It’s Really Too Late

Tags

Advent, Billy Collins, Blessed Mother Mary, bottle brush trees, Christmas decorating, Crafts, hope, Magnificat, Poetry, religion

Are you starting to panic? Too much left to do and not enough time? Forgetaboutit! Tis the season to enjoy friends and family and good eats. Stop obsessing!

Easy to say I know. Not having to shop is a big plus. I’m in truffles today. I have them all set up on cookie sheets, just letting them harden up a bit before I do the rolling. This year it’s ground almonds, cocoa, sprinkles, and powdered sugar. I have 39, so ten of each except one.

Tomorrow the nut clusters and I have all the yummy cookie, candy stuff done. The cooking should be easy on Saturday. One casserole which throws together and the ham. The rest is just a veggie and a relish tray, and heating up some stuffing. Have to remember to get that out of the freezer tomorrow.

If you are deep into reflection on the true “reason for the season” however you define that, then you might find some uplifting thoughts at Women Beneath the Cross‘s, The Magnificat: Realizing God’s Dream.  Commonweal, in a short reflection tells us Jesus’ flight into Egypt, while of course echoing Moses, also speaks eloquently to immigrants today, and the dangerous lives they face. And Michael Hogue from Tikkun Daily Blog, reminds us that the only answer is hope in incremental improvements in a very imperfect world.

***

I guess it’s pretty late for crafts, but you might want to stop by a Michael’s after the holidays and pick up some of these for next year to do. They are those old rather nasty looking “bottle brush” trees. Most everyone has had one or more of these in the past. Vickie at Uncommon Artistic Endeavors has all the simple directions to turn these cheap “trees” into real stunning decorations.

***

I know that poetry, like most art is somewhat subjective. What I love, you loathe, or points between. But this poem, called Aristotle from 3quarksdaily, is simply stunning in its imagery. Please do yourself a favor and take a look. I don’t think you will be sorry.  

***

Sometimes prayers are answered like immediately. I kid you not. (that was a popular saying back in the day.) We have this cat, Calvin. He’s a beauty, all orangey and spotted. He likes milk, and he bawls at you when he wants it. He’s taken to sitting on the table with me in the morning and following along with morning prayer.

He usually prowls around with the other boy cats during the night. Last night he was absent. This usually causes a minor concern that he has been let outside and forgotten. All doors are checked. He is not around.

So I figure he’s just hunkered down in one of his hidy-holes.  In the morning, no Calvin emerges to join me for Thursday, Week IV, antiphons and psalms. I begin to worry. As we discover various hidy-holes, he creates new ones. Is the tyke sick?

So, I’m doing my prayers, and I say, “God, will you push Calvin out into the open just so we know he’s okay?” Less than ten seconds go by, before I hear a rustling behind me. A large box is on the table, on its side, and Kate has taken to it as her refuge. When I look, Calvin is rearranging himself in it. Been there all night no doubt.

God, busy as things get, seems to have time for my simple request. 🙂

Believe it, or not, as you wish.

***

It’s a slow day. What can I say. The truffles are done, and dinner is in the oven.

What’s on the stove: Arroz Con Pollo. Stuffed celery. Rolls.

Short Takes on the Day, 09/03/09

Tags

anniversary, astronomy, Chevron, Crafts, education, EFM, energy, exobiology, GOP, Humor, knitting, Levi Johnston, Obama, oil companies, right wing, Sarah Palin

Well, I’m about churched out, at least yakking about it for a while. I know my readership is kind of split between those that like religion posts and those that would rather not, but I’m back on more secular ground today, and we are going to hop around and see what’s afoot.

***

First on the agenda is that the Contrarian and I are celebrating ten years of wedded bliss today. That means dinner out which is about all we do. We could say we celebrate every day, but seriously we don’t lack from spending time together so it’s not that big a deal to either of us. We got a lovely card from CEC. It was lovely to be remembered.

Last night I had my first EFM class, and I came home with HOMEWORK!. Not that I didn’t expect it. I’m eagerly looking forward to this wonderful opportunity to explore the bible in even greater depth than I have so far.

Now, on to the goodies!

***

I’d describe myself as a novice but competent knitter. I have made two sweaters, both of which I still wear. I have yarn and a beginning for another, as well as a couple of other projects, and I’m getting that knitting urge once again, so I expect to start soon.

Vicki, over at knittingdragonflies, has turned me on to a totally new concept to me, the top down method. Most sweaters, as I’ve seen are started from the bottom and knitted in sections that you then piece together. This method obviously starts from the top, and I think is done in one piece. I’m interested and intrigued. If you are slip over and get your instructions. Happy crafting!

I admit, it’s been a long time since I posted a craft link! Hopefully I’ll find a tasty recipe or two as well. But you know me, I can never pass up the chance to slander a Rethug along the way, and the choices are sooooooo many!

***

As many of you already know, my point in these Short Takes is to make you the darling of the cocktail and dinner party, and the go to person at the water cooler. My goal is to give you that eclectic education that makes you look smart and so with it among your peers, and indeed makes you stand above to be admired and fawned over as the person who just knows everything.

So you probably need to know that the Kepler, as in Johannes Mission is a creation of NASA designed to find habitable worlds around distant stars. Word is that they are finding it might be possible to locate exomoons around some of those planets. So we have a double chance of finding habitable orbs in the sky. The technology hopes to allow the scientific ones the ability to detect the imperceptible wobble that occurs when a planet is pulled by both its sun and its moon.

All this is of course important because the need to transport to another world becomes increasingly attractive as the GOP continues to ramp up the craziness that has attacked them for the past twenty years or so. Sane humans may have no choice but to leave to preserve said sanity as it were. The only small problems left to address will be things like faster than light travel, and incidentals like how to create food replicators ala Star Trek. We are clear that we can’t live any kind of civilized life without them!

***

More wingbat shittery from the Rethugs and their spokesmorons. It seems that President Obama has done a piece that school districts can optionally play to their kids when they return to school. It’s all about working hard and being good students and learning some stuff. Pretty much what you would want you kids to know huh?

Not so, the right wing nut cases. No, this is “indoctrination” and right out of Maoist dogma. All the usual players are weighing in and that means you know its bunk. But no doubt they will convince their duped minions to raise the usual hue and cry.

Increasingly mainstream America looks with tired disbelief at the robotic lock-step ranting of the mostly evangelical ultra right.

But it does point up something. With only the promise and the verbal ranting on abortion and gay rights, you can convince the religious right to ignore its own self interest and vote for those who economically and politically destroy them. And better yet, the actual politicians can continue their own personal lascivious living. Getting caught means only having to say you are sorry and the devil made you do it.

***

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This pretty much sums up my knowledge of how cars work. From toasters to nuclear power plants, if it needs electricity or runs on a motor, I prefer to think of it as magic. I work under the theory that there is only so much room in my noggin, and I don’t clutter up the space with stuff I don’t need to know. Plug it in, turn the key, work.

***

It is undoubtedly true that the way to potty train a dog is to keep it kenneled and take it out at regular intervals. The animal will not “foul” its sleeping quarters.

One might assume that oil companies, specifically Chevron,  operate on the same principle. If Ecuador is any evidence, they have fouled that country mightily with their obscene practices.

After doing their best to cast dirt on the litigants and the judge, they are prepared to accept that they are going to be held liable to the tune of 27 billion.  The people there are suffering from increases in cancer, miscarriages, birth defects and other problems.

This is of course the ugly American syndrome for which we are so famous. We screw other people in other countries for our personal benefit. Chevron, I suspect would not even have qualms about doing the same in the good ole US of A. Good reason to keep them out of the drilling business in Alaska and off shore.

***

Okay, don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Levi Johnston. He strikes me as a fairly vacuous human being, who hasn’t given much thought to much beyond his own nose yet in his short life.

But, given that he was the almost son-in-law of our dear Sarah (The Quitter) Palin, he remains in the news.

With competing desires to sell books and make some money, they undoubtedly will both view this feud as helpful to their respective endeavors. If they should join forces, they would only need another 3/4 of a brain to be an intact human being.

Still, if you have the desire to read about Mr. Johnston’s take on Mrs. Palin, no better place can be found than Vanity Fair, the best of the scrumptious interview mags. (I still have my copy of the one they did on Johnny Depp a month or so ago, and I’m not letting go of it anytime soon.)

No doubt half of what Levi has to say is pure bunk, but then that means half is scintillating gossipy goodies. You can pick and choose which you want to believe of course.

Which all goes to show ya that the human species is a hardy bunch. As the evidence builds that a huge portion of the US public is stone cold crazy as loonies, these two prove that life does indeed go on in the human zoo.

Until next time!

Short Takes on the Day 10/30/08

Tags

astronomy, autumn, Barack Obama, cake, Crafts, dessert, economy, Election 2008, evolution, feminism, fruit, GOP, Neo-cons, paleontology, Sarah Palin, socialism, voters

The Obama campaign has been astounding in its breath. By that I mean, it’s desire to redraw the lines in America, and draw from groups long thought to be in the Republican column, never to budge. This is not so, as a report from AlterNet suggests today. In fact, Evangelicals, rurals, and Jewish voters are breaking for Obama this year in numbers that have made red states start to look more blue. This may indeed forecast a total restructuring and realignment of the parties, leaving the Republicans will little more than the deep South and the far West. Read this fascinating article that talks about the changing landscape in America. This may have a huge impact on the ability of Obama to govern from a position of extraordinary strength across the country.

We’ve been talking a bit about the economy and what makes a successful country, one that makes it citizens happy and prosperous. Slip by DistributorCap NY today and read an excellent post on the social fabric of our country versus that of others, and how we far on the success index.

If you are a Garrison Keillor fan, then your fix is right here. As might be obvious, the issue is the election, and Mr. Keillor true to form, pulls no punches with his smart sparkling talk. Enjoy.

Digby over at Hullabaloo has a nice report on feminism and Sarah Palin. Of course you haven’t missed, I’m sure, the new/old tack being used to defend Sarah. She’s just the victim of a misogynistic media after all. Nobody else would be treated this way. She’s a feminist so she says, or doesn’t. Role model and all that jazz right? Read the article and decide.

It will soon be Thanksgiving and you know that is the time to be thankful for all our blessings, both real and surmised. In These Times takes a break and thanks all those wonderful folks who have lead us to this point in time, when (hold your breath and cross your fingers) we are about to elect Barack Obama to be president of the US of A, and return this land to the column of sanity. The list is predictable, but it’s nice to reminisce about the “bad old days.” Wouldn’t you like to personally thank some of these bozos yourself? I sure would.

And if you want pure unadulterated fun, don’t miss Maureen Dowd’s column today. It is a blame hoot, a screen play entitled “And the Maverick wears Prada.” Don’t miss it if you need a laugh. This is one of the more telling events of the campaign season. When your running mate becomes the fodder for serious journalists’ foray into dramatic writing, you know you are in deep doo-doo.

Only five more days to go! Keep up the good work everyone, vote and never stop campaigning until the very end. We are almost there!

A nice fall dessert recipe from Simply Recipes. It’s called, Mrs. Paxton’s Raw Apple Cake. Be sure to look at the comments, since there are alternations that people tried and they worked out, so enjoy.

Uncommon Artistic Endeavors has a neat project for making candle holders from corn husks. She bought her husks at Walmart, but us farm folks find that slightly laughable since husks are strewn everywhere from the wind. Take a look and make a cute cheap decoration for the fall and Thanksgiving. Plenty of pics to help you see how to construct them.

If you spend time every day wondering how planets form, then Live Science has some new information for you. The study of old meteorites help scientists flesh out the actions of all that primordial soup that ended up in our solar system. Knowing where we came from is about the only way to know where you are, so dutifully trot over there and find out this stuff!

A significant fossil discovery has been made in Utah. Utahnians must be thrilled to say the least. The rocks there show evidence of the earliest Jurassic flora known in the western US. This takes us back 200 million years folks, when I at least was still unborn. No doubt the news is very exciting all over the state, where hoards of brainiacs and other nerdish types have descended with pens and pen protectors in tow. (I made that last part up). But hey, presumably, local business does an up tick when all those science types show up!

Breathing Life Deeply

Tags

Archaeology, Breads, cake, coffeecake, corn, Crafts, dessert, dieting, evolution, fruit, geology, Italian, Literature, pasta, Pizza, potatoes, psychology, quilting, recycling, salad, science, volcanoes, world history

These haunting eyes are of  a Nova-Walpi, North American Indian. I sadly don’t know if Nova-Walpi is a tribe or Nova is his name. Such things didn’t seem important enough to record I guess. The picture was taken by Edward Sheriff Curtis in 1904.

One  can but guess at his thoughts, a whole different life and wayy of seeing the world are hidden from us, but we are called  inward and can somehow feel him through his penetrating eyes.

Oh a busy day, in fact, they are all busy at this point, trying to catch up for long days spent inactive while the rains continued. Now we are a buzz with busyness. The garden seems okay, but as i said, much may be so stressed that it will simply put on a quick flourish to set some seeds and then die. Nothing to do but wait and hope for the best.

I did my cleaning today and then went for my walk, something I started yesterday. Trudging up the hill is hard, so I don’t go far yet. It’s a half mile to the road, and i went at best 2/5 of a mile. Not far. At one time I walked sometimes six miles, though four was more normal. I’ll extend the distance next week. Bear went along with me, going into the corn fields to take a pee. Not very nice of him. I am as always enchanted by what I see, the lovely green fields, the sounds of so many birds, the tracks of so many animals.

A buck must have walked down the lane, since I saw a very large track today. No doubt following what was obviously a doe and her fawn. The cute little tracks of the baby, no doubt fascinated by all he or she saw. A coon also passed by, and a pheasant for sure. The coyotes have stayed away of late. We also think that a big cat is about though we only saw him once. He was running across the field to the north, and had that tale so like a cat, long and kind of swaying. It was definitely not a coyote. Such tales are always around, but nobody has every killed or found one dead, so it always remains mystery.

I made meatballs and sauce for spaghetti today. I had made foccacia a couple of weeks ago, and I got the leftovers into the freezer for just such a meal as this. I don’t think I’ll bother with a salad. Plenty to eat without it, and we had one a couple of days ago. I did the Cilantro Chicken from last weeks blog recipes. It really was good. Plenty of leftover chicken breast and that will make a nice chicken salad for Saturday. Tomorrow is hamburgers with some of that chipotle-cheese sauce that I also featured last week or the week before.

We watched something on the news that caught us up. Dogs and cats who have been given up due to floods or losing homes in the mortgage foreclosure disaster. We’ve decided to take in a new dog, and later I’m going to try to locate where to go here in Iowa. It just broke my heart, so many of the little guys in shelters not understanding what has happened to their world. Our two dogs are 9 and 11 respectively, so it’s a good time to transition we thought. We love them so much, and nothing can replace them, but we have room for more, and can’t stand to see so many lost when we can offer them a good home and safety.

Boy, I’m yacky. Better get on to see if anything new is out there in internet land.

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101 Cookbooks has some tips on making pizza on the grill. Although her ingredients are a bit foofoo for my more pedestrian tastes as far as pizza goes, the tips are still valid of course. If you are thinking of trying this, and it does sound fun, then give it a look.

If scones are something you would like to try, then skip over to A Mingling of Tastes and find her recipe for Oat Scones with Dried Cherries and Walnuts. They are easy to make and serve as a nice alternative to the usual muffins or toast. A bonus, there are two other muffin recipes that lead into the scone one, so you get three great recipes! 

Since the 4th is on the way, I thought I might give you my potato salad recipe. I have only found one other that matched it. But I realize that potato salad  is one of those things that people tend to like the way mom made it. Here goes, and these are estimates on ingredients, I don’t measure a thing.

Sherry’s Awesome Potato Salad

Potatoes, 5-6 medium large or equivalent of waxy potatoes like Yukon
An equal number of eggs hard boiled. 6 if using Idaho potatoes
scallions, about 6, tops and green parts sliced thin
radishes, about 8, chunked so they will hold up for a few days
sour dill pickles, about 2 medium finely diced
about 1/3 cup of green olives, diced
dressing:
mayo, a good cup
dijohn mustard, and yellow mustard, about 3 TBSP's in all
salt, pepper,
celery seeds
a bit of juice from the dill pickles or olives 1/4 c. or so
mix it all together, decorate if you desire with fresh chives,
parsley, and some like sweet pepper slices. That's it.
Adjust anything to the tanginess you like. It's the dill pickles
that make the difference here.

ALemon Glazed Bundt Cake might be just the thing for that 4th of July celebration. If so, Chocolate and has a nice recipe for you. I think I’m going for gooey Molten Lava cakes myself, but I love lemon desserts a lot and this will be on my radar for later this summer.

Garrison Keillor graces us again with his wit. Today he counsels that Barack Obama could learn a thing or two from Jesse Ventura. Do say? Always fun and a nice change of pace from our favorite pundit on life!

One of the things that keeps history interesting, is that there are so many different ways to approach it. It is surely true that history is written by and large by the victors, but today, with so many more tools of examination, historians can look at it from a number of different ways and pull out the threads of unknown facts drawing a clearer and very different interpretation. One way is to examine history from the point of view of colonialism. Read more at History News Network.

Another of those great science things. Archaeologists who look for bones, have uncovered the earliest known 4 legged animal scull. They expect that this will help them understand that important transition between fish and those creatures that first walked on the earth. I don’t know about you, but this stuff always fascinates me. I feel like I’m taking a walk along my family tree. It lived 365 million years ago, and lived in water. They think it looked a bit like an alligator but with fins. Cool eh? Thanks to Live Science for the story.

If you are a baby boomer as I am, this next one also from Live Science may be of interest. Are you blue, and prone to being in the dumps a lot? Seems there is a good reason for that. Boomers, says the Pew Report, are just not very enthusiastic about the future. Looking around the economy, and the world, I can see why. Sigh, boy this bums me out!

On Faith has a compelling question: What book has made a difference in your life? I mean, where do I start? It seems every ten years or so, I would revise the list. Most everyone would agree that the bible or your choice of religious book qualifies. But oh the other possibilities are endless. Mailer’s the Naked and the Dead made an impact on me on the subject of war that I have never forgotten. I think I see a separate post for this. How bout we look at the subject Sunday?

The Scythians were horsemen in Central Asia. A very well preserved body of a Cavalier was found in 2006. Much has been learned about the gentleman since then. He died some 2,300 years ago. An amazing amount is known about him and his life through the use of modern forensic tools. Read this interesting account at Rogueclassicism.

Scientists did not believe it possible. They were wrong. It seems volcanoes are busily blowing their cool, errr, hot in very deep waters in the Arctic Ocean. The great pressures and weight of the water were thought to prevent this occurrence. Not so, not so. Read more at Science Daily.

New news for dieters! If you want to lose weight, stop thinking about dying for crying out loud. And the thoughts don’t have to be directly about yourself. Watching death related material such as crime shows, and the awful news, also contribute. We get the munchies it seems. Wow, somebody will be writing a book about this. “Diet with Laurel and Hardy,” coming to a bookstore near you!

Truly, nothing says summer better than corn salad. You can make this in any number of ways, as long as you start with grilled or seared corn kernels. Then add whatever fresh veggies, (also grilled) and do the dressing and boy you have got a great accompaniment to just about any summer dinner. I’m adding it to my July 4th day menu I do believe. So far that makes the  Texas Brisket barbecue, potato salad, pea salad, and corn salad, and the molten chocolate lava cakes. Simply Recipes has the wonderful recipe.

I just love these copycat recipes. The Secret Recipe Blog today gives us the wonderful  Macaroni Grill’s “Penne Rustica.” This recipe should probably be cut in half for the normal family. I can’t even begin to think about a sauce that requires 8 cups of cream!

Oh I found a recipe that is well, time consuming and a tad expensive to make, but I think it worthy of your attention. Tuscan CoffeeCake Bread. I mean is this made for Sunday on a lazy hot day or what? The wonders of dried fruits and warm fresh bread, with butter melting. Oh, I may get the vapors just thinking of it. I have to get some of the dried fruit, but I am definitely making this recipe. The Sour Dough is to be thanked for this gem of a bread.

The Village Shop Blog shows off some of her work that is going in a new shop as “samples” of what a person can do. I’ve never been asked to do this, and with good reason! I think they are simply lovely and so very encouraging to me as a sometime quilter.

Tip Junkie has a host of tips. They go from fun and funky craft ideas to recycling ideas. The recycling craze is really catching on as more folks realize that with prices increasing everywhere on everything, a premium is now placed on getting the full usage possible out of everything. You can find some good stuff here.

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How about some Murphy’s Laws:

Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.

Two wrongs are only the beginning.

If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then..

If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

Trust everybody … then cut the cards.

All the good ones are taken.
If the person isn’t taken, there’s a reason

Money can’t buy love, but it sure gets you a great bargaining position.

Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than you are.

Friendly fire ain’t.

Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he’ll have to touch to be sure.

Questioning Inevitability

Tags

American History, biology, Crafts, crochet, economy, energy, Flowers, Gardening, muffins, Native Americans, Oil, pasta, Raisin Bread, Sauces, vegetables, Women's history

The artist is Sebastiao Salgado. The print was done in 2004, and is called “Agashya, Mt. Sabyinyo, Rwanda.”  I thank Senor Salgado for taking this nice photo of the Contrarian and me. Just a nice stroll in the Meadow!

Another week has slid by so fast that I realize that June is quickly going by. I hardly feel that I have had a chance to enjoy it at all. It seems we are still trying to get organized. The Contrarian has done a lot of weeding in the garden, both by hand and by the little weed tiller. My lettuce is going great guns and we will probably be able to harvest some soon for salads. I’ve got the house all spiffy clean and feel rather satisfied with myself. I’ve ordered a beef brisket from the meat locker in Walker to pick up next week. I think it will be a fun 4th of July meal to make. I’m tired of the usual fare of ribs or steaks.

We are getting some sun, but it’s sporadic, and we may get some rain this afternoon. I surely hope not, we are down to mostly mud now in a few places. We can move the vehicles around with ease now. The Contrarian has weed eaten around the house pretty good and it’s at least looking a bit more lived in.

 I have to seriously think about painting the office now. I think perhaps I’ll do some tomorrow. The Contrariansincerely wants little to do with the process, and that’s fine. If he takes over, he will do it all, since he can’t stand painting, so he wants to do it all at one time. I am happy to do a bit a day until it’s done. We often find that some chores are not things we can do together, since we work quite differently. If we try to do it together, we end up snapping at each other, which is senseless to me.

Doing this craft, recipe, history etc blog post is ever so much more stressful for some reason. The feeds seem so reluctant to come up and it seems forever before I’m done. I don’t know the reason, I can only surmise that the blogging platforms that I and so many use are just not as receptive as dot com sites for whatever reason. Perhaps it’s just the pictures that are so much more prevalent on crafty blogs. I dunno, but I just go nuts sometimes wasting time, waiting!!!!

Anyway, let’s see what is what today:

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We open with A Mingling of Tastes which has an interesting side dish or main vegetarian dish, Smoky Lentils with Roasted Sweet Potatoes. I like lentils, and like lentil soup. I love Egyptian food which features lentils in many varieties with lots of different spices. This is not the type of summer dish I would make, but it would be fine in the fall or winter.

Martin’s American History Blog focuses on the industrial revolution of the 19th Century. I guess we are in some kind of new one now, though I’m not sure I can yet define what it is. A technological revolution? A world market revolution? Perhaps we should spend some time looking backward to discover how to better handle what we are going through now.

We have a cute new pattern for crochet from Sandi’s Crochet Blog. I think her patterns are so nice, and they are so easy to follow as well. She suggests that this pattern works well for a washcloth. I like making these simple and quick items for home use. They can be used, and do up in a one or two sessions quite easily.

Well this is a surprise. It seems that a major Revolutionary War relic has been located. An entire ship found in Lake Ontario! It was a British ship, called the HMS Ontario and was a 22-gun warship sunk by American forces. Read all about the find and the excitement is has engendered at American Revolution Blog.

From As the Garden Grows, we get a wonderful list of annuals and perennials that attract butterflies. We love all the hummingbirds and butterflies that come around to feed on nectar from our flowers. This is a rather extensive list, and one that is worth copying for a hard copy file for later use this fall and next spring when planting is more appropriate. Some are herbs, so you get a bonus!

Boy this recipe sure brought back some memories. Raisin Bread! Doesn’t that sound wonderful? I remember it so well from my childhood. I can’t eat a lot, because of the concentrated sugar in the dried fruit, but a slice or two, once in a while can’t hurt, and I adore her idea of using it for chicken salad sandwiches. Take a peek, it’s not hard to make. We got this recipe from Baking Delights. Remember if you have a heavy duty mixer, you can use the dough hook to do the kneeding for you! The entire process takes less than 30 minutes to get to the oven.

Oh the minute I saw this, I said, whoohoo, I’m making this! It’s a great little condiment spread for hamburgers. Hamburgers are one of my favorite meals, and truth be told, we have them usually twice a month on Friday or Saturday. I know this will be a hit with the Contrarian as well. I will of course half this recipe for the two of us. I’m thinking what other things would this be good on? Maybe some of that brisket with lots of barbecue sauce as well? Oh I think I may be on to something here. Coconut & Lime, a huge kiss from me for Chipotle Cheese Sauce. I guess it would go okay with the traditional celery sticks too.

It won’t be long before summer squash comes into it’s own. Not here of course, we have to replant, our first planting rotted out and never came up. So, under the theory that there are never too many recipes for zucchini, I found this nice one from Epicurious which makes a lovely side dish. HerbedSummer Squash and Potato Torte with Parmesan sounds like a winner to me.

We watched the Robin Williams movie “RV” the other night, and I thought it was hilarious, if quite predictable. You might enjoy Garrison Keillor‘s take on the wonderful (for some) adventure of traveling with a home behind you. Things are changing what with gas prices. This may be a relic of the past soon.

Today’s edition of History of American Women focuses on the Indian tribes of South Carolina.I am really enjoying her series here of the various tribes that were prevalent during the colonial period. and beyond. It is without question, an area of our history that most of us have not had the benefit of very much information about. I’m sure it’s better today than it was in my time in high school, but I’m sure it still neglects a lot as well. A great chance to improve our understanding of those who greeted us when we first arrived on the shores of “America.”

Oil and it’s price has become a hot button issue. It’s hard to know whom to believe, since it seems everyone has a reason to fashion an answer to support a previous opinion. Live Science has an article which may come from a more scientific point of view, and thus may actually shed some light on the true causes of the prices were are swearing at these days.

I am growing to just love these pasta roundupseach week. What interesting and tantalizing recipes I continue to find. I made the Pastitsio one earlier in the week. After a questionable start, the Contrarian gave it a thumbs up. He was utterly taken aback by cinnamon in a meat dish at first. After he got over the shock, he actually liked it. I personally didn’t think it tasted much of cinnamon so much as had the aroma. So, make sure you peruse through the offerings and find something truly delectable for dinner tonight. Once Upon a Feast is our supplier of these weekly gems.

There are many who think that a lot of science is just a waste of money. There have even been a Congress person or two and a network or two that have made it their business to inform you of scientific studies they found ludicrous and wasteful. And some may in fact be. But here’s food for thought. Scientists have long pondered exactly how pattern emerges in nature. The stripes on a zebra for instance, or the intricate pattern of a butterfly. They may be closer to an answer of figuring out how cells move around and differentiate in such a way as to form the patterns of say a spiral sea shell. And guess what? The answers may help scientists in understanding how cancer cells metastasize. So, before you decry the expenditure of funds on silly science, think again: It may some day save your life.

We are truly blessed this week. Scandalous Women has another entry for us! This one is about Elizabeth Chudleigh. Never heard of her? Neither had I frankly. But I know who she is now. And mercy me, she was scandalous, and that’s enough to peak your interest no doubt. Here’s a hint: She was the Duchess of Kingston and she was tried for bigamy in the 18th century. My oh my, that’s a new one on me. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a woman being charged with that crime before.

For reasons unknown to me, there often seems a serendipitous thing going on around here. Today it seems to be Zucchini. Another recipe, this time from Simply Recipes. I think this is another definite keeper. Zucchini Muffins is both easy, tasty sounding, and something that will freeze well for use during the interminable winters of Iowa.

Tip Junkie is featuring a whole slew of crafters of varied types this week. I’ve given you the main site so you can scroll down and see if anything interests you. Most  of the items are for sale, with links to the site of the seller and probably her Etsy shop as well. Of course, just looking is fine too, and you might get inspired to think of something you would like to make yourself. I find these sites enticing to say the least. I’m trying to figure out how to carve a bit more time for crafts out of my schedule. Top priority right now is to start getting my recipe’s in order in my big 3-ring binder. Then again, I may have to add more binders! LOL.

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Famous, or not so famous last words:

I think it’s trying to communicate…

“Na, I don’t think we need to go to the hospital.”

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — Western Union internal memo, 1876.

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” — Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.” — Drillers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist in his project to drill for oil in 1859.

“No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris.” — Orville Wright.

I wonder where the mother bear is.

“I eat guys like you for breakfast!” — Jeffrey Dahmer

I’m sure this isn’t the poisonous kind.

Pandora’s Proximity

Tags

American History, Asian, barbecue, beef, Cajun Spices, cake, chocolate, church/state, Civil War, Crafts, crochet, evolution, faith, fundamentalism, Gardening, gay rights, health, human physiology, John McCain, knitting, leafminers, marriage, racism, religion, salad, science, tex-mex, Watergate, Women's history, Zoology

Entitled “Pategonia, Chile #5, this was done by Rene Bass Forman in 2004.

Another day with sun! Will wonders never cease? I had another of my bad dreams this morning, actually two of them together. One is the infamous pee dream. I gotta go in reality, and keep dreaming that I am having trouble finding a bathroom. It always ends up being a fairly public affair, and when I go, alas, two minutes later, I’m desperately searching for another one. That was conflated with a recurrent dream of being back in Detroit, practicing law, and I’m horridly late for a trial in progress that I have completely forgotten to return to. I woke up grumpy!

On the home front, we continue to slowly dry out. The river is down to a trickle and the Contrarian is doing some weed eating around about and burning trash. I’ve done the day’s housework–bedroom and my craft room. I’ve developed a fairly strict cleaning regime that is about the only thing that works for me. It gives me three days off a week–bedroom/craft room Tuesday, office/living room Wednesday, kitchen Thursday, bathrooms Friday. I also made a batch of Pastitsio for dinner, a Greek dish that I’ve had a lot of in the past in Detroit’s Greektown. It’s basically a meat ragu with pasta and a bechamel sauce with flavorings of Parmesan and cinnamon, and tomato paste. A nice little casserole is ready to hit the oven later on.

Let’s see what is around the internet today that sounds tasty, fun to make or just thoroughly interesting to learn about.

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For those who are as old as me, this story is well known. For younger folks, you may not know so much. Today is the anniversary of the break-in at the Watergate hotel, by five men in the employ of the White House. The coverup that followed and it’s uncovering led of course to the downfall of the Nixon presidency. Read about it at Martin’s American History Blog.

Sandi’s Crochet Blog has a lovely lacy daisy to crochet withthread. Of course you could do it with heavier weights as well. But as such it makes a nice applique to a T-Shirt or pair of jeans. It’s cute, and of course, the pattern is there for you as well.

Is McCain’s run for the presidency doomed? So say many historians, who always look at the big picture. The big picture of course means examining history and looking for parallels. They suggest that the Republican cycle is about done, and this is normal. American Presidents Blog has the story for you to ponder and agree with or not as your intellectual prowess dictates.

David Barton, mentioned here before as a fool with a penchant for spreading untruth about our founding traditions, is, according to American Revolution Blog up to his old tricks. That is, he, a exceedingly poor excuse for a historian, attempts to rewrite history to suit his motives of introducing Christianity into the public arena as THE religion of the country. Read this fine expose’ of his junk history regarding the Mayflower Compact.

I confess, I’ve never tried to cook an entire beef brisket. I’ve seen recipes that called for elaborate self-made smoking systems that require constant attention and hours of labor. Baking Delights claims that this one, done in the oven for 12 hours works perfectly well. She lays out all the particulars for you. She claims it is a true Texan perfection. Look it over, take a chance and dive in. She says it freezes just fine, because she says you must make a whole one to make it right, and they are huge. Given prices of everything these days, cheap meat is going to become increasingly welcome in our household, and I intend to make this soon.

Chocolate andhas the sublime, the incomparable, the tasting delight of  Molten Chocolate Cake for you today. Oh, I can sink into a pile of gooey ecstasy just at the mere thought of this. I’m thinking of the 4th of July for this gem.

Now for something completely different. Salad and a nice Asian one to boot. This might be a perfect foil for all manner of summer light dinners. It’s called Pickled Carrot-Cucumber Salad and comes to us from Coconut & Lime.Take a look and add to your repertoire if you so desire.

Fannie Lawrence Rickett‘s was a Civil War nurse. Civil War Womenfeatures her this week in a nice little biography. Daughter to wealthy Jamaican land owners, she later married a distant relative of her mothers who was a captain in the US army. He was badly injured during the war, and she made her way to where he was imprisoned. There she cared for him and other captured and wounded union soldiers.  Read about her life of dedication and hardship as the war progressed.

Commonweal, has an editorial entitled “Marriage, California Style” that examines the new same-sex marriage situation in that state that took effect yesterday I believe. They feel the decision is ill-advised. I do not of course. See what you think.

Steak Fajitas are a staple around the Meadow. We have them at least once a month, and sometimes two. In fact they are on the menu for later in the week, if I can get to the store and pick me up a green pepper. I thought you might like an authentic one from Epicurious today taken from Gourmet magazine. The only thing weird about this recipe is the basil, which I don’t find correct. I would change it to cilantro myself.

Free Sample Forager has a slew of new items for you. I saw cereal and acid reducer and rice, all free samples. There are a good dozen to look at and link to and acquire.

There are those in this country, and I am one of them, that fear that our respective bigotries are doing such damage to our country and our world that something must soon be done. It seem epidemic and endemic in our world. I’ll have more to say on this subject at a later date, but I urge you to take a look at this offering from History News Network, “A Passion for Overcoming Injustice has Seized America Once Again.”

Mary Towne Easty was another of those women who ended up on the wrong side of Salem religious fanatics and paid the price with her life. History of American Women, focuses on her story today and her death in 1692 at the gallows.

Serious knitters know about spinning and dying their yarn. I think it’s a fascinating idea, but know I’ll never get to that level of interest. I would love to weave as well, but know I never shall. Same for learning to play the piano. If you have this kind of serious interest, Knitting Dragonflies has some information for you. I am still puzzling over socks directions and scratching my head, thinking it doesn’t make a lot of sense with all these needles (five of them?).

Ever wondered about optical illusions? How exactly they “trick” the eye?I have, pondering how the neurons in our fabulous brains fire in exquisite synchronicity to do what they do so that we can do what we do. Well, Live Science has the answer for us. It has to do with the future, and how far we can see into it.

And if you think that only humans have the capacity to think and plan ahead, well, think again as they say. It turns out that apes and orangutans can as well, and do. But another indice of defining humanity that falls by the way side. It seems that there is less and less that separates us from our close cousins than ever we thought.

Wow, a totally awesome question this week on On Faith. Do you believe that faith affects health? Does it do so positively or negatively? Is this New Age? Lots of interesting ideas here. I think it can be both a help and a detriment. I think it depends on how you use it, and what exactly faith means to you. I’ve seen a whole plethora of people who have turned faith into mental illness, and others who have grown in vigor through quiet contemplative spiritual exercises. Read the varied approaches by the panel and delve into the comments.

Once Upon a Feast has more mouth-watering recipes to tempt you to get in that kitchen and really explore your culinary heart. I think  that Cajun Spices are a must, and it’s always better to do your own that buy that expensive packaged stuff. Also, you can wander over to the Pasta Roundup and find a ton of great dishes here. The true joy of this roundup are the pictures which are so glorious, I swear you could eat the paper and be satisfied.

Religion in American Historyhas a good one today. They feature on wingnutty Cal Thomas, popular from his idiotic featured editorials and his rightwing drivel on FoxyEntertainmentNews. Cal, using that damned if you aren’t a Christiannonsense, claims that Obama isn’t one. Why you say? Because Obama actually thinks a compassionate God doesn’t condemn 4/5 of all humanity to eternal hellfires because they haven’t had the benefit of Christianity as their source of religious training. Read the funny, but sick take by Mr. Thomas.

This recipe caught my eye at Simply Recipes. I’ve forgiven her for the Chipotle Chocolate Cake. Frankly I rather detested it, and finally threw out the last piece. i just couldn’t manage another slice. Her Tex-Mex recipe for Mexican Green Bean Salad sounded just right. We have yet to plant our beans given the lousy weather, but hope to before the end of the week. I can see making this fine offering to accompany some grilled fare.

A goodie, today we get another great post from Scandalous Women. Today she focuses on Grace Metalious, the author of that scandalous book Peyton Place!Remember the TV show? How we watched in titillation at the goings on of the families, sure that we were on the verge of naughtiness. Remember the waif thin Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neal?  Read about Ms. Metalious’s life in all its detail. My deepest thanks to Elizabeth for her extraordinarily fine posts.

Tip Junkie is featuring a whole slew of crafters with lots of talent, and lots of stuff for sale. You might want to take a look, buy something, or get some ideas for crafting of your own. I thought there were a number of delightful products, and it certainly gave me ideas.

Veggie Gardening Tipshas an excellent post on that miserable ewww pest the leafminer. Those are those great big green sluggy things that eat the tomato plant you have been so lovingly tending in less than a day. I’ve not had much trouble with them here in Iowa, but in Michigan it seems I was always fighting them. Some great help on eradicating this beast.

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More of those wacky bumper stickers–read em here instead of rear-ending somebody trying to read them on the road!

huked on foniks werkd fer me

I am overjoyed with whelm!

I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.

I Don’t Suffer From Insanity, I Enjoy Every Minute Of It

I Feel Like I’m Diagonally Parked In A Parallel Universe

I Got A Gun For My Wife; Best Trade I Ever Made.

I Have The Body Of A God … Buddha

I Just Got Lost In Thought. It Was Unfamiliar Territory

I left the womb for this?

I put in contacts for this?

I took a pain pill. Why are you still here?

Eye of the Storm

Tags

American History, Barack Obama, Benjamin Franklin, bible, bonsai, Crafts, crochet, Election 2008, Father's Day, founding fathers, fundamentalism, Gardening, gay rights, immigration, Iowa, Iraq, Jewish Messianics, John McCain, Media, Military, Muslims, Myanmar, PTSD, religion, Veterans

Rene Magritte did this exceptional painting in 1928, oil on canvas. It is called the “False Mirror.” It is found at MoMA. I am going to need some pondering time on this I think.

Well a dark and dreary morning and it’s been a pretty constant shower since. But this has been that kind of spring it seems with only a few nice days in all. The Contrarian was hoping to do some more planting of peas and beans but alas that option is out, and neither of us feels like shopping in the rain. Tomorrow doesn’t look a lot better, but we shall go in any event.

It’s delightful to be in a sparkling home again. It lifts my spirits a good deal all by itself. I shall soon have to think about starting the painting. We have everything ready to go, so I really cannot delay. I’m planning on essentially repainting the entire house mostly by the end of the fall. Dinner is awaiting a warm up in the oven. I did a Tex-Mex dish of black beans, ground round, onions, chipolte sauce, tomato sauce, jalapenos, and pepper jack cheese all to be ladled over corn chips with sour cream, salsa and avocado. No fresh cilantro or I’d make more homemade salsa as well.

I don’t know much about this Digg button. If you hit it, it takes you to my post on Digg but I think you must register to diggit or post a comment, so I don’t know if it’s worth it. I guess I’m obsessive or something. I sometimes feel I’m spending a lot of time to no effect. I seem to have reasonable visits, but few comments any more, so maybe I have substantially over estimated my own value, LOL. But i realize how time consuming it is just to read things, commenting takes even more time and I know that most days, I can do little more than 5 or 6 myself.  I recall that blog advisers suggest that you cannot have a very accurate understanding of how well you are doing until a good year has gone by, and I’m only three months into it. I need patience and in some things, I have very little.

I digress. Let’s get on with the news:

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Sandi’s Crochet Blog has a cute little purse and the pattern to make  from rainbow yarn. That’s what I call it anyway. It’s yarn with about four colors so you get this really neat self-striping. I’ve sent you to the main page and you can access the pattern from there.

While California and Massachusetts have moved into modern times on the issue of homosexuality, and New York we hear, promises to honor legal gay marriages, Oklahoma seems intent on taking us backwards into bigotry. Alternet informs us that xenophobia is alive and well in that state as right-wingers continue to force legislation through an apparently willing state legislature. It is not just anti-gay legislation either, but anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, and even backs students carrying guns. Things have gone off track as Republicans have their way and timid Dems sit and watch. Thankfully middle of the road Christian leadership is refusing to obey the extreme anti-immigration laws. Read it and weep friends.

Benjamin Franklin might best be described spiritually, as a seeker. He flirted with polytheism, deism and others over his life time. American Revolution Blog has an impressive report on this man, one of our favorite founding fathers. He was complex and opinionated and thoroughly brilliant. Drop by and learn more about the singularly talented man.

I am old enough to remember the Mickey Mouse Show when it was original with Annette and Bobby and all the rest. But I don’t remember the ditty about proverbs. Britannica Blog has a fun little post on how true parables actually are. I think you might get a kick out of it.

Of course I have told you this before, but I can understand if you were not quite sure it was believable. You see, fundamentalism comes in all relgiious flavors. And Judaism is no exception. It seems that some Jewish messianic types in Israel recently got caught burning a whole lot of New Testaments. Blue Girl Red State has the story. So you see, crazy wingnut religious types are not just the province of Muslims and Christians. The Jews have their own nut cases to contend with. Perhaps the same can be said of Buddhists and Hindus as well, but I have yet to see any evidence. Enlighten me if you can.

Catholic Anarchy has a fine review of Danial Berrigan’s latest book, The Kings and Their Gods: The Pathology of Power. Berrigan’s real talent is in drawing comparisons between biblical stories and today’s world. The review seems quite positive. I’ve seen this book mentioned a few times now, have not sought it myself, though I may, but I would urge you to take a look at the review and decide whether you think its worth your money. I think it well may be.

Sally’s Gardening Tips has a downloadable book for those who love bonsai and always fail at it. I’m told that that is part of the business of trying to grow them. I have seen some of  the most exquisite plantings imaginable and I would very much love to do them. I might just try this download myself though undoubtedly it will take ages for me. Read the post and decide whether you wish to enter the beautiful world of bonsai.

Ezra Klein reports that 111 countries have signed on to ban the use of cluster bombs. The Vatican too pushes the ban. The US?  Not so much. As Klein points out, at a time when our foreign policy is in shambles, and our reputation abroad reeks, wouldn’t this be a good time to get on board with issues that are humane and have the support of most civilized countries? Oh and Obama is on record favoring their ban, Hillary, unfortunately not.

Kevin Miskell is running for the US House seat held by Republican Latham in the 4th district in Iowa. Iowa Independent has a interview with him. Stop by and learn a bit about this candidate if you will be voting in this district’s election. Miskell is up against other Democrats for the right to oppose Latham of course.

Sunni/Shi’ite relations appear no better today than they have been, though there was hope a couple of months ago that Sunnis would return to the government they have been boycotting. This step has been vital to US policy, but insiders suggest that such a reconncilation  will not do nearly as much as it is claimed in terms of national reconciliation needs. The Political Animal has the story for you in full.

Well it isn’t as if we didn’t already know. We got lousy journalism in the run up to the war in Iraq. Everybody knows it, the “journalists” for the most part try to deny it, but we know it. CNN’s Jessica Yellin tells all to Michael Calderone. Yellin worked at ABC during the critical time and said media execs made it clear that journalists should not f**k with the WH in this time of “high patriotism.” Since news is owned by the Entertainment industry now, do you THINK WE DIDN”T ALREADY KNOW THAT? I just love the hypocrisy of these dolts. A much more detailed report on the subject can be found at Glenn Greenwald’s blog, at the Salon.

Myanmar continues to reject a vast amount of the aid being offered to it for relief from the cyclone that hit there weeks ago. The loss of life due to the intransigence of the government is simply obscene. The ruling Junta suggested it’s people could stand on their own, which means they are doing fine, and the people be damned. When do crimes against a people become so heinous that the world community responds? I have no clue, but it doesn’t seem we have reached a level of outrage sufficient yet. Pity, I did weeks ago.

While I respect the horrific experiences of John McCain as a POW during the Vietnam war, I’ve grown increasingly tired of his use of that status to avoid discussion of issues. “I was otherwise engaged in another country if you remember,” he points out time and time again. American Prospect has an article on the subject, exploring the idea of when too much is well, too much. See what you think. I think the campaign is using the POW think exquisitely to their advantage, all the while letting McCain claim he is above that sort of thing.

The Art of the Possible gets into the fray over who Obama will pick for his VEEP. Lots of talk these days on Jim Webb, and of course, once that idea really gains steam, then others explain why it’s a bad idea. Enjoy all the speculation if you must, I’ll kindly sit it out and wait until Mr. Obama makes it official. I’m sure it will be someone I can get behind.

Big Brown, latest media love object and best bet in a long time to win a triple crown, has been mostly silent in these last days or weeks or minutes before his scheduled Belmont appearance. He’s what’s known in the trade as a silent athlete. Read more if you dare.

It’s thoroughly disgusting when VA officials play down the seriousness of PTSD, calling it an overblown problem. The fact is, according to Pentagon sources, its a huge problem and growing. PTSDis not something one gets over with a “little counseling” or some job training. It is not of course equally devastating for all returning vets. For many it is, however, a lifelong disability. It is as some realize, a “war wound” no different than any other observable physical injury. Think Progress has the story.

Tip Junkie has more ideas and more tutorials for Father’s day gifts. Slip over and run through another lengthy list. Many I think are things kids can do with supervision to make Dad that special gift on his special day.

Urantian Sojourn pokes fun at McCain’s continuing refusal to come on board the Webb New GI Bill wagon, preferring his own watered down version. Resorting to the bible to prove McCain’s position is simply ludicrous is NOT FAIR Urantia person! LOL. Enjoy this one folks, it’s a logical traipse through the mixed up mind of old Mac. It’s the first post called Paying the GI Jackson.

The Macster gave a foreign policy speech on March 26. A lot has been written about it, mostly about the nuclear aspects of it, and how well, 20th century his thinking still is. However Blackadder over at Vox Nova is clearly disturbed that McCain has visions of kicking Russia out of the G8 group. Many many people are getting quite frightened of Mac’s sabre rattling. I am one of them. You should be too.

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“It’s so much easier to suggest solutions when you don’t know too much about the problem.”  Malcolm Forbes

“What this country needs is more free speech worth listening to.” Hansell B. Duckett

“It is better for civilization to be going down the drain than to be coming up it.”  Henry Allen

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Puns you say?

Doctors tell us there are over seven million people who are overweight. These, of course, are only round figures.

There were two ships. One had red paint, one had blue paint. They collided. At last report, the survivors were marooned.

Where do you find giant snails? On the ends of giant’s fingers.

Why is Saudi Arabia free of mental illness? There are nomad people there.

A guy walks into the psychiatrist’s office wearing only Glad Wrap shorts. The shrink says, “Well, I can clearly see you’re nuts.”

Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused his dentist’s Novocain during root canal work? He wanted to transcend dental medication.

I get enough exercise just by pushing my luck.

I was having dinner with Garry Kasporov(world chess champion) and on the table was a checkered tablecloth. It took him 2 hours to pass me the salt.

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In his new book, former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan says he was left out in the dark. You know what, Scott? Us too. But you were standing next to the light switch. – Will Durst

New York Governor David Patterson has announced that the state will begin to back same-sex marriages from elsewhere. Rudy Giuliani immediately countered with the argument that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and then another woman, and then the other woman.— Janice Hough, Palo Alto, Calif.