Autumn Reflections & A Special Thanksgiving Menu

Autumn Leaves in Georgetown by Robert Arnold

Don’t miss the special Thanksgiving Menu below…

“This poem reminds me of how Autumn is a threshold—in the midst of the abundant autumn landscape of color and light, there is also a sense that the grey bare days of winter are just around the corner,” says Terri Lynn Simpson, Consultant for Contemplative Programming, Washington National Cathedral Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage.

“These liminal times are like open doorways that invite us to a particular kind of mindfulness where we are aware that we’re moving from one way of being to another. One foot is in the past and one foot is in the future, and in the midst of the two is the present. We can put our weight on one foot or another, superficially living in the past or the future, but true balance comes only when we live deeply in the moment.” Learn more about the health benefits of mindfulness…

Song for Autumn 
by Mary Oliver from New and Selected Poems:  Volume II (Beacon press)

In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.

Katherine’s Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes
Recipes Excerpted From: Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes: 50 New Reasons to Cook in Season! 

Appetizer:

Najmieh’s Yogurt and Spinach Dip

First Course Options:

Najmieh’s Winter Salad of Orange and Pomegranate

Cauliflower Vichyssoise

Butternut Squash Soup with Curry and Ginger

Side Dish Options:

Kale and Spinach Gratin with Garlic, Rosemary & Thyme Smothered in Olive Oil Bechamel Sauce

Warm Potato Salad with Haricots Verts with a Lemony Garlic Mayonnaise

Main Course:

Turkey!

Dessert Options:

Katherine’s Light Sweet Potato Flan with Vanilla Bean

Autumn Apple Crisp with Nuts, Dried Fruit & Ginger