A recent frenzy came over me because I couldn’t find some of my dad’s papers. Even though I knew they were too important for me to have accidentally thrown them away or taken them to Goodwill, there was a constant buzz of anxiety until I did enough excavating in the storage space under the stairs for the accordion file with them inside to once more become visible.

But until this past weekend at my agent‘s annual retreat, I was not connecting the need to organize with my writing.

During one of our free-form conversations about process and craft, I whined about my research for something I’m working on. It’s all over the place, I’ve done all this work but I can’t wrap my brain around it and I can’t figure out what I still need to know and how to use what I’ve already learned and — I trailed off, disorderedly. Then Robin Wasserman said, “Maybe this is way too obvious a suggestion, but have you thought of organizing your research by topic?”

Struck momentarily dumb by the blinding force of this revelation, I then recovered myself enough to thank her before pulling out my laptop and beginning to type a list of categories.

Lamb Stew with Chickpeas, Golden Raisins and Figs

* 1  teaspoon olive oil
* 1 1/2 pounds boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and cubed
* 4 cups onion
* 1/4 cup water
* 5 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 32 ounces chicken broth
* 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
* 2 cups baby carrots
* 1 cup golden raisins
* 1/2 cup dried figs, halved
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
* Salt to taste

Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat; coat pan with cooking spray. Sauté lamb until browned. Add onion, 1/4 cup water, and garlic; cook until the onions are softened, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits. Add cumin, coriander, ginger, saffron, allspice, pepper, and cinnamon; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour. Stir in chickpeas, carrots, raisins, and figs; cover and simmer until carrots are tender. Stir in mint and salt.

We had the stew over couscous, and it was delicious.

For dessert, the one traditional element of the meal: Laurie Colwin’s gingerbread. Over at Paper Fort, that’s one of the things I said I was thankful for. Click that link above to read what else, and what some other Oregon authors had to say.

How were/are your Thanksgivings?

Snag hid out while we swept, straightened, sorted paperwork, entered receipts into Quicken, and listened to the entirety of Heretic Pride three times in succession (so far).

While I’m on the subject of matters domestic, does anyone know of a source for a piece of storage furniture designed specifically for storing boots? Knee-high, lady-type boots? I am a big fan of big stompy boots, but dang, once you have more than a few pairs of same, they tend to overwhelm your entryway.

But today, there was a convergence of factors: the weather, my (sadly infrequent) desire not to look at a computer screen, and a gentleman informing me that one of the plants on the parking strip was so overgrown that those wishing to park in front of the house were forced to do so pretty much in the exact middle of the street.

So I did some pruning.

I saved a little of the rosemary.