Setting clock back results in chasing after lost time

By Peggy Walker, R.D.

Excuse me but did I miss something…like maybe a month?   Two weeks ago I went looking for Thanksgiving napkins and was told that they had already been placed on the close out rack and they were all gone.  How’d that happen?  Next day I looked for pansies and only found scraggly, leggy looking leftovers.  Thanksgiving is still 13 days away, there should still be pansies and mums in the stores!   Maybe I’ve been in a different time zone or time-warp possibly?
And, weren’t we supposed to get an hour back?  Well, I haven’t found it.  Monday morning the usually delicious aroma of freshly brewed coffee woke me up at 4 a.m.  One precious hour too early.  Then my wakeup call (the radio) blared 15 minutes early. Okay, okay so I got the message and got up. And, I haven’t figured that one out yet.  We’ll just see if this early to rise business really works.
I do believe that time goes faster when we’re not on daylight savings time.  Now that the days are shorter they’re rather limiting.  My internal clock says it’s time for bed shortly after dark.  I start shutting down and can forget trying to accomplish anything after supper.  And it’s a strange phenomenon (and one which I have observed before) but it sure seems that as the days get shorter the time between the holidays gets faster once we fall back.
And, not only did the time change last weekend!  DW called me in the kitchen Saturday morning as we rushed to get ready and loaded up for a 9 a.m. tailgate in Starkville.  Listen he said, “Christmas music.” I could have cried.  Really?  Already? (But we listened all the way to watch the Bulldogs play!) ‘tis the season for much to do and not enough time to do it!  Six weeks, that’s 6 weeks until Christmas… the clock is ticking while the music plays.
However, I’m not skipping Thanksgiving even if it is beginning to look (and sound) a lot like Christmas…. Since time is obviously not on my side at the moment, I got busy and made my Thanksgiving lists.   Better late than never.  So this week I’ve had to get busy catching up…making cornbread, ordering invitations, finding napkins, doing my first round of grocery shopping and planting some rescued pansies.  Maybe a few days of sun, a dose of miracle grow, and a little rain will perk them up by turkey day.  Time will tell.
It will be a race against the clock this next week to clean up, set up, and keep up.  But, I’ll sure try.  Thanksgiving at our house is a time honored tradition that’s going to continue.  Like asparagus casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, pecan pie, molasses cookies, and prune cake (AKA sugar plum pudding).  I might be down to the wire and burning the mid-night oil to get them on the table but I will. Coffee at 4 a.m. may be the answer….
And the really funny thing is that right in the middle of the time change I gained a year!  That’s never happened before!  But birthdays are good with or without an extra hour.
Now, time for one more thought.  It’s been on my mind since this election has been right in our faces for it seems like forever.  I don’t know how the election turned out because I wrote this article on Monday night.  But, I do know that it doesn’t matter who won or who lost, it is time for all of us to step up and take the time (with or without an extra hour) to be the best we can be… person, citizen, employee, parent, boss, neighbor, friend, driver, student, spouse.  It’s not going to start in Washington D.C.  It’s going to have to start right here in our own homes and spread into our communities and beyond.  I’d call it the trickle up effect.  Time to get busy, because time’s a’wasting…..
Recipe of the Week
MacCranberry Butter Cookies
This cookie might become your all-time fave!  Any holiday or any day!

2/3 cup macadamia nuts
½ cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup Craisins, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar

Process nuts in a food processor about 2 minutes or until smooth.  Combine macadamia nut butter and sugars in a large bowl.  Beat with a mixer at medium speed.  Add vanilla and egg, beating well.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg with a whisk.  Add flour mixture to sugar mixture.  Beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in chopped Craisins.  Chill 10 minutes.  Divide chilled dough into 30 portions; roll each portion into a ball and roll in the 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl.  Lightly press sugar into each cookie. Place each ball on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  Gently press the top of each cookie with a fork to form a crisscross pattern.  Place 15 cookies on the baking sheet at a time and bake 9 minutes or until golden brown in a preheated 375 degree oven.  Remove cookies from pan, cool on a wire rack.  Makes 30 cookies.