COOKING AGAIN

It seems like it has been a very long recovery period, and I still am far from back to normal usage of my right hand.  I am experiencing much pain, but am going to Occupational Therapy which I am hoping will help.  

I am cooking again, though it presents some challenges I know how blessed I am and will not complain.  I could be far worse off, I know.

FISH TACOS...one of my very favorite foods.  I found some wild caught Alaskan cod at a local grocery and snapped it up.  (I am trying to serve fish twice per week.) 

...fillets dipped in flour, egg and then into panko bread crumbs...

...sauteed in canola oil until crispy...

I think the thing that makes fish tacos so delicious for me is the cabbage slaw that tops the fish.  Shredded red cabbage, onions, carrots and chipolte mayonnaise.  This is so good, I can't stop eating it.  And it is simply wonderful on the fish, in a soft flour taco shell.  

...ready to roll....

and for dessert

Mexican rice pudding....

Great meal, and so good for you as well.

FINALLY

...not skiing nor snowshoeing, but at least 'hiking' for about one hour today.  Seventeen days out from surgery and fingers still too swollen to grasp a ski pole, but I did take a 'hike' through our fields and woods today.

View from way above the house looking off towards Jug Creek.

Hiked along my old ski path after an aborted attempt to follow Freddie while he snow-shoed.  I had to set off on my own path as I kept sinking up to my ankles as I followed him.  I found a deer path that was much easier to traverse.

When we parted ways, poor Sapala was torn as to who she should follow...this dog who follows me where ever I go outdoors in the spring, summer, and fall, finally came along with me.

I am always intrigued with the patterns made in the expanse of whiteness...

 I always think the fields of snow a vast canvas that beckons me to create something...I have done that in the past, but for now I am satisfied with the unintentional art work of the deer and turkey.

I pray I do not need the entire rest of this winter to recuperate as I so want to get on the Kickapoo Reserve Land http://kvr.state.wi.us and ski along the river...some of the most beautiful vistas, I believe, in the world!

VALENTINE MUSINGS

First of all, Happy Heart's Day to everyone!!  Here it is a bright and exceedingly beautiful day...the welcomed sun and warmer temperature makes this an especially lovely Valentine's Day.

...needle-felted Valentine's pins...

As some of you may know, I am recovering from hand surgery.  I had the 23 stitches removed yesterday, but still am somewhat restricted in how much I can use my hand.  Not restricted by Dr. orders, but by my hand itself.  The two fingers that were operated on are still exceedingly swollen and I am unable to bend them very much, which at this time precludes skiing, but allows driving.  (Oh how I wish I were skiing today!!)  I am deeply grateful that I am able to at least partially use my hand, however.

I have learned a great deal over the last two inactive weeks, about myself and about much else as well.  Days stretch out very long and bleak when one can do little else but sit and read.  (No cooking, no baking, no skiing, no driving, no weaving, no sewing, no knitting, no writing, etc., etc.)  Normally I am not one to enjoy talking on the phone very much, but I must say that after about two hours of morning reading, I longed for someone to call, ask after me and just chat for a while.  

I have so much deeper an appreciation and sorrow for those who may be living alone, have little contact with the world outside their own home, and have little ability to venture from home.  I know some people spend their time watching TV, (we don't have TV) but even for those people, I believe that loneliness blankets the day heavily.  We do have an old TV set on which we watch movies, and I did order many from the library thinking movies could help pass the time, but found (what I suspected) that I was unable to sit before the screen in the daylight hours watching anything.  I lasted perhaps 10 minutes and knew this was something I could not do.

 I have an elderly neighbor, 90 years old, who lives alone.  I wonder about her and the depth of her aloneness...does she feel, as I did, wretched and sometimes near tears with frustration and sadness?  Does she wander from room to room hoping for some kind of distraction?  Does she eagerly await...anything...anything to happen for these long, lonely hours are fertile ground for self-doubt and depression.

I love solitude...I love silence...and crave them in my daily life.  Most of the time I cannot get enough...but being ensconced in solitude and silence and to be 'disabled' is quite another thing.

I am blessed, unlike some for whom solitude and loneliness are constant companions, for mine was limited in time and space, and I was able to be somewhat mobile.  

I am not complaining, but rather describing...for I am so blessed to be who and what I am....and despite having hand surgery that has limited me in difficult ways, I STILL HAVE A HAND, and I had someone who came home every mid-to-late afternoon.  My heart goes out to those for whom the days stretch bleak and lonely.

ON THE UGLY SIDE

 I am hunting and pecking this post as I recently had surgery on my right hand (dominant) and am unable to use it until the stitches are removed.  I have been asked to post some photos and information regarding Dupuytren's Disease/Contracture.

If interested, precise and professional information regarding this 'disease' can be found at...

 www.assh.org/.../DupuytrensDisease.asp...‎Cached SimilarAmerican Society for Surg...Loading...
(cut and paste if this link doesn't work)

(Some of following photos may be too graphic for the soft of stomach, proceed as you wish!)

My hand prior to surgery...

initially just my pinky was involved and gradually over a year or two, contracted pretty much into my palm.  I had something called 'needle procedure done over a year ago, and it straightened my finger for all of three weeks.  When my middle finger began to contract as well

and my function was becoming compromised, I sought advice from Mayo Clinic in La Crosse.  Surgery was recommended, and my doctor, Matthew Sherrill thought her could not only straighten my middle finger, but improve my pinkie.

I had surgery on Jan. 31st. about a two hour procedure.

Hand still swollen and very sore but you can see an improvement

still quite swollen and raw, it looks better to me.  However, as this is a recurring condition with no known cause, it could come back.  I am hoping for a 3-5 year improvement.  I will update later.

WINTER'S BEAUTY

One of the reasons winter is my favorite time of year, and perhaps the topmost reason, is how the starkness of the snow highlights all that it surrounds.  I can't help but gasp at the beauty of each dark, bare tree against the horizon and how each seems to take on an inner life of 'stilled dance'.  I have been trying for years to capture what I feel and what the tree is, in words, and have yet to be able to do so.

In addition, I have a profound love of 'weeds' at all times of year, but especially in the winter.  Whenever I am hiking or skiing I feel overwhelmed by the beauty of each and every weed that is showcased by the surrounding pure white snow.  

There is a grace and a rhythm that each weed displays 

that makes me wonder if this isn't part of their purpose

Again, I fail to capture in words (as well as with my camera) the distinct and stunning beauty in this 'lowly' plant...

...lacy...filigreed...stark...graceful...stately...regal...

Not sure why I find this so beautiful, but I do!

I have yet to encounter a weed in my winter path that has not astounded me!

On another note, the birds are demanding a lot this frigid, sub-zero winter, and I am keeping my bird feeders, all four of them, filled each day...

much to my surprise one day last week as I was driving out of the driveway (our bird feeders are all suspended on our deck) I saw three very fat, very large 'birds' under the deck. 

Three of the four female pheasants that are at the feeder on a daily basis...

My outdoor dog doesn't seem to mind too much, although she might chase them into the nearby bushes when we are about...

Next trip to town I'll purchase some cracked corn and keep that tossed quite freely under the deck.  I feel this a blessing, these lovely, chubby hens.

FOOD AND MUSIC

These cold winter days lend themselves to thinking about warming up the kitchen and cooking up something wonderful.

I have become very fond of semolina gnocchi.  They are so versatile and add so much to any meal.  They are light and fluffy, reminiscent of very good mashed potatoes, but baked until crusty and browned. 

There are so many ways to serve these, but this night I choose to marinate pounded boneless chicken breasts in orange juice, Marsala (cooking wine), some grated orange rind, pinch of nutmeg and cardamon, salt and pepper.  Marinate briefly, as too long, say longer than 30 minutes, causes the chicken to break down too much.  

Dredge the chicken in flour, then in a beaten egg, then in fine bread crumbs.  Saute quickly in olive oil/butter as they cook quite rapidly.  Remove to a warm platter and keep warm while you drain all but about one tbs. of oil from pan.  Add the marinade and some butter, and cook until slightly reduced.

Place a chicken breast over gnocchi, drizzle the sauce over that...

and I added sauteed (olive oil and garlic) french green beans for a really outstanding, easy meal.

On another note, we traveled to Madison on Sunday to take in a Suzuki concert at the Rotunda of the Capitol building.  Iris is in  her first year of Suzuki lessons and spent the weekend with her parents and sister at a workshop for Suzuki students from all over the state.  

Great concentration and focus.  

The concert was wonderful, the music really lovely.  It is difficult to put into words what watching this young girl so devotedly take part and produce lovely music was like for me.  I am so proud of her.

HIKING ALONG THE RIVER

FINALLY!!!  Healed toe, healed 'pulled muscle' and no sub-sub-zero temperatures.  A lazy Sunday afternoon, an impromptu suggestion that we take a short hike along the river.  And according to our normal hiking standards, it was short, only about 1 1/2 hours...but filled with the kind of beauty that abounds here in the Kickapoo Valley.

...the river always looks so beautiful...

Standing here made me recall the days before this land was the Reserve, but only called 'the government' land, and we used to ride horse along this very cliff.

The color contrasts at this time of year are so visceral that one can hardly describe the beauty.

Long view of the river.

...and here, too...

I know the reason winter is my favorite season has to do with the contrast of bareness with the blacks and the whites.  My eyes continually seek the trees, bare and graceful against the snow, as though they are in some kind of ecstatic dance, flinging their limbs in outlandish joy.  My eyes never seem to get enough, and I am never full from seeing.  The trees keep speaking to me, and I want so badly to be able to articulate what they seem to be saying to me.  I have yet to capture it, perhaps one day.  As much as I wish everyone could share this beauty, I am also selfish in a way, and do not wish to so inundate this area that the beauty is lost in  commercialism.