Italian sausage, fennel and gnocchi casserole
When I drag my tired bones home at the end of an exhausting day, this is one of the simplest and most satisfying dinners I can think of. Apart from fresh fennel, most of the ingredients can be found in a moderately well-stocked pantry. (If you can’t find fennel in the...
read moreBircher muesli (overnight oats)
Even (or especially?) crazy-busy people need a decent meal to start their day. Bircher Muesli to the rescue! This breakfast dish is inspired by a preparation pioneered in 1900 by the Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner for the patients of his Zurich sanatorium,...
read morePollo con arroz (Recipe)
I can't believe it: I'm posting my first recipe! Which is shocking, really, considering this blog was created to feature recipes you make when disaster strikes: When you're stressed. Or sick. Or both. When five hungry people are coming for dinner and you only have 40...
read moreMiddle age sucks — but there’s hope
Happy belated birthday to me! Yup, I celebrated the Big Five-Two yesterday. And with it, the realization that -- statistically speaking -- I'm the unhappiest now that I'll ever be. Cheers to that! According to a recent Washington Post article, 52 (or thereabouts) is...
read moreAlmost there (my birthday anthem)
It's my birthday. On our way to school this morning, my daughter played this song for me. (Sung by the lovely Anika Noni Rose.) I welled up. Not that I want to open a fashionable restaurant in 1920's New Orleans. But I can relate to mountains, trials and tribulations,...
read moreJoy and Woe. A time to grieve.
Yesterday was the saddest day of my life: I got divorced. And so, after 23 years, four months and 30 days of being "Mrs. W." I am back to being plain, old Conner Middelmann. My reaction took me by surprise. I was expecting to feel relief, energy, and even happiness at...
read moreGood or Evil? The one you feed.
Today's Daily Calm meditation was about a Cherokee parable that goes like this: An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. "One is evil -- he is...
read moreHope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights
Abuse can take many forms, ranging from violent and life-threatening to subtle -- sometimes so subtle that even the target barely notices it. No type of abuse is "better" or "worse" -- indeed, any situation where a person (man or woman) uses their power to control or...
read moreMake your mistakes, next year and forever
My New Year Wish, from the journal of Neil Gaiman. "May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing...
read moreHave Christmas tree, will travel
I am an Urban Nomad. Yes, that’s a thing. The Urban Dictionary defines it thus: “A small but diverse section of society that lives and works in an urban area, yet does not rent, own or otherwise reside permanently in any one location. "Nomad" suggests a chosen...
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