"You know who your real friends are..."

Maybe some of you have already heard this story.

I tell it a lot.

It's the story about a woman at a farm stand, late summer, outside of Omaha, Nebraska.  

It's a story about the most unusual of friends.

It's a thanksgiving story.

A woman stopped at a farm stand and gathered baskets full of produce - she was staging a magazine photo shoot in a 1910 farmhouse, and needed props for the shoot.  While she was gathering her produce, another woman, unusually dressed, came into the barn.  This unusual woman would wander through the produce displays, admiring the tomatoes, the beets.  She would beam at the carrots.  She would pick out a handful of beans, take them to the counter, ask about them, compliment how lovely they were and then return them. Then she'd pick up a small bag of potatoes, take them to the counter, ask about them, compliment how lovely they were, and then return them.  Finally, she asked about the okra that was growing by the barn.  "It's out of season," the farm stand clerk said.  "if you want to pick some yourself, you can have whatever you can pick, no charge."  So outside she went, to pick her own okra, leaving behind the beans, the potatoes, the expensive beets...  

As the woman from the photo shoot was checking out, she stopped to look back through the barn doors.  "Wait," she said, and went back through the aisles again, picking out a handful of beans, a small bag of potatoes, and some beets and carrots.  She told the clerk, "Add these to my bill, too."  The clerk started to wrap them up with the other photo shoot produce.  "No, these are for the woman outside," she said, "But don't tell her I bought them. Please just be sure to give them to her.  After I'm gone," she added.

it was a selfless act of reaching out - of giving - regardless.  It was a wonderful thing to witness.

So, for this week, Thanksgiving is almost upon us.  

And this Thanksgiving, I want to share with you, that in the last few weeks, I have been moved to tears more than once.

I have been moved to tears by people that have stopped, and looked at me.  

Seen me.

And realized.  

And then they have asked.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" 

And then added, "Come with me on Thanksgiving."

They have looked beyond the quilting.  They have looked beyond the neighbor.  They have looked beyond the busy.  They have looked beyond the every day.  And Seen Me.  Just me.  Only me.

And then they have said, "Come with me - come be a part of my family.  We have room enough.  We have enough for you too."

What a way to find out who your true friends are.  Really.  

And like the woman picking okra in the field, sometimes what you find is that it is the most unlikely of persons that reaches out to you.  That sees you.  That realizes.  

This Thanksgiving, I would ask each and every one of you to be that stranger that buys someone those admirable potatoes.  

Be that person that looks at another and really sees them.  

Be mindful of others' needs.  

Thread a needle for a friend.  

Sew on a binding for another. 

Step out of yourself.

Open your home to someone this season.  

Open your heart to someone this season.

Because you just might move someone to tears with your compassion, your kindness, your selflessness.

And you just might get so much more in return by doing so.

This year, when I count my blessings on Thanksgiving, I will count you.

Thank you, my friends.

Natalie.

be.do.create

2008

 

 

time to give back

It's time to give back.To my girlfriend in Hawaii.

Who loves my green curry chicken zucchini soup.  With anything else you want it to have in it, too.

So, Jill, make a double batch of this soup, and keep it in the 'fridge for those days that you are on deadline and you are writing, writing, writing.  This, and a little salad, yum.  This, and a little of Greg's rice...yum.  These pics were taken on the 4 burner and a griddle O'Keefe that Greg found at an estate sale - a little cleaning, and it was as good as new!!  (me, I'm waiting for the pancakes off of the griddle)

And so the rest of you can see Jill Marie Landis' work - or read her work - go to 

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

and go to plantation bookstore

and go to Hawaiian

and pick up a Jill Marie Landis' book to add to your fall or winter reading list.

AND, of course, the cookbook.

Here you go, Jill...it's actually a pretty simple recipe once you have the basic staples in your pantry.  And now, I keep the staples handy, because it's a pretty hearty soup, yet it's pretty simple in the long run.  While I do not endorse any of these brands, I shop at these places - Trader Joe's, Whole Foods (365 brand is great - their generic, and often organic), and Fresh & Easy.  So the basics are - coconut milk (I use light coconut milk), fish sauce, green curry paste (I add red, too), and, the secret ingredient - brown sugar, and, well, those are the basics - the recipe follows. For the 'guts' of the soup, zucchini, Asian eggplant, and chicken.  Sometimes I do zucchini and mushroom alone.  There you have it.  Green soup.  Hmmmmm.  Oh, and I cook mine in the big heavy pot...

• 2 medium zucchini or 2 long purple Asian eggplants
• 1-1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
• 2-3 tablespoons green curry paste
• 1/4 pound boneless chicken thighs or breast, cut in big bite size pieces
• 1-1/2 cups chicken broth or water
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
• 6 to 8 wild lime leaves, torn or cut in half (optional)
• A handful of fresh Asian or Italian basil leaves, plus basil springs for garnish
  

Cut the zucchini - lengthwise, then crosswise into 1" chunks, set aside.  In medium saucepan or heavy skillet, bring 3/4 cup of the coconut milk to a gentle boil over medium high heat.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until it starts to thicken and becomes fragrant.  Add the curry paste and cook 2-3 minutes, pressing and stirring to dissolve it into the coconut milk.  Add the chicken and cook 2 minutes more, tossing to coat it with the sauce.  

Add the remaining 3/4 cup coconut milk, the chicken broth (or water, which I use), zucchini, fish sauce, palm sugar, and about half the wild lime leaves.  Bring to a gentle boil.  Reduce heat to maintain a lively simmer and cook, stirring now and then, until the chicken is cooked and the zucchini is tender but still firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining lime leaves and the fresh basil leaves.  Garnish with a few sprigs of fresh basil and serve hot or warm.  

Serves 4 to 6

Finally, if you're quilting the weekend away, if you want the kinder gentler version of gridiron chili, try this recipe. Remember - I add some red curry to give it more kick...

be.do.create

2008

Thanks for thinking of

b e y o n d   t h e   r e e f

Natalie.

natalie@beyondthereefpatterns.com

creativity is messy

Someone recently asked me how I create.

I am a quilter, and  I had fabric spread across the worktable.

How do I create.

Hmmm.

So I responded quickly - looking down at the fabrics we had chosen - two different themes of fabrics,

"It's messy," I replied.

And then, before I sat to compose this entry, I realized, 

ART IS MESSY.

All art is messy.  Painting.  Ceramics.  Sculpture.  Collage.  Performance Art.

As designers (of anything, I believe) we need a lot, we have to pull a lot, we have unlimited choices of whatever it is we're doing - working in.  And we want to see it all, consider it all, try it all, and throw half of it out (or maybe more than half some days).

And in return, life is messy.  Our friendships are messy.  There are so many choices out there.  Who do we invite in?  What do we keep, what do we set free, or set aside for another part of our life?  How do we create a life? Life IS a blank canvas.  I think, if you have been reading along, you will know, I do morning sunrise prayers and evening meditations.  Every morning I ask, I plead, I call upon the Great (for me, God, for you, your choice), "Show me what it is that you would have me do today."  A blank canvas.  Every day.  Or as my yoga instructor says, "Begin again".  Except he might say it three or four or eight times in an hour and a half class.  BEGIN AGAIN.  Create again.  Messy.  And maybe, in life, we're really looking for someone that we can 'be messy' with. A safe place.  Like Creating.  Art.  (oh, yea, where were we....)

And so in this very short blog about, probably, you will say, not so much about quilting (however, I would say, read it again...) quilting is messy.  art is messy.  creating is messy.  life is messy.

How fine to be creative.  Messy is good.

be.do.create

2008

Thanks for thinking of

b e y o n d   t h e   r e e f

Natalie

natalie@beyondthereefpatterns.com

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

BLACKBIRD

I'm listening to a mix I made for a friend on a road trip.

Oh, how I love road trips...

Wait.

Go Back.

The song.  It's BLACKBIRD.

It's a remix.  

And I ran into the Los Angeles Times comic section I have kept - - the last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip to be published in that paper (I believe)  September 19, 1993.  Can I quote it?  Can I get in trouble for this Mr. Watterson?  Forgive me in advance...

"Look, a dead bird!"

"It must've hit the window..."

"Isn't it beautiful?  It's so delicate..."

"Sigh...once it's too late, you appreciate what a miracle life is."

"You realize that nature is ruthless and our existence is very fragile.  Temporary, and precious."

"But to go on with your daily affairs, you can't really think about that."

"Which is probably why everyone takes the world for granted and why we act so thoughtlessly."

"It's very confusing."

"I suppose it will all make sense when we grow up."

The next full frame is of Calvin and Hobbes leaning up against a tree, watching birds flying along in the sky...

This is a theme for me - at least, for today.

I hope I carry that theme with me for longer than 'at least, for today'...

be.do.create

2008

Thanks for thinking of

b e y o n d    t h e    r e e f

Natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

...that's all....