I think one of the main struggles of being human is self-acceptance.  For a long time I wanted to believe that I am not a naturally lazy person who, like a cat, would prefer in general to spend eighteen straight hours in bed or staring out a window. I wanted to believe that I might learn to make a gorgeous fruit and crème tart, knit a scarf or change the oil in my car. Heck, I thought I might even bake bread some day. But as it turns out, I am not that person. I think that the only activity in which I can accept tedious practice and prolonged delayed gratification may be writing. So instead of a carefully detailed recipe for apple pie, I give you baked apples.  And baked in the microwave, no less!  With only three other ingredients!  Can it get any easier?  The bonus is that this recipe is also far healthier than your typical butter and sugar filled pie.  And you may even be saving energy by not using the oven.  I’m not really sure because that sort of information falls into the realm of things I am too lazy to research…is that my bed calling? Raisin-Filled Baked Apple Courtesy of Fat Free Vegan 1 medium apple 1 Tbsp raisins Cinnamon 2 tsp maple syrup (or other sweetener) Place raisins in a heat-proof bowl and pour boiling water over them. Allow them to soak until plump and remain in soaking liquid until ready to use. Wash an apple and remove most of the core, leaving about 1/4-inch of core at the bottom of the apple. Remove a thin strip of peel from around the top of the cavity. Place the apple into a deep microwave-safe baking dish or bowl. Sprinkle the...

Warmer weather makes us lazy as a species. Unfortunately, ice cream for dinner every night will lead to a myriad of problems, such as running out of pants that fit. Thankfully there are some easy and relatively healthy recipes that require no attention to the stove. Someone once told me, “You don’t have to cook cabbage, it cooks itself.” All cabbage on the stove asks is that you add liquid and leave it alone. With a little apple, onion and chicken broth, a beautiful and tasty head of purple cabbage cooks itself into a delightful side dish which is even better cold the next day. This is a bonus because a head of cabbage is not easy to finish in one sitting, no matter how good. This purple cabbage recipe goes very well with another lazy dish: oven cooked pulled pork. The making of this version of pulled pork is less complicated than following the directions on boxed macaroni and cheese. You cut up pork shoulder into large chunks, cutting off as much fat as possible, and put it in an oven safe dish with a whole bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce. I have used Baby Ray’s successfully. Cover with foil and stick in the oven at 250 degrees and completely forget about it for 5 hours. Your nose will remind you. After the slow cooking, the pork will be fork tender and easy to shred. Add a squirt of ketchup if it needs a little tang. Eat this pulled pork with the following purple cabbage recipe, and potato salad if you can get a hold of it. Cole slaw, cornbread and lemonade are other good ideas. Find someone else to take care of the dishes. Purple Cabbage and Apples I head purple cabbage, chopped coarsely 2 small apples, diced, you can...

That is the item at the top of my to-do list today. So I spent the morning in the backyard, squatting in the blazing sun, gathering piles of dried dog doo and several pounds of fallen apples, into a giant garbage bag. Ya know – l.i.v.i.n. – livin’. Next on that list is that is ‘run to the cemetery’, followed by ‘biscuits, noodle casserole and cookies’. That may seem like a odd, and random, list of to-do’s, but life out in the country is definitely odd and random. I’ve been in rural Colorado since August 4th, staying at my Mom’s house and helping her recover from hip-replacement surgery. My mom has lived in this house for the past 34 years, things are pretty settled in here. The dog poop creator is a 14 year old blue-healer mix named Belle. Belle is mellow and extremely well behaved, aside from a little age-related incontinence (ya gotta watch where you step if she sleeps on the kitchen floor for over a ½ hour). Belle wakes me up at 5:17 a.m., on the dot, every morning to be let into the massive back yard, where she runs to the very back corner and does what dogs do in the morning. Then she comes back into the house and eye-balls me, weighing me with guilt, until I get her leash and we go on our run. In Haxtun, the cemetery is on the West edge of town, up against a corn field. That’s where everybody walks to and around in the morning. It’s where Belle and I head to before the heat swells up and takes over this tiny town. Once we get there, she is unleashed. In younger days, she would run, heady with freedom and in search...