Category Archives: Personal

Herb and Plow CSA Week 8

WHOOSH! It’s Eggplant!

Last week Tuesday I asked my Michigan living parents how they felt about becoming landlords. This week Thursday my entire Tennessee household is stored in their garage and I am still reeling. So far, I’ve learned that things can change faster than the blink of an eye. To reflect that, here are two recipes that will take you about 30 minutes or less to prepare.

Simple Eggplant Curry in a hurry

Recipe By Sushma
Eggplant is one of those vegetables which is very easy to cook and takes on the flavours very well.  This recipe is for one of those week nights when you don’t have enough time or energy to make something elaborate but, want to eat something tasty, healthy and easy to make.
Ingredients:
  • Eggplant – 2 cups
  • Onion – Sliced thin and long – 1/2 cup
  • Tomato – Chopped fine- 1 cup
  • Cilantro – 2 table spoons – finely chopped
  • Coriander powder – 1 table spoon
  • Cumin powder – 1 tea spoon
  • Turmeric powder – 1 tea spoon
  • Garlic – finely chopped – 1 table spoon
  • Salt – 1 table spoon (add per taste)
  • Red chili powder – 1 table spoon (add per taste)
  • Olive oil – 1 table spoon
  • Water – 1 cup (add additional per desired consistency)

Method: To a pan on medium heat, add onions.  Saute till translucent.  Add Tomatoes and saute till soft.  Add all other ingredients and close the lid.  Cook until the eggplant is soft.  This will take about 15 minutes.  Serve it with some Chapati, Roti or Rice.

Quick Eggplant Parmesan

Recipe by Jessie:

“This eggplant goes well with some steamed green beans and French or Italian bread. Although the recipe calls for seasoned bread crumbs, you can use regular bread crumbs if you wish. Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes according to your taste.”

 PREP  5 mins /COOK 10 mins /READY IN 15 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 small eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch thick slices
  • 1 cup dried bread crumbs, seasoned
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. In a small bowl beat the egg and water together. Place the bread crumbs in shallow dish. Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture then in crumbs, being sure to coat thoroughly.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add eggplant slices and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown and tender. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over eggplant during last minute of cooking to melt.
  3. While eggplant is cooking, combine spaghetti sauce and pepper flakes in a microwave-safe measuring cup. Cover with plastic wrap and cook at high power for 2 minutes or until heated through.
  4. Top eggplant with sauce and Parmesan cheese and serve.

Quick, fast, to the point. Meals on a tight time frame because when you least expect it, life happens right now.

Herb and Plow CSA

Herb and Plow CSA Week 7

Blackberries and Celery

As a younger woman, around 26 or so, I moved in with my Gram due to unforeseen circumstances. She lived on 13 acres about 10 minutes from town. Country convenience she used to call it. In early summer along the back acres there were lines and rows of blackberry and raspberry bushes ripe with luscious fat black and red juiciness. She’d send me out with a colander to collect enough for the three of us for dessert (My Grandpa Pat, too). Dutifully, off I’d trudge.

When we got our berries this week, I dang near wept. They looked like one of the safest times in my life. They were bursting juice out of the containers as if they’d been styled by a food artist. Purple tartness pooling in the bottom of my bucket. I could hardly wait to gorge myself. But. I didn’t.

Instead, I found a non dessert way to experience the tasty goodness of Blackberries. I found the recipe HERE.

Pork Chops with Blackberry Port Sauce

Big, purple, plump, juicy blackberries

Big, purple, plump, juicy blackberries

Ingredients

  • 6 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 shallots, minced (onions work too)
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
  • 3/4 cup sweet port wine
  • 3/4 cup blackberry juice
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • 2 cups fresh blackberries

Directions

  1. Season the pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and pan fry the chops until they are lightly browned and no longer pink in the center, 2 to 3 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Set the chops aside.
  2. Heat 1 more teaspoon of olive oil in the skillet, and cook and stir the shallots and thyme until the shallots start to become translucent, about 1 minute. Pour in the port wine, blackberry juice, chicken broth, and balsamic vinegar. Bring the mixture to a boil, scraping off and dissolving any brown flavor bits from the skillet into the sauce. Cook until reduced by a third, about 5 minutes. Mix cornstarch and water into a paste, and stir into the sauce. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, and stir in the blackberries. Simmer until berries are hot.
  3. Return the chops to the skillet, and turn to coat with sauce. Serve hot, topped with sauce.

This was incredibly flavorful with the rich blend of flavors dancing in a delectable sauce. OH BOY!

CELERY

Savory stalker, celery

Savory stalker, celery

I still had celery left from the last time. It was still crisp and fresh. Martha Stewart had a tip to wrap the celery tightly in aluminum foil and it keeps the celery the way we like it. But truthfully, I’m overwhelmed with celery. I thought it only for sticks that you put dips and peanut butter on as snacks. I never really thought of making other things with it being the primary ingredient. Here are a couple really easy ideas.

HINT: If you’re going to make this cream soup, put together all the ingredients (you can also use vegetable stock which works just fine) but the milk and freeze. Thaw out the starter, add the milk to the thawed product and you’ll have “store” quality with homemade taste cream of celery soup. Further, keep in mind that this celery we’re getting is really fresh so the flavor is incredibly tasty. A little goes a long way, so adjust accordingly.

Cream of Celery Soup

  • 3 quarts chicken stock

  • 3 pounds celery, coarsely chopped

  • 1/2 pound carrots, julienned

  • 1/2 pound onions, chopped

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 3 quarts hot milk
  • 1 cup margarine (I use real butter and the flavor is way better)
  1. Pour the chicken stock into a large pot, and bring to a boil. Add the celery, carrots and onion to the pot.
  2. Whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, and milk; add to the pot along with the margarine.
  3. Boil for 10 minutes, then strain out the vegetables by pouring through a sieve, or if the vegetables are large enough, a colander may be used.

Braised Celery (side dish)

  • 1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
  • 1 cube chicken bouillon
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
  1. Arrange the celery in a single layer on the bottom of a large skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Dot with butter. Dissolve the bouillon cube in boiling water, and pour over the celery.
  2. Cover pan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

I have not tried this one yet, but it looks easy enough for even a hot day quick cook side. Plus, it also appears to have a great deal of potential as far as “doctoring” to my families likes (garlic and onion with a zing of peppers, for example). Any comments if you try it, would be appreciated. See if you can beat me to it. 🙂

Herb and Plow CSA

www.allrecipes.com (One of the best recipe sites I’ve found. The comments really bring life to each dish.)

“Miss Marge’s Cat”

When I took Miss Marge Swenson on our date, we had a conversation. I tried to pawn my last kitten off on her. She said, “At this stage in my life it wouldn’t be fair to bring a cat into my home. I sure do miss having a cat.” She’s 93 and that was a valid, although sad, argument, it was sound of logic.

We talked a bit more and I found out her favorite color is purple. It used to be blue, but for some reason, she explained, it’d changed to purple. I immediately decided to paint her a cat.

When she saw the painting for the first time, she immediately named the purple cat, “Mr. B.” because that was the name of her friend. It absolutely delighted me to see her aglow with joy. I don’t think it gets any better.

In the small painting in the background, I filled that with four other paintings before I stopped myself and asked how I feel when I see Miss Marge. I see her as a breath of fresh air as if I were standing on a mountain on a clear sunny day in the early spring with maybe a suspicion of rain hanging in the air but not enough to feel any kind of muggy. As soon as I thought that, I saw it and painted it.

I liked the squishy flowers because I wanted them to represent the four Sunday’s in a month (sometimes five) when I get to see my Always Beautiful friend, Marge Swenson.

This took me to this, the 5th try, before I got it right in my head.

This took me to this, the 5th try, before I got it right in my head.

The contrasts were some of my favorites. Don't hate on my leaves.

The contrasts were some of my favorites. Don’t hate on my leaves.

I love warms and cools together. It feels rich and lively to me.

I love warms and cools together. It feels rich and lively to me.

Miss Marge will always have comfortable slippers to wear on this stage in life.

Miss Marge will always have comfortable slippers to wear on this stage in life.

Miss Marge's Cat Mare Martell Acrylic on Board 16X20

Miss Marge’s Cat
Mare Martell
Acrylic on Board
16X20

Self Sacrifice

Feathers

Feathers

When you came to me, you were more than a dozen.

Everything about you was something it wasn’t

I bent my fingers to shape your hands

I reconfigured my halo to destroy the badlands

I stripped the feathers from my wings that flew

I fashioned them to show you the skies of blue

I made horrifying textures smooth for you to build

I wrapped your intimidated heart against the freezing chill

I comforted primal screams from your terror filled nights

I kissed your cheeks lovingly while you fought the fight

I defended your body, your mind, and your spirit

I gave you safe haven, wouldn’t allow bandits near it.

I guarded you with a Battle Queen’s power

but (SNAP!)

like that

you snaked away in the witching hour

while the bells of winds change rang in the bower

to return to the dark from which you came

afraid of the light that I showed you again and again.

I release you back to your puzzled up mess

It is with deepest sorrow, I lay you to rest

I shutter my windows, lock up my doors

mourn who I knew you could be; but won’t be I’m sure

until you know your own value, nay, worth

my heart no longer yours, your memory dispersed.

17,167.4 days

That’s a lot of days to walk around the sun. 47 years for the math challenged (Dude, really, I used Google instead of using a damn calculator!) As I read through the Facebook reminders about my trip, I see many kind words and good wishes. I really love that. It reminds me that I made it around again trying to outshine the stars.

What I’ve come to love the most is when I get feedback from the people I frequently deal with that shows me how I am perceived by others. I know it sounds flippant to say it doesn’t matter, it does but it doesn’t. However, it does give me a valid self check about what I’m doing that not only feeds my spirit but helps others along the way. I truly feel blessed.

Inspiring

When I think of my personal definition of inspiring, I think of the people who teach me more things about the kind of person I want to keep working towards becoming. I wrote several times yesterday that I was inspired by the greatness of my Grandfather, aka Bapa, either directly or indirectly through his children, my aunts and uncles. When I apply the word to myself, I’m not really sure how that works. I do things to make the world a better place because I was taught that. I stand up and defend those who can’t because I was taught that. I love with all I have because I was taught that. Nearly all of that came from the Coleman side of the family. The rest I had to learn on my own.

To think of inspiring others from my life, I think of all the horrors I’ve seen. I think of all the struggles I’ve met and overcome. I ponder the battles I’ve had to fight in order to make it as far as I’ve come and I can see where that would shine the light for others too. I’m blessed to still be here. I’m blessed to know you too.

Laughter

If there is one thing without a doubt that could be said about me is that I love to laugh. I love to laugh so much that I commonly laugh at my own jokes or the absurdities that I come into with each new adventure. I love puns. I think farts are amusing. I love spoonerisms, knock knock jokes, high and low brow humor. George Carlin was one of my very favorites because he was a thinking man (Nothing sexier in my book). I love Ellen DeGeneres because she’s brave and incredibly witty. Robin Williams was a man I identified with so deeply, I seriously, all jokes aside, mourned for weeks. I knew when his light went out.

I’d rather be the butt of a joke than to let an opportunity slip by that held the potential to make my sides ache, my eyes leak, and snorts to come flying out of my nose. I love to tell funny stories because when I can make people laugh, there is nothing more satisfying than knowing I touched them in such a primitive way because I know for a fact we all laugh in the same language.

Being You

This one rather tugs at me a bit. I asked several people what exactly this means. I hear, “Mare, just keep being you.” “I love that you’re so you.” “You keep doing what you’re doing.” And there I am screaming at them with a blank look on my face, “Who the fuck else would I be other than maybe a wealthier version of me. I could handle that.” I tried for years to be someone else. I WANTED to be anyone else but me. One day, I woke up and said, “I’m going to chuck it in the fuck it bucket.”

I say what I want as politely as is necessary, sometimes to the point of being brutally honest, but I won’t lie to you. I try love and compassion first because those work best in nearly every situation. But, I also will not allow anyone to walk on me. Four of my favorite quotes are, “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.” Eleanor Roosevelt; “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi; “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” Oscar Wilde; and “Be pilgrims for justice and fools for love.” Rev. Jake Morrill’s Sunday service closing.

Hugs

Hugs. Hugs! Hugs? Human contact is so crucial to our survival that babies who are not touched, hugged, or cuddled enough are commonly considered infants with a failure to thrive. It’s the cruelest form of neglect I can think of when it’s one of the easiest things to give. A simple hug to reassure another human or creature that they are not alone in this world. I warm, compassionate, loving moment that gives them a place of safe haven if only for the time of the hug. It’s a transcendent feeling for me when I am allowed access into someone’s personal bubble to give them love. It makes my eyes well up with tears to think of the beauty I find when I’m granted that permission. I love hugs. We should hug more often.

Light

I’m told that I bring light. When I was born my mother knew something I didn’t. My birth name is sealed away but I will confess to you that name out of reasonable disclosure. My name was Helen Elaine. I was named for two very important people in my mother’s life that brought her light. Both names have the same meaning of Light. I kid you not.

I changed my name legally in 1996, after my Gram passed away, to Marilyn. Nobody ever calls me that. I’ve always been called Mare since I disclosed my desire. My birth name always felt like someone else’s shoes. It didn’t fit me. It was an unruly unfashionable clunker of a name that hid far more darkness than a name should. I didn’t change it out of spite. I changed it out of self-preservation.

With the advent of Mare Martell (Martell is my birth name and although I abhor the man who handed it down, he will not win. I will honor COLEMAN under the banner), I was given rare opportunity to reinvent myself. Only, it’s not rare. Anyone can choose to bring the light. Anyone can shine but most choose not to. They let people like me do it and I’m okay with that. I’ll bring my light from my darkness. Mare, yes I’m speaking third person, can be anyone I need her to be. THAT is my light. She’s a brilliant chameleon and I love her dearly.

And that is my summation of my 17, 167.4 days around the sun. Thank you for making it through. Love, Light, Blessings of Peace,

Mare Martell

Always Beautiful

I fall madly in love every day with people I meet, talk to, hang out with, shop with, or see on the streets. Sometimes I keep them (like my dearest of friends), while others I write off to good feelings, but I always fall madly in love. It’s the best part of being alive for me.

I think it’s crucial. If you see someone do something kind, overhear a pleasant conversation, see someone being completely them…fall in love without regrets. You don’t have to act, just fall because when you do…the world is a prettier place. It’s a better place. Happiness and hope flow like liquid silver throughout the day as if nearly transcendent. Who can feel poorly when love is all around flying through the air with graceful messages on every face?

In my pocket full of happiness, I keep little cards that are about 2X2”. On them there are little hearts in the corners with some pretty art down three sides. In the middle, the card has the words, “Always Beautiful.”

A short stack of beauty

A short stack of beauty

That way when I see beautiful things and beautiful people I can let them know that I witnessed them in this world. I SAW them be beautiful. I do it because we all need to be reminded of the beauty of our lives that we take for granted too easily. Life is too precious not to acknowledge beauty when we see it.

My little cards give people something to hold onto that is a tangible reminder that their beauty shined brightly enough for a stranger (or me, rather) to notice. I give them away for radiant smiles, a sweet gesture, a considerate action, a note of dedication acknowledging their hard work, a perfect laugh, or elegance in crafting a movement of body enough to bring me awe or wellies.

But, love. I’m a sucker for love.

I see a kiss between lovers that is one that reaffirms that they are together. Just a simple brush of lips with the inevitable smile of tenderness and affection. That will coax a card from my pocket so fast it practically catches fire. I am particularly fond of couples who aren’t considered mainstream (YET!) because it demonstrates to me that the power of love is worth every sacrifice.

Copy, print, send them out into the world with love, beauty, and happiness in your heart!

Copy, print, send them out into the world with love, beauty, and happiness in your heart!

I encourage you to make your own. I use cardstock to make them last a bit longer. It’s a small way to make the world a happier place in which to walk. It’s a great way to say, “Hey, you’re beautiful and I want you to remember that for as long as possible, because today, I noticed.”

Stardust and Oceans

I held your hand while stroking your cheek

Whispering to you the depth of my hearts belief

You stared blank at the ceiling but I knew you still there

When the winds stirred the curtains to brush at my hair

With rattled breath you returned to the ocean

Waving goodbye with the power of rawest emotion

Your sweet and gentle passing has erased your pain

But in doing so has increased mine, bring on the rains

Silent your breast, cooling of skin, I sat next to you so very alone.

It was a sacred privilege, an honor, to walk your stardust spirit home.

No longer McBeezled

Once a thief, always a liar

Once a thief, always a liar

There is no door on my home

There is no “where” I roam

That permission is granted

For you to again request access.

The lights in my windows

The warmth of my hearth

Are obscured from your blows

You, with chosen corrupted self-worth

My over shoulder refrain to your

Strut of smoking guiltless shame

“Never again. Not ever again.

Once a thief, always a liar

You raped what you so

Deserved in your own destructive fire.”

I stop with me

I have discovered a magic within

one that depends not on blood, kith, or kin

It is the luminous moon

the heated sun

the gathering of teary puddles

the shattered undone.

The siren’s wail of my mortality

blooming forth into all possibilities

For some a child is a promise of eternal life

a quenching relief from the death born strife

But I have found magic within my hands

which I’ve been commanded to touch on the lands

to forgo my fears of tomorrow’s gleaning

to step loudly into the room of vanity preening

that I, with the breath of truth on my lips,

must shatter the walls with the twitch of my hips

While singing hymns of thanksgiving, love, and peace

While weeping with gratitude, I crawl on my knees

The oceans of tears that matters to healing

have accepted my joy of life now appealing

For I have discovered my magic within

Ne’er shall I die, for the darkness can’t win.

Intricate Liar

A friend of mine is going through a very bad breakup with a person that didn’t respect boundaries, took what didn’t belong to him, and doesn’t understand why she is done. I wrote this for her.

Water Goddess (water color by Mare Martell)

Water Goddess
(water color by Mare Martell)

I could touch your body with fingers afire
I could ravage your soul, fulfill your desires
I could make you mine, your spirit acquired
But why attach myself to such an intricate liar?
 
I gave you my body with soul burning fire
I gave you my spirit to fulfill your desires
I made you my own, my trust you acquired
You proved me a fool, you intricate liar.
 
You had no right,
you had only wrong
What I don’t understand
is what took me so long
to see your stink
to cut through your lies
the hangman’s noose
like lover’s sighs
released the truth
freed my mind
 
I believed you the only one to set me afire
I allowed you to ravage my soul with blind desire
I relinquished my spirit to a godless choir
You were my everything, you intricate liar.