December!

Somehow we've slipped into the last month of 2008, and once again I'm trying to figure out where the year went. I'm winding down the day with a cup of tea (if you're in Madison, check out the macha teahouse) and listening to my favorite holiday song.

Spot of Tea

What's a writer without her beverage of choice and a little something to nourish her? For some reason, fall equals baking to me, so last night I stayed up too late and baked biscotti, adjusting the recipe to what I had on hand. The biscotti turned out to be a nice little treat for my morning break today. To be honest, though, I typically drink my tea out of a mug but I thought my mother's tea service would make a prettier picture; it certainly made for a more elegant spot of tea.

Here's my modified (and halved) recipe (I think...like I said, it was late last night) which made 16 cookies:

Biscotti

1/4 cup and 2 tbsp sugar
1 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup slivered almonds
3 oz. egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add almonds. In another small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Fold egg mixture into the dry ingredient mixture. Stir until dough is stiff. Split dough into two sections. Roll/shape each piece into a log. Place the logs on the baking sheet (I lined mine with a Silpat) and flatten slightly. Make sure to leave plenty of room between them. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool. Leave the oven on. Slice each log into 1/3" slices diagonally. Place (cut side down) on the baking sheet. Bake for another 20 minutes, until crispy.

Next time, I might increase the cinnamon and nutmeg and/or substitute almond extract for the vanilla.

Spice of Life

While making dinner the other night, I was searching online for information on spices, which brought me to the Enspicelopedia. From allspice to white pepper, this online resource provides a description, uses, origin, and folklore for various spices and herbs. I especially like the folklore section (must be the writer in me). Did you know that Romans believed cinnamon's fragrance sacred and burned it at funerals? Or that the name parsley comes from the Greek word petros, meaning stone, because the plant was often found growing among rocks?

I think my delight in finding the site stems from my love of reference books...dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias. From early on, I've loved scanning reference books (and in recent years, online sites), looking for something but not knowing what. Maybe it's the brevity of the entries or the fact you can open the book to any page (hmm...sort of like poetry). Maybe it's simply my admitted love of lists.

Often when I need to jump-start a poem--whether looking for a hook to start a new poem or fresh insight to feed the revision process--I'll head to the dictionary or encyclopedia. Getting to the root of a word or event or thing clarifies the word/event/thing. Such research frequently cracks open the poem. Although I've been doing this for a while, I'm still surprised that by studying the elementary aspects of something, I can find a way to grow the poem into something quite complex and multi-layered. But life is filled with those pleasant incongruities.

The Diner, Lists, and a Prompt

We went to the Market Street Diner last night. The food was too rich...too much cheese and cream. But then I have to remind myself I don't keep going back for the dinners. I go there for the pies and shakes. I love walking in to face the glass case filled with the day's selection of pies, cakes, and cookies. I love the order slip the server sets down on our table that lists the pies in the case.

And then I realize I love lists. I'm not the only one. Lists abound in our culture. To-do lists, top ten lists, grocery lists, bulleted lists, numbered lists. And if there's one thing I've learned from my experience as a technical writer, the corporate world loves lists too. They are effective because they are concise and easy to read. Who hasn't scanned a manual or e-mail for the list that so neatly sums up what has been dragged out for pages?

Poetry loves lists too, as evidenced by the list, or catalog, poem. I'm still looking for a great list poem to share. If you have one in mind, let me know! Perhaps that's what this week's prompt should be. Write a list poem--an inventory of things, people, places, ideas, whatever is on your mind.

For now, I'll end with a list of my favorite pies (in no particular order, and honestly I haven't met a pie I wouldn't eat):

• French Silk
• Rhubarb
• Oreo
• Peanut Butter
• Apple
• Blueberry
• Lemon Meringue
• Peach
• Derby
• Raspberry