Down in the Back

All this cooking has me "down in the back"--around unspecified back pain that feels like a muscle spasm and, if the heating pad and rest don't work, is best dealt with by what I call the Big Pill--a generic Percoset. 

I try to avoid the Big Pill but holidays and the attendant kitchen time make it inevitable.

Better living through chemistry!
 

Making a Start

I love doing our Solstice/Christmas cards. One might think it would be boring, repeating the same scene almost fifty times. I don't find it so. 

It's a challenge and a learning experience to discover the best looking and most efficient process. And there's almost always something new to tweak on each card.

So between prepping dishes for Thanksgiving (cranberry gelatin mold made yesterday, along with pomegranate glaze for turkey) and normal chores, I'm snatching moments to work on the cards.

Tomorrow: pumpkin chiffon pies (they'll go in the freezer) and a brown butter/shallot/ pomegranate infused gravy/sauce to be reheated come the big day. 

And a few more cards!

 

John's Family Pictures

 

Dear Sirs

                                              

Once again, your party displays a stunning disregard for the American middle class (what's left of it) as your president and the Secretary of Wrestling Education move to take away 'professional degree' status from nurses, teachers, PAs, social workers, and others--a re-designation that will deprive them of federal aid in seeking graduate degrees.

The administration's disdain for higher education is obvious and well documented--and, indeed, without the uneducated, where would the GOP be today?

 I urge you to oppose this callous move which will harm many of your constituents-- front line workers who deserve your support.

Foggy All Day

                                        8:30 am

And around 2:30. . . waiting in line to pick up the Josie. A weird day . . .

 

The Game's Afoot

Thanksgiving is less than a week away and I pull out my loose-leaf collection of holiday recipes, looking for the traditional pumpkin chiffon pie-which I serve frozen and slightly thawed-- and my grandmother's crunchy cranberry gelatin-- which John and I love as a refreshing treat well after the meal.

We will be fourteen at table and everyone will be contributing to the feast. Along with the pie and gelatin thing, I'll do the turkey--there's a pomegranate glaze I'm looking forward to trying-- and the dressing too. 

It's not that much but I have to plan ahead and make various bits ahead of time--almond brittle for the pie on Sunday, gelatin salad on Monday, brine the turkey and make the glaze on Tuesday, prep the celery and onions and bake the cornbread for the dressing on Wednesday--

With any luck, it'll all come together.

 

Holding On

 

The Future of the GOP

 As every day brings more confirmation of the Felon in Chief's mental and physical decline, accompanied by outrageous flouting of the norms of decent behavior and a ramping up of his egregious self-dealing, I find myself wondering how long the GOP can survive as a party, tied to this abominable, corrupt facsimile of a human being.

Are there any members of this once respected party who are meeting secretly to discuss removing this demented would-be dictator? It seems to me that such a step would restore to the GOP a great deal of the prestige they have squandered in bowing down to this golden monster.

Or is this wishful thinking?

Oh, for the midterms!

Josie and the Brick Project

                                                    

Yesterday an artist named Josh Copus came to our school. He has a big project of making bricks that people can put names or other words on. When they are all done, they will be on a wall in downtown Marshall. (There was one before but the flood washed it all away.)

EVERYONE in my school got to do a brick! And I got to be at the table with Josh Copus. (He is very nice.)

Meema says there is more about the brick project HERE.

After school, Meema and I got ice cream. Then we went home and played checkers. We each won one game.

Here is some of my art.

                                     

Dear Sirs

Dear Sen. Tillis, Sen. Budd, and Rep. Edwards,

A question: Why, if tariffs are a good thing, paid by other nations, are the tariffs on beef, coffee, bananas, and some other selected items, being rescinded to make said products more affordable to Americans? What about all those other products?

Another question: Why are masked thugs continuing to terrorize our cities, arresting hard-working people? While at the same time, your president is pardoning convicted criminals and seeking imported workers for his various enterprises?

Yet another: Why are boats being attacked and people killed without verifiable evidence of drug smuggling?

A last one: Why have the Epstein Files not been COMPLETELY released?

Your unhappy constituent who doubts she'll receive any real answers

 

From the Archives

 

Black and White

 

Healthy or Healthful?

Dinner last night was a skillet of hamburger, onion, sweet potatoes, and collard greens--quick, easy, and reasonably healthful.

(Long years as a student and teacher of English have made of me a word snob. Healthful, to my old ears, means promoting good health; while healthy describes someone or something that is in good health.

However--online dictionaries tell me that while my usage is the more correct, the use of healthy to mean good for you is so popular that it is accepted.

But I digress . . .)

            

Here's the how-to of this healthful meal.

2 sweet potatoes, chopped into cubes

2 onions, chopped

3 cups chopped kale or collards

2 TB olive oil

salt, Berbere seasoning

1 cup water

Saute beef and onions in olive oil till beef is no longer pink (this actually would work as vegan by leaving out the beef.)

Add the sweet potatoes and water, salt and berbere; cover and swimmer about 10 minutes till potatoes are soft.

Add greens, cover and simmer briefly till greens are wilted. Remove cover, turn up heat, and saute till water is evaporated.

Notes: some Berbere seasoning is hotter than others. I used a scant teaspoon. Also, in my opinion, the best greens for this dish are the Tuscan kale (lacinato) as it's especially tender. But ordinary kale or collards work just fine.

I served with tomato and blue cheese in a vinaigrette.