Twenty-two for 50 - Blog 22, Recipe 22, Book 22

'Polish Pride' clematis was blooming in June

Baby steps, right? That's the way back to feeling better. Thank you all for your love, support and words of encouragement. It means the world to me and nudged me further up the hill. I am getting more accomplished and planning things to look forward to on weekends. There have been fewer tears, slightly more motivation, and some really good laughs and friendly chats.

What else has been going on, you ask? A only-slightly-uncomfortable National Night Out block party,  rousing discussion at book club (which I did not expect when I picked the book), lunch with a dear friend, a sassy haircut and relaxing massage, chats with "neighbors" from the lake at our annual meeting (E is still on the board, so we went even though we do not own property on the lake currently), and a very comfortable lunch and boat ride with some of my favorite cousins of E. I made amazing BBQ pulled pork, tangy coleslaw and then turned the pork into pizza (3 new recipes!), and finished a couple of books. I walked and relished the recent cooler weather. E bought a flat (12 pints) of blueberries at the farmers' market the other day so I cleaned and froze berries on cookie sheets, then packed them in freezer bags. I can look forward to many handfuls of summer to eat for months to come. My tongue turned purple, prompting E to ask which character in Willy Wonka turned purple and me to answer, "Violet, you're turning violet!".

How about a recipe and a book? These are both from June, so hopefully I remember something about them.

Recipe 22 - Huli Huli Chicken

Huli Huli was yummy yummy

If you have been to Hawaii, you may have had this there. I found the recipe at Taste and Tell blog and used a cast iron pan instead of grilling it. It would be excellent grilled, but was still very tender and flavorful. This will be one to put on the regular rotation, with its simple on-hand ingredients and minimal preparation. It does need to marinate for 8 hours or overnight (I started mine in the morning before work so it was probably in there for close to 10 hours - I don't believe you can over-marinate).

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons ketchup
• 6 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons chicken broth (I used water and Penzey's chicken base)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger root (I happened to still have some left from when I made Easy Korean Beef the week before)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used boneless, skinless breasts because that was what I have on hand)
• In a small bowl (I used my small batter bowl from Pampered Chef) whisk together all ingredients except the chicken.
• Place chicken in a shallow dish large enough that they can be single layer. (You can also place them in a ziplock bag, per blog. I have a sealable large shallow glass dish which I prefer to single-use plastic bags.)
• Reserve 1/2 cup of marinade, and pour the rest over the chicken. Turn to coat the chicken in the sauce.
• Cover the dish and refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight. (Try to turn once or twice during this time.)
• When ready to make the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Preheat a grill to medium heat. (Or if you are me, heat a large cast iron pan over medium heat on the stovetop.) 
• Cook the chicken until it reaches 170ºF, about 12-16 minutes, turning a few times during the cook time. Baste the chicken with the reserved marinade during the last 5 minutes of cook time.
• We served with brown rice. Grilled pineapple would also be quite delicious.

Book 22

I borrowed the novel The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman from my mom who read it earlier this year. A Minnesota author, Maltman wrote this after living in the area of the state where I grew up, so some of the history and places were familiar. It is told in flashbacks and flashforwards, and is an intertwining story of multiple generations of German immigrants to the Midwest, before, during, and after the Dakota War of 1862. Most of the story is told from the perspective of Asa who was a boy (11? 12?) in a family of settlers who arrived in Minnesota after living in Missouri. Parts are also told from his aunt's point of view. She had lived for a time with the Dakota and was later institutionalized for "fits". It was a fairly balanced telling of the events leading to the war (which I learned about in school, but back then it was called the "Sioux Uprising"), though more through the eyes of the white settlers than the Dakota. It was uncomfortable reading at times (which if history doesn't make you uncomfortable, it is probably too slanted toward your own race/religion/social standing) but a good story that pulled me along. More people need to know about this and other ugly parts of the country's history. This historical fiction version is not a bad way to learn about the events and has made me want to read and learn more.

Until we read again,

Hallie

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 29 (6 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 28

Blog posts published– 22

Miles walked in July - 54.5

    Miles walked so far in August - 30.2 

    Miles walked year-to-date –364.48

Scrap book pages completed –27

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0

Twenty-one for 50 - It's a nice day to start again

Black-eyed Susans are some of the cheeriest in my garden

Cup flowers tower about a foot over my head

This morning I listened to music as I took my walk (E is golfing so I have a little time to myself which you likely know that I enjoy). One of the songs that came on was "White Wedding" by Billy Idol (Best of Rock: 1985 on Spotify) and one of the lines stuck out to me - It's a nice day to start again. Billy growled it, as he always does, and this song is not at all a wedding song, nor particularly uplifting, but I felt inspired by it. It is a nice day (albeit smoky/hazy) and I am ready to start again.

If you read my last post, and are prone to trying to diagnose people (like I am), this will not be a shock to you. I am going through a bout of depression. Irritability that got my manager's attention and made her ask me "How are you? No really - how are you?". As I cried through my one-on-one and expressed my frustration and pessimistic view of my job, my career, the very future of the entire profession, and heard her tell me to take some time to figure out what I wanted or needed to do, a little bell went off in my head. I am depressed. I've been here before, so started kicking myself for not recognizing it before. Low motivation, low energy, no joy in things I usually enjoy, tearful, irritable. Check, check, check. As they say, the first step to getting help is recognizing you need help. I am getting help and working on it. I am not yet feeling back to my normal self, but I will get there. I thought I would let you know. This is a big part of why I have not posted in over a month.

Here I am - I'm coming back and it is a nice day to start again.

Back in the beginning of June, I went on a scrapbooking retreat (see Nineteen of 50) and it was so great to spend time with my sister and other friends, to be creative, to reminisce about my senior year of high school. I completed only 8 pages but feel like I really did accomplish something.

The rest of June was not great - I finished only 1 book, tried only 1 new recipe, and blogged only twice. I did keep up with walking despite the 9000 degree heat, mostly thanks to E's encouragement. He also picked strawberries with me ("made" me go to the strawberry patch which I was later grateful for), even though he wouldn't eat a strawberry if you paid him. He did the great bulk of the work with the cabin sale (we closed on July 7th - Woohoo!) and is always there with a giant hug when I need it. I found a good one, and I intend to keep him!

July went a little better, mostly because I was aware of what was going on in my mind and was trying to get back on track. Three new recipes, five books finished and good walking time, seeing friends on the Fourth, plus we took a little trip to Wisco to visit our friends who we last saw in March 2020 on our cruise right before the world shut down. I got my wand from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Wisco friends had driven so we asked them to haul it home for us since it didn't really fit well in my suitcase) so I can now cast spells again. We had such a pleasant time with B&G in ATW and can't wait to see them again soon.

There you have it - the explanation of my struggle bus ride and how I have turned a corner and am slowly moving ahead. My upcoming posts will likely be shorter, but I plan to post more frequently. Stay tuned, my friends and fans, and remember, it's a nice day to start again.

Until we read again,

Hallie

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 27 (6 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 25

Blog posts published– 21

Miles walked in June - 53.39

Miles walked so far in July - 52.2 (there may be one more walk yet today)

    Miles walked year-to-date –331.98

Scrap book pages completed –27

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0