Saradactyl.com

Hope Restored

When I was 16 my parents gave me an antique cedar chest. In it, I stored the things that I made for my future household: tablecloths, napkins, a misshapen quilt, along with other bric-a-brack I had accumulated and decided that I would have one day in my home. Which, according to this vintage 1948 ad for this chest, that's exactly what you're supposed to do with it. For now and for always, apparently...

When the bottom dropped out of my life just two short years later, I would jokingly say that I didn't have a hope chest... I had a chest of broken dreams. And I have hauled that chest to seven different houses, lugging around ghosts of the past and heartache right along with it. Over the years, I have been neglectful of its contents. It kind of became a catch-all for crap I didn't know what to do with. The shelf on the inside, broken somewhere along the way.  

I've been going through The Artist's Way with my friend Dana. It's been an amazing journey, and I would have given up two weeks ago if it wasn't for her plugging along with me. But I digress. Here in week four I found the thought of that hope chest simply unbearable. It wasn't just the 'bad juju' I could sense was associated with it, but I really just thought the chest could be put to better use. I was literally seized with the search-and-discard impulse.

When I moved into Cliff's house, I had gone through the contents and purged a little here and there, but some things I just couldn't part with. Yesterday I found myself wondering what that Sara had decided was absolutely critical. I didn't have to go far. Sitting on top was an old shoe box stuffed full of old letters, and reminders of painful memories.

As I continued to dig through the contents, I found a few journals, all of which chronicled a dark time. A really dark time. I read through them, and I could almost feel my heart shrinking inside my chest. I guess I held on to them as little reminders of who I really am - lest I forget. As I dug deeper, I found a few things from my childhood: old stuffed animals, a lone Christmas ornament, and my prized Precious Moments coffee mug collection (ha).

Interesting that all of that pain, darkness, and heavy nostalgia has just been hanging out in our living room. A crypt. A shrine to my past giving a perverse homage to the awful things that happened, and things that never were. Now, I don't buy this new age stuff that goes along with The Artist's Way (I know better), but if I did.... I would say that the energy emanating from that chest wouldn't exactly be the most welcoming or nurturing to "goodness" or "spiritual light" or whatever it is that we're supposed to be opening ourselves up to. I do believe there is a powerful memory association with stuff, though. And there is a strong spiritual element that goes along with it.

Long story short: I filled two garbage bags to send to the dump, and hauled the rest off to Goodwill this afternoon. 

There were a few things that I did keep. My three little plastic Care Bears from the 80's. The dolls, letters, and patterns from my grandma. Old photographs. My Great-Aunt Millie's china. An afghan. A cross-stitched pillow that my mom made. And a smattering of other items that flood my insides with good memories, and yes... a little bit of light.

I stood there for a while and gaped at the completely empty hope chest for... a while. I don't remember the last time it was totally empty. The physical and spiritual weight of all that stuff just rolled away, like water off a duck's back. I called Cliff to look at what I had accomplished, and after examining the half-broken shelf, he took a hammer and nail to it and fixed it up. 

Just like that old chest, I feel emptied out and hopeful. There is plenty of room for lots of good things.

 

 

Tranquility

Cliff and I just got back from a disgustingly relaxing time at Ocean Isle Beach. I mean, it was just amazing. Perfect weather. Perfect timing. Just the two of us. It truly just nurtured the cockles of my heart. One of Cliff's clients from way back (Two Blue Rentals) owns a beach vacation rental home, and we have been blessed with the opportunity to stay at the house. 

We decided ahead of time that we wanted to put together a little surprise for Two Blue Rentals... something that they could use for web and even commercial advertising. Something that would help them get more clients in the door and rent the house for their vacations. So with the trusty D7000 in hand, we set out to stage a video montage. We spent a couple of days getting all of this video, and Cliff masterfully stitched it all together. I mean there's even footage of dolphins. DOLPHINS, people! 

Anyway. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and I think the client will be too. Cliff did an awesome job! Check it out (best viewed at 720p HD).

 

Little Things

We just got back from vacation. I love vacations. The coming back? Meh. Not so much. It's hard to assimilate back to real life. Work. Follow-ups. Laundry. Talking on the phone. But one of the little things that's making it a bit easier is this:

My Christmas Cactus is in bloom! Cliff's grandma gave it to me, and no one was more surprised than me that not only is the plant still alive, but flourishing! I usually kill things that require elements such as water, air, and light. But the Christmas Cactus has done quite well in spite of my negligence... and possibly because of it.

A very merry Coming-Back-From-Vacation-Day, indeed.

I love this man.

That's all. Carry on.

This Magic Moment

The other night we were going to watch The Darjeeling Limited on our hospital room TV in the bedroom. Well, let me back up. The reason we had The Darjeeling Limited DVD is because it was one of 6 other movies that we purchased at a movie rental store sidewalk sale. And I thought it looked interesting. And funny. It actually turned out to be dull. Which baffled me because with quotes like, "I wonder if the three of us would've been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people." it should have been so much more awesome. I can't really express the extent to which it was so not awesome. 

But I digress (I'll explain more about the hospital room TV later).

Before we started the movie I was in the other room ceremoniously filling a large blue tumbler with ice and water (it's one of my OCD things: must. have. water. beside. bed. must. in. case. I. get. thirsty. must. in. the. night. must.) and I heard, "SARA. LOOK." And so I looked. Every night Cliff takes off his socks, and throws them at the closet doors. You see, one time he was being silly, and he threw his sock at the door, and it got hung on the little knob. I joked and said something like, "You know, if you were TRYING to make that happen it never would. Happen, that is." Every night since, without fail, I hear the shhhhwuuup-shhhhhhwuuuuup of socks being rapidly removed, the thud as they hit the closet, and the soft distant sound of them landing in a crumpled heap on the floor.

But this time. This time was different. I turned around and saw a sock suspended from the closet door. "YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT!" To hear my gasping and squealing you would have thought I was cheering him for unearthing Noah's Ark. As if that weren't enough, he threw his second sock at the door, and IT got STUCK TOO. I nearly hyperventilated. 

MAGIC.

 

 

Sweet Potato Soup and Relaxin-Tiiiiiiiiime

Cliff Muncy to Me | 7:07 PM (15 hours ago)

Keep crankin' out the productivity bayba! Good job ;-)
See you momentarily for our fabulous relaxin- tiiiiiiime!!

Husband and I work hard so that we can play hard. Our relaxin-tiiiiiiime hasn't gotten old yet, and I don't expect it ever will. It usually involves some type of food, sitting next to each other on the couch, and watching a Star Trek TNG episode. Or three. Last night, I decided I was going to cook. See I had cleaned out the fridge, and I don't know what was more disturbing: finding a take out box with 1/2 of a leftover burger from when my mom was in town, or that after having stripped the fridge of old-non-edibles all that was left was a bottle of V8 juice, two containers of cream cheese, and one slice of bacon. 

It goes without saying, but: I haven't done much cooking lately. I think that is mostly due to my head and my heart being in two very different places which naturally leaves things disconnected and disjointed. Yesterday I decided to change that, and placed my Lowe's Food To Go order after doing something rare: I asked Cliff if he had any special requests for meals. He usually leaves that up to me, and I am tremendously blessed to have a non-picky-eater-husband-person who will excitedly eat whatever is put in front of him (unless it involves fishy-fish, or broccoli not smothered in some kind of gooey fake cheese product, or spinach). He requested the following:

• Chicken salad sandwiches
• Cucumber sandwiches
• Tuna fish sandwiches
• Apple sandwiches
• Waffles
• Sausage links
• Stringy-beef-meat-roast-type stuff (his words, not mine)
• Tapioca pudding
• Potato soup
• Black bean soup
• Cheesy grit stuff (i.e. cheesy grits with a fried egg mixed in)

Yep. So.....

Since he had requested potato soup, and since I was feeling fall'ish, I decided to attempt something I had never attempted before: soup that involves a blender, i.e. Sweet Potato Soup. I've always been wary of the weird pureed, kinda sweet, kinda savory soups. It's a texture thing, and a "wow, is that maple syrup AND cajun seasoning?" thing. Also the idea of eating soup out of a pumpkin screams Martha Stewart coiffure (no offense if you eat soup out of a pumpkin, or have a Martha Stewart coiffure). But really, what better way to break back into cooking than to destroy the kitchen with baking props and onion slivers? "NONE! There is no better way", said I.

Sidebar: it's literally taking two dishwasher loads to wash everything that I dirtied to make this soup. True story.

So I set out to make this soup. Sometimes I like to pretend that I'm on Food Network by getting all of my ingredients set out, arranged, prepped, and chopped. Except I'm the one crying over chopping onions and putting them in a little prep bowl - not a sous chef. I'm really bad about forgetting an ingredient because I was distracted by something shiny (or on fire), and this REALLY helps make sure I don't leave anything out.

But I digress. Besides the prep, and the inordinate amount of cooking utensils that I had to use, it was relatively simple to make, and tasted so so so SO good. I paired the soup with buttermilk drop biscuits and cinnamon honey butter. HEAVEN! Actually, after we snuggled down on the couch to watch Star Trek, Cliff  ate the first spoonful of his soup, bit into that flaky buttermilk biscuit, and called me the devil. In the world of food, that's high praise as far as I'm concerned.

This soup has officially taken its place in my Having Folks Over For Dinner recipe arsenal. If you decide to try it, let me know what you think! Or just c'mon over for dinner. What's one more kitchen disaster anyway? :-)

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
(adapted from Simply Recipes) 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tbsp (1/4 stick) butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 small celery stalks, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
• 4 cups chicken stock (use vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• The leafy tops of the celery stalks, chopped

METHOD

1 Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté for about 5 minutes. Cry. Add chopped celery stalks, sauté about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes.

2 Add sweet potatoes, chicken stock, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

3 Remove cinnamon stick and discard. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return to pot.

4 Add half and half and maple syrup and stir over medium-low heat to heat through. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with celery leaves. Or not. Serves 6 to 8.

 

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Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
(adapted from November-December 2007 Cook's Illustrated)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. sugar
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 1 stick + 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 cup buttermilk

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
2. Melt the 1 stick butter and let cool about 5 minutes.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter and the buttermilk, and stir until clumps form.
5. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients until just incorporated and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or use a well-seasoned Pampered Chef baking stone, which I do).
7. Using a ¼ cup dry measure, scoop out and drop 12 balls of dough onto the baking sheet (this is easier if you spray the measuring cup with nonstick cooking spray).
8. Bake until the tops are golden brown, about 14 minutes.
9. Let cool on a wire rack.
10. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tbsp. butter and brush the tops of the biscuits with the butter (or cinnamon honey butter) before serving. Yield: 12 biscuits

Apples

Mmmmm. Apples stewing on the stove. It's starting to feel suspiciously close to Fall.