Pumpkin Milk

Here's a recipe for a cool-weather beverage that I recently came up with. The flavors are reminiscent of fall; it's great for a chilly evening at home. Try it!

Pumpkin Milk

1 to 1 1/2 cups milk (based on mug size)
2 T. pumpkin
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. vanilla extract
brown sugar or brown sugar substitute to taste (1-2 T. suggested)

Combine first two ingredients in large mug. Add cinnamon stick. Microwave on full power for 1 min 30 seconds (varied based on your microwave). When warm, add vanilla and brown sugar. The cinnamon stick can be reused for additional beverages.

Columbus Day: A Bittersweet Holiday

1. Columbus' first encounters with Los Indios were peaceful. Columbus himself was not a great conquistador, just a lost chaser of figments.
2. Many American Indians would recall this holiday with ire, and rightfully so, but the mixture of cultures, however just or unjust, is what shaped the America of today, with all its faults and glories.
3. White Americans would do well to remember with sadness the atrocities visited upon the Naturals in the centuries following the second European contact but would also do well to remember that were it not for Colon, none of us would be alive.
4. May we use this day as a platform for looking forward, for insisting that the promises made to American Indians by our government be kept and that our remembrance, learning and celebration of First Nation and melting pot culture extend to every day.