Redemption of the Pagans

Everyone is in the holiday spirit, and the Colored Man is no exception.  Bells are ringing, children are singing, and the stores are packed with holiday shoppers.  My culinary juices are starting to bubble and boil. But have you ever wondered how all of this Christmas stuff began?  Exactly what are we celebrating?  Just as I did for Thanksgiving, the Colored Man is going to give you a brief bit of information regarding this biggest of all holiday's, which has connections to paganism.

This particular history lesson was inspired by an article in The New York Times a few days ago.  The article was about wealthy people hiring holiday house "fluffers".  And no, these are not x-rated movie set fluffers.  These are trained interior designers hired to specifically decorate a townhouse or country retreat for the holidays.  They are hired to give the residents and residences a sense of a Hallmark Christmas.  A very expensive sense of belonging and Victorian memories, all swags and boughs.

The origin of the word Christmas is from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes maesse.  Cristes is from Greek Christos and maesse is from Latin missa, the holy mass.  In Greek, the letter X (chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century.  This explains the use of Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas.

The date of December 25 as the birth of Christ is quite interesting, as this is also the celebration of the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, which also has a relation with the Winter Solstice, a pagan celebration.  Some scholars argue that church leaders based this choice of December 25 on the spring equinox, which would have occured around March 25, now known as Annunciation and as the anniversary of Mary's conception, which would have meant that Jesus was born nine months later on December 25.  These theories do get complicated, so I encourage you to go out and do some research to learn more.

Throughout history, trees and flowers have been used for celebrations, and Christmas is lush with flora.   The Romans brought greenery inside during their winter holidays, and greenery was also part of Jewish tradition.  The heart-shaped leaves of ivy are said to symbolize the coming to earth of Jesus, as well as, the clinging to tradition and belief.  Holly represents protection against pagans and witches, its thorns and red berries symbolic of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus at the cruxcifixion and the blood he shed.  The buds of the poinsettia, a native plant of Mexico, is said to represent the crown of the thorns, while its red leaves the blood.

We can thank the Germans for Christmas trees, which during pagan times were worshipped for all of the resources that they gave man - shelter, warmth, cool, food, beauty.  However, Christmas trees in America and Britian did not become the household necessity that they are today, until Prince Albert, German-born royal consort of Queen Victoria, decided that the British royal family should have a tree in their castle.  Once the picture of the family in front of a Christmas tree was printed in the newspapers around the world in the mid-1800's, the Christmas tree quickly became a household must-have on both shores. Christmas decorations can also be attributed to the Germans, inspired by paper chains made by children.  The first ornaments in America were sold at F.W. Woolworth's, the store that would later play a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's.  These were German-made and to this day, German-made Christmas ornaments are considered to be the finest-made in the world.  Check out Christopher Radko ornaments at http://www.christopherradko.com/. 

The colors red and green also have symbolic meaning.  The Paradise Play was presented in the 1300's to tell the story of Adam and Eve, who brought sin to the world.  The birth of Jesus brought redemption.  In order to show illiterate citizens the Tree of Life, presenters used a green pine tree and tied red apples to its branches.  Additionally, red is symbolic of celebration, while green proclaims new life, new beginning, and eternal life.  The use of purple denotes royalty, as in the birth of Jesus, King of the World. 

Gift-giving began with God's gift of Jesus to the world.  The Three Wise Men gave the baby Jesus gifts.  And we are supposed to give gifts to show God's bounty and blessings.  At some point the Catholic Church banned gift-giving due to its connection to pagan holidays, such as the Roman holiday, Saturnalia. However, they later reversed their decision due to the holiday's association with Saint Nicholas, a patron saint of children, and the gifts of the Magi to the baby Christ.

Wrapping paper, which you can get in any color of the rainbow that you desire is another Christmas tradition.  Originally handmade gifts were not wrapped and placed at the foot of the decorated tree.  Instead, gifts were placed inside the branches.  It wasn't until the Civil War and the need for mass production that store-bought gifts came into vogue.  During this time gifts were wrapped in twine, ribbon, tree bark or tissue paper.  As the story goes, around World War II, a milliner ran out of white tissue paper to wrap gifts, so decided to use colored paper.  Her boss saw what she was doing, and went on to create the Hallmark Company and decorative wrapping papers.

Gingerbread houses are also a staple of the holiday season, and lend themselves to contests, public displays, and even have a home in the public rooms of The White House.  Ginger was highly popular in Asian countries, and in fact, was one of the most widely used spices in the world.  Trade ships from around the world docked in Nuremburg, Germany, and in the 1500's local bakers began using ginger in their baked food items.  This led to the creation of gingerbread houses.

Other foods include nuts, which mirrors life and having to crack it open to see what's inside.  Apples represent freshness, and oranges denote the bright sunshine of a new day.  Egg nog is a British creation, and just leads to getting drunk and a trip to your private throne room.

The first Christmas tree lights were developed by the Thomas Edison Company.  The Colored Man thinks that this concept has it good and bad sides.  Of course the electric lights got rid of the burning candles on the tree, but on the other hand it caused some people to not follow the old adage of "less is more" when it comes to decorating their house.

Of course nowadays, Christmas has become too commercial.  Just after Halloween I began to see stores with holiday decorations already up and blazing.  We can thank good old American commercialism and Lord & Taylor department store, which was the first store to devote space to holiday displays in 1938, for the Christmas season starting in July.

So with these bits of information, I hope that each of you enjoys a very merry holiday season, and that you will use the information that I have given you, to hold fascinting conversations at all of those fabulous holiday parties that you will be attending and hosting.

Some of my readers don't celebrate Christmas, so I wish you continued health and happiness.

Bye the bye, the Colored Man really likes the gift-giving part, and I am still in need of a good 35mm camera!!!!, or an all-expense paid vacation to someplace warm and exotic:).  I have been a good boy all year!!!!

The Colored Man
coloredm@yahoo.com
thecoloredman@gmail.com

Winter Blooms

The Colored Man loves winter and the coldness that it brings.  However, I also love to garden.  It would seem that the two loves would not go well together, but they really fit together like two peas in a pod.

For instance, look at the picture of this beautiful amaryllis, which is normally a plant that grows in tropical climes.  It was a very welcomed gift from my girl, Ms. Loveheart, and it is sitting on my kitchen

table with about 4 blooms in full glory.  How did this happen in 10 degree weather, you ask?  Well, through a process called "forcing," you trick the bulb into thinking that it is 80 degrees and time for it to wake up and grow.  Forcing can be done with pretty much any bulb plant-tulips, narcissus, hyacinth and so forth and so on.  In order to force a bulb, you need to get yourself a decorative shallow bowl or planter, preferably clear in color, some pea stones or natural-colored rocks, and some bulbs of your choice. 

Once you have the stones in the dish, place the bulbs into the dish, and then add more stones until the bulbs are covered about two-thirds up.  Your bulbs should not be submerged in large amounts of water,as this will cause them to rot.  You only want the root part to actually touch the water.  Place the dish in a cool, dark location.  Once you begin to see green sprouting from the bulb, relocate them to somewhere they will get lots of sunshine, and with a combination of heat and light from the sun and heat from your furnace, plus water, and you will have vibrant flowers in about 3-4 weeks.  They will eventually die back, and when they do, continue to keep them feed with water and sun, and when it gets warm enough outside, take them out and plant them directly into the ground.  Be warned: they may grow or they may not grow.

I guess that the Colored Man's love of plants and landscapes started when I was just a young lad.  My great-grandmother had a gladiola garden in the backtard, and one day yours truly decided to go and play in it, breaking a few plants (well, maybe a little bit more than a few).  Trust me, I learned to respect a person's garden after that incident, and thus I still have that feeling towards them some 20, oops 30, well actually 40+ years later.  I must have some talent in the area, having won certificates and ribbons for my horticultural expertise, and at one point was a certified and active Master Gardener.  So it's a good thing.

Any avid gardener will tell you that gardening is time consuming and year-round.  But I have always loved getting up around 5:30am on a hot Saturday morning in August, and just spending time walking around the yard and looking at the plants, making mental notes to myself to divide this one, or to deadhead another plant.  Or asking myself why did I buy this plant? Or this plant is not working here in this spot.  Being in the garden is meditative for me, and there have been times that I have worked in the yard from 8 in the morning, to 3 or 4 o'clock in the early evening.  It is my chance to escape and get away, and to be honest, I love when neighbors come by and admire your handiwork, or engage you in conversation regarding your vision.  During the winter months i enjoy perusing plant catalogs, watching programs on television, and looking for unusual plants.

Of course, there have been some miscues, like the time that I purchased these outstanding topiary rose bushes, only to have them not come back the following year.  I paid good money for those plants so I raised some hell and got a full refund.  Then there is the time that I decided to compost, only to have the worms die out, because I hadn't taken the time to fully read about what I was doing.  Only this time I did not get my money back.  I was dealing with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and figured that I had better not fuck with them too much.

Gardening is also a way of honoring people, for instance, I love portulaca, which blooms in full sun, but closes up when the sun goes down.  This is a plant that my mother grew.  Another plant that she grew was verbena, which I have tried to grow, but it is susceptible to powdery mildew in my part of the country.

Visual beauty is also another great part of gardening, and I love visiting great gardens.  I can't wait to go back to the Biltmore to witness the imagination of Frederick Law Olmstead.  My favorite city for gardens is Chicago.  It seems that in the Windy City, no expense is spared in their public garden spaces.  Most cities usually only plant annuals, trees, and shrubs, but in Chicago, it's all of that plus roses, succulents, grasses, perennials, and vegetables.  In Chicago, even the roof of City Hall is a garden.  I have often wondered how much money do they spend on their gardens? and will things continue to grow when the city elects a new mayor?  We shall see.

My ultimate gardening dream would be to have a space with about 10 acres, so that I could create cutting gardens, dozens of rose varieties, do some espaliered fruit trees, a few grape vines, specimen plantings, wide and deep plantings throughout the space, a pool surrounded by lush tropical plants, lots of potted plants, color galore, bee hives, a greenhouse, French vegetable knots............................................. 

Wake up, Colored Man, WAKE UP!!!!  Oh...I'm sorry, I feel asleep there for a moment.  Excuse me.

So outside it may be frigid, but inside the Colored Man's mind it is as warm and sunshiny as a blazing summer day,when the garden is in full bodacious bloom.  I'm going back to sleep, perchace to dream some more about dirt and shovels, and roots, and mulch, and color combinations, and retaining walls, and slugs, and.......

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The Colored Man

  



Moving Around

First, let me apologize for being late with my post this week, but it has been a whirwind past few days for The Colored Man. Where shall I start?

Well, most importantly, I moved into a brand-new living environment, one that has a spacious kitchen, large bathroom, hardwood floors, and 10ft. ceilings, gas stove, and did I mention that the new villa-ette has "welfare heat."  For those of you who don't know, welfare heat is steam heat that has a tendency to overheat.  It's 17 degrees outside as I write this, but I am sitting here in shorts and a tee-shirt with the window open.  And best of all the heat is FREE!  The neighborhood is in transition, and is becoming quite the artistic haven.  About three blocks down the street, I have a 6-mile walk/run trail, so there are no excuses for not getting out and exercising.

I am already enjoying this new place, which is a good ways from my old stomping grounds, but offers me the opportunity to do what I want, when I want, how I want.  Eventually, I will purchase another house, but for right now, this is the place to be and it's where I chose to call home, and I am lovin' it.

On Sunday, my good "judy" girlfriend, Ms. Loveheart, invited me to a grand opening party for Dhani Jones' new coffee shop, Bow Tie Cafe.  Dhani Jones is a professional athlete who is also the star of Dhani Tackles the Globe on the Travel Channel, and is an all-around bon vivant and philanthropist.  The reason that the coffee shop is called Bow Tie Cafe, is because he designs and sells bowties, with the profits assisting various charities, such as Juvenile Diabetes.

Ms. Loveheart was looking quite stunning in a purplish knit dress, which featured sculpted, draped shoulders and just enough cleavage to not be vulgar.  Kim Kardashian ain't got nothing on Ms. Loveheart.  She was in that dress, which highlighted her hour-glass figure.  Her legs were covered in purplish-brown tights, and she strutted in suede 4-inch heels.  Yours truly, the Colored Man wore a pair of jeans that had shrunk a few years ago (wink-wink), a black and white gingham shirt, black sweater-jacket with a faux fur collar, and grey suede wingtips. We were quite fashionable if I say so myself.

The party was quite a melange of people - business people, hanger-ons, black, white, Asian, Middle Eastern, pro athletes, hoochie mommas, older, younger, straight, gay, half-way crooked, invited and party-crashers, Rolex, Timex, and Cartier watch wearers.  The food offered was sushi, sliders -made with very good beef, assorted cheeses and charcuterie.  Wine, beer and sodas washed the delicious lite fare down.

The highlight of the evening was a mini-concert by a pianist named Eric Lewis, or ELew as he calls himself.  If you can imagine Yanni and John Tesh on steroids, than you have ELew.  His styles range from New Age, Punk, Rock, jazz to the Delfonics' LaLaLaLaLa......Means I Love You.  He is a fourth-generation musician, and grew up in a home in Camden, New Jersey that also served as a music school.
He makes the piano rumble like thunder, and does it all while crouch down in a runner's starting gate position.  When I inquired why he played in that position versus sitting on a bench, he told me that he likes the "lines" that his body creates while he plays.  I will be honest, his music is not for everyone's taste.  Personally, the Colored Man tended to gravitate more towards his jazz and pop interpretations versus his rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.  Of course, Ms. Loveheart who is the Colored Man's junior by 20 years loved all of the rock and punk music renditions.  All that I could do was ask her who the song was by, and reply, "I've never heard of them."  There were rumours that Terrell Owens was giving a party on Monday night, but we were not able to get full details, or else we would have been there also, and I would have a full report for you.  I guess his orbit is just a little bit more rarified than Dhani's.  All in all it was a very enjoyable evening.

The party ended for me around 12 midnite. Of course the youngster Ms. Loveheart went to the "afterglow," and had plenty of stories to tell me the next afternoon.

So, as you can see, that between packing and unpacking, hanging out, and living life, it has been quite a busy week for the Colored Man.  I am tired, and ready to sit back and enjoy a good book surrounded by welfare heat.

The Colored Man
I would like to just take a moment to say hello to my readers in Nepal, Singapore, and Vietnam.  Thank you for reading my blog!!!!!

Momma, Who Is That Man?

The Colored Man loves music of just about any genre, with the exception of rock, heavy metal, and perhaps country and western, even though I do like country swing, and have been known to purchase a bluegrass cd.  I grew up in a household with lots of music - jazz, soul, gospel, and was exposed to classical music in school.  At the age of around 7, my brother and I had our own small collection of jazz recordings.  This was back in the day when albums were made in different colors, and I remember my favorite was a Dave Brubeck album in red.  I think that I played that thing daily, so much that the grooves of the album became worn down.

Music was a big part of my earlier years.  My mother loved music, but she also had a secret that would not be revealed until I was around 11 years old.  The secret was that she could sing, and sing very well.  At one point during her college years, she sang with Louis Farrakhan before he became the leader of the Nation of Islam.  After she began to sing again, her humming and soft singing was a staple around the house and in the car.  Although gospel music was her staple, she would occasionally sing some jazz, and could scat like Ella, and do vocalese like Sarah.

As a result of my mother and her incredible singing voice, the Colored Man has always had an appreciation for the female singer, however, I also like a good male voice, just not as much.  Oprah has her favorite things, where she gives out expensive gifts to her studio audience.  It's called, Oprah's Favorite Things. 

So here are the Colored Man's Favorite Male Singers, and in no particular order:

Alejandro Sanz - I don't speak a word of Spanish, except a very basic hello.  So, when Mr. Sanz sings, I don't know what he is saying, but I can hear the heart and soul that he puts into his music, which is something that I can understand.

Luciano Pavorotti - classical music's gift to the world of opera.  King of the High C's.

Johnny Mathis - I was listening to him the other day, and it is amazing how he took a simple song like Wonderful, Wonderful and used it to showcase his perfect diction and his vocal range, particularly at the end of the song.  By the way, a great Mathis album is Open Fire, Two Guitars.  Every time that I have played this album, someone always asks, "who is that?" and then want to know the album name.

Isaac Douglas - an overlooked gospel music singer, who always sang with conviction and honesty.  His gospelized version of Anne Murray's You Believed in Me, shows his versatility and well as the influences in his musical life.  His albums are very hard to get, but there are videos of him on youtube.

Donny Hathaway - Donny, Donny, Donny!!!  Gone too soon.  Gritty, down-home, and soulful.

Jimmy Scott - a jazz pioneer with an extremely unusual male voice, who never fails to surprise with his phrasing and musicality.  When others would go from major to minor, he goes from minor to major.

Jonny Lang - rocking, soulful, blue-eyed and able to wail on a guitar.  He mainly sings rock, but also has been known to rock the mic with a little gospel too.

Glenn Jones - I had to give a shout out to one of D.C.'s greatest.  Beautiful, hard-driving tenor voice, and it's magical when he goes up into his falsetto.

Bobby Darin - what makes Bobby Darin a great singer, in my opinion, is that he had a great voice, but could also sell the hell out of a song.  He also recorded at a time when great music was being made.

So, this is my short and sweet list of favorite things.  Unfortunately, this is not Oprah's ultra-luxe list, but I guarantee you that if you listen to some of these great singers, you will holler with delight just like Oprah's guests when her favorite things show is announced.

The Colored Man

Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?

The Colored Man was much perplexed when the President Obama haters raised hell because he made a video encouraging school students to study and work hard in school.  I was even more perplexed when school districts put up restrictions and barriers in allowing their students to watch the video.  I believe that this type of brouhaha was uncalled for, and completely out of line.  All President Obama was doing was giving some much needed wisdom and encouragement to students.  Trust me it is much needed.

The Colored Man has the privilege of going into alot of schools in the county in which I live.  These schools encompass public, private, parochial, and charter schools.  They run the gamut from urban to suburban.  I see well-to-do schools, where the PTA raises $150,000 per year, and I see schools where the teacher never meets a child's parents.  The contrasts are like night and day, and the academic performance at these various schools could be like comparing hot to cold, or sweet to sour.  The Colored Man sees it all-I see schools with large minority student populations, and no minority teachers; I see academically superior schools with all white school staffs; I see one minority school superintendent, no minority food service directors or facilities managers; I see schools with a plethora of extended educational opportunities for their students, and schools with very little to offer their students.  I see outstanding teachers, and teachers who really need another career.   In a days time, what I witness and hear in the schools can be dizzying and depressing.

In my state, all students must pass a graduation test in order to receive a diploma, the exception being students with special needs. Students begin to take the test in the 10th grade, and can continue to retake any failed tests, until after they finish the 12th grade. Since we all know that the Colored Man is perpetually poor, I took on a part-time job grading the graduation tests.  I was assigned math questions to grade, and after qualifying to grade the questions, I could have closed my eyes and just continually clicked the zero score with my mouse, as only about 20% of the students taking the test were able to correctly answer the question.  Here is the first question that I graded.....

While attending a meeting, John needs to park his car from 10:00am - 4:30pm.  The three parking lots nearest the meeting charge the rates shown below.
Parking Lot                                First Hour                              Additional Hour
A                                                   $3.00                                        $2.30
B                                                   $4.00                                        $2.00
C                                                   $5.00                                        $1.70
In your Answer Document, determine which parking lot would charge John the smallest amount.  Show your work or provide an explanation for your answer.

The next question that I graded was a geometry problem that should have been covered in the 8th grade.  The question dealt with isococles triangles.  Once again, I could have closed my eyes, and just  clicked zero over, and over, and over.

In a recently released assessment, the National Assesment of Educational Progress tested 52,000 students in reading and 49,000 in math across 1,670 school districts in 2009.  In reading, students scored below the 1992 average of 292.  Thirty-eight percent of 12th grade students were classified as at or above the "proficient" level, while 74 percent were considered at or above "basic."  A big achievement gap still remains across racial and ethnic groups.  There was no significant change in the score or gap in reading for black and or Hispanic students since 1992.  White and Asian students both scored higher than they did in 2005.

Asian students scored an average of 298 points in reading in 2009, higher than any other group.  Overall math scores rose from 150 to 153, an improvement, but still nothing to brag about.  In the 11 states that volunteered to participate, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and South Dakota had higher scores in both subjects than the national average.  Two states, Idaho and Illinois, had scores that were higher in reading but not significantly different in math.  New Jersey had a higher math score but a similar national reading score.  Three states scored lower in both subjects: Arkansas, Florida and West Virginia.

Barry McGraw, of the International Organization for Cooperation and Development, says, "the US remains atop the "knowledge economy," one that uses information to produce economic benefits.  But, education's contribution to that economy is weaking, and you ought to be worrying."  The report based its conclusions about achievement mainly on international test scores.  They show that compared with their peers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, 15-year-olds in the United States are below average.

Below Average!!!!!!!! and some of us have the audicity to reject the President's message, simply because we don't like his political positions and philosophies.  But the truth cannot be denied, as one only needs to get a job grading achievement tests to see first-hand, just how far behind our students truly are.  Our students are losing and lagging, and in years to come this position will have great effect on our economy.  In fact, it's already happening.  Ask yourself, what economy is booming, while ours is busting?  Answer that question, then look at the achievement levels of their students.

The Colored Man says, speak on Mr. President, you ain't never lied!!!, and encourages everyone to get involved in their local school district.  After all, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Now, let's see if you are smarter than a 5th grader, or in this case, a 10th, 11th. or 12th grader.  Send your answers to the above-referenced question to thecoloredman@gmail.com.  The first person with the correct answer will receive a present chosen especially for them!!!, and the rights to brag about being just as smart as 20% of high school students in the Colored Man's state!!!!

The Colored Man

Treating Mr. Tom Like A Lady

As Thanksgiving is approaching, the Colored Man's heart turns to being extra thankful and my stomach is beginning to rumble, and my mouth is starting to salivate just thinking about all of the delicious food that we be spread on the table.  But, the Colored Man realizes that he must approach the table and its' delicacies with trepidation and moderation, or else his friend Cabana Showboat will seek vengeance.

So in order to slow the process down, I have decided to give you a quick primer on the history of Thanksgiving in America, even though a day of thanks is celebrated in many countries across the world.  After that we will go into some of the unctuousness of the holiday.

We all know the story of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians, and how the Wampanoag saved the Pilgrims asses, by feeding them, which led to the first day of Thanksgiving in America.  I do wonder however, if the Wampanoag would have offered the hand of kindness if they knew that the Pilgrims and their progeny would kill them, take their land, and use their culture and symbols in the derogatory manner that some of us do?-but, that is a post for another day.

Eventually, this day of thanksgiving caught the eye of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who thought that moving the day to later in the month of November, would increase the push to go Christmas shopping, and fire up the economic engines.  Thus, on December 26, 1941, he signed into law a bill, making Thanksgiving a national holiday and settling it to the fourth Thursday in November.

Thanksgiving has always been a day to show gratitude, but it has also been used to show prosperity of a household, which led to enormous amounts of food being cooked and served.  In my family, my paternal grandmother was a prosperous business owner and could afford oysters for her dressing while her neighbors could not, so her house received lots of visitors to taste "Pigs" oyster dressing. 

Now, let's move on to the eating.

The Colored Man doesn't really like to buy his turkey from the supermarket, as I prefer to go to my local turkey farmer and purchase one.  There are several reasons why.  Mainly, I like the option of weights available, the turkey is fresh and ready to go into the oven, and thirdly, I like the drive out to the country to purchase it.  Of course, one could always order an heirloom turkey, which is rather expensive, but quite trendy at the present moment.  Now once you get the turkey home you can bake it, brine it, braise it, fry or barbecue it.  You can even smoke Mr. Turkey.  I prefer to cook mine in the oven, but first it needs to "marijinate" a little bit, so I use a prep method that I call, "trash-bag turkey."

First, I take some Dijon mustard, some fresh chopped sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, some fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper, and place all the ingredients into a food processor.  Once everything is well blended, I slowly drizzle in olive oil until the mixture is emulsified.  Then I taste and adjust my seasonings.  Next, I very gently use my fingers to go under the skin of the turkey, and work my way around to the thighs, to lift the skin from the meat of the turkey.  Yes, this may be a tom, but he likes being treated like a lady!!!!!, so go gently or you will tear the skin!!!!!  Next, I generously slather the marinade inside and outside the turkey.  Then I truss it, and put it into a trash bag, and let is sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours.

Trussing is the process of tying the turkey up, so that the meat is keep tight and compact, which allows for even cooking.  Another reason to truss, is so that the legs of the turkey are not splayed open when you take it out of the oven.  Yes, the Colored Man does get perverse delight in practicing his knot-making skills, but this time it is for the sake of presentation and not titillation.  A gap-legged turkey completely downgrades the presentation score - what could have been a perfect 10, quickly loses points when presentation is less than stellar.  So please truss Mr. Tom.  He will appreciate it and your guests will ohh and ahh!!!

Stuffing or dressing, whichever name you prefer to use is one of the Colored Man's specialties, and I can only blame it on my grandmother's influences.  I make my dressing in a separate pan, mainly due to the fact that stuffing a turkey can be culinary poison.  Stuffing a turkey or any poultry for that matter, poses health risks if it does not reach the proper temperature inside the breast meat.  It must reach the correct temperature in order to kill bacteria and other culprits.  Personally, I do not want my guests going home sick, and I know that you don't either.

We can thank our Victorian-era brothers and sisters for the addition of cranberry sauce to the Thanksgiving table.  For some reason, their taste buds ran toward the sweet and savory side of the street, thus, we have the sweetness and tartness of the cranberry sauce served alongside the savoriness of turkey and dressing.  In some regional American homes, cooks will also serve sauerkraut with their turkey.

Speaking of cranberry sauce, I cannot stand the gelatinous, fake-colored canned concoction that has become a staple in too many damn households at this time of year.  Why serve canned, when it is so simple and easy to make fresh cranberry sauce.  My mantra is "fresh trumps canned."  I fully realize that some of my readers may be challenged in the kitchen, but fear not, the Colored Man is here to help.  Here goes.....
Buy a bag of fresh cranberries, rinse and remove any berries that don't look too good
Place them in a small pot and add one cup of water, and say, a half-cup sugar
Bring to a rolling boil.  The cranberries will begin to pop.  Remove from the heat, let the sauce cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
For a variation, you could add chopped apple, pear, lemon or orange zest, or reconstituted dried cherries or apricots that have been soaked in brandy or cognac.  Cranberry sauce is one dish that you cannot mess up.  Give it a try!!!

Of course no Thanksgiving would be complete without some dessert, and the Colored Man's stomach has a weakness for good old-fashioned, made from scratch coconut cake, or some sweet potato pie.  Since living in Cincinnati, I have also grown quite fond of chess pie as well.  I am totally in love with the layered British dessert called trifle, which I kick up a notch or two with roasted pears and Amaretto.  Trifle requires a special serving dish, which just adds to the panache of the dish and gives it visual electricity and sizzle.

As you can tell and taste, the Thanksgiving harvest is plentiful, and each one of us would be remiss if we didn't take a few moments to say thank you to our Higher Beings for blessing us.  Blessing us throughout the days, months, and years.  This is a time of great stress for so many families across the world.  Please take a few moments to think about the little old lady who lives up the street by herself, and if you do nothing else, at least take her a plate of food.  In fact, just go to the store and purchase food for her to fill her cupboards.  To whom much is given, much is required.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers around the world!!  Enjoy the day with your family and friends.

The Colored Man

Can I have Some Change, Please?

This past week has been full of changes and new beginnings.

It started on Sunday morning when my walk/run partner, confidante and brother, the Negro Man, a friend that I have run/walk with for about 10 years, told me that he had been forced to make some changes in his life.  We talked about the changes, and of course, the Colored Man gave him his opinions about the change.  For the Negro Man, it is a devastating life change, one that I really feel he knows deep down inside is needed for him to grow and to have full control over his life, and the things that really make him happy.

When I arrived home, I received news that I was going to have to make some changes as well.  My change is something that I knew needed to be made, and being forced to take those necessary steps, is just what the Colored Man needed, as I do suffer occasionally from the dreaded  disease named procrastination.  As I thought about my morning, I had to laugh and think to myself, "all this shit before 12 noon."

Change is the ever-evolving component of life.  It is a necessary part of all of our lives, and makes life just a little bit more exciting.  What is really challenging is how we accept the difficult challenge of change, and how we learn and grow while making those changes.  When I analyze my situation, I am in it simply because I did not listen to what people were telling me, and instead chose to follow a path that I thought was so noble.  I made mistakes.  It wasn't until I got myself into an untractable situation that I remembered what my barber told me one time.  His words were, "when you give everything to someone, you create a monster."  Another friend told me that "sometimes you need to change to get away from people who need to change".  Both statements are so true. The untractable situation landed me in a position that just seemed to snowball, which lead to being somewhere that I did not want to be.  It put me in an environment that was down-right funky to say the lest, and completely not to my level of taste, sophistication, and personal satisfaction.

But change is good.  Change causes you to reach deep-down and pull out those reserves that you thought weren't there.  It allows you the opportunity to learn, listen and grow, and to realize and understand that this is just a passing storm, that you are fully capable of paddling through, faster and stronger than before .  It also lets you know who your real friends are, and those who are just around to ride the good-times wave, and gives you the chance to "trim the fat", so to speak.

The Colored Man and his confidante/brother, the Negro Man, are both having to face a storm, that neither was expecting or really prepared to deal with right now.  Basically, we settled and got complacent, when we should have been preparing all along for this storm.  But guess what?, we are both strong men of color, who were raised to believe in ourselves and to take charge, and we don't allow others to dictate to us how our lives will operate.  We are respected, not disrespected.  We stand strong and tall, like mighty oaks.

So in reality, these readjustments are just what we both needed to reassert ourselves as leaders of our lives, who are ready to step up to the plate, face Mr. Change directly in the face and say, "Make My Day!"

The Colored Man says to all: be strong, be brave, be courageous.

Footnote: A week later, the Negro Man was visited by a surprise.  I know that these special bundles of joy just reaffirmed that he is loved and cared for, and has a special place in people's lives. My brother, this is all a blessing in disguise and the best is yet to come.  Let it flow.