The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window

A mood affecting the body

September 26, 2011

Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. It had been a quiet day, quiet round the house and around town, where people have come down here and there with something making them tired, generally down, lacking gumption. It's not the kind of thing where you sneeze, or feel feverish, or hack up anything. More a mood affecting the body, laying a person flat for a day or two with no appetite and not much attention to pay. A malaise, perhaps.

I don't have it. But a number of people I care about do, and I think it's sad that at such a beautiful turn of the season with fall starting last Friday and the cool winds and sun and all that there are those who aren't able fully participate. My thought was to help out a bit so I loaded up a batch of homemade pumpkin cupcakes smothered with homemade cream cheese frosting and some hot chocolate mix to take on over to my neighbor Raylene who works harder than just about anyone I know.

Raylene is raising her grandson. She lost her daughter awhile back and she doesn't talk about it much. It was cancer and her daughter went fast. Now Raylene is doing what mothers do, when she ought to be relaxing a bit and visiting grandchildren and canning and going on those bus tours to see the foliage and such.

The cupcakes didn't cure her malaise, but they sure made her smile. "People just don't bake things for me," she said, as she licked the frosting off an entire cupcake. I watched her bite into it, watched her eyes close as she lay her mass of long auburn hair back against her pillow. "Now that is one humdinger of a cupcake," she said. And it was. And so were the five I left at home, one for each of us. I just ate mine. Made me smile, too, all that frosting. Doesn't take much some days, to bring on a smile.

Comfort food is on its way, and here's something you can throw together between yard work and a shower.

Autumn Pork Chops

4 top loin pork chops
6 T teriyaki sauce
2 T molasses (or ketchup)
Marinade chops overnight in teriyaki and molasses.
Season with salt and pepper.

Grill over medium high, basting with teriyaki and molasses. Or brown in a skillet and place in a baking dish. Pour remaining marinade over, and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or so, turning chops halfway through.

Serve with corn casserole, or a rice dish. Maybe some corn on the cob.

Enjoy!