« August 2007 | Main | October 2007 »
It's no secret that I've been secretive lately about some of the biggest news to ever grace my life. It was all too new, too vulnerable, and too exciting. If I let out some of the excitement, it might have bubbled over and obliterated everything else.
It's completely normal, an everday occurence. Millions of women have been pregnant before me; millions of women will be pregnant after me. But right now, it's me!
For weeks and weeks I haven't been able to get my feet under me. I was running behind, running on empty, constantly needing a nap, and completely uninspired. It's not exactly a good place to be as an artsy type. The first sign of what I like to refer to as "the big slump" is box mix cooking. Not that there's anything at all wrong with rice-a-roni dinners, but since creativity and cooking go hand in hand for me, it was a little bit ominous.
Secondly, I stopped sewing and more importantly, stopped wanting to sew. I would think of little gifts I wanted to make my friends, and set them aside.
Anyway, not to belabor the point, but I've been in a slump. And this is only really worth talking about now because I feel a rush of creativity coming my way. It is starting to take form in my mind, and I actually feel excited about posting, sharing, and making.
A good starting place in the march toward the light (don't worry, I'm just being dramatic), was a new recipe. And it turned out amazing.
Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples and Onions
Early step: marinate pork tenderloin in dijon mustard and herbs.
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Slice 3 green apples and 1-2 red onions and toss in a roasting pan with olive oil, salt, and fresh thyme. Roast for 15 minutes.
2. Brown pork tenderloin in skillet, about 3-4 minutes per side depending on thickness.
3. Place pork on top of roasted apples and onions (add mushrooms, if you like them) and roast about 15 minutes more.
4. Let meat rest about 5 minutes before serving.
Served with warm corn fritters, it was a crowd pleaser, I promise.
Unlike the author of this article, I found out the news just now. On a Monday afternoon. But I feel loss, and I will miss her too.
"L'Engle once said, "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children." '
"To compare L'Engle's universe to the stuff cluttering the post-Harry Potter marketplace is to compare a unicorn to a goat with one horn sawed off: real enchantment standing beside something that approximates felt hat and white rabbit magic."
If you have a favorite L'Engle book, then I want to know what it is. Personally, mine are The Small Rain and its sequel The Severed Wasp, both books that graced my top five favorite books of all time list for a significant period of time.
If I have a few spare hours this week to read I think I'll pick them up again, in memory of an author who did so very much for my faith and imagination.
Part of the coffee life that's expanding every week, is that we are meeting and learning about coffee lovers in Denton we never knew before! It's such a neat experience to go from selling to friends and neighbors to selling to strangers, and very affirming. In fact, our delivery day has become a full day's work driving around the neighborhood to drop off friendly little packages from the roastatorium.
This is one thing I have been doing instead of posting. There are a few more HUGE projects in the works, that I have to keep under wraps for now. But I wanted to drop in and say I'm still here, and happy.
