Existential Ennui

~ Searching for Meaning Amid the Chaos

Existential Ennui

Category Archives: Seafood

Don’t Say I Never Gave Ya Anything

20 Wednesday Apr 2011

Posted by Sherry in Appetizers, Chinese, Cooking Tips, Poultry, Recipes, Seafood, Vegetables

≈ 7 Comments

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)

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What’s Up? 06/15/10

15 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by Sherry in Anglican, Environment, Essays, GOP, Immigration, Media, Recipes, religion, Salads, Sarah Palin, Seafood, teabaggers, The Wackos, What's Up?

≈ 2 Comments

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Anglican, Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury, Bill Kristol, BP, immigration, Neo-cons, oil industry, racial profiling, Recipes, salad, Sarah Palin, seafood, soccer, Steven King, teabaggers, wingnuttery, world peace day

Ummm, it comes as no surprise certainly that God likes water. Planet earth is more water than solid terra firma. Hello? Well, could I inquire SIR? Can you spread it a bit more equitably?

I mean we aren’t so horrid as Oklahoma and Arkansas yet, but good grief.

The weather (I hesitate to call them people) humans are reduced to throwing darts at a board or reading tea leaves.

Which all means that we snuck down to Cedar Rapids with the intent to get groceries, advised that a shower or two might occur here and there. Uhuh, yeah, right. Can you spell GULLY WASHER that went on forever and is still going on? The Contrarian was decidedly piqued as he carted in load after load of soggy fare into the kitchen. And I was none too joyful myself.

I feel a rant coming on, and so be prepared with seat belts and smelling salts tomorrow. I can so far control it, but by tomorrow, well, read fireworks.

Simply Recipes has a lovely summer salad of white beans and Tuna. This is, as she points out, extremely versatile, allowing myriad substitutes. Add some crusty bread, and ya got a really nice hot day meal. (Should we ever see the end of this freakin’ RAIN that is.) Oops, rant suppression!

Case you are unaware, when I’m ranty these days, I tend to channel Lewis Black. I used to channel Roseanne, so I think it’s a bit of an improvement. Try to think Black when you read. I promise it’s usually funnier that way.

As you know, we have our own resident wingnut in IOWA, name of Steven King (no not  the writer). This one managed to find 12 people who agreed with him and apparently are the only voters in his district. Anyway, said asshat suggested that racial profiling was part of the good arsenal of law enforcement which also includes the use of one’s sixth sense, and good foot apparel knowledge. None of this should be done for purposes of discriminating of course. Ahhh, yeah.  You should read to the end, and see what he said about Obama. Seriously, this man is an idiot. And he’s all ours. Go find your own. Reported also in the Iowa Independent here.

World Peace Day is next Monday. The world is ranked by dangerousness and you can see the sorry state of affairs. Iraq tops the most dangerous. It’s not a pretty sight, sadly. Much thanks to Joe.My.God. for the h/t.

Mauigirl has become a good blogging friend of many of us. Her mother, who has been having difficulty for some time, has passed. She writes a moving tribute here. Mimi, thanks for telling us all about your mother.

Probably only of interest to Episcopalians, but it seems the Archbishop of Canterbury, wishing to stir the pot further, denied our Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, the right to wear her mitre or carry her bishop’s crosier when she preached at Southwark Cathedral last week. Petty to say the least. How long can we stay in the Anglican Communion?

We all know that most mine owners flagrantly ignore safety regulations. What we learned is that most oil companies don’t except one: BP. Is there any sane reason why ANY country should allow them to drill offshore? This is a company that deserves bankruptcy and a slow slithering away into oblivion. They are beyond disgust.

TomCat didn’t pick up the Steven King wingnuttery but he got a few from the usual players, and some new ones. Like the loaves and fishes, there is no bottom to the barrel of idiots that rise to the surface of GOP political circles. Teabuggery on Parade is the article you’ll want to seek.

Andrew Sullivan has a pretty interesting take on Bill Kristol and the neo-cons. I like his conclusion–a Palin presidential run–which I can only conclude means we win!

Tengrain reports that Sarah (that woman is an idiot) Palinator is on her way to Britain to meet with the Thatcher woman. (Doesn’t England have a quarantine requirement for Mooselinis?) The Brits have this to say. Or perhaps she might tour that volcano in Iceland and slip? Getting her out of the country is step one. I figure we should come up with something to keep her from getting back in.

Okay…take a deep breath. Didyaknowthatworldcupsoccerisaleftwingconspiracy? Well, Rush and Glenn and all the usual batchitcrazy media nuts are sure to tell ya all about it. I’ve said it a gazillion times: YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP! Tomorrow, how Obama plans a world take over with ice cream (but only Chocolate of course!)

Enough for today kids. Be safe, be sane, and well, be on guard against the aliens among us.

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Of Passing Note

07 Thursday Jan 2010

Posted by Sherry in Essays, Evolution, GOP, Iowa, Life in the Meadow, Media, Medicine, Recipes, Salads, Sarah Palin, Seafood, Sociology

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

CPAC, evolution, GOP, life in the meadow, Michelle Bachmann, primates, right wing, Sarah Palin, Seafood salad, socialization, sociology, winter, World News Daily

And now for something completely different. . . .

Okay, so I won’t bore you with the whining about the weather. I would, but it seems like my pitiful condition won’t gain me much purchase on your sympathy, since nearly 70% of the nation is engaged in winter misery.

We got our four inches, and are awaiting the wind which will move it from places we don’t want it, to other places we don’t want it. We have wood in for days, and food, and well, you don’t ask for much more at this point.

Yesterday, now that was a different story. Tractor broke, and was fixed, and I went shopping for chain saw chains. . . . mmmmm, such fun. They I secured some groceries just to make the weekend more delightful. It was a busy, up and down emotional day, but ended on a good note.

And did I remember to say a big hurrah to the Iowa Hawkeyes for their glorious win in the Orange Bowl? How does a nationally recognized school manage to have a quarterback who can’t throw a pass? I dunno, but go ask Georgia Tech. They may have an answer.

***

I have to say, I’d love to creep into the mind of the folks at CPAC, who in preparing their wacko wingnut right convention, are inviting of course the ever popular among the wingees, Sarah Palin, but are thinking of barring the ever conspiratorially oriented World Daily News. We are not sure what standard disallows the online news “paper” that promotes a “Crisis Garden” for the coming Armageddon,  but is in a tizzy, wizzing  its pants at the opportunity to have Michelle Bachmann on the roster. I mean can you imagine? The queens of crazy–Sarah and Michelle on the same stage? I’m sure their will be orgasmic delight in the audience should they both breathe stage air at the same time.

***

For years, scientists thought that primates groomed each other out of social bonding and reconciling differences. It appears otherwise.

It seems they groom those members of the troop who they think they cannot win a fight against. Who would have thunk?

Remember this the next time you sit down in the barber chair or the hair salon. Your hairdresser is afraid of ya! That ought to count for something in your day.

***

Scientists have found the oldest vertebrate footprints. They belong to a tetrapod and are in the vicinity of 397 million years old.

This pushes the time line back a few mill. The animals apparently lived in shallow waters and came upon land through the mud flats.

This is a marine environment rather than a lake or stream one as previously thought.

No word on whether human prints were found near by, so I am forced to warn the “creationist” nutties to close their eyes, and stop their ears, lest they be confronted with this biblical blasphemy. You have been warned flat earthers!

***

These next two go down in the “I never would have guessed,” category.

Those engaged in scientific pursuit, tell us that the size of the spoon effects whether or not one gets the proper dosage of medicine. Well, you could have blown me over with a feather on that one!

I know this will be hard to believe, but parents who refuse to have their children inoculated against chicken pox, see a higher incidence of their children contracting that disease.

It just shocks the bejesus out of me to discover this.

I’m sure it will give you pause as well

***

Even though warned repeatedly, some of you undoubtedly decided to go ahead and make New year’s resolutions.

So, seven days in, no doubt some of you are already struggling. This just in from LiveScience— 5 tips to avoid failure!

Number one on the list is “don’t make too many resolutions. And number two is, choose your resolutions wisely. Okay. . . .

On that note, I’ll resolve not to read self help articles on keeping resolutions. That is not too many, and is certainly wise doncha think?

***

I’m not familiar with Golden Corral, but this Copycat recipe seems a perfect foil to winter blahs.

I mean, when you look out and realize that it will take three hours and 40 extra pounds of clothing to make you “ready” for outside, ya need to have something really scrumptious and decadent to eat right?

This recipe for Seafood Salad uses the artificial crab, which I don’t really like, but with mayo, the “off taste” may be hidden. And it sure cheapens the price for making this summery beachy kinda treat.

I think I may pick up the ingredients on my next shopping trip and give this a whirl.

I have some great northern bean soup on the fire, loaded with plenty of ham, along with some nice focaccia flavored with dried tomatoes and olives. I think it will be a snuggly meal for falling temperatures and growing winds. Stay in and stay warm!
funny pictures of cats with captions
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

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Mind Flipping Incongruities

13 Tuesday May 2008

Posted by Sherry in 1st Amendment, American History, Astronomy, Barack Obama, Breakfast, Bush, Current Issues, Election 2008, Environment, Fruit, Gardening, Gay Rights, God, History, Jewish, John McCain, Middle East, Pork, Recipes, religion, Sauces, science, SCOTUS, Seafood, Tex-Mex, Vegetables, War/Military, Women's History, World History

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1st Amendment, American History, astronomy, Barack Obama, breakfast, Bush, environment, Gardening, gay rights, Israel, John McCain, Military, Palestine, religion, Sauces, SCOTUS, seafood, tex-mex, vegetables, Women's history

This lovely painting is by Pierre Auguste Renoir and is called “Near the Lake.” It was done in 1879/80 and is from the Art Institute of Chicago.

It’s a rather gloomy Tuesday, with the sun long gone it seems. It did peek out a bit earlier this morning, but that it appears is all we are likely to get today. Rain is again in the offing for later. Like we have room for any more. I cleaned the fridge today. That started out as a much easier job than it finished out being. I did a lot of cleaning around the seals in the door which had gotten a bit gunky, if you get my drift. Anyway, it’s done now. I haven’t cleaned behind yet. The Contrarian didn’t sleep well last night so he went back to bed when I got up. So that is my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.

On with the news:

~~~&&&~~~&&&~~~

I think I featured a crab cake recipe recently, but I found this one with a fabulous sauce that I just couldn’t resist. So take a look and see if you like Crab Cakes with Green Mango Salsa. A Mingling of Tastes brings you this lovely one.

Another Bushite in trouble. Scott Bloch, self described “devout” Catholic and hater of all things gay, is in some deep trouble with the FBI which has raided his office and home looking for evidence that he has obstructed the investigation of his own misconduct at head of the Office of Special Counsel. Bloch as far back as 1971 has opposed the anti-war movement and women’s rights as well, making him an all-purpose hater of various minorities, and a lover of war. That of course made him just right for the neo-cons of the Bush Administration. The investigation has to do with his alleged treatment of employees.

As many of you may know, John McCain recently gave a speech on the environment in an attempt to establish his creds with voters. According to Alternet, and reporter John Nichols, McCain is full of hot air. It seems much of what he touts as new environmental policy is old science, much of which is now outdated by newer stuff. Experts say his new policy is arranged more to get votes than it is to make any real difference on the planet. See what you think.

I admit that there are a huge number of vice presidents that I don’t know anything at all about. This suggests of course, that most VP’s are not particularly noteworthy. American Presidents Blog has some nice trivia about a few of them and a link to more information.

We all have faced the problem of plants that start out wonderful, then suddenly start wilting and just going ugly. Disease strikes quickly and seemingly without warning. Sally’s Gardening Tips has some great ideas for you to help avoid losing your precious flowers and vegetables to disease.

Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas has found the most interesting little site. It’s about landscaping on a miniature scale, someone like bonsai. The site is called Little Landscapes and it has plenty of pictures and instructions. This looks like so much fun and would be a wonderful project to push away those winter doldrums. (They sell a lot of the “accessories” but I do think you could be creative at any craft store.) They are so cute you just have to want one for yourself.

Seal tries sex with a penguin. Yep. You read that correctly. You do not need glasses. Go to Live Scienceand read all about this phenomenon that was actually caught on film. The picture is not very good, lol, but my goodness, what is the world coming to?

Wow, this recipe caught my eye. Corn Cakes! What a delightful idea for a brunch addition. It’s easy and I think would just be lovely to fix on a late spring Sunday morning for eating on the patio. Midwest Neurotica offers us this fine fare.

David Brooks who has to some extent lost his ultra conservative credentials among the ultra conservatives at least, has a thought provoking essay on religion, brain research and spirituality. I think his ideas are correct actually. I think he correctly zeroes in that the next major argument is not going to be God versus science, but true spirituality versus religious institutions. Read his post and see what you think.

Pauline Bonaparte is the subject of Scandalous Women‘s latest foray in the wonderful world of women and history. Be sure not to miss it, and don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance at a free book.

Maybe you don’t think finding a single carbon monoxide molecule from a galaxy 11 billion light years away is important, but scientists seem to think it’s pretty darn exciting. The trick is that this  allows them to learn the temperature of the galaxy when the Universe was only 20% of its present age, and that’s a might long time ago. The universe is estimated to be about 14-15 billion years old. So do the math. In fact, predictions of the temperature were 9.3K. Actual results from the test turned out to be 9.1K with a wiggle room of 0.7, so the predictions were very accurate.

As we have previously reported, McCain has jumped on the conservative bandwagon with both feet, determined to resurrect himself among those he derided in 2000 as divisive elements in political discourse. He is now touting that judicial activism must be opposed. Of course, there is no such thing, it simply is code for GOP/religious right rhetoric that we don’t like the decisions coming from the courts and want to them rule as we prefer. Paul Waldman has an excellent post at American Prospect that you really should read. It turns out that if anybody can be called activist, its conservative judges, not the so-called liberal ones.

If you are not sure where exactly Barack Obama stands on the issue of Israel and Palestine, then two posts should help you, both are first hand interviews with Obama and not their personal conclusions about what they have read. Read Martin Peretz, editor-in-chief of The New Republictake on OBama and Israel, as well as Jeffrey Goldberg‘s interview from The Atlantic. And you can also drop by Urantian Sojourn and get Saitia’s take on the issue as well. (It’s a main site link again. Sorry, but I’m still having trouble with their website)

As a long time resident of Michigan for the better/worse parts of my life, I am very familiar with this story. Dow Chemical has been a major Michigan polluter for, well, nearly as long as I have been alive. It has continuously tried to avoid responsibility for its dirty practices. Today, a member of the EPA claims she was forced to resign by the Bushites because she was leaning hard on Dow to, as usual, clean up its act. Read a long and thorough account of Dow historically in Michigan and up to today’s news. Remember, when you see companies who have no consumer business, doing ads on TV about how environmentally good they are, you can be sure they are getting leaned on for being dirty.

Since the Pentagon was forced to release all that information on its attempts to seed the media with pentagon friendly “analysts,” the dirt just continues to build up. I mean the documents are so damning that some somebodies are going to pay a huge price. I assume congressional hearings will be in the offing quite soon. I mean you just have to read this stuff to be amazed at how our Constitution has been ripped to shreds by Bush/Cheney. Thanks to Think Progress for the excerpts.

I’d never heard of St. Sunniva, patron saint of Norway. Melisende has a lovely little bio of her at Women of History. Stop by and learn who she was.

~~~&&&~~~&&&~~~

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow.” Evan Esar

“Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.” Paul Gauguin

“He’s simply got the instinct for being unhappy highly developed.” Saki

~~~&&&~~~&&&~~~

Best pickup lines? or the worst?

If you were a booger I’d pick you first.

Baby did you fart, ’cause you blow me away!

Is there an airport nearby or is that my heart taking off?

Are my undies showing? Answer: “No.” You: “Would you like them to?

Aren’t you the tiger on the Frosted Flakes box? Cuz you look “Grrrreat!”

Baby, you’re the next contestant in the game of love.

Can I get a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?

Don’t walk into that building — the sprinklers might go off!

Excuse me, do I need to buy a ticket for your fantastic voyage?

~~~&&&~~~&&&~~~

But if you look at this historically, it’s not that difficult to believe that Hillary would still be campaigning. Listen to this. Once a year, in his basement, Al Gore gives a State of the Union address. David Letterman

From The Onion:

Number Of Acceptable Things
Candidates Can Say Now Down To Four

NEW YORK—After Sen. Barack Obama’s comments last week about what he typically eats for dinner were criticized by Sen. Hillary Clinton as being offensive to both herself and the American voters, the number of acceptable phrases presidential candidates can now say are officially down to four. “At the beginning of 2007 there were 38 things candidates could mention in public that wouldn’t be considered damaging to their campaigns, but now they are mostly limited to ‘Thank you all for coming,’ and ‘God bless America,’” ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos said on Sunday’s episode of This Week. “There would still be five phrases available to the candidates if the Obama camp hadn’t accused Clinton of saying ‘Glad to be here’ with a little tinge of sarcasm during a stump speech in North Carolina.” As of press time, the two additional phrases still considered appropriate for candidates are the often-quoted “These pancakes are great,” and “Death to the infidels.”

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The Road Ends Here

07 Wednesday May 2008

Posted by Sherry in 1st Amendment, American History, Barack Obama, Cakes, Chocolate, Church/State, Crafts, Current Issues, Desserts, Election 2008, fundamentalism, GOP, Hillary Clinton, History, Iraq, John McCain, Middle East, Presidents, Quilting, Recipes, religion, SCOTUS, Seafood, terrorism, Voting, Women's History

≈ 6 Comments

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cake, chocolate, Civil War, Constitution, environment, fundamentalism, GOP, Hillary Clinton, History, Iran, Iraq, Lincoln, quilting, religion, seafood, voting, Women's history


Found at the MMA, this lovely sea scape is done by Childe Hassam and is called “Celia Thaxer’s Garden, Isles of Shoals, Maine.” Done in 1890. Given the storms of last night and the unremitting rain most of the night, I thought something a bit cheery was in order. Just as things were nearly dried out and we were getting set to get in the garden, we get another huge dump of rain. Everything is soggy once more.

My mood prevented much house cleaning, but I did do the upper cupboard in the living room and washed the Fiestaware and some crystal goblets. I cleaned the window panes as well. I made meatloaf and some scalloped potatoes for dinner. I’d like to make some brownies, but I’m not very energetic now, and I’m getting way behind here.

On to the news:

~~~^^^~~~^^^~~~

Abby Sweets has a really tantalizing Peanut Butter Torte that I would like to make. It’s just the kind of thing I need  today on this rather gloomy Wednesday. I’m afraid I don’t have the patience for it though. As I said, I’m still trying to motivate myself to make some brownies.

We begin to see the effects of SCOTUS’s latest assault on voting, upholding Indiana’s requirement (backed by Republicans of course) that prospective voters present a photo ID to the polling place. Yesterday, a number of elderly nuns were refused the right to vote because they did not have ID, even though they were apparently well known to everyone there. Read all about it and Pale Rider’s biting comment at Blue Girl, Red State.

I’m always so pleased when this feed lights up. Civil War Women is offering a new post today. Today’s featured profile is on Frances Dana Gage. She was one of those women thoroughly ahead of her time. Writing, and being a strong advocate against slavery were only a small portion of her talents. She also engaged in activitiesdesigned to further the cause of women’s rights, something that of course brought its own forms of derision and persecution. Read another lovely biography by Maggie.

Oh CopyCat Restaurant Recipes has a great one today. A bit expensive to make, but oh my goodness, they are truly to die for. I’ve eaten crab cakes in Connecticut, and I tell you, if you have not had authentic ones, you are truly missing a treat. Try this recipe from the 4 Seasons, and show off!  

Another bright spot today, Garrison Keillor posts an entry, entitled “Why Mother’s Day?” Enjoy and pass it along to a Mother near you!

History News Networkhas a nice post on LIncoln. Peruse through the times when Lincoln, well, thought  his career over, after only one term in Congress. It lasted for five long years, while he lawyered and believed that he would make no mark on the world at all. Read John Waugh’s thoughts from his latest book, One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln’s Road to Civil War.

Inspired by antique quilts has some more of her Civil War blocks, speaking as we were of the Civil War, well sort of. They always help me to gear up for quilting, nothing further mind you but I do gear up in my mind. Seriously, I’m a freak for delayed gratification. I cannot start any real crafting projects until I’ve finished this cleaning thingie. It’s another thing I do to force myself to stay focused.

Okay, so you are in a bad mood too? So slip over to Live Science and see lots of disasters much worse than the freaking overkill of water in Iowa. Okay I’m being a bit macabre, but really, I am a devotee of “disaster movies” the more destruction the better! I love to see it all come crashing down, as long as it’s not real of course. Still, the post does put some major historical disasters in prospective, and explains why those now seem more serious than ones of the past.

Is there a Republican war on science? Kevin Drum seems to think so. So do I for that matter. It’s a war of convenience of course, designed to support their business interests against those of us common folk. But assault it is. Read his post and again, hit the comments, nearly always the best part.  

It must make for some sleepless nights. To know, that is, that your country is occupied by dolts. Not America per se, of course, but Bush representatives for sure. Iraq is trying to broker some kind of way for the US and Iran to speak to one another, and thus hopefully move on to some kind rapprochement rather than continue to rattle sabres. I can sure understand Iraq’s concern that it will be the battle ground between the two rather intransigent sides. Come next January, things will be better, but that assumes we can keep the lid on Bush and Cheney until then. I feel bad for the Iraqis. But that has been true for neigh on to 5 years now.

It’s pretty much all over the net today. McCain gave a speech, and in it he bemoaned the excesses that occur when one branch of government usurps power from the other two. Most would automatically think that he was referring to Bush and his executive excesses that are so well documented at this point in time. But no, the Macster had something quite different in mind and it’s telling us all, that Mac is catering to those right wing evangelicals and others of the neo-con ilk who think that there is not much use for Congress any more. McCain of course is referring to his new love for all things conservative on the high court.Of course, judicial restraint is nothing more than I don’t like the decisions coming down. It has nothing to do with so called strict constructionism, of which hardly anybody could define if they wanted to. Mac, I’m constrained to say, doesn’t care what those decisions are either, but he does care that some folks that he desperately wants to vote for him care, and so he cares sort of. It is still shocking me how John will sink to any depth needed to achieve the goal he believes is his by right, the presidency. Out goes any semblance of self-respect, ethics, or loyalty to doing what’s right. Shame on ya John. Glenn Greenwald has the story.

I don’t live by any coast, unless you consider the Mississippi or the Missouri as coasts, and we aren’t all that close to either of them anyway. But it seems that there is a reason that coastal areas may be seeing increasing clouds. Can you say seaweed? Yep, Check out the post at Science Daily and read all about why you are so blue from lack of sunshine. Psst. Iodine is the culprit. Now, you’re hooked. Chase that link!

If you would like to read a wonderful article on the founding fathers and the establishment clause in our Constitution, then by all means follow the link to The New Yorkerand read Jill Lepore’sarticle, dissecting four recent books on the our nation’s early leaders. It will surprise you for sure. I’ve been reading a book on this topic and have certainly learned a lot. I’ll be reviewing it probably sometime next week. Thanks to Talk to Action for the heads up.

And it’s Wednesday, so another article from Susan Posner’s Fundamentalist series at the American Prospect. Today she features Iowa’s own Grassley and his continuing efforts to uncover televangelists use of donations, Huckabee’s doings, and problems in the world of evangelism. Don’t miss it!

We are welcoming a new regular to the list today. The Art of the Possible. Today’s post is apropos I think. Given last nights returns, Clinton’s prospects are zero in my book. I am sad, but I will speak out often and loudly for Obama. Still, I thought this post summed up why I have been such a supporter of Mrs. Clinton, and why I feel left out once again in the world of men.

~~~^^^~~~^^^~~~

“There is no greater impotence in all the world like knowing you are right and that the wave of the world is wrong, yet the wave crashes upon you.” Norman Mailer

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” Krishnamurti

“What’s on your mind, if you will allow the overstatement?” Fred Allen

~~~^^^~~~^^^~~~

Funny Book Titles:

40 Yards to the Latrine by Willy Makeit and Betty Wont

A Trip to the Dentist by Yin Pain

Acrophobia Explained: Alfredo Height

Allegiance To The King: Neil Downe

Animal Illnesses by Ann Thrax

Artificial Weightlessness by Andy Gravity

Athletic Supporter: Jacques Strap

~~~^^^~~~^^^~~~

How about the presidential Democratic campaign, the primaries? Whoa, are you kidding me? Today they’re in Indiana. My home state. And also North Carolina. And then, after that, they go to Canada. And then after the Canadian primaries, they go to Europe; they do the European primaries, and the election is still three years away.  David Letterman

President Bush held a big Cinco deMayo dinner celebration last night at the White House. He praised the people of Mexico who come here to do the jobs the Americans don’t want to do, as opposed to the people of India, who are doing the jobs Americans did want to do but can’t, of course, anymore. Jay Leno

President George W. Bush is now officially less popular than his father, although Laura is neck-and-pearls with Barbara. Paul Seaburn
 

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