holiday | wellnessrounds

Maybe it’s because I’m a surgeon, but I’ve always loved knots… and this website is great resource to learn how to tie them.

PSA for holiday wrapping…this surgical knot lets you tie your ribbons without them being loose (or needing someone to put a finger on the first knot)

This Book

Not long ago I saw a post by someone on Bluesky (which I can’t find now) that said we should reread books that “break us open”. I just finished this truly remarkable translation of the contemplative classic, Practice of the Presence of God by the 17th century monk, Brother Lawrence. It “broke me open”, and I’m already halfway through my second reading.

Although Brother Lawrence and Carmen Acevedo Butcher are both from the Christian tradition, I am convinced that the practical contemplative practice of “Turning to Love” that is described here can be reframed only slightly by those who are of other traditions (or none).

Practice of the Presence offers new ways of seeing that surpass our sometimes tense and either-this-or-that mindsets. And my work with this translation seeks to honor and share his positive, open-hearted wisdom.
Carmen Acevedo Butcher

On Oranges, Satsumas, and Not Taking Common Things for Granted

“What exactly is a satsuma?”

Photo of Satsumas from Buchanan’s Native Plants, my favorite nursery in Houston

Thanks to my mother-in-law (who asked me this question at Thanksgiving) I got to do a deep dive into something I hadn’t really thought about.

The history of citrus begins around a billion years ago as Algae developed from cyanobacteria and photosynthetic eukaryotes… followed by what we would recognize today as land plants which evolved around 400 million years ago. The family of land plants that evolved into the first citrus plant probably originated in Southeast Asia, specifically in the southeast foothills of the Himalayas. What we recognize now as the three “ancestral” citrus fruits, the pomelo, the citron, and the mandarin, evolved from this original, profoundly acidic (and therefore inedible) citrus fruit.

The three ancestral fruits evolved, in different genetic combinations, into the citrus fruits we know today.

It turns out the satsuma is a mixture of mandarins with a little pomelo…. One of the Type 3 or late-admixture mandarins.

Best wishes to all for happy holidays – and many thanks to our colleagues who are spending the holidays in the hospital, caring for others.

Photo credit

Cranberry bread on Christmas morning is a special part of the holiday for my family. This is really delicious bread and makes a great gift, too. Enjoy!

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Combine in a Pyrex measuring cup:

2 Tblsp melted butter
Juice and grated rind of one large orange

Fill with boiling water to make 3/4 cup then add to dry ingredients

Add

1 egg
1 cup nuts (chopped walnuts)
1 cup raw cranberries (cut in half)

Bake in a 2 lb loaf pan (325° for metal pan, 300° for glass pan) for ~ 1 hour (or a muffin tin if you prefer)

Test with toothpick to know when they are done

If you want to make a larger recipe to make enough to give others, the easiest way is to multiply by 9 which gives you this ingredient list (the directions are the same as above)