Purring

The internet says science is not sure
how cats purr, probably
a vibration of the whole larynx,
unlike what we do when we talk.

Less likely, a blood vessel
moving across the chest wall.

As a child I tried to make every cat I met
purr. That was one of the early miracles,
the stroking to perfection.

Here is something I have never heard:
a feline purrs in two conditions,
when deeply content and when
mortally wounded, to calm themselves,
readying for the death-opening.

The low frequency evidently helps
to strengthen bones and heal
damaged organs.

Say poetry is a human purr,
vessel mooring in the chest,
a closed-mouthed refuge, the feel
of a glide through dying.

One winter morning on a sunny chair,
inside this only body,
a far-off inboard motorboat
sings the empty room, urrrrrrrhhhh
urrrrrrrhhhhh
urrrrrrrhhhh

by Coleman Barks from Winter Sky

Go Bananas - Foster Cakes

Serves 8







INGREDIENTS:
14 tablespoons unsalted butter; divided, cut into 14 pieces, and softened
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided
7 tablespoons dark rum, divided
table salt
3 large, ripe but firm bananas, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick
1/2 cup whole milk
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

DIRECTIONS:
1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease eight 8 ounce ramekins and set them on a large, rimmed baking sheet.
2. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup of the brown sugar and cook while whisking constantly, until the mixture is thoroughly combined - about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and whisk in 2 1/2 tablespoons of the rum and a pinch of salt. Spoon a generous tablespoon of the sauce into each ramekin.
3. Arrange banana slices, on top of sauce, in a concentric circle around one banana slice placed in the center of each ramekin.
4. Whisk the remaining rum, milk, eggs, and vanilla together in a medium bowl.
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the remaining 1/3 cup of brown sugar, flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, and zest together. On low speed, beat the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs - about 1 - 3 minutes.
6. Beat in all but 1/4 cup of the milk mixture, then increase the speed to medium and slowly beat in the remaining milk mixture until the batter looks slightly curdled - about 15 seconds.
7. Stir the batter, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to make sure the texture is consistent. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared ramekins - using an ice cream scoop makes this job easier. Tap each of the ramekins to release any air pockets in the batter. (you can wrap the ramekins now and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. If you refrigerate the batter, be sure to let the ramekins sit a room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking.) Bake the cakes on the rimmed baking sheet, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out with few crumbs attached - about 25 - 30 minutes.
8. Run a small knife around the cakes as soon as they are removed from the oven. Carefully invert the cakes onto individual serving plates and the cakes should release on their own within 5 minutes. Remove the ramekins and enjoy with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

***Bananas Foster is a New Orleans dessert and is traditionally flambéed. These are great for a party and do not introduce the hazard of fire nor the pressure to perform a recipe before your friends.

Recipe adapted by Cristina Paul

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

I can't help but watch and then watch again so that I might adequately dissect my horror.

Windows is Shutting Down

Opal Sunset: Selected poems, 1958–2008) --
Windows is shutting down, and grammar are
On their last leg. So what am we to do?
A letter of complaint go just so far,
Proving the only one in step are you.

Better, perhaps, to simply let it goes.
A sentence have to be screwed pretty bad
Before they gets to where you doesnt knows
The meaning what it must be meant to had.

The meteor have hit. Extinction spread,
But evolution do not stop for that.
A mutant languages rise from the dead
And all them rules is suddenly old hat.

Too bad for we, us what has had so long
The best seat from the only game in town.
But there it am, and whom can say its wrong?
Those are the break. Windows is shutting down.

by Clive James from Opal Sunset: Selected poems, 1958–2008

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Serves 4








INGREDIENTS:
2 medium acorn squash (about 1 ¼ lb each), halved and seeded
5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
freshly ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 – 15 oz can of black beans, drained
2/3 cup toasted and chopped pecans (in a pinch, substitute pistachios, pine nuts, or pepitas)
1 large tomato (about 6 oz), diced
2 scallions thinly sliced
2.5 oz feta cheese (not mild)
1 teaspoon minced chipotle pepper (from a can in adobo sauce)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Place parchment paper or foil in a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Brush cut sides and cavity of the squash with 2 teaspoons of oil. Then, season with salt and pepper. Place the cut side down on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until tender, but do not pierce the flesh with a fork. Turn the cut side up.
3. Meanwhile, sauté the garlic, until soft, on low heat with the remaining 3 teaspoons of oil about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir the garlic occasionally so as not to let the garlic brown.
4. Now, mix the garlic and the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Spoon this mixture into the cavities of the squashes, pressing down gently on the filling to mound as much into each squash as possible.
5. Bake the stuffed squashes 10 – 12 minutes in the oven (you do not want the beans to burn but some of their skins will probably split.


***Acorn squash is considered a “winter” squash even though it belongs to the same species as “summer” squashes, such as zucchini. The terms “summer” and “winter” squash are actually designations which were more important back when people actually ate what was in season. Thus, “winter” squashes earned this title if they would keep until December. Acorn squash should be stored in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated place and will keep for up to one month.
**Acorn squash is usually baked but can also be sautéed, boiled, or steamed. They have a sweet, golden, and slightly fibrous flesh. The seeds can also be toasted and eaten much like pumpkin seeds.
*Although acorn squash does not contain as much beta-carotene as other “winter” squashes, they are a great source of fiber and potassium.

Recipe by Cristina Paul

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

He's got the whole world in his hands - or by the balls...

The Wordsworth Effect

Is when you return to a place
and it's not nearly as amazing
as you once thought it was,

or when you remember how you felt
about something (or someone) but you know
you'll never feel that way again.

It's when you notice someone has turned
down the volume, and you realize
it was you; when you have the

suspicion that you've met the enemy
and you are it, or when you get
your best ideas from your sister's journal.

Is also-to be fair-the thing that enables
you to walk for miles and miles chanting to
yourself in iambic pentameter

and to travel through Europe with
only a clean shirt, a change of
underwear, a notebook and a pen.

And yes: is when you stretch out
on your couch and summon up ten thousand
daffodils, all dancing in the breeze.

by Joyce Sutphen