It’s Alive! My Old Yeller KitchenAid Still Breathes!

Tags

Humor, kitchen disasters, KitchenAid, life in the foothills

For some reason, I become a maven of the kitchen on Saturday. Today I’m make the classic French Chef dish, Boeuf Bourguignon, made famous by Julia Child. It’s a time-consuming recipe rather than being difficult, but that’s not my story about the KitchenAid mixer. No, that is the other recipe I’m making which is called S’more’s Monkey Bread and is just another of the infinite Monkey Bread variations of which I have become enamored.

So anyway, this is a yeast dough and I have it all mixed nicely and am kneading it in my machine, similar to the one pictured at left. Mine however is ancient having been secured at a  farm auction for the dear price of $60 over 12 years ago. Now given that it is probably from the 50’s or so, I figure this baby is in its yellowed condition, some fifty years old.

So, as I was saying, I have the Boeuf in the oven, (okay so it’s a fancy beef stew), and I have the KitchenAid a beating away, kneading, and I’m taking a moment to rest my weary tootsies and sip a bit of coffee for five while it does my work for me. The Contrarian is in the kitchen making himself an egg salad sandwich for breakfast, when all of a sudden such a crash was not heard since the aliens crash landed at Roswell up the road a bit.

I rushed into the kitchen, where the Contrarian is standing at the sink, holding his chest, and looking at the floor, which is now the new home of my good-old mixer. The bowl is askew and my dough is oozing out onto my immaculate floor (I am NOT throwing away that dough I can tell you that!). The back of the machine has sprung loose, and the cord is laying fully out, having stretched and pulled itself out as well.

Together we pick it up, me grieving like I have just lost a relative to a tornado, and deposit it back on the counter from which it walked itself off and over the cliff to the waiting CERAMIC tiled floor. I get the bowl which is only banged up and bent a bit. The mixer had apparently landed on its nose, and there was a chip gone from the snout and the cover plate was on the floor under the counter and wouldn’t go back in. The dough hook  unlocked, and I retrieved it with my dough. The Contrarian ran to the garage for a screw driver.

I am moaning, since a new one of these costs more money that I can afford to display at one place at one time. I am figuring my serious baking days are about over. Since I don’t bake from boxes, I rely on my KitchenAid almost weekly for cakes, and various yeast doughs and fillings.

Meanwhile the Contrarian places the back casing back together and screws it back in place. He plugs it in, and well, I wait to hear the a new rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s, The Sound of Silence, or just as bad, a grinding, clanging, scream of “I”m broke and that’s that!”

I heard neither.

It hummed. It hummed with the same beautiful rhythm of old.

I cried for joy!

Seriously.

Now, you and I both know that all the normal mixers of average price which are made of plastic and look shiny nice, would have erupted into 25 or more pieces, and would have been fit for the trash.

There is a reason  that KitchenAid products cost what they do. They are THAT GOOD.

So, if you are thinking of buying a mixer, one that is heavy-duty enough to tackle the heaviest doughs and batters, this is the one you want. It may take you a while to save up for it, but it will be worth it. Take it from me and my experience. As the Contrarian said:

“That is the first thing that has hit this floor and survived to tell about it.”

And before you ask, no I don’t have any deal with KitchenAid. I have been entering the Pioneer Woman’s contests for free KitchenAid’s for a couple of years. I so much would like a new one but alas no luck so far. But it seems that I shall always have my trusty Old Yeller (that is her name since she has discolored over the years) to rely on, and that’s a good thing.

PS: I’ll post the Monkey Bread recipe soon over at the cooking site: What’s on the Stove? in a few weeks. I’m a bit behind and plan to post a recipe called Apple Cheesecake Bars today.

Have a great day.

My Old Yeller

Coming Out of the Bunker

Tags

Boehner, death penalty, DODT, economy, elections, electoral college, GOP, Michele Bachmann, Pennsylvania, Rick Perry, the Fed, voting rights

I took a peek out of the bunker this morning, having no clue what I might find.

I was wary to say the least. But, oddly enough, the sun was shining, there was a light breeze, and nothing seemed untoward.

I scratched my head and wandered to the television to see if they could straighten out my puzzlement.

But not a word.

Not a word of all the mayhem and destruction that I was expecting. I mean Pat Robertson and Bryan Fischer and all those right-wing evangelicals had assured me that the minute, nay the very second that DODT was ended, that God’s wrath would descend upon the Old US of A.

I can only conclude that God is tricking us, waiting until all us bunkered-down types feel safe enough to sleep in our own beds. Then he’s gonna whack us. Yeah, that must be it. Robertson and all the rest couldn’t be wrong could they?

♦

Ironic when you realize that yesterday we, in our ending of DODT, re-affirmed the fullness of life, and the reverence for it being full, long and filled with open love. Today, Georgia is hell-bent it seems to kill. Troy Davis’ appeal to the Parole board has been denied and he is scheduled to die this evening.

I don’t know a lot of the particulars. I just know that as a lawyer, I know all to well the limitations of eye-witness testimony. It is often faulty, and in this case there is even more reason to think it thus. It may as well be the result of intimidation by those with power against those with none.

I always wonder this. It may be more likely that the convict is guilty, it may be most likely in fact. But if there is any doubt, any reasonable doubt, and surely recanted testimony should be deemed so, and most assuredly when there is no scientific and physical evidence, then isn’t it just sensible to err on the side of life?

Beyond all the ideological reasons why capital punishment is or should be a relic of a less evolved creature, beyond that is simple decency. How do you find closure as the family of the victim when you will FOREVER have the nagging knowledge that the killer still walks the streets? 

Yet, when at a recent debate, when it was asked of Perry how he slept at night given that Texas executed well over 200 people, leading the nation, before Perry to smartly proclaim that he “slept very well,” the audience of Republicans shouted with approval and joy at the killing field that is Texas. 

Where do you go from there?

♦

 It’s becoming pretty common knowledge that the GOP is set upon letting the economy flounder rather than pass anything that Obama could be credited with. To that end, Robert Reich reports that House Speaker Boehner sent a letter to the Fed, actually telling them to do NOTHING to stimulate the economy.

While, as always, it is couched in terms of “not doing anything that is not proven to improve things” the threat is obvious: “nothing you could do is proven as far as we are concerned.”

As Reich points out, it is “highly unusual” to comment on the Fed at all, as the Fed is “above politics” and it is not just a breach of etiquette, but rather a dangerous interference with global economics. It just goes to show how much the GOP is willing to do (meaning screw America) in their goal of returning themselves to power.

♦

Two tidbits from the wacky world of the Silly Candidates forum:

• Michele (where are my peeps?) Bachmann proves her stupids once again. Standing in front of dead beef carcasses in a meat-packing plant, somewhere in Iowa, Ms. “Eyes” said something to this effect: “I call upon President Obama to deny entry to the United States to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”  Please tell the idiot about the UN’s INTERNATIONAL status!
• Ricky (I’m readin’ a book about foreign policy right now!) Perry, intervened in the expected move by Palestine to ask for recognition as an independent state, saying all kinds of nasty things about Obama, and declaring that “as a Christian” he is called upon to support Israel.” Well, even Joe Scarborough thought Perry ventured too far. He slammed both Perry and Mitt (It’s slippin’ away from me) Romney who also tried hard not to be ignored on the issue. Andrew Sullivan weighs in as well.

♦

And of course, it wouldn’t be a day in America without another example of how Republicans strategy is to win elections not with votes anymore, but by rigging the election so that their minority party will still win. None other than Ricky (oh don’t Google me please)Santorum explains how Pennsylvania Republican Governor, Tom Corbett’s plan, will insure the Republicans win no matter what.

♦

Just a short word on the blog “What’s on the Stove?” I’ve got about twenty recipes up now, and a shopping list that you may find useful to cut and paste into Word and then columnize. Also, I revised the “menus” from here, and included another page for that. And in addition, there is now the bare bones of a “tips and tricks” page which might be useful to some. Enjoy it or not as you see fit. I add about three or so recipes a week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• GOP Houser leaders urge Fed to further depress economy, apparently to ensure Obama loses in 2012 (americablog.com)
• Republican Leaders Urge Federal Reserve To Resist New Stimulus (huffingtonpost.com)

I’m Mrs. Johnny Depp!

Tags

conservativism, cosmology, Election 2012, Entertainment, evolution, Humor, intellectuals, Johnny Depp, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, morality, NAACP, racism, Recipes, Rick Perry, wacko right wing

Oh, yes I am!

And I can prove it. More or less.

It seems that a respectable number of experimental and theoretical physicists believe that there are multiple universes. Not only that, but that there may be an infinite number of them, all of which means, that any thing that can happen, has.

Well, one thing that can happen (I know it might be a stretch but we are talking about statistical probabilities here) is that Mr. Sexy pants could fall in love with me.

Therefore, some where he has. Proved!

That also means that there is an infinite number of me’s. One of me lives in Hawaii in a gorgeous beach house. One of me is President of the US of A, or the United Planetary Association of Andromeda. The options are as they say infinite.

The Contrarian was a bit off-put by this revelation, until I reminded him that somewhere he was married to Halle Berry. That brought a grin.

The Contrarian has some “issues” with the theoretical physicists in the end though. He’s not much in favor of a time “before” time. I myself have no difficult with that concept. However we both noticed that these guys and gals do have a pretty cushy job. I mean they sit in a comfortable office, with a chalk or white board and doodle with numbers and squiggles, and then travel to nice places and sit and “think”. Often at beaches, mountain ranges, and other pleasant places.

It’s not like they ever have to prove anything. As the Rethuglians always say about anything they don’t want to help pay for: “it’s only a theory.”

Best of all, I can theorize about Johnny Depp all I want, cuz who’s to say that he doesn’t figure into some time warpy travel theory? I mean, being a theoretical physicist is so highfalutin’ that nobody can reasonably challenge my claims right? Only others of my kind. And after all, we have a mutual desire not to upset any of our apple carts.

So, I’m applying for my grant money, and hope to set up shop any day now.

♦

Hope you all had a nice labor day. Out of work laborers most assuredly did not I guess. We had a T-Bone, potato salad and some jalapeño poppers. The latter two recipes can be found at What’s on the Stove, which has it’s only little link on the side bar now.

♦

Ricky “Gosh darn this is fun” Perry is what they call “surging” in the polls. Somebody finally tapped the shyster on the shoulder and told him to act “gubernatorial” and high tail it back to TEXAS where people are losing their homes at an astounding rate due to unchecked wildfires. He’s properly “concerned” now.

Meanwhile Mitt “it’s slipping away” Romney is starting to show the wear and tear of being rejected but once again. Mr. Perpetual Runner whom nobody really likes, stares ever wide-eyed at the audience he addresses, and for all it’s worth you can hear under his breath: “can you morons understand these simple sentences?”

Yeah, actually they can Mitt, and well, they really don’t like you. Can you understand that?

♦

Noam Chomsky writes a very interesting and provocative piece in the Boston Review about the role of the intellectual in today’s murky moral world. He is prompted by the questionable action of murdering Osama Bin Laden and dumping his body at sea without trial.

It’s a most serious read, but one that will benefit you. We seldom spend the time we should thinking of the hard issues.

♦

Michele “damn you Ricky” Bachmann is shakin’ up the team. Ed Rollins is out due to “health” reasons as well as the deputy David Polyansky.

This kinda crap is usual in a campaign going down the crapper. But Michele, it ain’t gonna help. You are simply TeaNutz® lite compared to Ricky “I’m more nutz” Perry.

♦

DCMartin gives us a good old slappin’ story about racism reaction gone amuck. And she has designated herself as the “official spokesperson” for Black America, which sure makes it easy on me. 😛

Go give it a read. She’s very funny and actually makes a fine point as well. Don’t ever Pass the Doucheys. . .”

♦

I was prompted to visit a site I’ve only briefly looked at. Conservapedia. It’s the “trustworthy” encyclopedia. Isn’t that just wrong on its face? How can something that purports to be “conservative” by “trustworthy”? It’s clearly not giving truth, but a point of view.

My favorite quote from the front page is from Isaiah Berlin:

“Good government in a free society keeps positive and negative liberty in balance. These two forms of liberty are out-of-balance today.”

Now that is interesting isn’t it? I betcha some wacko TeaNutz® would have some interesting ideas of what “negative liberty” are. 

♦

From “Constant Comment”

 ♦

Hey, have you ever seen Wilfred? You should. It’s hysterical at times, frightening occasionally. It’s an import from Australia. It is not for the faint of heart. It is not for mortifiable-prone evangelicals. It’s about a dog named Wilfred, who appears as a human in a dog suit to a neighbor. Wilfred teaches lessons, and humps stuffed animals, and smokes pot by the pail full.

I thought it would be stupid. But it’s shocking, and funny at the same time. Try to find it on your TV dial. Oh crap, that dated me. TV’s don’t have dials any more.

Laters gators!

 

 

Benjamin Button Be Damned

Tags

aging, Congress, food, Humor, nincompoops, Obama, psychology, racism, self control, teabaggers

A couple of weeks ago, we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Since then we’ve had a lively discussion about the relative merits of being born old and growing younger and the more conventional method of growing older. They both that their plusses and minuses.

Aging definitely has its down sides. I mean take eating for instance. One finally begins to appreciate food, and the old taste buds are wearing out.

If you don’t believe me, try eating someSpaghetti O’s and see what I mean. I mean seriously, yuck! But they were a real treat when I was ten.

I must go through a bushel of jalapenos every week. We add them to hotdogs and hamburgers, meatloaf and casseroles. I mean, I caught myself the other day engaged in this give and take:

Me: So what do you want for breakfast dear?

Contrarian: Oh, maybe just some Cheerios. I’m not that hungry.

Pause. . . .

Me: would you like a little chopped jalapeno in that?

You get my drift?

Food just seems blander all the time, and needs more pepper! I never used much pepper growing up, now I liberally twist that damn pepper mill with more vigor than a farmer wringing a chicken’s neck. On the other hand, I have less tolerance for salt I find. I find myself buying no-salt stocks and no-salt tomato sauce. Go figure.

Which brings me to just a little note. I made a fabulous southwest chicken salad yesterday, and we scarfed up the entire dish. I thought it would be too hot with a smoked jalapeno in adobe sauce and two pickled jalapenos, but it was just right. I’ll be posting on What’s on the Stove? the full details, so mosey on over if it sounds good to ya. I got the recipe from a lady over on Justapinch.

♦

Zander has a great take on the TeaNutz® historical twisting and turnings on the issue of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is amusing to listen to them now hail him as the “conservative Republican” who would have “hated” all things liberal. Not so many years ago, they were saying exactly the opposite. I good read.

♦

Months ago we were watching a show about learning about chimpanzee intelligence. Pursuant to that they showed a testing of small children in which they were offered a marshmallow but told that if they waited fifteen minutes, they would get two instead of only the one.

Well, that study was continued and the results of how these kids turned out as adults is in. The self-control kids, as you might expect, did better in life. But there are other surprising results from the study. About how we can exercise our willpower and enhance it. Good reading and you can decide if you might want to read the book that resulted.

♦

An amusing letter than might have (should have?) been sent to Speaker Boehner by WH chief-of-staff, Bill Daley, regarding the Thursday speech. comes from Beeryblog. Oh but we wish so much it had been. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

♦

The Blaze is all a-tizzy with grave conspiracy theory swirling. The Prez, on his way via helicopter to Camp David, was diverted to a nearer airport and motored there due to “weather concerns” Now da Blaze cannot find any “weather concerns, so they wonder what could have been the “real” reason.

I figure Obama wanted to make a quick stop to introduce Sasha to Osama Bin Laden, who had been secretly closeted at the airport awaiting a big family re-union with all the O’s worldwide. The president was heard to remark that us O people, first name or last, are a small group especially when you consider the OB (ama) and OS (ama) coincidence.

 The two figure to be first cousins-seventeen times removed and can’t wait to meet in Madagascar on Tuesday, October 31 for the big barbecue ta-do. Auntie Katerina OK (ama) from Siberia is the matriarch of this disparate clan. The big O’s, Ladin and Barrack, are hoping to finalize plans to introduce the Muslim Brotherhood into state school boards in 2012. OW (ama), an uncle from Ecuador is working on the Sharia law angle, and figures most of the US will be under its control no later than April of 2012.

Captain Crunch, one of the nincompoops suggests this reason for the set down:

BS! This sounds like another secret meeting with Soros…just like his daughters ball game he never made it to, which game never happened, in the dark of the night. I can see his shiney white teeth and eyeballs glowing in the dark as he creeps around town with his cloak and daggar.

But EP46 thinks he has it all figured out:

Maybe to pick-up Larry Sinclair…….the Minnesota man who claims he took cocaine in 1999 with obama and participated in homosexual acts with him.

Secessionista is quite sure that it has to do with this:

He probably wanted to meet with the new black panther party leadership to urge them to unionize. And to learn how to kill Americans when they come for him. It’s a win win for them all.

But JamesR thinks it’s all got to do with the suspicious Marine who is standing at attention at the helicopter. We have vays of making you talk. . . .

Something doesn’t seem right. The marine’s coat is to long and does not fit right and his dress slacks are long enough for him to be walking on them. This picture may be of a kid. The copter flight would make it easier for Obama to get away from the office and head to Camp David. Americans need to insist on a tight belt and all future use of jets, and copters need to be grounded. Bama has an office in the white house and come to think of it, just about everything a family would need for a long weekend of relaxation.

Errr, there were six pages of this crap. Crazy is as crazy does.

Have a good one.

In the Name of All That is Holy

Tags

African Americans, Christianity, fundamentalism, GOP, Humor, ice cream, Italian, Joe Walsh, Pizza, teabaggers, terrorism

In order to protect my last shred of sanity, we are going to chat about just about anything OTHER than the debt ceiling and the children who claim to be governing us. Indeed the foxes are in charge of the hen-house.

So take a moment, relax, grab a cuppa joe and let’s see if we can find any remnant of a world we can still hang on to.

There is a really good post (most all of them are) over at we are respectable negroes about the backlash the right is giving to the notion that a Christian fundamentalist reeked the horror in Norway. From Beck’s claiming that the children murdered were attending a Hitler Youth-like camp to O’Reilly’s silly claim that he can be “defined” out of being Christian by his unChristian acts, we see a desperation on the part of the right not to be associated with terrorist acts. Chauncey DeVega weighs in.

♦

I was looking at a neat little recipe site the other day, and was reminded of a simple way to make “pizza” when you don’t have much time or are feeling lazy. While not as good as “real” pizza, it’s a nice substitute and heck, it’s down right perfect for those lazy football afternoons coming soon. It’s as simple as using flour tortillas as the “crust” and then adding your favorite toppings. Take a look at the recipe at JustaPinch and take it from there. The cook there calls her simple version, Pizzatillas.

♦

Joe “Hey Chris” Walsh, the blowheart that takes to YouTube to lecture the President and call him a liar, is a bit of a douche. Well a lot of a douche. The man who dares to claim he has all the answers of fiscal responsibility, and who is a loud-mouth TeaNutz® idiot, is a dead-beat dad. In Illinois, Joey owes his kids something over $117 THOUSAND bucks. Didn’t stop him from loaning his own campaign $35,000, but hey, that was important. Taking care of the kids? Not so much.

♦

Political Irony has a delicious piece entitled “To be a Republican You Need to Believe.” It is true, and funny, and sick, and ironic and well, it’s what a GOPer is, nuttier than a fruitcake. Don’t miss it.

♦

Like to make homemade ice cream? Not many people bother, mostly because left over ice cream becomes hard as a rock. This recipe is quick and promises that that will not happen. All you need is an inexpensive ice cream maker (usually under $40). It’s a rich recipe but only takes about 15 minutes to prepare + the machine time. I’m sure gonna try it.

♦

Just because it was cute!

♦

And because it’s true:

(h/t to Political Irony)

♦

Well, frankly there ain’t a lot going on in the blog world except debt ceiling blah blah blah, and so that’s it today!

Don’t Say I Never Gave Ya Anything

Tags

appetizers, Chinese, crab Rangoon, General Tso's chicken, Recipes

Once upon a time. . .Oh that’s been done to death!

Well, at the inception of this blog, the plan was to present a diverse blend of politics, religion (you know that always makes friends!), crafting ideas, cooking, and then anything else my extraordinary brain came up with.

In other words, it was to be eclectic, which I am. My interests are unlimited, my decorating ideas run from country artisan to art deco, and that’s a pretty wide chasm. My food delights range from Italian, Mexican, to down home Americana and Chinese. I like cuisine from Egypt and India. About the only thing I don’t care much for is German food.

Anyway, lately, for about the last couple of years, we’ve been fairly limited to politics, with a bit of religious thrown in to keep it honest. Here and there I’ve dropped a recipe, but today, well I just pulled out all the stops. So those of you who could care less, fair warning, this is food oriented.

First up, I told you that we were having General Tso’s Chicken and crab Rangoon. I made them a couple of weeks ago. And they turned out very good indeed, so I thought I’d let you in on the recipe. A word about the Tso’s chicken. There are myriad recipes for this. Basically it’s to be a kind of coated breast meat and on the hot side. So here is how I did that:

General Tso’s Chicken

• 1/2 chicken breast, cut up into bitesize pieces
• 1/3 c flour
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4-5 serrano chilis (I added a minced one to the veggies)

Mix together in a bowl and add enough liquid (water or chicken stock) to make it all gooey.

In the wok, heat 1/2 c vegetable oil (give or take–none of this is rocket science).Add 4-5 chilis (the red serrano and let them sizzle until they pop and turn dark.  Add chicken pieces trying to keep them separate and brown on both sides until done. Probably about 2 minutes a side.Remove chicken pieces and continue adding and frying until all are done. Set aside.

Add whatever vegetables you want to the wok. These should have been cut up and bagged earlier.

I added:

• carrots, celery, an onion sliced, broccoli stems sliced,

Stir fry until tender but crisp. Add any sauce you like or cornstarch and chicken stock, with some soy. I  used a Teryaki sauce. Throw the chicken back in, and add three or four sliced green onions. Toss until warmed through and all is coated.

Serve over rice.

Crab Rangoon

• 8 oz fake crab or real as you prefer (I found the fake just fine for this appetizer)
• 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 scallion chopped
• 1 medium clove garlic sliced
• pepper
• salt only if using fresh crab
• minced celery if you like
• 1 egg (or egg white) whisked
• 1 package wonton wraps ( you will use about 1/4 of them. I divide the rest into 1/4 packets and wrap in plastic and put in a freezer bag and throw in the freezer. They defrost fine)

Place everything but the egg and wrappers into a food processor and whir up until it is a paste but with visible “pieces. Scrape out into a bowl and sit down with your wrappers and egg wash. Take a wrapper, place a mounded tsp of the crab paste in the middle, with your finger dip in the egg wash and trace along two edges meeting at a tip. Draw the unwashed side over the crab and form a triangle, press out the air gently and press all the edges.

Do this until you have used up all the paste (I had about 30 or so). Place on a jelly roll pan lined with parchment, not touching each other. Place in freezer for a couple of hours until frozen hard. Place them in a freezer bag and you are done.

When you want to use them, remove as many as you wish. Heat some oil in a very small sauce pan (saves a lot of oil that way) and fry for about 1 minute or less one at a time. Golden brown is what you are looking for. Place on paper towel to drain and place in a warm place to hold until your stir fry is done. (You can bake them too, I’m guessing at about 400-425°. I’d check at 10 minutes. Remove when golden brown.

The point is these are as good as most of what you get in a Chinese restaurant and way better than any frozen kind from the grocery story. You only have to make them a couple of times a year, and frankly, its less than an hour’s worth of work anyway.

Okay, so now we move on to a few new tips I’ve managed after 61 years to finally figure out.

Given that in the winter, we shop infrequently, I alway have trouble keeping fresh vegetables fresh. Well I have some ways that finally give them a refrigerator life of a good two weeks. And that’s a lot better than usual. So here is what I learned:

Green onions: clean them within a day, cutting off the root and outer layer and cutting off the green end where you normally would. Take a paper towel and wet it, wringing it out. Wrap this around the root end of the onions and place in a tumbler glass. Cover with one of those light plastic bags you placed them in at the store. Just wrap around. Sit in refrig. Trust me…your onions neither dry out, not become all rotten.

Cucumbers and peppers: I used to wrap them in plastic wrap and they always rotted within days. Then you cut off a chunk of the rotten stuff. You end up losing about 1/2 of each. This works. Buy those cherry tomatoes or raspberries  or whatever in the plastic hard containers with slotted holes in the sides. Save them and place your unwrapped cukes and peppers in them. The cut edges dry out and are perfectly dry and unrotted for up to two weeks. As to the peppers, best to clean out the seeds at the first use.

Mushrooms: Either they became shriveled and hard or yucky slimy. Open the package and use what you need. As to the rest: throw away the plastic wrapper over the little container. Place this in a brown paper bag, close and place in fridge. They were fine two weeks later.

Happy cooking. Today we are having: Beef Stroganoff over noodles, salad and bread.

Related Articles

• imabonehead: Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken | Appetite for China (appetiteforchina.com)

The Only Thing That Changes is the Window Dressing

Tags

education, GOP, middle class, poor, Recipes, religious rightwing, rich robber barons, Stupid America, tex-mex meets China, working class

The religious right-wing nuttery learned that if they put their agenda out front, it was soundly rejected. So they went stealth. They infiltrated got elected to public office in statewide and local jurisdictions, never letting out a peep of what their agenda was.

Once on school boards and in state legislatures, they began pushing their fundamentalist-based principles into our school curriculums and city ordinances.

Karl Rove (Turd Blossom) was pretty darn up front about his desire to turn America into one gigantic GOP juggernaut. That failed to.

It is now quite clear that the GOP, too, has played the magician. While keeping us distracted with the usual dog and pony show of Palin/Bachmann/Limbaugh/Beck/Hannity/Gingrich/DeMint/Huckabee/King circus act, why they went out and got themselves installed in state legislatures and governorships all around the land.

While bowing to the “teabagger” agenda of cutting all them “freeloader” programs such as Head Start and food stamps, and introducing all that right-wing “freedom” to worship and live as you wish as long as it’s “Christian” and between a man and a woman, the really ugly work is being done quietly but efficiently by true blue GOPers.

And what does that entail you ask? Nothing less than the utter reduction to slavery of the poor and working poor, the elimination of the middle class and their endless liberal leanings, and the support and coddling of the rich and wealthy.

In state after state, Repulsigans are systematically lowering taxes for the rich, cutting programs for the poor, and increasing taxes on the working and middle classes.

These immoral hard to call them humans, really believe the bastardization of Darwin’s survival of the fittest, as translated in the 19th century to mean, the worthy rise and become wealthy and powerful, and those doomed to be the rightful underclass, well, they are naturally where they are supposed to be. Married to an interpretation of the bible that then instructs the slave to be obedient, we have voila´, the natural order of things. Now that is some science and bible interpretation going hand in hand if you ever saw it!

Crooks and Liars, building upon Rachel Maddow’s show, which is embedded, shows how the GOP has lackeyed for the uber rich again, following their successes in the 2010 election. Armed with majorities and control in most legislatures, they are busy as bees. Featured are twelve states and the actions being taken to accomplish this fiendish agenda. If your state is listed, well you know what you need to do.

♦

Stoopid is as Stoopid does. That’s a saying I guess that makes some sense, but sounds more so than it actually is. And stoopid, as we’ve pointed out innumerable times, is what the American public is, by and large. Another of those polls, this time by Newsweek, proves again that the average American is amazing for its ability to walk and talk and maybe even chew gum, all the while knowing almost nothing about the world she or he lives in.

One of the things in this country that is apparently sacrosanct is the educational system. We have always, as far as I know, educated our kids based on localized school boards, supplemented marginally in many cases by a few scattered state laws. Shockingly, we learned that in some states, homeschooling is completely unregulated for instance, meaning a parent who has an IQ of dirt can “teach” their own child, and get them a bona fide “graduation” certificate.

Meanwhile, GOPers/religious fanatics around the country are forcing “balanced” teaching of creationism and intelligent design into science curriculums, revisionist history downplaying racism, American imperialism, and other “embarrassments”.

Is it time to have a serious discussion about how we teach our children? I certainly think so. I think we have to conclude that what may have once worked, no longer does. Our educational system is a failure today for most students, leaving them ill-equipped in the world they are entering, a world that requires some reasoned sophistication about the global issues that now intertwine with America. Our colleges and universities are having to spend nearly the first full year in some cases, just shoring up their freshman on the basics. My god, this was true when I went to college in the 70’s!

Weigh in and tell us what you think.

♦

What’s on the stove? Wanton pulled pork. What’z dat? Take your basic pork butt, slap some barbecue seasoning on it, lock it in a secure house, bake it at 325° until you can fork break it up into shreds. (3 hours or more) Leave it in its juices, add some of your favor-ITE barbecue sauce. Make a batch of coleslaw, a bit on the sweet side. Take some wonton wrappers, deep fry them, pressing with a spoon to make a depression, fry until crispy, drain…fill up with the pork and top with the coleslaw.. eat until you can’t walk.

Related Articles

• Republican Control Of State Legislatures Brings Record Number of Creationism Bills (outsidethebeltway.com)