Gleanings of the Week Ending November 12, 2011

The items below were the cream of the articles from this past week!

1. 25 Inspiring Pictures of Snow - beautiful!
2. Castles in the Desert: Satellites Reveal Lost Cities of Libya - now if the country could become safe enough to find out more about them from the ground.
3. 5 Foods Threatened by Climate Change - Arrgh! Chocolate is one of them!
4. Cave Paintings Showed True Colors of Stone Age Horses - yes - there were spotted horses around at that time so the paintings are realistic rather than symbolic
5. Nature Notes: The Black Oaks Of Yosemite National Park, The Video - great visual about how the Indians processed the acorns for food
6. Impact of Space Weather - now that we are more dependent on satellites (for things like GPS), maybe we should be paying more attention 
7. New System of Intelligent Management of Street Lighting Enables 80% Savings in Energy - makes sense to only power lights when you need them, just like at home
8. Condors in Grand Canyon – 3 chicks - one has already died but the other two seem to be thriving; bit about trash being a potential threat quite depressing
9. Why we need public libraries is the future - for a subset of the reasons we need them today but very real and long term (it's not about books)

Book of the Week: Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

Diane Mott Davidson was mentioned in another book I was reading…I was intrigued enough by the concept of murder mysteries with the ‘Sherlock’ being a female caterer (luscious food) and set in Colorado.

The first one I picked up was Dark Tort (Goldy Culinary Mysteries, Book 13) . It was entertaining and I learned how to make homemade croutons (and there is a Journey Cake recipe too).

Now I’m reading Sweet Revenge. I’m already half way through but am wonderfully entertained – again – and am in sync with Goldie’s (the sleuth’s) idea that eating chocolate for breakfast (fudge with peppermint candy chunks!) is a very good way to start the day.

10 Characteristics of a Matriarch

The idea of a matriarch of a large extended family is probably changed slightly for the 21^st century…but only to the extent that families are not so large. Otherwise the concept holds. Here are my favorite characteristics of a matriarch.

1. Past the drive to make a living. The prime drive to establish oneself in the world and make an acceptable home is probably from ages 22-55. It can vary but there comes a point in life where the focus on a career shifts to something else much more integrated with everything else life has to offer because the hard work has paid off and the prospect of doing something completely different can take precedence.
2. Children are living independently. Until ones children are living independently, you are a mother rather than a matriarch!
3. Healthy and full of energy. Matriarchs have retained their health through lifestyle choices and care for themselves. They often appear younger than they are because of their attitude toward life and their energy pursuing whatever interests them.
4. Understands herself better than earlier in her life. The changes that occur as children become independent and the long term career ends (usually intentionally) forces a period of contemplation about what is truly important for the next phase of life. The answers don’t particularly surprise our matriarch…she views the time to think about it to be the tremendous luxury of the in-between days.
5. Self-actualized decisions. As a teenager and adult, she may have followed the advice of her parents or mentors or managers. All that was good. Now she is much more in the mode of making her own decisions with inputs from others not being quite as important as they were earlier in her life.
6. Post-menopausal (i.e. past child bearing). The joy of not having a monthly rhythm…feeling great all the time!
7. Knows how to live within her means. Whatever her financial situation, she knows exactly how to make ends meet and sustain her home. After all – she plans to live to be 100.
8. Assertive. She is nice about it, but she is savvy and does not let people take advantage of her unfairly.
9. Lots of self-discipline. She gets up fairly early in the morning because she is enthusiastic about getting started on the activities of her day. Her rhythms of communication with the people she loves are consistent and thoughtful. The interests she develops are wide ranging and shared as she develops relationships with like-minded others.
10. Married. She is known for her long duration relationships….most notably a spouse…although it could be friends as well. If she is widowed she does not live in the past but she may not feel it necessary to form a new relationship that cannot rise to the same level of shared history.

How about you? Are you a matriarch? Do you know one?

Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

Variety is the spice of life. Trying a new recipe each and every week is something that works well for me. Enjoy!

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup frozen apple juice concentrate

15 ounce canned pumpkin

½ cup oil

¾ cup molasses

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons orange juice

2 large eggs

• Combine dry ingredients.
• Combine wet ingredients (Note: if you use the same liquid measuring up for the oil and molasses…putting the oil in first…both will pour out smoothly to the mixing bowl). Whisk.
• Combine everything…allow to sit for 10 minutes.
• Spray muffin top or regular muffin pans. Put batter in pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees F. until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.