Breakfast Sausage

I started to make my own breakfast sausage because I've not been able to find any good pre-packaged sausage made from beef or lamb. By "good" I mean "made without preservatives or icky additives such as MSG."

The Whole Foods store in a neighboring town carries organic breakfast sausage made from either turkey, chicken or pork. But according to the Blood Type Diet, beef and lamb are better choices for those with Type O blood. In fact, pork is a toxin to all blood types.

I just made my third batch yesterday, and I just wanted to capture the recipe I used to make breakfast sausages, since it came out better than the first batch.

To 1 lb of ground beef*, I added:

• 1 TBSP Penzeys Breakfast Sausage spice**
• 1 tsp Ground Sage
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Ground Fenugreek Seed
• 1 tsp Savory
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
  

After my daughter and I kneaded it well, I made "links." I formed a flat rectangle about the size of a number 10 business size envelope, about 1/2 inch thick. Then I cut off 1/2 "sticks."

I fried the "sticks" in a fry pan at medium low heat and turned them every few minutes. I kept them covered to keep them from drying out.

They cooked in less than 10 minutes.

When they were done, I placed them onto a sheet of aluminum foil and wrapped them up for storage in the freezer.

They came out a bit too spicey, so I plan to cut back the Cayenne pepper next time. Also, I was going for a more sweet sausage, like a maple flavor, which I didn't get at all. So I might double or triple the Fenugreek.

* This beef was 90% lean ground sirloin. I've used ground lamb for my second try, which I think came out better.

** This spice does contain Dextrose, which some might want to avoid. I do plan to try a batch without this one day. But since I have it, I figured I might as well use it. When I made the first batch, I used only this spice. But the result was bland.


Let me know if you try this, or if you have another recipe for breakfast sausage!

Rainbows and Four-Leaf Clovers

This rainbow showed up a couple of hours after we picked about twenty four-leaf clovers in a friend's yard. I even found a five-leaf clover! We wouldn't have thought to look for them if it weren't for a recent Dr. Weil DVD.

Our daughter spotted the rainbow while playing piano, and we ran outside to watch. It was after a thunderstorm, and there were still lightning flashes, but I wasn't lucky enough to capture any. It turned out to be a double rainbow, but the second part of the pair was faint.

So rainbows and four-leaf clovers -- something to make us happy!

Mom's Legacy

When I returned to work, I wondered how I should've spent my bereavement time. By then it was too late, and I felt as though I'd wasted it. I imagined turning back the clock to do it over again. I'd talk with our Pastor. Or look for a copy of Grieving For Dummies. But what's done is done. Sadly, I have no recollection of the three days that I took off from work.

All I really remember about my mother's recent death is the very low-key memorial gathering that my brother hosted. My brother-in-law arranged the catering for it. It was held conveniently on a Saturday, so I didn't even need to take time off from work. No one officiated with a prayer or eulogy. My mother didn't want any fuss, not even an obituary. She got her wish.

This was in stark contrast to my father's passing twenty years earlier. There was a wake and an immensely moving funeral mass, attended by nearly everyone who ever met him. Even my closest coworkers were there. I remember shopping for a casket and grave marker. I tossed rose petals into the grave just before shovelfuls of dirt rained down on the casket.

There was one other vivid memory I have about mom's last days. It was when I visited her in the hospital. She was re-admitted to the hospital because her cancer came back. I hadn't seen her in nearly a year. I'm glad I stopped at the ward desk to ask a hospital attendant to take me in to see her. I did not recognize the old, thin body that was in the bed. I was sure I was in the wrong room. But when her familiar green eyes opened and she spoke, I realized it was her.

She was thin because cancer had spread into her abdominal area. She felt nauseous all the time and couldn't keep food down. She was tired and seemed confused. When I left, I knew it was our last visit together. I walked back to my car overwhelmed with grief.


My brother and sister are cleaning out the house now. I went back a few weeks ago to help.

We learned one aspect of her personality was that she was a professional complainer. We learned this because of scrupulous records that she kept of phone conversations, letters and refund check stubs (many for small amounts like $0.99) with companies whose products were defective in some way. So there were stacks and envelopes filled with carefully kept notes. It was important that we not discard whole stacks without first going through them. Mom kept money in the oddest of places.

She also collected anything that folks might want to use for crafts: yarn, egg cartons, frozen dinner platters, whipped topping tubs, glass jars, pipe cleaners, ice pop sticks, etc. Again, each of these objects needed to inspected. One stack of egg cartons had some jewelery in one of the middle cartons. My siblings must've already tossed the toilet paper rolls, or we have not found the stash yet.


Growing up, we had no inking that it was unusual for a person to keep such collections. In fact, it was really convenient for when we'd have a project that required dozens of buttons or bottle caps. There was not a thing she couldn't produce if you asked her. "Hey mom, where's that old blue and white striped shirt I used to wear about eight years ago." It wasn't a question of whether she still had it, but where she'd put it.

But with the three of us out of the house, mom's hoards grew. So even though my brother and sister did a great deal of clearing of things, the house looked even more cluttered than when I last visited. At one point, she stopped having people over.

All I can do is wonder. Was her life so empty that she had to fill her free time and space with acquisitions? What could she have done for a local school, library or senior center with all that time and energy? How would our lives been different if she had treatment for OCD and hoarding?

At first glance, mom's legacy would seem to be a house filled with hoards. But I see now that her legacy is my own tendency to hoard, which, admittedly is not a good thing. But with that comes the motivation to eliminate my own hoards and fill my free time and empty spaces with love.

Fun With Puns

I came across a file with these puns in it just now while looking for something else. It's dated 1998-01-19, so they've been out there a looong time. Still, if you have my amazing ability to retain information, you'll probably think they're fresh and new. Enjoy...


Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, but when they lit a fire in the craft, it sank - proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it, too.


Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went to Hollywood and became a famous actor. The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much. The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of two weevils.


A three-legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West. He sidles up to the bar and announces: "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."


A neutron goes into a bar and asks the bartender, "How much for a beer?" The bartender replies, "For you, no charge."


Two atoms are walking down the street and they run in to each other. One says to the other, "Are you all right?"
"No, I lost an electron!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm positive!"


Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused his dentist's novocaine during root canal work? He wanted to transcend dental medication!


A group of chess enthusiasts had checked into a hotel, and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?", they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."


A doctor made it his regular habit to stop off at a bar for a hazelnut daiquiri on his way home. The bartender knew of his habit, and would always have the drink waiting at precisely 5:03 PM. One afternoon, as the end of the work day approached, the bartender was dismayed to find that he was out of hazelnut extract. Thinking quickly, he threw together a daiquiri made with hickory nuts and set it on the bar. The doctor came in at his regular time, took one sip of the drink and exclaimed, "This isn't a hazelnut daiquiri!"
"No, I'm sorry", replied the bartender, "it's a hickory daiquiri, doc."


A hungry lion was roaming through the jungle looking for something to eat. He came across two men. One was sitting under a tree and reading a book; the other was typing away on his typewriter. The lion quickly pounced on the man reading the book and devoured him. Even the king of the jungle knows readers digest and writers cramp.


There was a man who entered a local paper's pun contest. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one of the puns would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.


The friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to help raise some funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, the rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. He asked his mother to go and ask the friars to get out of business. They ignored her as well. So the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close shop. Terrified, they did so - thereby proving that... only Hugh can prevent florist friars.


A man goes to his dentist because he feels something wrong in his mouth. The dentist examines him and says, "That new upper plate I put in for you six months ago is eroding. What have you been eating?"
The man replies, "All I can think of is that about four months ago my wife made some asparagus and put some stuff on it that was delicious... Hollandaise sauce. I loved it so much I now put it on everything - meat, toast, fish, vegetables - everything."
"Well," says the dentist, "that's the problem. Hollandaise sauce is made with lots of lemon juice, which is highly corrosive. It's eaten away your upper plate. I'll make you a new plate, and use chrome this time."
"Why chrome?" asks the patient. The dentist replies, "It's simple. Everyone knows that there's no plate like chrome for the Hollandaise!"


Recently, a man in Paris nearly got away with stealing several paintings from the Louvre. However, after planning the crime, getting in and out and past security, he was captured only two blocks away when his Econoline van ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied " I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh!"

April is Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. There are three things about autism that most people probably are not aware of.

First is its prevalence. The latest estimate is that 1 in 150 people in the USA have been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which is also known as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD).

If you're in the fields of engineering, computer science, physics or math, the chances are even higher that you, your children, your coworkers or their children could be diagnosed with this disorder. And you should check out http://firstsigns.org/, which is dedicated to the early identification and treatment of children with developmental delays and disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The second thing to be aware of is knowing what autism is. The diagnostic criteria for ASD in children concern development and ability in the areas of social interaction, communication and play. Please see "Diagnosis and Epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders," by Lee Tidmarsh, MD, Fred R Volkmar, MD. The misconception is that all autistic children are non-verbal and catatonic. That may be true of children who are on the low end of the spectrum. But those with either "high-functioning autism" or Asperger Syndrome can be very verbal, especially when they're talking about their "special interest," such as locomotives. They are usually of average or above-average intelligence, and they sometimes come across as "little professors."

The third thing to be aware of regarding autism is that there are effective treatments. Early detection of an ASD is crucial because when interventions are tried at an early age (say at 3 to 5 years of age), they are even more effective than when tried later on.

I should point out that most of those who have an ASD and who can communicate say that they don't want to be cured; they just want to be accepted. Thus, it's not they who have the problem, it is society. Nevertheless, interventions can make things easier for children and the autistic adults they grow in to.

What kinds of interventions can reduce the symptoms of an ASD? A change in diet -- avoiding wheat and dairy products (the Gluten-Free Caisen-Free GFCF diet), for example, or avoiding chemical additives (the Feingold diet) -- can help. (The GFCF diet helps those with Leaky Gut Syndrome, which can manifest as symptoms of ASD.) Another effective, diet-related approach is supplementation with mega doses of vitamin B6, or its active co-enzyme, P5P. Play therapy or Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) has been proven to help. In some cases, mercury detoxification may help. There are many more interventions for a parent to choose from. Then there are interventions aimed at easing the secondary symptoms that accompany ASD such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Depression.

Scientists can spend entire careers looking for signs of intelligent life in the Universe. Meanwhile, medical researchers have overlooked signs of intelligence in people with autism. They assume that people who can't talk and who respond differently to stimuli must be lacking in intelligence.

If you don't believe me, consider the amazing website, Getting the Truth Out, which was originally written in response to an objectionable Autism Awareness fundraising campaign called "Getting the Word Out." Be sure to follow the presentation completely to the end -- it may take about 45 minutes to get through it all.

If you suspect that you or a loved one is struggling with an ASD, visit the Online Asperger Syndrome Information & Support (OASIS). (Asperger Syndrome is an ASD, and is sometimes referred to as High-Functioning Autism.) As its name suggests, you can get a great deal of information from the site. You can find most of the support by clicking on the Message Boards menu choice and registering for the "OASIS: Asperger Syndrome Forum".

When most people know the facts about autism, policymakers can no longer ignore the issue. Lawmakers can force health insurance providers to cover the costs of treatments. More money could be made available to schools to fund better special education programs and to keep up with "No Child Left Behind" mandates. And parents and caregivers can have children evaluated earlier.

Follow the links. Do the research. Spread the word.

High School Art Classes and Maturation of Seeing

I helped clean out my mother's house last Saturday and found my old art portfolios.

I took art in grades nine and ten. As a grade nine elective, art was one of three choices, the other two being shop (a noisy dirty class for jocks and bullies) and home economics (for girls). Being neither a jock, bully or girl, I chose art. Besides, I figured I'd really like drawing -- I used to enjoy it as a child.

My ninth grade art class was the last one of the day. It was a great way to wind down. I really became absorbed in the work and found solace and escape. (This was Junior High School, after all.) I focused a lot on detail -- bricks in the wall of a building, the bark on a tree, etc. I enjoyed the media of pencil and pen and ink best.

I managed to produce some impressive things and got consistently high grades. One piece won honorable Mention at a local art gallery in a student contest. It was a (partly abstract) pen and ink drawing of a train station.

I dropped art after tenth grade. One reason was that it was the first class of the day. I'm sorry, but art should not be done at 8:00am. Another was that I had classmates that were much better than me. (The classmates were in grades ten, eleven and twelve.) I remember one guy who could draw amazing fantasy creatures. And yet another reason was that this class was such drudgery. In looking through the work, I remember the assignment where I had to turn in four sketches of my hand in one week. There was also some art history that I was expected learn and write essays about! [shudder]

The main point of this post is that I realize now that I could not really see back then. It wasn't until I bought "Drawing on the Right Side of Brain" several years later that I learned how I should visually perceive my environment. Not that I actually could visually perceive my environment, mind you.

And now it's fifteen years later. I'm finally trying to look carefully at what's around me instead of walking about in a fog, ruminating on past conversations and events. I no longer arrive at work, not remembering the drive. I don't very often walk into a room forgetting what I it was I went in it for. I'm almost becoming lucid just like I used to in my dreams years ago.

Seeing seems so simple. But it's not, at least not for me. In fact, there are many things that seem so simple, and yet we don't do them well. Breathing, eating, hygiene -- these autonomous activities suffer from lack of concentration. We eat without paying much attention to the taste and texture of the food, let alone how the food can replenish us. Our breathing becomes more and more shallow as stress weighs upon us. We brush our teeth mindlessly, hoping to get it done quickly, utterly failing to imagine them clean, strong and healthy.

When you see, really look at the scene in front of you. Take in the detail of the tree branches, the iridescence of bird feathers, the diamond-like sparkle of dew on the morning lawn. Be present in the moment. Treat the present as the gift that it is. See it. Feel it. Be it.

April Fools Celebration

One of the most under-rated holidays is April Fools Day.

I fooled my daughter and my wife real good in the morning.

My wife had just left the kitchen to start her bathroom routine when my daughter walked in, a bit bleary and incoherent. The radio was on, so I said to her, "I just heard on the radio that school's canceled! Let's tell mommy!"

"But it's not snowing?"

"No, but the boiler broke!"

So we rush over to the bathroom. And you know the worst thing you can tell a mom in the morning before school is that the school is closed unexpectedly, and she has to babysit a child all day instead of cruising over to Starbucks and getting a seasonal latte before embarking on a massive grocery shopping trip.

"Hey, I just heard on the radio that school's closed! The boiler's broken!"

"Oh no!"

It was great because I had already convinced my daughter, and she helped me feed the line to my wife. Hehe. Otherwise, my daughter is a bad practical joker -- she has no poker face whatsoever. I think that's what made it so convincing.

So I was on high alert when I got back home after a day at work. And that's exactly why I like this day so much. It forces you to pay attention -- the ideal state for someone who studies meditation (or needs to).

If you've ever watched one of the Pink Panther movies that Peter Sellers starred in, you know what this is like. In the story line Inspect Clouseau has given his house boy, Cato Fong, instructions to attack him by surprise at any time. The inspector hopes this will keep him vigilant. (Here's an image from the scene in which Cato attacks the inspector from within the refrigerator.)

Usually when I get home, my wife and daughter are in the middle of supper, and stuff is on the stove, oven or in a plate to be warmed up for me. (Nice service, eh?) This April Fools Day was suspiciously no different.

Well, the plate was there, covered with wax paper, ready to go into the microwave oven. I cautiously lifted the paper to reveal.... food. Well, okay, a few years ago, there were hairy cat toys on the plate!

I decided to wash my hands before heating the plate. I went to dry them on the kitchen towel, and it was krinkly. There was tape on the inside of it!

So I brought the plate over to the microwave oven, opened it and -- uuuugh -- it was filled with stuffed animals!

There was soup in a pot on the stove, but when I lifted the lid I saw stuffed animals!

I found two banana slices in my green salad!

Before bedtime, I decided to use the bathroom. I lifted the toilet lid and saw a Sponge Bob Square Pants plushie taped underneath!

So it was a really fun day. I enjoyed the pranks. But I especially liked being forced to pay attention.

And if you want to try a really good meditation, do the Cato / Clouseau meditation. Get a house mate or coworker to surprise you frequently throughout the day!