Author: naphtalia

I am an artist, a friend, a sister, a mother, an aunt, a creator.

Cocoa

As I taught an Eighth Grade English class the meaning of the word panacea, I decided that I do indeed believe chocolate is a panacea.  Here’s my formula for a drinkable wintertime, evening time, good time, or sorry time panacea:

IN A SAUCE PAN combine
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup white sugar
generous sprinkling of cinnamon
MELT together on MEDIUM HEAT
STIRRING constantly with a WHISK
ADD
3-4 cups of milk, your preferred thickness and chocolate-ness
TURN UP THE HEAT
HEAT through the milk

makes about 4 cups of panacea

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Surprises

A modern surprise at the opera house in Rome.  I hope to be surprised in a way as lovely as this on Halloween.  All I can hope for is a nice surprise.

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Unsticking

When feeling stuck, muddled, or otherwise blasaise, give yourself a good old round of organization.  Write down your thoughts on 3 by 5 cards and tape them, staple them, thumbtack them, or glue them to your wall, your bathroom mirror, or appropriately, a piece of cork board.  You will soon be unstuck by the leverage of a plan pulling you into action.

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Beautiful Moment Pie

Step 1: The Beautiful Crust

COMBINE in mixer, then ROLL OUT
1.5 cups flour
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons shortening
cold water to form consistency
BAKE 350 degrees for 10 minutes

Step 2: The Beautiful Foundation

COMBINE in mixer
1 package of cream cheese
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
SPREAD over partially baked pie crust

Step 3: The Beautiful Fruit

STIR then HEAT in saucepan
3 cups frozen  or fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
KEEP NEAR STOVE in saucepan

Step 4: The Beautiful Custard

STIR and HEAT until melted (don’t stop stirring)
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
lemon juice to taste
may add a bit of water, maybe 1/4 cup if needed
allow this to thicken some

ADD
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

ADD The Beautiful Raspberries to this saucepan and STIR

Step 4: The Beautiful Pie

Pour creamy raspberry custard into pie crust
BAKE at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

Pie will seem liquidy; that’s alright.
REFRIGERATE pie over night.

Step 5: The Beautiful Moment

TOP each slice with whip cream and a sprinkling of cocoa powder. (You could also sprinkle a little cinnamon with the cocoa powder.)
This is ESSENTIAL.  It’s part of the plan.

Beautiful moments take attention. I sadly did not get a picture of this pie before my family ate it up.

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Vehicles

There are three vehicles of life.
Time, Traverse, Mind

Time trains me efficiently from place to place.
Sit down and ride.

Traverse hikes me from mountain to valley.
Strap boots and struggle.

Mind passes me from ease to challenge.
Set a path and live it.

On Time,
everything is packed
into neat compartments.
I need only to sit and enjoy
one moment, one activity,
after another,
in orderly and peaceful fashion.
Admire a drawing.
Complete a crossword.
Write a story.
Take a photo.
Laugh at the television.
It is complete sentences.  It is coffee time and naps.

In Traverse,
I have no place to lay my
bags.
I port them all on my back.
Memories, games, books, photos,
trivia, flashcards, hymnals,
all strapped to me.
I rarely have energy or
spare moments
to enjoy them because I am busy traversing.
It is hike and struggle,
breathe and move to shelter.
It is free until a storm appears.

However Mind
travels all roads,
rough, easy,
mysterious, and routine
and when well-oiled,
travels them steadily and fairly,
allowing enjoyment and
work when needed,
both in their turn.
It is hike, breathe, crossword, admire, write, nap, coffee, change, repeat.

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A New Picture of You

A bright, morning light is gently coursing through the kitchen windows of a house that is surely yours.  The walls are country yellow, a sign that home is being made. The situation feels unwanted, but duly accepted. You are sitting at a blond, maple table, sipping a cup of tea.  Across from you is a young, sophisticated man twirling a pen across his fingers, contemplating what to write about you.  Both of you are relaxed and slouching just a bit with your right legs crossed over lefts.

As we enter our tenth year of friendship, this is the new picture of you in my head.  When I think of you, I no longer picture our sweet days pounding the life out of pianos in barely breathable practice rooms.  I no longer see us falling to the floor of an old chapel in fits of “I give up on this” laughter.  I don’t see my too-complicated gesturing ruining your shirt with the coffee I forgot I was holding.

I don’t get jealous of your uncanny, unexpected fashion sense.  I do not see that you have lost more weight than I since college.  (Nor does that fact upset me.) I no longer shake my head at your eccentricities.  I don’t picture wild hair or sweatpants.

I see you sleek and quiet–more of a mystery than ever.  And I see myself diving into you to figure you out all over again.  After nine full years, I no longer see the past or the present; I see the future.  Here’s to us.

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