Tina The Storyteller

I recently got a book recommendation from a friends about food stuffs. It's title was Nourishing Wisdom. I immediately turned to the library to discover I'd have to get it via interlibrary loan. I requested and then waited. It finally showed up a few weeks ago, I started reading. It was pretty good. The book is about food psychology at its core. I was intrigued and hooked. I learned a ton of different things about myself as I read through the book but as I sit back and let it digest, a few things keep ruminating, so I thought I would share. My main one is from the very end of the book, when you eat, you are secretly making a pact to continue to live. I love that idea that every time I eat, I'm saying yes to more life. I often think of food as something that's trying to kill me or make me sick, we fight a lot. But I'm hoping this new understanding will help draw a peace between us. Another thing that I keep pondering is the idea that we crave sweets because we crave

A few years ago, I got a little magazine in the mail from Nestle. It had some seasonal recipes and gift ideas in. I loved it. Maybe it was because the Internet had not quite become the storehouse of recipes that it now contains, or maybe because all of the recipes I made from it were excellent. Either way, I still have ands till use it. One of my favorites from the book is the Pumpkin Pecan Rum Cake. It's moist, it's spicy, it's fragrant, it's just about everything you could ask for from a pumpkin dessert. You can find the recipe for it online by clicking here . Now, I pretty much follow the recipe, except I generally roast and purée my own pumpkin (a great how to on this is online here ). I do find that it does make a difference, but canned pumpkin is also quite delicious. For this recipe, I used two cups of purée. I also tend to make my own pumpkin pie spice. For this particular recipe, I used a tablespoon of cinnamon, a scant teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg and carda

Don't ask me where I've been, because honestly, I have no idea. We've had a lot of changes going on at our church the past couple of months, as well as getting into the rhythm of fall. I think that things are making a turn for the better. I started running again this week. It's cold out there, fortunately, I have enough of the right gear to be comfortable for the time being. Today was a really nice time, God and I had a serious talk and he pointed out some things that I had been believing and by things I mean lies I tell myself. It's kind of tough to run when your on the verge of sobbing, but I made it through. One of my best times of exercise ever, I can't wait to go out again. We're almost completely immersed into the unschooling way of life. I have a few vestiges of thoughts, but it has been pretty amazing to see the things that my daughter has taught herself that I thought would need formal education to achieve. Simple things like multiplication and read