Settle down, relax yourself, and then play this video. Be patient, close your eyes or watch the images, and let the message wash over you and flow through you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJJ_AM5C4ns
I don’t know who this guy is, but his message resonates deeply.
I should write a cranberry cookbook. I love cranberries, in all forms. I almost wrote that I like them even more than blackberries and raspberries, but that’s not entirely true. They’re so different, with different characteristics, moods, and creative potentials.
After Christmas, I buy cranberries on sale and stock up the freezer. I have lots of cranberry recipes. In fact, cranberries are very versatile and can be chopped and added to lots of different things for a tangy surprise. I make juice, cookies, breads and scones, but most of all, I just like a good cranberry relish. There’s nothing new or different, particularly, in these recipes. They’re just designed to bring out the cranberry flavor.
Here are two recipes, one of which I just made. I love both of these, and we eat them year round.
Cranberry-Orange Relish
1 package cranberries (I chop them in the food processor while they’re still frozen so they don’t turn to mush)
1 whole navel orange, skin included
A good inch of fresh ginger
1 cup sugar
Chop the first three items together, add the sugar, mix and store, covered, in the fridge overnight to let the flavors blend.
Here’s another. Similar, and yet oh, so different:
Cranberry-Jalapeno Relish
1 package cranberries (I chop them in the food processor while they’re still frozen so they don’t turn to mush)
1 whole lime, skin included
1 jalapeno, seeded
1 bunch of cilantro
1 cup sugar
Chop the first four items together, add the sugar, mix and store, covered, in the fridge overnight to let the flavors blend.
Yum!
I don’t always take a long, hot bath on Sunday mornings. Mostly I do that in the winter, after a morning’s work, before the afternoon’s football game. But whenever I, a shower taker, take a bath, it’s kind of a special occasion.
I’m rarely warm enough in the winter, but I am when I’m in the bath. My tub is deep, my bathroom beautiful, and I use a nice smelling bath oil that helps soften my skin that often dries out during the winter.
The bath gives me enough aromatic comfort to spend time thinking about what I just wrote and what I’ll write tomorrow. I can review my schedule or calendar in peace and in solitude, mulling without distraction. I can spend time giving thanks for my amazing life and find perspective in the silly things I worry over during the course of my busy life. The bath is a time to rest, to reflect, to pamper, to be nice to myself.
I know there are many religious, spiritual, communal and cultural rituals with regards to water, and immersion, and bathing and all of that. I’m sure there is a reason, as when I get out, and get dressed, I feel renewed in a way that only a long, hot soak can provide. I’m refreshed and ready for another stint at the computer or to pick up the knitting and turn on the game.
A Sunday Morning Soak: Worthwhile in every respect.
My new true-crime book, Something Happened to Grandma, has just been released in e-book form from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all electronic formats. Rosetta Books did a fine job, as did Marilyn and Elliott Bardsley from Crimescape.
The Foreword by Marilyn Bardsley:
Gabriel Morris was a rambunctious but adorable child who was probably sexually abused by his father while his mother tried to win back custody of him. He grew into an intelligent and gifted adult, but there was something very wrong. As he grew older, serious character flaws and emotional problems emerged which caused made it impossible for him to hold a job for any length of time. Eventually his deceptions and deep-seated anger caught up with him, precipitating a tragic family crisis.
Elizabeth Engstrom is uniquely positioned to write this story. She lives in Oregon and attended Gabriel Morris’ recent trial, observing both Morris’ behavior and the impact that his crimes had upon his family. Known primarily as a novelist of mystery books with dark psychological landscapes, the chilling story of Gabriel Morris is one that dovetails with both Engstrom’s fiction and nonfiction accomplishments.
As the author of 13 books and more than 250 published short stories, articles and essays. Her most recent novels are York’s Moon, a critically acclaimed mystery, and The Northwoods Chronicles, a wonderful tale of dark fantasy. An author, teacher, editor and former publisher, she is a sought-after panelist, keynote speaker and instructor at writing conferences and conventions around the world. Since she completed her master’s degree in applied theology, she has begun a small interfaith ministry called Love and Mercy Ministries. She is on faculty at the University of Phoenix. www.elizabethengstrom.com
- “Something Happened to Grandma” Cover



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