Annice
There I was in NYC, the week-end before Thanksgiving, getting ready for the wedding – her first, at 53 – of one of my oldest and best friends. Esther had never wanted to get married before, and, believe me, it’s not because no one ever asked her, but she finally met a man who changed her mind. And what a wedding it was, on top of the Gramercy Park Hotel, overlooking NYC night life!
Ok, it’s Thanksgving week, and lots of people have asked my husband, the Chestnut Roaster of Asheville, for a good stuffing recipe using chestnuts.
Well, here’s one that I like. It’s easy, as all stuffing recipes are, really, and it is very tasty.
Chestnut & Bacon Stuffing
1. Fry the bacon until browned. Add the celery & onion, and fry for around 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, along with the cooked bacon, celery & onion mixture, and combine thoroughly.
3. Pack the stuffing loosely in the neck and body cavity of the bird.
(Or, alternatively, preheat oven to 325F and bake stuffing in a greased and covered casserole dish for around 30 min.)
If you do bake this stuffing on its own, serve with gravy because the flavors blend nicely and will temper the sharpness of the citrus.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jane
I realized today that I am halfway through the liquid portion of this program, so I’m feeling pretty amazed and proud of myself. I made my first goal of 10% of my initial weight, so now I start working on the second 10%. (The program guarantees that you’ll lose at least 20% of your initial weight during the 12 weeks of liquid, or “active weight loss.” What you do after that depends on how well you stick to the “transition” program.)
Our topic this past week was “Appropriate and Inappropriate Eating.” We learned the 5 P’s of Appropriate Eating, i.e. Planned, Portion Controlled, Proportionate, Proper Place and Peaceful (apparently they’re not English majors concerned about parallel structure!). A critical thing in being a successful “weight manager” is always to plan out, ahead of time, what, where and how you’re going to eat. So, instead of going out to dinner and deciding to eat whatever happens to strike your fancy, in whatever portion happens to come on the plate, you would decide that you are going to make sure you get the different food groups, in the portions you need. If the plate has huge portions, you will immediately ask for a doggy bag, reduce your servings to the size that fit your caloric needs, and take the abundance home with you for another meal–or, if all else fails, send food back to the kitchen.
This all makes so much sense to me that I find it startling that I’ve gone through so much of my life being an unaware, almost unconscious eater. I’ve been led by my eyes, nose, even my imagination, to overeat, over and over again–simply because my plate had too much food on it–or the wrong kind of food–never realizing that I could be in so much better control of what goes onto my fork and into my mouth. I have confused planning and thoughtful eating with being a “picky” or “overly fussy” eater.
That touches on the first 3 P’s, but I’d like to talk also about the last two: Proper Place and Peaceful. Proper Place means you don’t eat in front of the tv set or, worst of all, standing up in the kitchen, ”grazing,” or at your desk, in front of your computer. You are supposed to make rules about where you eat, preferably one specified place, and then stick to those rules. I get pangs of guilt when I think of the meals my children have eaten in the car on the way to a soccer game, band concert, whatever. The final one, “peaceful,” is one that also comes hard to me at times. Meals in our house are often rushed, with people wolfing down food before running out the door. An important quote from this week’s material: “it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to get the message you have eaten and turn off your food seeking drive.” You are supposed to sit and enjoy your food, savoring each bite. It’s hard, but I’m working on it! They have an exercise for this one: make yourself put down your fork in between bites! Try it! It’s hard! (more…)
Dear Johanna,
For my 60th birthday, my husband decided to gift me with a new laptop. Now, keep in mind that I have a lovely laptop that he gave me 3 years ago (with no consultation) that weighs 18 POUNDS–which may not sound like much but is too heavy for me to lug around because of my knee problems. I have often complained about its weight and even left it behind when I would have liked to have it with me–but he has been happy to use it. Anyway, guess what my husband got me this time!: ANOTHER 18 POUNDER! I asked him to return it for one that I could carry more easily, but, instead, he kept it for himself BECAUSE, in fact, his is not working right, so HE GOT IT FOR HIMSELF and got mad at me for complaining, with the old “I can never do anything right.” I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but last Christmas, he got me a camera that I didn’t really want or need and said “well, if you don’t like it, I”ll use it.” Any suggestions?
Heated in Hillsborough
Dear Heated,
My one suggestion to you is, don’t worry, you just figure out exactly what you want for your birthday–what you would have liked to have received–and give it to him for his birthday! That way, you’re both happy!
Johanna
A Chick Story
Farmer John lived on a quiet rural highway, but as the years went by, traffic
slowly built up to an alarming rate.
The traffic was so heavy and so fast that his
chickens were being run over at a rate of three to six a day.
Farmer John called the sheriff’s office and said,
“You’ve got to do something about all
of these people driving so fast and killing all of my chickens!”
Shortly, a sign was put up that said:
SLOW: SCHOOL CROSSING
Three days later Farmer John called the sheriff
and said, “The sign seems to make them go even faster.”
A new sign was put up the next day that said:
SLOW: CHILDREN AT PLAY
Farmer John called again and said, “Your signs are doing no good! Can I put up my own sign?”
The sheriff told him, “Sure thing, put up your own sign.”
The sheriff got no more calls from Farmer John.
Three weeks later, curiosity got the best of the Sheriff and he decided to give Farmer John a call.
“Did you put up your sign?”
“Oh, I sure did. And not one chicken has been killed since then.”
The sign read:
NUDIST COLONY
Go slow and watch out for chicks!
