Giving Thanks Sally Campbell
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite holidays of the year (full disclosure: my birthday happens to fall during Thanksgiving). I love the gathering of people together for a special meal, the homey feeling of it, the celebration of the harvest, the crisp smell of fall in the air or the welcome rain. I love that the present part of it is people’s presence, and the gifts are the many aspects of abundance all around us. For me it’s a time to putter around, make applesauce and tomato sauce for the freezer, get wood in, retire those summer clothes and remember how cozy my winter sweaters are – all the little pleasures. Things are slowing down on the islands, more time to read, to walk the empty beaches, practice my T’ai Chi, and listen to the ravens. Each of us can find our own simple sources of comfort and contentment.
I do find as I age that my tolerance for the complaining of privileged people such as we are, is waning. When I’m having trouble bringing empathy and patience to someone’s ongoing story of how beleaguered they are, I have to remind myself that the habit of complaining is often a manifestation of a person’s anxiety. When we have peace of mind, we don’t have to give so much attention to the negative. Of course it may be there, but it’s not driving the conversation. This does not mean we must only focus on the positive and therefore ought to close our eyes to real suffering and injustice. Attunement to the universe in fact is what we need to use our powers of observation and analysis for! It means that if we continually feel beleaguered, we may benefit from asking ourselves: is this complaint of mine life-threatening? Why is it so important to me right now? How is it serving me to dwell on it? What else may be going on, either internally or externally, that I’d rather not explore (and am too “busy” to look at, because my attention is all gathered up with this issue)? As Thoreau said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I often find my petty irritations are blocking something else much more important that I could explore if only I clear the way. And then I might actually learn something and be able to recalibrate. I think we give away a lot of our power by becoming captive to our thoughts, so many of which are negative and fear-based. I love that expression ”Don’t believe everything you think!” If we can examine those thoughts and how they are helping/hindering us, we take back our personal power.
The fall is a time of descent, of going inward, as we inexorably move with the seasons toward Winter Solstice. For me, Thanksgiving is a clear marker that we have entered the time of that descent. The nights are longer, soon we’ll be off daylight savings time, and the darkness will become more enveloping. There is actually no point in fighting this natural inevitability; we might as well embrace it and take the lessons it has to offer us. This is an in-gathering time, a time for reflection, quiet and rest, a time for preparing our nests for winter, as well as a time for being with friends & family and savouring the abundance all around us.
To that end, here is my Cranberry-Date biscotti recipe, for those lazy fall mornings with good conversation and coffee.
Cranberry-Date Biscotti
(makes 2 ½ to 3 dozen)
2/3 C. butter ¼ C. organic brown sugar 1 C. Palestinian dates, pitted & chopped
1 C. organic dried cranberries 3 C. organic whole-wheat flour
2 t. baking powder ½ t. salt
1 T. cinnamon 2 t. cloves
1 T. vanilla 4 eggs
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; preheat oven to 350.
Soften and cream butter with the sugar, then add eggs and vanilla and mix it all together. I use a hand-held mixer. Then add the liquid mixture to the bowl. Stir everything together and then shape the doughy mix into 4 rounded logs. Place each log in turn on a baking sheet (2 per sheet) and shape it into a roll about 1.5 inches wide and a foot long. Then flatten the log with your hand. This can take some practice but you’ll get it. If your hands are too sticky, flour them. Try not to overmix, just enough to get the form.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a light golden brown.
Transfer from baking sheet to a rack, and cool for 5 minutes.
Place on a cutting board and diagonally slice at about a 45 degree angle. Make each one about
½-1 inch thick, depending on your preference. Lay the slices upright back on the baking sheet and return to oven for 10 minutes.
Let them cool on a rack and store in a tightly covered container. If they seem too soft, place them in a paper bag and they’ll get harder and drier. There are dozens of variations on this basic recipe, so have fun exploring. People from 4 to 84 seem to love biscotti! A little “6-pack” makes a great gift, and biscotti freezes really well. Enjoy and give thanks!
