The Barnes & Conti Newsletter:
Thanksgiving 2013

Featured Article: Celebrating our Harvest

by B. Kim Barnes

Thanksgiving is a harvest festival. Such festivals go back to the earliest days of civilization—the Egyptians and the Romans gave thanks to their deities at harvest time. In Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, every culture that has discovered agriculture seems to have developed such a celebration. Here, as elsewhere, we celebrate with food, family, worship, and charitable giving.

But how, in an increasingly urban civilization, can we transform a harvest festival so it has greater meaning in our lives?

“Harvest,” has already been applied to organs, revenues, and rewards. At Barnes & Conti, we apply “harvesting” to a method for generating ideas and thinking creatively. Below is one example of an idea harvesting exercise:

• Think of an issue you currently want to solve.
• Now change lenses by examining the problem from a different point of view.
• Think of someone you respect. Now ask yourself, “How would this person solve this problem?” “What would this issue look like from his or her point of view?”
• For two minutes, write down any ideas that come up. You can repeat this exercise with other people or use different professions, departments, time periods, or cultures.
• Now identify the most interesting or unusual ideas and “harvest” them. Later, you can select down again according to additional criteria until you have harvested several new solutions, opportunities, or applications.

During your Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends, I suggest that you turn your dinner into a festival of learning. It might go something like this: You are invited to bring your best ideas to the Thanksgiving table—ideas that have moved and excited you in the past year—ideas you are grateful for and want to add to the cornucopia of plenty. For an appetizer discussion, what small idea has had a large impact on you? (For example, I love how the use of inexpensive paint and beach chairs created urban spaces for people on the streets and squares of New York City.) For a main dish discussion, what big idea has blown up your assumptions and created a new path for you to explore? (For me, it might be the impact of neuroscience and behavioral economics on the study of leadership.) I'm sure you can think of many side dishes, too, and how about dessert? Something that is delicious… (for me that might be creating learning experiences through gamification.)

Then, why not discuss solutions for seeing one another more often or choosing a family technology that will enable you to connect and share your lives throughout the year?

During your discussions, see if anyone is open to the idea harvesting exercise described above, and try it out.

The Barnes & Conti family recently sat down to dinner and harvested ideas for Thanksgiving recipes. At the left, you will find links to some of the tasty ideas that we cooked up. Enjoy! And Happy Thanksgiving!

Virtual Feast 2013: Thanksgiving

As Kim promised, here is a sample of the recipes from our Barnes & Conti Thanksgiving Recipe/Idea harvest. Titles and links to all the recipes are at the left.

Appetizer: Elegant Figs with Goat Cheese and Almonds

Elaine Turcotte, Operations Manager

Elaine says that this is a favorite cheesy appetizer of hers. “Friends from Berlin introduced me to a version of this simple and delicious appetizer. They used a nice blue cheese in place of the goat cheese. It will take about 18 minutes to make.”

Ingredients:

• 12 fresh figs, halved
• 4 ounces herbed goat cheese (chevre) (Note: or if you want to make the original, use a nice soft blue cheese, such as roquefort, gorgonzola, or one from the Auvergne in France)
• 24 almonds (Spanish Marcona almonds if available)
• 1 tbsp honey (optional)
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven broiler for high heat.
2. Place the fig halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet.
3. Top each half with about 1/2 teaspoon cheese.
4. Place one almond on each, press to push the cheese slightly into each fig.
5. Broil the figs in the preheated broiler until the cheese is soft and the almonds are turning a rich shade of brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Remove from the broiler and let cool for 5 minutes.
7. Arrange the figs on a serving platter and drizzle with honey and balsamic vinegar. Serve warm.

Makes 24 appetizers. Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Janne’s Amazing Sweet Potato Latkes

Janne Rochlin, Chief Learning Officer

As many of our readers know, Janne Rochlin has been bringing her potato latkes to our holiday potluck since the very first potluck. A few years back, Janne brought these latkes along with the potato latkes. Latkes are, of course, traditional for Hanukkah. Since this year Thanksgiving and Hanukkah coincide for the first time ever, what could be more appropriate than Janne’s sweet potato latkes? You might want to serve them with cranberry-applesauce. Or apple cranberry chutney.

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled; one puréed, one shredded
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil for frying
• 1/4 cup raisins

Method:

1. Shred one sweet potato and set it aside. Puree the other sweet potato in a food processor and add eggs, sugar, flour, and spices and mix thoroughly.
2. In a large bowl combine the puréed mix with the shredded potatoes and raisins.
3. Heat oil in large, heavy skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Using a large spoon, drop the mixture onto the skillet and form into small pancakes (about 3 inches in diameter) and fry in hot oil. Flip cakes after 2 to 3 minutes (when bottom is browned) and brown other side.
5. Drain on paper towels and serve piping hot with sour cream and apple sauce, or cranberry-applesauce!

Janne says that the sweet potato latkes will burn easily if not watched carefully. You can get them almost as crispy and crunchy as regular potato latkes, but they require your attention. You can serve this as an appetizer, a side dish, or even as a dessert!

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In this Issue:

• Featured Article: “Celebrating Our Harvest” by Kim Barnes
• Featured Art (at left): “The Harvest,” by Peter Brueghel the Younger
• Recipes from Virtual Feast 2013:
  • Elegant Figs with Goat Cheese and Almonds
  • Janne’s Amazing Sweet Potato Latkes

Help the Victims of Typhoon Haiyan

Excerpted from the Barnes & Conti Blog

Soon we will be joining with our family and friends to give thanks for the many blessings we have received. I’m sure that as we do so, many of us will reflect on those who are suffering the effects of Typhoon Haiyan, which recently struck the Philippines. As with other natural and human-caused disasters, we are grateful that we have been spared and perhaps experience a little “survivors’ guilt” ...

Here are some resources for donating to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan:

• Doctors Without Borders
• Red Cross
• AARP Foundation
• Google Crisis Response
• OxFam International
• Other ways to help

Read the Entire Article on the Barnes & Conti Blog