Growing pumpkins in winter

Anybody who grows pumpkins knows that you can’t plant them outside until after the last chance of frost. Around here, that’s mid-May. You’re probably wondering why, in that case, I have pumpkins growing inside in January.

This story begins some time after Halloween, when I cleared our decorative (and uncarved) pumpkins from the front yard. Intent on harvesting the seeds – some to roast, and some to dry for planting – I carried the somewhat softened pumpkins to the backyard and shattered them. That is to say I picked them up and dropped them, sometimes forcefully, repeatedly until they were open enough to get to the seeds, then composted the shells.

Normally, I would have just washed the seeds and left them on a tray to dry. But when I tried that, Zuko started eating the seeds. So they ended up in a smaller container, smushed together… and some of them sprouted. When I showed Cassandra, she insisted “we” grow them.

I had small coir pots and seed starting pods left from previous years, so I set up about a dozen of the sprouted seeds in a couple trays. (Some unsprouted ones were saved for outside planting in the spring.) As they outgrew their original containers, I repurposed some of the packaging from NakedWines.com for the next phase and bought a bag of potting soil.

Several young pumpkin plants growing in a container

As they outgrew that packaging, I knew it was time to invest in a larger container that could sit in my bay window. I wanted something raised, so I wouldn’t have to bend down past the sewing desk. I bought this container (and some more dirt) with holiday money; it’s about waist high, and includes a shelf underneath for storing bits and pieces.

There are nine pumpkins plants growing in my bay window now, and all of them are clearly leaning towards the window, grabbing as much sun as they can. I’m hoping they continue growing slowly for the next few months – the window gets good sun, but is a little cooler than the rest of the room – until the entire container can be relocated outside. Pumpkin vines have a tendency to sprawl, and I want to make sure they have space to do that… outside.

Pear and Gorgonzola Waffles

Years ago, when gifted with multiple boxes of Harry & David pears, I went looking for pear recipes to avoid losing the wonderful pears to our slow rate of eating them. I found this recipe on a website called DailyBuzz, and the printout I have linked to Epicurious.

Having received a gift of pears recently, it came up in a Zoom call, and having saved the URL on the printed copy, I went looking… well, the DailyBuzz website is gone, and I can’t find the recipe on Epicurious… good thing I printed it!

Pear and Gorgonzola Waffles

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted & cooled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½-2 ripe pears, diced
  • ¾ cup crumbled gorgonzola
  • Oil for waffle iron

If not being served immediately, preheat your oven to 250 degrees.  I prefer to mix all the ingredients and then preheat the waffle iron; that will vary depending on your speed and the waffle iron.

Top half shows the batter, a brush with oil, a measuring cup on a sauced, and the waffle pan. Bottom half shows a pear & gorgonzola waffle with a fork.
  1. Combine dry ingredients –  flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt – in a large bowl.
  2. Whisk wet ingredients – buttermilk, butter, and eggs – in a small bowl.
  3. Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
  4. Fold in diced pears and gorgonzola.

After preheating the waffle iron, brush it lightly with oil and dump an appropriate amount of batter in.  For a standard waffle iron, this will probably be ½ cup; a Belgian waffle iron may need a full cup.  The Pampered Chef Waffle Puff Pan instructions call for ¾ cup, but does best with a cup of this recipe, probably because of the pear chunks.

Cook waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions until they’re browned and cooked through.  For this particular recipe, that may be a couple minutes extra, as the pear chunks make them fall apart.

As you cook them, transfer to a rack in the preheated oven to keep warm and crisp.  Continue until batter is gone – makes 6 waffles on the Pampered Chef Waffle Puff Pan, probably about 10 on a standard style waffle iron.

Also, for easy printing, here’s a PDF version of the recipe:

Pear and Gorgonzola WafflesDownload

How to lose my business without really trying

The owner of a local dairy business, Jim Oberweis, who was the state senator for our area, ran for Congress against a first term incumbent, Representative Lauren Underwood. He declared victory the night of the election, knowing that a significant number of mail-in votes had not been counted yet. Ultimately, he lost by 5,374 votes.

That’s less than a two percent difference, so it wasn’t surprising when he opted to pay for a recount. Just a “discovery recount,” rather than a full one, but I suppose if he has the money to throw around and wants to waste it instead of using it to help people during a pandemic, it’s his choice. It was certainly within his legal rights as the losing candidate.

What’s beyond his rights as a losing candidate is his demand “seeking to void all 39,647 Kane County mail ballots, claiming they were not properly initialed by election judges.” (From this article: A day after Democrat Rep. Lauren Underwood sworn into second term, her GOP rival, Jim Oberweis seeks to overturn the election he lost – Chicago Sun-Times) The Chicago Tribune article on the subject explains “But Kane County uses electronic poll books to record election judges signatures, so they do not appear on the ballot.”

He wants to disenfranchise almost ten percent of the total votes (401,052 – from this website) in the race, based on a process that isn’t used in this county. You may recall I voted by mail for the first time this year. He wants to disenfranchise my vote, which was sent in and verified almost a month before Election day.

I have no sympathy for poor losers. And I can make my own milkshakes instead of supporting his business.

Thoughts on Queen of None

I am incredibly fortunate to be exposed to so many good books. Rounding out my commentary on books for 2020 is this fresh take on Arthurian legends: Queen of None by Natania Barron. Forget what you think you know about Camelot, she recreates it from an entirely different perspective with new twists on the familiar characters. This review was originally published in the November 1, 2020 issue of Booklist.

In Queen of None, Natania Barron delves into Arthurian legend from the perspective of Anna Pendragon, Arthur’s younger sister. Prophesied by Merlin to be forgotten, Anna was barely a woman when she was married off to an older man to forge an alliance for her brother. Years later, she returns as a widow to Arthur’s court, where her eldest son, Gawain, is already training as a knight. She finds herself a pawn once again, caught between her brother, half-sisters, and Merlin’s plans while searching for her own happiness. Her lingering affection for Bedevere, illicit father to her twin boys, may be ignored again in favor of another alliance that will further her brother’s needs. Surprises come from within as well, as Anna discovers that she too has magical abilities, inherited from her mother’s side of the family, shared to some extent with her half-sisters Morgen, Morgase, and Elaine. Barron’s take on Arthurian legend gets readers exactly where they expect to be in the end, with entirely new insight on how to reach that point.

Musical Advent calendar

This year, I decided to make a musical Advent calendar for Cassandra. More specifically, in the wee hours of December 1st, as I was waking up, I realized that I have a ton of colored cards and could do a quick drawing related to a link for each day. I posted the songs to Facebook every day, so if we’re friends there, only the images are new. While these are mostly holiday songs, there are a couple exceptions. I found some interesting versions of favorite songs, and learned history of others along the way. If I decide to do this again, the challenge will be to not repeat the same songs… that will be harder for Chanukah and Solstice, there are plenty of Christmas songs still to explore.

There isn’t an easy way to link each image in the gallery to its song, so the list of links appears below.

  • Stack of multi-colored envelopes
  • Partridge in a pear tree
  • Bell
  • Gravestone with "RIP"
  • Santa hat
  • Musical fourth
  • Angel
  • Devil
  • Wind
  • Drum
  • Candle
  • Holly
  • Puppy
  • Gift
  • Peace symbol
  • Puffin
  • Heart
  • Ship
  • Soccer ball
  • Pumpkin
  • Chimney
  • Pomegranate
  • Christmas tree with cats
  • Kermit the Frog
  • Candy cane
  • Eyes
DayImageSongLink
1Partridge in a pear treePentatonix – 12 Days of Christmashttps://youtu.be/1UHmQANFtNs
2BellStraight No Chaser – Carol of the Bellshttps://youtu.be/JLtfInNXfv8
3TombstoneGodfrey Temple – Harley Got Devoured by the Undeadhttps://youtu.be/pQwqYpRP5j8
4Santa hatPeter Hollens – Evolution of Christmas Songshttps://youtu.be/b4v_c_hCRIU
5Musical fourthJeff Buckley – Hallelujahhttps://youtu.be/y8AWFf7EAc4
6AngelSarah McLachlan – In the arms of an angelhttps://youtu.be/1SiylvmFI_8
7DevilWilliam Kapell plays Liszt- legendary Mephisto Waltz 1945https://youtu.be/ofdRsvBHa14
8WindBing Crosby – Do you hear what I hear?https://youtu.be/FhTnDaEmA5k
9DrumAlex Boye’ ft. Genesis Choir – Little Drummer Boyhttps://youtu.be/a0mT-zNxRMw
10CandleBarenaked Ladies – Hanukkah Blessingshttps://youtu.be/xAggcnAnY_Y
11HollyLoreena McKennitt- The Holly & The Ivyhttps://youtu.be/_FvE-z8xV1g
12PuppyDaveed Diggs – Puppy for Hanukkahhttps://youtu.be/gbxyZAduGvY
13GiftPeter Hollens – December Songhttps://youtu.be/U7C4Ym-XQUI
14Peace symbolPeter, Paul and Mary – Light One Candlehttps://youtu.be/h1cRXgDFiSs
15PuffinMalinda – a song about puffinshttps://youtu.be/TAemYMUFE68
16HeartRod Stewart – Have I Told You Latelyhttps://youtu.be/RYrN8eFzCEo
17ShipI Saw Three Ships / Song of the Shiphttps://youtu.be/7puhHPgZvUw
18Soccer ballSabaton – The Price of a Milehttps://youtu.be/FTG6a774O84
19PumpkinThe Nightmare Before Christmas – What’s this?https://youtu.be/QLvvkTbHjHI
20ChimneyAngela Lansbury (Mame) – Need a little Christmashttps://youtu.be/St7mQWwmo70
21PomegranateCheshire Moon – Persephonehttps://youtu.be/eoZWWryCsTA
22Christmas treeThe Golden Orchestra – You Take the High Branch and I’ll Take the Low Branchhttps://youtu.be/cuI54GBCjMg
23Kermit the FrogMuppet Christmas Carol – It Feels Like Christmashttps://youtu.be/WlRpGj7LWS4
24Candy caneDar Williams – The Christian and the Paganshttps://youtu.be/7vggo_9EDZU
25EyesGloria Estefan – Christmas Through Your Eyeshttps://youtu.be/wf-IwAmhVds

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Do you know what I know?

Just last week, I read an article on CNN’s website about TranSanta, an initiative started by actress Indya Moore to give presents to transsexual kids and young adults in need. The gifts are anonymous, selected from each person’s Target registry and sent directly to them.

Visitors can read letters on the TranSanta Instagram page, and when ready to select one, click on a link at the top of the page, then click on the letter again to access their Target registry.

The letters are a combination of heart-wrenching and heart-warming. Some showcase art by the writer, some are written by supportive parents; all are in a bad financial positive, many due to job losses from the pandemic. But stacking on top of the pandemic, so many write of unsupportive families and transphobia, homelessness, and their desperate needs in these turbulent times.

If you’re looking for a way to help this holiday season, consider sending a gift to someone on this list.

An odd morning

I woke up well before my alarm this morning, gradually waking to a cinematically vivid dream. I don’t usually recall my dreams to this extent, or experience lucid dreaming often, so it was memorable in that regard. But it was also a good story.

I lay in bed for a while, picking out details I could remember. The first scene was foggier, presumably right as I was becoming aware of the dream. It segued into the second scene, at which point it had become crystal clear as I had some control over the character decisions. I lay in bed, piecing together the parts that were clear, certain that I needed to write this down. I noted some places I would need to change because I couldn’t remember the details, and others where changes would make for a better story.

Forty-five minutes later, still half an hour before my alarm, the cat (Arwen) relinquished my arm as her pillow and I got up, intent on writing down the details. I grabbed my water and phone (which doubles as my alarm clock) and rushed to the living room, turning the lights on low as I booted up the computer. I realized I needed hand lotion, partially because of a cat scratch (Zuko) on my knuckle, and headed towards the bathroom. And promptly stepped in some cat grass vomit. (Probably Diane.)

A few minutes later, I had cleaned up the floor – and my foot – and was back at the computer, writing away. I skipped my morning workout, needing to get the details on paper (figuratively) before they faded.

And I pondered why this idea didn’t arrive two months ago, when I could have prepared it for NaNoWriMo.

Thoughts on The Kingdom of Liars

This is a travesty. I read this amazing book back in February, and somehow I haven’t told you about it yet. I suppose that’s good in a way, you don’t have to wait as long for the sequel as I’ve had to; it’s due out in March. This review was originally published in the April 15, 2020 issue of Booklist.

In this fantasy debut novel, Kingdom of Liars, by Nick Martell, Michael Kingman and his siblings were branded as traitors when their father was tried for the murder of the king’s oldest son. Ten years later, a series of missteps sets him on a path that he hopes will clear their family name. That’s the concept, despite Michael being found guilty of the king’s murder in the prologue. Michael and his siblings fell from high nobles who played with the king’s children to living on a poor side of town with their foster father, struggling to pay the fees to keep their addlebrained mother in an asylum. Their mother can’t be a Forgotten, as that memory loss condition only affects magic users, so Michael searches for solutions to her medical problems in addition to his other adventures. Michael progressively finds himself in worse situations, certain the next one will provide the answers he so desperately seeks. Teenagers will appreciate how Michael and his siblings come into their own, and fantasy readers of all ages will be delighted with Martell’s robust setting.

Evolving traditions

When you learned about Thanksgiving in school, you probably learned all about the pilgrims and Native Americans who gathered. But did you learn that Abraham Lincoln established the date for Thanksgiving in 1863? No? Me neither. But we can be fairly sure that neither the pilgrims or Lincoln purchased jellied cranberries at the grocery store; that’s a newer tradition.

This year in particular is giving us the opportunity to evolve our traditions, as many of us remain isolated from our extended families, waiting for this raging pandemic to fade. We turn to modern technology, beyond the simple phone calls to distant relatives, to video calls where we can see our family. (Err… or would have, if my mother had forwarded the Zoom information before the call. Sorry I missed it!)

It got me thinking about some of the things I grew up with that I’ve changed. Dad used to make mushroom omelets for Sunday morning brunch; I make them, but not always on Sunday. And I typically make them with one egg, whereas he made them with two, with varied ingredients as the filling. Though mostly just mushrooms and cheese.

A recent breakfast – breakfast sausages, fried egg, and spinach & onion stuffed mushrooms

On the subject of mushrooms, one of the recipes Mom would make occasionally (really occasionally… she didn’t cook often, thank heavens) was spinach & onion stuffed mushrooms. Back in the day, this meant buying frozen spinach (ewwww), a package of onion dip seasoning, sour cream, and obviously, mushrooms. Adapting this for what I typically stock in my pantry means that I use fresh spinach and a lovely tub of French onion dip, and a variety of mushroom types.

We are constantly adapting to our surroundings, changing our habits based on availability and desire. Humanity is resilient, largely due to our ability to evolve for different situations and continue learning throughout our lives. Hopefully this year, you’ve learned enough about technology to give virtual hugs to the family you’re missing at the holidays, with the hope that next year’s holidays can be celebrated in person.

Ups & downs to adulting

I was at the grocery store the other day, forlornly noticing that my preferred brand of peanut butter was absent from the shelf. The space was there, but not a single jar of crunchy (my preference) or creamy peanut butter in that brand were available. I sighed and reached for my purse… picking a different brand requires glasses, which is definitely a downside to adulting. Not just because I now read ingredients where I didn’t used to, but because I can barely read most of the label other than the brand name and the creamy/crunchy part. After some grumbling – mostly wondering why there’s anything other than peanuts and a minute amount of salt, and definitely not buying the one with sugar added – I settled on a new jar. (Don’t worry, nobody was staring at me… I tend to do my grocery shopping at the crack of dawn, when the store is mostly empty.)

It led me to consider other ups and downs I’ve encountered recently. I had an emergency dentist visit last month which resulted in a root canal, and anybody who’s experienced that sort of dental pain can tell you it’s definitely a down. But it had an up side… I had just enough in my Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to cover it, which means it wasn’t hitting a credit card bill and I managed to clear my FSA for the year.

For any readers outside the US, an health-related FSA account is money set aside before income tax calculations, and can only be used on health expenses. If unspent after the year plus grace period (in this case, 3 months into next year), you lose the money. In addition to actual medical appointments, it can be spent on some related items, with weird exceptions like covering dentist visits but not toothbrushes. It can lead to weird shopping on FSAStore.com and related sites at the end of the grace period, as you decide just how many first aid kits you really need.

Zuko, perched on the top level of the cat tree. Across the room, two toy mice near the garage door.

Our kitten is definitely an up… but like every cat, Zuko has his personality quirks. His is so excited about toys, particularly mice, and this one type of mouse gets… special… treatment. Watching him drop a toy mouse in the water is funny, until you realize how absorbent it is and see the trail of water he leaves as he drags it around. It’s downright hilarious to see him pause as he runs in from the garage to his bowl; if there’s a mouse between them, he will pick it up and carry it to the bowl. Yes, he sets it in the bowl. *sigh* Dropping one of his mice into my martini… that was definitely a down.

Ups and downs are a part of life… try to laugh when you can, even if there’s a toy mouse in your martini.