your abundantly grateful heart.

3. Take a Gratitude Walk.

Dedicate a walk to the awareness of thankfulness. This is a walking meditation and is best done in silence or punctuated only with your statements of appreciation or a simple mantra such as:

* Thank you, God, for all that is.

* Right here, right now, beauty all around me.

* I give thanks.

* I am thankful.

Your gratitude mantra can also just run in your mind without being spoken aloud. You can rhythmically coordinate the mantra to your steps, or not; follow your own guidance and what your body tells you to do.

Another option is to think or praise something with each step or everytime you notice something you are thankful for, such as: “Thank you for my feet that I may walk. Thank you for these trees I see…. Thank you for the air I breathe. Thank you for my children (husband, wife, etc..). Thank you for my home. Thank you for my dog. Thank you for my car. Thank you for my work. Thank you for music….”

While you are walking, you may give thanks for gifts from Spirit which you can see and hear and touch in the present moment, or other blessings in your life, counting your pearls, but the key is to keep every step, every breath, every moment focused on hearful, mindful appreciation.

This is an excellent exercise which combines nourishing your body through the movement itself with nourishing your mind, heart and soul by returning your awareness to what is precious and good, all around you and within you.

As a meditation teacher for the past 11 years, I have frequently met beginning students who lament, “I can’t meditate because I can’t sit still so long. My body hurts and gets fidgety.” Some meditation disciplines and teachers simply reply to this: “Just sit. Let the distraction of the mind chatter and body aches just fade away and just sit anyway. They are all illusions, and your mind will eventually clear as you ignore the ‘monkey mind.’”

This is true for some people, some of the time, as with so much wisdom. However, some people really do need to move more often. This can be due a medical condition, a tendency toward being highly kinesthetic, and/or a need to move energy and remember they have a body through touch and motion.

I am solidly in the latter category myself and find that I benefit optimally from a kaleidoscopic, multicultural meditation practice, drawn from Eastern and Western traditions – like the Meditation for Busy People course I designed for and taught at Kaiser Permanente. Sometimes still, some moving, sometimes silent, others with chanting or music or sacred sounds, sometimes focusing on the heart, third eye, or other chakra, other times aware of the whole body and energy field, sometimes open-eyed (gazing meditation is called “tratakam” in India), sometimes closed, focused on the inner space. Let me know if you would like to me to share more of my knowledge of meditation in this blog column. I teach many methods in my workshops, teleseminars and private practice and share them also on my meditation audios.

For whatever reason, if you do not enjoy an extended sitting meditation practice, you will likely give up on it, so I highly recommend exploring moving meditation such as Tai Chi, Chi Gun, Native American Dance of Life (Dance to the 4 Directions) and even some dynamic forms of yoga, or simply authentic body movement and dance as a meditation. Walking meditations like this gratitude walk is another wonderful way to integrate Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit, so give yourself permission to move while you meditate, and give yourself credit for “meditating” if you are moving consciously and feeling a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefit.

Anything you do that brings your awareness to the present moment, that cultivates mindfulness and what I call heartfulness, is a form of meditation, be it walking, stretching, drinking a cup of tea, even cooking or cleaning.

As Buddhist monk and teacher Thich Nat Hanh says, whatever you are doing, even if you are washing dishes, it is the most important thing in the world.And it can be done joyfully and gratefully. Absolutely anything and everything is a meditation when done with focus and appreciation. Right here. Right now. Love.

So I invite you to join me in striving to live Life as The Grand Meditation. The Prayer of Thankfulness that Never Ends. The moment of choice, the moment of change, the moment of power, healing and grace, is now.

∞

As for me, time to go practice gratitude with my family. Right here. Right now. We are about to create a Family Gratitude Book! I’ll let you know how it turns out, and I suspect that may become Gratitude Tip #4.

Your life can change in a moment’s notice.

And the moments you notice can change your entire life.

So, my friends, have a beautiful day…and another…and another…Keep adding to, and treasuring those precious gifts of moments of simple pleasure, in oneness, and in the company of loved ones, the pearls on your necklace of life.

With Love, Sage

P.S. Please share in comments:

What part of this article did you most resonate with?

What are your favorite ways to deepen your gratitude attitude?

And what are you most thankful for this season?

(what are some of your precious pearls)

Just click on the article title to add a comment if the box is not visible below. Thanks for visiting!

www.LoveandSpirit.org

Tuesday night, the thump-thump-thump of helicopters filled the air over our house, followed by the perhaps overly dramatic TV news flash, Wind-driven wildfire rages in Southern California.   We’ve had major fires here in three of the last four years here during the Santa Ana Winds and we’ve been evacuated twice.   Evacuation is a consciousness-raising experience, being forced under duress to choose one car full of your most precious belongings and drive away from the home you love.  Although we were not evacuated for last year’s Freeway Complex Fire (shown below in a picture taken by my son from a hill near our home), it was by far the most destructive, burning over 30,000 acres of the hills around us and destroying 187 homes.    We live one street and a row of houses away from a wilderness area and for the duration of the fire, crews and their trucks were posted along that street, just in case.

On the last night before the firefighters pulled out of our neighborhood, I walked the two blocks to the place where the closest engine was stationed.   Six exhausted firefighters were stretched out on a patch of grass, talking as they waited to be sent home … they were from Northern California and had been on the fire lines for five days.   I asked them if they’d like a cup of coffee and to say they responded with an enthusiastic YES would be an understatement.   I went home, brewed a fresh pot of coffee, and returned with the pot and six ceramic mugs.    As they eagerly sipped the hot, black liquid, one of them asked, What should we do with the cups when we’re done.    Just leave them on the grass, I answered, I’ll pick them up in the morning.

When I returned to claim our cups in the morning, they were nestled in the grass with two dozen virtually new golf balls that I assume they collected while fighting a blaze near a golf course or driving range.   Though I don’t play golf (much to my son-in-law’s chagrin), I was touched.   A grateful gesture in return for a grateful gesture.   A cup of coffee.  Two dozen golf balls.   A flower.   A card.   A post on a Facebook wall.   Older Eyes have shown me that when the gratitude list is done, I can take time to make a grateful gesture.   And when I receive one, I try return it in kind … or even better, pay it forward.

The wind was blowing southeasterly Tuesday night, carrying the fire away from us, and by  Wednesday night, it was under contol, so we’re OK and unevacuated.    I am very grateful for that and for the firefighters who do such an amazing job here in Socal.    I am so grateful to have my whole family here under our roof for Thanksgiving and for the lovely chaos that brings if I keep Perspective.     It’s been a difficult year and gratitude is a necessity not an option.    I’m thankful that through a combination of hard work by my sister, good fortune and an enlightened elder care program in Connecticut, my Dad is in a place where he’s fairly happy and well taken care of.   Having my sister there when my brother and I live far away is a blessing.   My brother has had a year that if anything has been harder than mine and I’m grateful that he’s hanging in there and has his wife by his side.  Losing my sister-in-law, Sandy, was devastating but I’m very grateful that I got to know her and that she lives on in our hearts.   I’m grateful that my brother-in-law, Norm, has so many friends to carry him through his grieving process and that he seems to be doing better than he thinks he is.    I’m grateful for medical care that got my wife better and gave Sandy a chance … a chance neither of them would have had even fifty years ago.   I’m thankful to have married into a family I love as my own and for the friends that have supported me through this year.   I feel capital-B Blessed.

Have a Happy and Grateful Thanksgiving.

Homemade gravy is one of those joys of life.  True, the turkey, dressing (stuffing with cornbread made in a pan, for the Yankee readers), vegetables, and pies bring a wonderful scent and flavor of home and family, but the gravy ties everything together.  Okay, I don’t use gravy on pie, but a little gravy may hit everything else on my plate for a holiday feast! As good as gravy is to eat, some folks have a hard time making it.  I’m going to give a recipe today for basic gravy that you can start with broth from the turkey neck bone and then expand with pan drippings.

When you prep your bird for brining, remove the turkey neck (it’ll be long, skinny and bony) and the heart, liver, lungs, etc.  If you wonder whether or not to brine, read here.  I have two cats that love turkey innards, and since they deserve a happy holiday too, I cook the innards separately for them.  I may address giblet gravy in a future post nonetheless. To make starter broth, boil the turkey neck, broken into a couple of pieces with a stalk of celery (cut into chunks), about half an onion, and a carrot, with enough water to cover.  I’ll also add fresh herbs from the garden, including a 6-inch piece of rosemary and a few sage leaves.  You could add a teaspoon or so each of dried sage and rosemary if you are not growing them fresh in your garden. Rosemary and sage are perennials where I live, if you give them a little help.  I cover them for a few months when it gets really cold, but just south of here I know of people who leave them exposed all winter and never lose them. Simmer the turkey neck and veggies and herbs for about an hour.  You’ll notice that this is a light broth, with very little fat.  You want it that way now, since you’ll be adding pan drippings later.  After that hour (or so), strain off the broth; that’s the base of your gravy.  Toss the veggies and herbs in your compost–they’ve done their job–or if you are really frugal you could save them for soup later.  Reserve the neck.  After the neck cools, you can pick off the meat.  It is full of good turkey flavor, making it perfect for turkey soup.  The remaining broth is a wonderful, protein-rich stock.  If you were to refrigerate now (which you could!), it would separate into a tiny line of fat on top with a jelly-like, fat-free aspic on the bottom.  The gelatin is protein.

Now the boiler where you were making the broth is empty but may still have some good stuff stuck inside, so let’s use it for phase two.  Begin by putting about 2 tablespoons of flour in the bottom, and then whisk in just enough broth to wet all of the flour.  Now add a little more broth until you have a smooth, thin paste.  Keep adding broth until it is all incorporated.  Now simmer the gravy base for at least 15 minutes, until the gravy base stops tasting like wallpaper paste.  No, it won’t taste good yet–we’ve added absolutely no salt yet–but it should be starting to look and smell like gravy.  Now turn off the heat and walk away.  If you’ve done this step well before when you’ll be serving the bird, refrigerate your gravy base.

When the turkey comes out of the oven (thirty to forty-five minutes before you want to serve it, since you need to let it rest to retain its juiciness), pour off as many pan juices as you can easily reach.  You can put the drippings in the freezer to speed its solidifying if you want to skim off the fat.  That said, it’s a holiday; just eat it!  Now start adding your pan drippings to the gravy base you made earlier, stirring as you add.  If you used salt in a brine or in other bird preparation, your pan drippings will give up some of that salt to your gravy.  Simmer the gravy to incorporate the pan drippings.  As you get the bird out of the pan, use a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white wine to de-glaze your pan and get the fons (those wonderful brown bits!).  Incorporate the de-glazing mix in the gravy.  Taste the gravy.  How is it?  Does it need a little salt or pepper?  That’s easy!  Does it need something else?  See below for easy fixes to common problems.

Not enough gravy for your big family? If you are thinking of what you’ll need for days to come, don’t worry.  Just use your turkey carcass to make more broth after you disassemble the turkey.  It’ll have that great pan flavor with no additions.  Just follow the steps for above for making the broth and adding the flour.  If you need more gravy now, though, you can use a commercial chicken broth mixed with flour (see above) and simmered with rosemary to get a quick addition.  Follow the steps below to doctor the results.

Pan drippings didn’t give enough flavor? Consider adding apple cider vinegar, white port, or sherry, one tablespoon at a time.  Consider adding quality soy sauce (umami!) a couple of quick dashes (shakes) at a time.  It’ll solve both the flavor and the color problem.

Does your gravy look pale? This problem can happen especially if you’ve had to use commercial chicken broth to add to your home-created turkey broth. Take a trick from Southern red-eye gravy and add a few grains of instant coffee (won’t affect thickness) or a teaspoon or so (add very carefully!) of brewed coffee.  Your gravy will take on a warm color and flavor.

Is your gravy too thin? Remember that gravy will thicken a little as it cools.  (See the protein-gelatin note above.)  If you think it won’t thicken enough, you can add more thickener now, but you need to be really careful about what you add.  The easiest thing to add to hot gravy to make it thicken without lumping is potato flour (not potato starch).  Sprinkle about a tablespoon of potato flour on the top of your gravy.  Whisk for a couple of minutes, and it will disappear like magic.  If you don’t have potato flour but have already fixed boiled potatoes, you can take half a medium red potato (no skin) and mash it into the gravy.  Start by mashing the potato half in a small bowl and then add gravy a little at a time to make it thinner and smooth.  Once it’s thinned down quite a bit, add the mixture into the gravy.  If you’ve made traditional mashed potatoes without anything funky added, you could do the same thing with it. Whatever you do, do not add wheat flour or corn starch to hot gravy.  You’ll make dumplings of wallpaper paste.

Lumpy gravy? This happens to everyone at some time.  If you have an immersion blender (a long stick that will go straight into the pot), pull it out and blend those lumps away.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a regular blender.  Just be very careful!  Hot liquids tend to sort of explode in the blender, so start by spooning just the lumps in the blender and then adding just enough liquid to blend.  No blender or food processor of any kind?  Strain the gravy as your pour it into your gravy boat.

Do you have a gravy problem I haven’t mentioned here?  questions?  Feel free to post!

If you don’t know about the benefits of Shea butter already, you are about to find out.

Shea butter is a trans dermal oil, which means that it has the capability to penetrate past the first layer of the dermis into its underlying layers. This is a phenomenal way to keep moisture locked in and to get to the root of the problem.

When Shea butter is used on the skin, it can vastly improve dry skin, sunburns, eczema and other minor skin irritations.

The cheapest and easiest way to extract Shea butter is to use a chemical extraction method, which strips the Shea butter of its natural vitamins and the natural healing properties that come with using it topically. SLI Beauty has its raw Shea butter extracted in the most natural way possible. The process includes picking the Shea Nut from the Shea tree, from there it is cracked, grilled and then pounded to extract the butter from the nut. Once this is finished it is boiled for a number of hours until the Shea butter rises to the top where it is scooped into gourds and left to cool. This is where you get the rawest form of Shea Butter.

SLI Beauty believes in using the rawest form of Shea Butter to ensure that the products it goes into receive its maximum benefits. When creating a private label line you have an opportunity to experience this natural wonder. The product is called Shea Butter Treatment. This product contains the raw Shea Butter, not to mention other beneficial ingredients such as emu oil, which is in fact another trans-dermal oil. ( This oil is only used from the animals that are already harvested for the meat and instead of leaving the rest go to waste, is used for its many beneficial features.) Emu oil benefits include; regenerative hair growth and  increase hair’s cellular activity(up to three times it’s normal activity). Emu oil is also a very effective anti-fungal and antibacterial agent, which will help lift any residue on the hair and scalp. This oil also is a major moisturizing agent, making it an excellent ingredient to add to a product that needs extra conditioning. Vitamin E is also another ingredient in the Shea Butter Treatment, which helps with hair growth and helps to maintain moisture in the hair.

Another benefit of the Shea Butter Treatment aside from its deep penetrating conditioner is the fact that it also contains Sage as an ingredient. Sage has been selected as an ingredient for this treatment, because of its incredible scalp clarifying properties. It deep cleans the oils and impurities away from the scalp while improving conditions like psoriasis.

The Shea Butter Treatment has undergone testing over the past 6 years and has been found not only to improve minor scalp irritations, but to also help problematic thinning hair. With conditions such as thinning hair or pattern baldness, what often happens is a “cap” is formed over the scalp and this clogs the hair follicle preventing hair growth. The Shea Butter Treatment actually removes the “cap” , cleaning out the follicle, allowing for any trapped hairs to be released.

This is an excellent retail product for clients with scalp irritations and that may be experiencing thinning hair. This is also a great treatment product within the salon to offer its clientele. Simple warm Shea Butter Treatment in your palms, massage the treatment into the hair, place in cap and add heat for 10-15 minutes. This product is also great for sunburns or minor skin irritations. A dual product with amazing results.

This product can be a part of your private label line. Please contact SLI Beauty for more information regarding this product and its benefits.

www.salonlabel.com

Direct- 1.250.590.3700

info@salonlabel.com

We are looking forward to speaking with you soon!

I have to start this post with the good news (there isn’t any bad): Two of our ponds finally got dug out! The work was done before the snow the weekend before last, but the dozer just left this past weekend. I think the ponds look fabulous, and they’re both deeper (much deeper!) and can’t help but provide more water sources for the horses next spring! I wish I could remember the contractor’s name; I’d thank him right here on the blog – thank you, contractor! Your work will provide a direct benefit to the horses! And thanks to BLM for starting the process rolling by securing the funds.

Let’s start with the pond behind/south of Round Top.

This what it looked like “un-dug.”

Here it is dug. Just imagine that baby filled with water!

Now here’s the other one, one of the “double ponds” off the far east loop road:

It blends in, doesn’t it? That’s OK – perfect, even! In the foreground is the wide arroyo the road crosses, and about midway up the left side IS the road … and up to the right, about midway, is the pond. (The second of the “double ponds” is back farther, closer to where the arroyo comes down from the east ridge.)

Here it is a little closer (zoomed in). I hiked back to it after a visit with Poco and Roach and just had my long lens. From closer, I couldn’t get nearly all the pond in any composition!

Another comparison:

This is the big pond below the roller-coaster ridge. Yes, it’s shrinking (it was the one pond that didn’t go dry in 2008; it did go dry this year, then filled back up), but look how shallow it looks compared to the ones that just got dug out! That’s serious siltification! (I have no idea whether that’s an actual word.)

Snow is still in patches throughout the basin, but the roads were mostly dry. It was a little soft back near the double ponds, so I didn’t go all the way around. Molly and Liberty and Duke remain elusive. I did see Seven’s but not Bounce’s, so Molly and her filly are a mystery right now (if Molly’s time has come, I’m expecting Liberty to show up with one of the other bands … maybe back with Seven, her sire, or with Bounce, who she and Molly spent at least a few days with after they left Seven’s band). Little Hayden is adjusting well to his abnormal babyhood. He’s fuzzy, and both Jif and stepdaddy Chrome are protective of him. I saw them just from a distance, walking along a ridge. Jif was leading, and Hayden was a short distance behind … with Chrome *right* behind him. He easily could have passed the youngster, but he stayed right with him, even stopping with him for a rest while Jif walked on till she realized they had stopped. Nothing’s more important than family, no matter the season.

Poco has regained some weight he lost while he and Roach were with Hollywood’s band.

Roach, low man on the totem pole, still looks great.

I was having flashbacks with regard to Kreacher’s band  like with Seven’s band after they were chased last summer: I hadn’t seen them except very far away since the ATV hunters spooked them. Found them finally a bit out of their normal territory, but then they ended up on the west-side loop road and were completely calm when I gingerly approached them to say howdy.

Looking out toward the eastern ridge/boundary. It doesn’t look very snowy, but patches were hiding in the shadows of saltbush and grassy stuff! You can see the tracks from the dozer on the road.

Corona seems to have made a connection with Kootenai since Koot joined them with Duke.

I caught them during their late-afternoon nap …

By this time of year, the mamas seem to feel like their ever-more-independent babes regard them just as milk bars. But every now and then, you can still catch them in a tender moment …

And a mother-daughter portrait or two.

Mona and Kootenai … still napping … on the other side of the road (no jokes!).

They’re very fuzzy (Kootenai, in particular, has a lush, furry coat; maybe it’s her color that makes it so apparent). Corona was a bit muddy, and the mud just accentuated her curls. She’s SO cute!

Just before sunset, I found Hollywood and his family, getting a drink at the Flat Top pond, which was on the dig-out list but didn’t get done because Mother Nature saw fit to rain enough just before it was to get done that water collected a bit here. About a third of that surface area (it didn’t fill) is dry again now.

This is the view from the road. Its the opposite end that’s drying first.

Hollywood and his shadow.

I wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving, no matter where you are or who you’re with. Other than my family, of course, I’m most thankful for the wild horses of Spring Creek Basin and elsewhere, and I’ll be gratefully and thankfully spending the holiday with them this year. Bounty of good life to you all!

For the next month, The Geese at The Goose will cover a recipe or two a week that use one of the 4 ingredients, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. We invited customers to send their favorites, especially if the recipe is simple and a family favorite! We will try to have pictures for you of the finished dish, but sometimes the light isn’t right, or the family doesn’t wait for someone to find the camera! This weeks recipe comes from customer, Kriss Eckenrode. Thank-you Kriss!

Ingredients

• 1 large onion or 2 small onions
• 1/2 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)
• 2 teaspoons English mustard
• 1 tablespoon dried sage
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 lemon
• 1 (4-pound) chicken, jointed into 10 pieces
• 12 sausages
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, chopped

Directions

Peel and cut the onion into eighths, and put into a freezer bag with the oil, mustard, dried sage, a good grinding of pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Cut lemon in half, squeeze juice into bag, and then cut the halves into eighths and add them. Rub everything around to mix (the mustard needs help to combine) and then add the chicken pieces. Leave to marinade in the refrigerator overnight, or for up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature in its marinade.

Arrange the chicken pieces in a roasting tin skin side up with the marinade, including all the bits and pieces, and tuck the sausages around them. Sprinkle the fresh sage leaves over the chicken and sausages and then put the tin into the oven to cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the sausages over half way through to color them evenly.

Arrange the chicken and sausages on a large platter.

Enjoy!

-The Geese at The Goose

I like to cook with real pumpkin when it’s in season. About once every year I get my hands on a pumpkin, and after roasting the seeds, I cook with the flesh. Usually I make chocolate-chip pumpkin bread. This year, I decided to try a recipe I saw a lot of online: pumpkin ravioli with sage brown butter sauce.

Does anyone serve dairy for Thanksgiving? Instead of (or in addition to) a traditional pumpkin pie, this would be a great seasonal recipe for anyone whose menu wasn’t filled with turkey and meat. Try this for a vegetarian (or your unkosher) Thanksgiving feast!

After pureeing and flavoring the pumpkin for the inside of the ravioli, I made my own dough to wrap it in, and rolled it out by hand. I only got about as far as 20 raviolis before I broke my rolling pin. I suggest using a pasta maker or the pasta Kitchenaid attachment. I have neither, so I went out and bought some wonton wrappers the next day (for less than $3) to form the rest of my raviolis, which I threw into the freezer to save for another day.

For the filling:

• About 2 cups of pumpkin
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cook the pumpkin in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking up the pieces as much as possible
2. Melt the butter with the pumpkin
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. Put the mixture into a food processor and puree.

I used Giada’s recipe for fresh pasta dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Place the flour in a food processor.
2. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the salt and olive oil to the eggs and stir to combine.
3. Add the egg mixture to the food processor. Pulse to combine the ingredients, scraping down the sides once or twice.
4. Continue, with the machine running, until the liquid is evenly distributed, about 1 minute. The dough should stick together if pinched between your fingers. The dough will be cornmeal-yellow in color. Some of the dough will be sticking together, but it will not form a single ball.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Press the dough into a ball and knead gently until the dough is smooth.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
7. Shape the pasta. Make sure you roll the dough out really really really thin!

Now it’s time to assemble your ravioli. Place a teaspoon of the pumpkin filling into the middle of your dough. Brush the edge of the dough with some egg wash and fold, making sure there are no holes for the pumpkin to leak out of while cooking.

Boil the formed raviolis for about 3 minutes, or until they float to the top. Set aside while you make the sauce:

• 1 stick of butter
• About 10 leaves of fresh sage
• Pinch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Brown the butter in a large saucepan. Be patient, it will take about 20-25 minutes.
2. Add the sage leaves to the butter, and cook for another minute, making sure the butter doesn’t burn.
3. Turn off the fire and season the sauce.
4. Pour the sauce over the ravioli and serve immediately.

Above are all half-moon shaped homemade raviolis. Stay tuned for when I cook my semi-store bought rectangular ones. What kind of sauce should I make with them?

The Kosher Foodies wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for this year? Aside from good food?

In surprising news, this release claims the current economy is too complex for macroeconomics. (Psst, it’s not really surprising at all.)

The release:

Strategic management theory offers fresh take on the economic crisis

New research published in Strategic Organization

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (November 24, 2009) – The recent financial crisis and resulting global economic downturn has been the most defining global economic event since the Great Depression. Now research which appears in the November issue of Strategic Organization, published by SAGE, illustrates new ideas and philosophies in economics from strategic management, uncovering the micro-level underpinnings of the macro-level events we witness today.

Macroeconomics experts have used traditional theories to understand the causes of the economic crisis and offer new schemes and ideas for recovery. These discussions about fiscal and monetary policy dominated much of the conversation about the crisis and what to do about it, according to one of the authors Peter Klein, from the Division of Applied Social Sciences, University of Missouri.

Klein and his co-authors argue that macroeconomics is not equipped to offer full solutions to this crisis. Its basic assumption is that factors of production, firms, and industries in the economy are homogeneous and interchangeable. Research in strategic management has consistently shown that the assumption that the economy is made up of homogeneous or interchangeable factors of production is incorrect.

Strategic management theory—with its emphasis on heterogeneously distributed and rather immobile and inelastic resources and capabilities—is ready to open the debate to new ideas for the recovery.

The idea that resources, firms, and industries are different from each other, that capital and labor are specialized for particular projects and activities, and that people (human capital), are distinct, is constantly encountered in strategic management theory and practice. That macroeconomic models assume factors of production in an economy are homogeneous is interesting, the authors point out, because this assumption creates problems for macroeconomics in both explaining the current crisis, and in deriving solutions.

The Bush Administration bailout and stimulus program in 2008 and continuing through the Obama Administration in 2009 represent a complex mixture of programs, designed to rescue failing banks, strengthen the financial sector, and appear to help homeowners. The same programs have been copied in the European Community throughout 2008.

The Obama Administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included both stimulus and infrastructure spending. The latter was designed to target particular industries, regions, technologies, and business practices for government support and to provide incentives for particular kinds of business and consumer behavior (e.g., to invest in new “green industries”. The EU plan copied this two-step approach on a smaller scale).

The article focuses on the macroeconomic stimulus itself, and—particularly in the US—the financial-sector bailout measures that followed. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress in September 2008 that radical steps were needed “to avoid a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen credit markets that threaten American families’ financial well-being, the viability of businesses both small and large, and the very health of our economy.”

The US government’s restructuring plans for the financial and automobile industries, and potentially for other sectors are likely to run into problems due to their basis in macroeconomic principles, the authors warn.

What should governments do during an economic downturn? The authors believe it is critical to avoid policies that generate poor investment in the first place. They argue strongly that basic heterogeneity of individuals, fiirms, industries, and regions cast doubt on the macroeconomic stimulus policies governments currently preach.

The authors discuss how just as strategic management theory has much to offer in understanding the crisis, the crisis has also thrown certain important weaknesses in current strategic management theory into sharp relief. Strategic management theory must extend its focus on heterogeneous capabilities to include the capabilities to handle major, anticipated shocks. Resourceful entrepreneurs and business managers urgently need us to do so, the authors state.

Adapting to external change is an important theme in strategic management research. Performance depends not only on resources and capabilities involved in production and market exchange, but also on the ability of business to influence political decision makers. In this climate, entrepreneurs may need to become skilled political lobbyists, taking advantage, and influencing the direction of the political debate.

Strategic management scholars have much to offer, and they must now engage in meaningful debate on how management theory can help resolve the current crisis, because the future, both immediate and long term, is at stake.

###

Heterogeneous Resources and the Financial Crisis: Implications of Strategic Management Theory by Rajshree Agarwal, Jay B. Barney, Nicolai J. Foss and Peter G. Klein is published today in Strategic Organization, published by SAGE. The article will be free online for a limited period fromhttp://soq.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/7/4/467

SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology and medicine. An independent company, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC. www.sagepublications.com

Ingredients

8 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from a 1-lb white loaf with crust removed)

4 cups coarsely crumbled corn bread

¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 stick unsalted butter

2 medium onions, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)

½ package baby Bella mushrooms, finely chopped

3 cups finely chopped celery

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup turkey giblet stock or low-sodium chicken broth

½ cup heavy cream

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Spread all breadcrumbs in 2 shallow baking pans and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven until dry, about 15 minutes total. Cool crumbs in pans on racks, then transfer to a large bowl and stir in parsley, sage, salt, and pepper.

Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, and add onions; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Then add mushrooms and celery, cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to bowl with crumbs and toss well. Add eggs, stock, and cream and toss well.

Transfer stuffing to a buttered 2 1/2- to 3-quart shallow baking dish. Bake, covered, in middle of oven 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until browned, about 30 minutes more.

Cooks’ Notes

Stuffing can be assembled (but not baked) 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Feel free to increase the quantity  of herbs (use the recipe only as guide) or  add other herbs such a thyme and rosemary. Roasted chestnuts are also a nice addition to this dish.

To make this “vegetarian friendly” simply substitute the turkey/chicken stock with vegetable broth.

~ Courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

(originally published November 1975)

Last night, I woke up a little before 4:00 am.   One of the negatives about growing older is that we tend to wake up more often during the night for a variety of reasons.   I have a strain in my elbow that begins to ache … and wakes me up …  if I roll into the wrong position.   Like many men, I wake up more often to use the bathroom, especially when I’m fighting an infection in the general neighborhood.    Sorry to be clinical folks but this is a blog about feeling older.    Hormonal changes also contribute to poor sleep, just ask any woman suffering through menopause, as do other health problems and lifestyle changes that are likely as we age.    If you need more information, start here.    On this particular night, I awoke to find it warmer in our bedroom than is conducive to sleeping.   My son is wiry thin and always cold … I have several layers of permafat and, well, you get the point.   It’s hard to find a thermostat setting that works for both of us.   He had turned it up during the night and now, I’m not only awake, I’m annoyed, not a good recipe for getting right back to sleep, especially when there are daytime issues to think about.

Do you remember the monologue from The Four Seasons by Danny (Jack Weston), the hypochondriac dentist, on lying awake at night?  Alright, I just hope that when you get to be my age, you don’t smell the foul breath of death and disintegration hanging over your shoulder the way I find it hanging over mine. I mean, I go to sleep at night on an ache so bad that it simply will not go away. I wake up in the middle of the night sweating, hearing my own bones decay. I have shifted into a state of entropy that’s progressing geometrically (see the last two minutes of the clip here). I’m not inclined toward night terrors about mortality but that’s partly because after about an hour of trying to go back to sleep, I give up … and get up.  So, I’m in my office before 5:00 am paying a few bills and waiting for it to get light enough to go to the park.   I’m tired and grouchy.   How do I find some Monday Smiles?

A dear friend of mine taught me that when something goes wrong … or when you’re down and don’t know what to do … do the Next Indicated Thing, that being what you would have done if nothing had happened.   If that doesn’t work, do the next one, then the next.    It’s very good advice and it works, most of the time.   So, I went to the park and started my Morning Pages … fell asleep for thirty minutes halfway through, not a bad remedy for four hours sleep.   When I woke again, I decided I needed some next indicated things that make me smile.   As I was scribbling down a few, my wife called: You were up and out early.  Are you OK? Nice.   We made a lunch date.   I’d noticed last night that the entryway needed a few new flowers, and as I said in Scoop Soil, Plant Flowers, planting flowers usually lifts me.   So I put a few upbeat songs on the car stereo (Happy Together by the Turtles and Soul Food to Go by Manhattan Transfer) then headed for Home Depot to buy some Cyclamen, my winter favorites.   Up to my wrists in wet potting soil, I felt better.   When I went around back to put away the potting soil, I noticed that the family of quail that had first shown up in the spring had returned, ten of them all grown up and scratching around in the soil like miniature high-fashion chickens.   Nice.   Now I’m finishing off this post and headed to The Corner Bakery for lunch with the Love of my Life.   And though I’ll still need a nap later, I’m smiling.

So, sometimes when the Next Indicated Thing isn’t enough, we need to be more selective and choose something with a smile inside.

Since coming back to the city, I have been finding it hard to get mushrooms out of my head. Of the myriad dishes circling my thoughts, standing out is a stuffed, rolled loin of pork. Stuffed, of course, with mushrooms: a sort of pork wellington roly-poly without the pastry. Perhaps within the stuffing, I’d throw in a little garlic, thyme and sage. 

There is something rather elegant and impressive about rolled food – roulades – and they are slightly under appreciated as a structure. They offer the chance to meld the flavours of two ingredients, rather than leaving them side by side on the plate. It is also a very practical way of serving large numbers of people – the tight roulade logs are neatly efficient of space in the oven and quick carving to get food out of the kitchen rapidly.

I have been envisaging a fanciful little scoring on the outside, diagonal slashes packed with rimming the served roll. With the loin flattened, gently scoring diagonally across it, before rubbing in some herbs, garlic and seasoning and oil. When rolled up, neatly and symmetrically, the scoring would appear as a helical trench around the meat, like the threading on a bolt.

I’m struggling to think what will be best with this. Perhaps crispy-fluffy roast potatoes or perhaps some sort of potato cake/stovie. And served with some roast roots, completing an earthy plateful.

Tried Sage Biscuits again, this time I took a non vegan recipe from Barefoot Contessa and veganized it!

Instead of butter, I used Earth Balance, and instead of half and half I used this vegan soy free cream substitute. Came out much better than the time before!

I received communication from Sage recently regarding the library of Extended Solutions for MAS 90/200, and wanted to share it with you.

Sage is continuing to take steps to simplify our product portfolio. We’ll now begin to phase out Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Solutions, which were created to address specialized needs of unique businesses. This phase-out process includes incorporating the main features and functionality of many of the top Extended Solution titles into the core product. That additional functionality will be delivered over the next several releases and product updates. This benefits our customers in many ways:

• Adds more value for Sage MAS 90 and 200 customers — most popular features and functionality will continue to be incorporated into core products over the next few releases and product updates
• Reduces “nickel and diming” — customers will see reduced maintenance charges on their annual renewal date when their Extended Solutions titles are no longer added in, resulting in a lower cost of ownership

Customers who own titles that will be retired, and not incorporated into the core product, will begin to see those Extended Solution title(s) drop off their renewal notices. As of November 1, 2010, we will no longer support any retired Extended Solutions titles. Please make note that the 2009 year-end updates will be the last year-end updates for those titles.

Customers who own the select group of titles that contain features and functionality that will be phased into Sage MAS 90 and 200 ERP over the next few releases will continue to see their title(s) on their renewal notices. Also, they’ll continue to receive support until such time as the features and functionality are incorporated into the core product. Once their title has been incorporated into the core product, they will see that title drop off their renewals.

To Summarize:

• Sage will continue to sell a select group of Extended Solutions titles that are compatible with Sage MAS 90 and 200 version 4.3 (contact Amy Shaver for a list of these titles).
• When the main features and functionality of those titles are incorporated into the product, the customers will no longer be charged M&S.
• Customer’s who own the retired Extended Solutions titles will see them removed from renewals.
• For new sales of the retired Extended Solutions titles, customers will purchase them directly from their reseller, working with a Source Code development partner, and not from Sage.

Feel free to contact Amy Shaver with any questions regarding your Sage MAS 90/200 Extended Solutions.  We will continue to keep customers updated as we receive information.

It’s that time of year again.  Time for me to eat myself into a stupor.  You wouldn’t think that someone my size was a big eater, but I tend to gorge myself at Thanksgiving…and I love every second of it.

I’ve only ever cooked Thanksgiving dinner once.  My husband and I lived in DC and couldn’t get home, so I made dinner for the two of us.  This year, my inlaws came up the week before and I did a big, traditional dinner.  It was ambitious, but with some planning, it’s not overwhelming. 

For this menu, make the pastry cream, raspberry puree and meringues ahead of time.  Assemble 2-3 hours before ready to serve, so that you have time to freeze it.  The turkey should ideally be brined 24 hours in advance, but I just did mine overnight and, since it was just the four of us, I only did a turkey breast.  The original recipe includes a recipe for gravy, but I left that out since I didn’t prepare it (yeah, yeah, I know).  The macaroni can be cooked and assembled the day before, just refrigerate until ready to bake.  I think that the stuffing was the only thing that couldn’t be done in advance to some degree. 

I apologize for the photos.  I forgot to take the pictures before we got into the food.

Perfect Roasted Turkey (Martha Stewart Living, November 2005)

3 cups coarse salt, plus more for seasoning

5 cups sugar

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

2 medium leeks, white and pale-green parts only, rinsed and coarsely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

2 dried bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme

3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns, plus freshly ground pepper

1 fresh turkey breast

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted, plus 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Chardonnay

Directions

Put salt, sugar, onions, leeks, carrots, celery, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, peppercorns, and 10 cups water in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, stirring until salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from heat; let brine cool completely.

Add turkey, breast first, to the brine. Cover; refrigerate 24 hours. Remove from brine; pat dry with paper towels. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Stir together melted butter and wine in a medium bowl. Fold a very large piece of cheesecloth into quarters so that it is large enough to cover breast and halfway down sides of turkey. Immerse cloth in butter mixture; let soak.

Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack set in a roasting pan. Fold wing tips under turkey. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper inside turkey. Loosely fill body and neck cavities with stuffing. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Fold neck flap under; secure with toothpicks. Rub turkey all over with softened butter; season with salt and pepper.

Remove cheesecloth from butter mixture, squeezing gently into bowl. Reserve butter mixture for brushing. Lay cheesecloth over turkey. Place turkey, legs first, in oven. Roast 30 minutes. Brush cheesecloth and exposed turkey with butter mixture. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Roast, brushing every 30 minutes, 2 1/2 hours more; cover with foil if browning too quickly.  For a moist turkey, cook to 165, making sure to check the turkey at various parts.  The USDA recommends 180, but 165 is perfectly safe.

Discard cheesecloth.  Let turkey stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes. Garnish, if desired.

Brown Butter, Sage and Mushroom Stuffing (Martha Stewart Show, November 2008)

3 teaspoons plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups low-sodium store-bought chicken broth

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1/2 cup sliced bacon, about 2 ounces

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 pound shiitake or button mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

French or Italian-style bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Butter a 9-by-9-inch square baking dish or a 10-by-6 1/2-inch oval baking dish with 2 teaspoons butter. Cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the dish and line with parchment paper. Butter parchment paper with 1 teaspoon butter. Set prepared dish, foil, and parchment aside until ready to bake.

In a small bowl, whisk together chicken broth, egg, and egg yolk; set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. Add bacon and cook for 1 minute. Add onion and celery and cook until softened, about 4 minutes more. Increase heat to high and add mushrooms, stirring to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes; stir in garlic. Remove skillet from heat and add parsley and sage. Transfer mushroom mixture to a medium bowl and add breadcrumbs, stirring carefully to combine; season with salt and cayenne pepper. Add chicken broth and egg mixture to stuffing, stirring until well combined. Transfer stuffing to prepared baking dish.

Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a small skillet over medium heat until bubbling and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Drizzle brown butter over stuffing and cover with prepared foil. Set baking dish on a baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake for 25 minutes, uncover, and continue baking 15 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stuffing cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Beverly Jones’ (my great aunt) Macaroni and Cheese (courtesy of Nana)

2 cups cooked macaroni noodles
8 to 12 ounces grated sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 large can evaporated milk
3 eggs
A little butter for the top

Directions

In a 2 quart casserole dish, layer macaroni and cheese, alternating until all macaroni and cheese have been used and ending on a cheese layer. 

In a large mixing bowl beat 3 eggs and 1 large can of evaporated milk plus 1 milk can of water together.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour over the casserole add a little butter on top.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until the center is set.

Pistachio and Raspberry Dacquoise (Martha Stewart’s Holiday Sweets)

1 cup (4 ounces) shelled, roasted, salted pistachios

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

6 large egg whites

1 cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

Pinch cream of tartar

2 cups (about 9 ounces) raspberries

Pastry Cream (recipe below)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 with racks in upper and lower positions.  Rub nuts in a towel to remove skins.  Coarsley chop nuts and transfer to a fine mesh sieve.  Gently shake over a paper towel and reserve powder for garnish. 

Draw 3 8-inch circles on two pieces of parchment paper.  Place marked sides down on two large baking sheets.  Set aside.

Stir the nuts and confectioners’ sugar together in a small bowl.

In a heatproof bowl set over, not in, a pan of simmering water, combine granulated sugar, egg whites, salt and cream of tartar.  Whisk until sugar has dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, about 3 minutes.  Remove bowl from heat.

With an electric mixer on medium, whisk until soft peaks form.  Increase speed to high and continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form. 

Gently fold in pistachio mixture.  With an offset spatula, spread 1/3 of mixture onto each parchment circle.

Bake for 1 hour, rotating sheets halfway through. 

Lower temperature to 175.  Bake for 45 minutes, rotate sheets and continue baking for another 45 to 75 minutes, or until meringues are dry and crisp and can be easily lifted from the parchment paper but are still white. 

Turn oven off and let meringues cool in oven for 45 minutes before removing.  Let cool completely on sheets. 

*The meringues can be made 1 day in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Puree 2/3 cup raspberries in a food processor.  Pass through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.  Discard seeds.  Puree can be refrigerated up to 1 day in advance and stored in an airtight container.

With an electric mixer, beat pastry cream until smooth. 

Beat 1/2 cup heavy cream with clean mixer to soft peaks.  Gently fold into pastry cream.

Reserve several berries for garnish.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Put one meringue on sheet.  Spread half of pastry cream mixture on top.  Spoon 4-5 tablespoons of raspberry puree onto cream.  Swirl with a knife.  Top with another meringue.  Spread remaining cream on top, leaving a 1.5 inch border. 

Spoon remaining puree in a spiral over pastry cream and swirl with knife.  Top with last meringue.  Gently press to spread filling almost to the edges.  Freeze until filling is solid but not completely frozen, 2-3 hours.

With an electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Top dacquoise with whipped cream, garnish with reserved berries and pistachio powder, if desired.  Cut with a serrated knife to serve, wiping between slices.

Pastry Cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 cups milk

Directions

Whisk 1/4 cup sugar, the yolks and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk in cornstarch 1 tablespoon at a time. 

Bring milk and remaining sugar to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk a little milk mixture into the yolk mixture.  Whisking continuously, gradually add remaining milk mixture.  Pour mixture into saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking constantly.

Cook, whisking until very thick, 2-3 minutes.  Pass through a fine-mesh sieve, discard solids.  Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto surface to keep a skin from forming.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

Yesterday, I had the Grumpies.   I snapped at my wife over some ridiculously insignificant thing, so insignificant that I can’t remember what it was.  I’ve been a little grumpy all week.   It’s the end of the year and finances are tight.   The job I’ve been working on is delayed and a check is late from a client.    My broker was slow in transferring some funds and a few large bills are due.   Yeah, I should be grateful, I have a client and, jeez, I have a broker.   I am grateful but I’m also grumpy.

For all my philosophizing and self-helping, my wife handles grumpiness, hers or mine, better than I do.   She knows instinctively that each of us will be grumpy sometimes, so she’s comfortable with her grumpiness.   She keeps her distance and doesn’t feel the need to explain unless it’s about me … in which case I may find a yellow stickie placed somewhere where I’m sure to find it.   Worse, she’s OK with my grumpy times … when I apologize she says, You’re entitled to be grumpy sometimes.    Me?   When she’s grumpy, I secretly believe it’s about me, no matter what she says … or, as a minimum, it’s my job to cheer her up and when I’m grumpy, I feel guilty about it (in between grumpy remarks).   Someone once told me If you can’t be happy, at least be cheerful and I think I should be able to pull off this off all the time.

If you’ve been reading here for a while, you’ve probably gathered that I’m in a 12-step program, one that will remain unnamed in the interests of anonymity.    Part of that program was performing the fearless moral inventory prescribed by the Fourth Step and then reading it to a sponsor, as suggested by the Fifth Step.   Given how wordy I am here, it won’t surprise you that my inventory was sixty-five pages, long hand, narrow-ruled paper.   My sponsor listened patiently for over an hour, then commented, You’re very self-centered, a defect of character that appeared nowhere in my sixty-five pages.    Of course, that’s a reason that you read it to a sponsor … a trusted (and honest) friend can often see both defects and assets you’ve missed.    Truthfully, I was insulted but as he explained what he meant, I came to see that he was right.   He meant that I was inclined to think that everything anyone else did was about me … I caused it or it was directed at me … or I blindly thought of how it affected me without considering their situation.   And … this was harder to swallow … I had an inflated view of the importance of what I said, did or felt to those around me.

I think we are all inclined to be self-centered in our own inimitable ways.   Becoming aware of them … then mitigating our overblown sense of self-importance … greatly improves any relationship, especially a marriage.   To get back to my grumpiness, I need to realize that while it may feel like the Biggest Deal in the World to me, it’s not to my wife.   It’s not her job to be a dumping ground for my bad mood, bend over backward to accomodate it, or get me over it.   My mood is mine.   I’d like her to be empathetic but she has her own stuff to deal with and I know how hard it is to empathize when I’ve got the Grumpies.   She isn’t my Mommy or my cheerleader.

Taking responsibility for our own moods … or giving others responsibility for theirs, for that matter … isn’t easy for some of us.   But it’s part of growing up, something I’m still doing at sixty-five.

Release Date: 20/11/09
Genre: Pop/Rap
Language: Korean
Bit rate: 320kbps

Tracklist:
01 – Dreamer (Feat. 박용효, 일창, 정혜선)
02 – Dreamer (MR)
03 – Dreamer (Inst.)

Full Single: Sage – Dreamer