The leaves have mostly fallen and the days have gotten shorter but there is no shortage of gatherings and other goings on around here.
The Gardner Webb Runnin' Bulldogs are running all over the country. By the end of the Thanksgiving weekend they will have played eight preseason games. Seven of those eight games are away. This week they are in Indiana with games at Indiana University and Butler. David and some other parents are following the team but I decided to stay home to get ready for Thanksgiving. I did get to the one home game against Lees McRae and enjoyed watching the team win a fast paced running game. Of course it was fun to watch Jay and the team, and I also enjoyed watching the Holtmanniacs. It's always interesting to see these students come out in force to support the Dawgs in their own unique way.
Daddy wanted to host a Ruby's Cookin' for his Board Meeting so Penny, Libby, Cindy and I dropped by to help with that. Mama's house was cozy and her table was decorated with the turkey/pineapple centerpiece that always appears this time of year. Corn, green beans and crowder peas from the Lattimore garden were served with corn sticks, cornbread, ham biscuits, mac and cheese, slaw and crumb top apple pie.
Carol and I tag teamed our Literario Book Club program with a review of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. This is the first book in a fascinating triology that is written on many different levels with all kinds of themes and symbolism. It's even more fascinating because the movie to be released next March was filmed very very close to home and we were fortunate to experience some of that excitement.
I went to work researching themes, characters, symbolism and setting and, as someone once told me, the essence of discovery is what you find while looking for something else.
What I found was a website called teacherspayteachers.com. This site is devoted to teachers who work to create interesting lesson plans and then offer to share them with other teachers. These are no boring lessons but very involved and creative plans that make learning fun.
There are teachers who are using The Hunger Games in classrooms all over the world to teach students about literature and life with a book that they actually want to read.
Students of all ages want to read this book.
Carol and I studied and studied and as she said we could write a dissertation just on the symbolism of food in the book. You know it always does come back to food. Food is universal.
Carol brought food to the book club program - bread with goat cheese and basil, chocolate cake and what she called Capitol Lamb Stew. You really could write a dissertation on the symbolism of bread alone. Life, sustenance, transformation, manna from heaven, breaking bread together, sacrifice. There is a lot going on with bread. No wonder I love it so much.
We brought some props to book club as well. Carol filled up a cornucopia with a bow and arrow, some burned bread and a sprig of dandelion from my yard.
The only yard work we have done lately involved cutting back and removing things. David had mentioned that he was going out to remove some huge dandelions that were growing in the back yard. He was surprised when I almost panicked and said, "NO DON'T get rid of the DANDELIONS!" What he didn't understand was that I had been nurturing those dandelions for use as a prop at book club. After reading The Hunger Games, I have come to see dandelions in a new light - symbolizing hope, resilence, and resourcefulness.
It's amazing how your attitude towards something can change just by looking at it another way.
Recently I had several conversations with various family and friends about a phrase that Daddy introduced me to years ago. Non-productive thinking. Daddy used this phrase when we needed an attitude adjustment. He would point out that whatever we were complaining or worrying or grumbling about was using up valuable thinking space without helping matters any. Non-productive thinking is such a waste of time and energy. David often says it another way - "don't be part of the problem, be part of the solution".
So Thanksgiving week is here and the fast pace will get even faster. But it's good to remember that Thanksgiving week is a great time for the best of all productive thinking - counting our blessings.
Oyster Casserole
Oysters start appearing in the grocery store aisles about this time of year and so I was motivated to fix this for dinner one night last week. I cut the recipe in half for David and me and served it with a hot cup of clam chowder. It was great on a cold rainy night.
Heat 1 pint standard oysters till warm (standard are the smaller ones)
Grease casserole dish with butter
Crumble several saltine crackers into the casserole dish and then a layer of oysters
Repeat crumbled crackers and oysters for 3 layers and then pour oyster juice over
Beat together 3 eggs, 1 cup milk, one stick melted butter, dash worchestershire, salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp baking powder
Pour mixture over casserole. You may need to add a little more milk until it seeps to the top layer.
Bake at least 45 minutes at 425 degrees. We like it cooked till browned and crunchy.
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