Monthly Archives: January 2009

Camelot

Posted on January 30, 2009 | 3 Comments

As the JFK presidency was compared to Camelot, so is our current President’s. The lore is great about King Arthur and his knights and kingdom.

Some say it began here, in Scotland.

So, friend Karen and I went to Craigmillar Castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots spent some time (try to go to a castle where she didn’t spend some time, in Scotland). I proposed that there should be a placque in every castle Mary, Queen of Scots, slept in.

Anyway the hill behind the castle, taken from the rooftop (the surrounds of the rooftop as the occupants took the actual roof with them when they left) is called Arthur’s Seat.

On the other side is Holyrood Castle, the Queen’s (UK) official residence in Scotland and across the street from the modern houses of parliament. Scotland is trying to become its own government once again, and while I applaud them for it I don’t know how they’ll live. Fish and sheep and premier knitwear is not enough. Then again, I’m not a student of UK economics, just someone who loves the people and culture and lived there several months.

Even without a roof, Craigmillar is well-preserved. The south side of the hill now houses poorer folks, who probably take public transit into the city of Edinburgh each day. That’s how we got there and it was not easy. But we got there and could imagine Arthur and his knights and their horses, surrounding the area and protecting the castle.

It will take a knight to take us out of the debacle we’ve woven ourselves into. We do deserve some blame for this financial morass.

The knights of the round table are long gone, if they ever existed. I believe they existed in some form, somewhere. This would be a perfect place for them. Good dreams are useful! Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Travel

Chicago

Posted on January 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

There’s been some interest from Chicago. Now an ex-gov Blago isn’t a problem anymore. He blamed it all on his “friends.”

If the Feds bugged my phone they’d have a wonderful time listening to me ordering dog food, saying ten words to my husband or talking to my mother-in-law about new goats.

Perhaps living in Chicago isn’t a bad thing after all. Except I’m sure Jim will require more foul weather gear. Dee

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Posted in Uncategorized

Beanie Weenies

Posted on January 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

I’ve been so upset with political and job woes and have to get back to food. Jim called me to join a gathering this evening that was enjoyable. An eclectic collection of folks and while Jim found someone to talk to about software the others talked about a variety of things.

At some point, my blog was pulled up and scrutinized. I got a thumbs-up. We brought some chips, salsa and beer and fresh cherries. The cherries got the most scrutiny from a cherry expert.

I wanted to tell you about our beloved Steve. He’s Jim’s uncle, a bit slow mentally, but he has his issues and makes them known. He’s really into trains. Taking a train is the best, but having three different gauge tracks running around the room and ceiling is fantastic. We helped do that the first year I met Jim, a couple of months before we married.

As we may move, I’m working our way through our ersatz pantry and I always keep a can of Beanie Weenies around. Elsewhere in the country you don’t know what I’m talking about but it’s basically franks and beans.

If I make something Stevie doesn’t like or won’t eat I go to the can of Beanie Weenies. A couple of years ago we took Nanny and Steve to a local restaurant that does the Asian grill and fire and all because Jim thought Steve would like it. Steve loved the fire and acrobatics but only ate a couple of pieces of teriyaki chicken because that’s what he likes. And that’s why I keep that can around, always hoping that he and Nanny will visit.

Going through the pantry, I find a life that I might have to leave behind. Beans used for pie weights. Sicilian babas in limoncello, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, et al.

Some, like partial containers of pasta, have no meaning for me but the babas do. They’re from Rocco who’s restaurant was next door to our flat in Scotland.

You might be interested in knowing that the most popular hit on this site is “How to Eat a Concord Grape.” More people want to know about Concord grapes than about the writer of this blog!

Food is that important, tastes and smells from childhood will be with me forever. I hope you’ll stick with me for a while, too. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial

Interview With a Banker

Posted on January 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

Q: What are you doing with our money (taxpayers)
A: We stuck it in the vault. (banks)

Q: Are you lending to homeowners and car buyers?
A: No way! This is our money.

Q: Aren’t you in the business of taking our money, making investments and lending it to homeowners and such?
A: Yes, but not right now. Now it’s all ours and we’re taking it and using some of it to pay bonuses to top earners, who took even more of your money.

Q: So if I want to buy a house or car, I can’t get money to do so.
A: Right.

Q: My money is in your bank and I can’t get a loan.
A: Right again.

Q: So my money is with you and you won’t lend money. We taxpayers just gave you billions so we’re lending/giving money to you?
A: Right again.

Q: Have you ever given money to a loan applicant?
A: That would be a no, sir.

Q: Do you charge interest on your loans?
A: You bet. As much as we can get, and even more on credit cards, those suckers don’t care if their 42″ plasma TV cost $3,500 and ends up costing $8,000.

Q: Do you consider these billions from us taxpayers a loan or a gift? If it’s a loan, what is our interest rate?
A: Surely it’s a gift. After all, we deserve it. We just gave $18.4 billion of your money out to buy Ferarris and pre-war six-room condos overlooking Central Park. We’re just looking out for the interests of, well not our clients or shareholders, just us. And we think that’s just peachy keen in this economic environment. Sorry, gotta go, my wife’s new Mercedes is about to drive up with a big red bow on it and the kids need to come out to show their appreciation.

That’s all, folks, thanks for listening.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Want Fat?

Posted on January 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

Try the Bacon Explosion! Favorite of the BBQ circuit. Here’s to you, Bobby! Forget brisket, just do pure pork fat.

Today’s NYTimes online included this work of art and recipe for gluttony.

My less than rudimentary html will not work, and my resource is sound asleep, as he should be, but I thought you’d find this a hoot.

I’ll try to fix this but if I can’t, just check out http://www.nytimes.com or google ny times and bacon explosion. That’s all, folks, Dee

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Posted in Recipe Ideas, Recipes

Tagged

A Political Exercise

Posted on January 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

How about if we get every elected congressional representative and senator in the USA to agree for a week that they are out of work (no accessing your bank account except for $100, and no trust funds, preppies).  You have no clothes except what you’re wearing and no toothbrush or shaving kit.  You must to go through the paperwork of COBRA/HIPAA, fill out your state’s unemployment forms and realize what a paltry sum you’d receive if you really had to be on it, also food stamps and AFDC.  Effectively you have no health insurance so will have to go to a public hospital with a sore tooth or a heart attack.

If you agree to do this, you could stay in a one-star motel room on your dime. No car, no staff, no cell phone, no house keys or golf clubs.  You would have to find a public phone – good luck.  On the fourth day a down-on-his-luck constituent will drop a ten-dollar bill on the sidewalk in front of you and count the seconds ’til you pick it up.  He’ll do it because we’ll pay him $20 to do so.

After this experiment is over, it’s on to the next one, working in a factory, but that’s not mine.  But you will have to answer to your constituents and make things right after the regulatory debacle that has allowed our banks and manufacturers to fail and your constituents to be out of work.

Today I made the fourth meal out of one $6 chicken (there’s another left).  We had soup with most ingredients from our pantry.  We are not wanting government assistance, only good work.  We are being judicious, I am as head of the household pantry and such, frugal and not profligate.  I’m sure we can afford a bit more but it pays to work our way through the pantry if we’re to move quickly to another city and job for my loving husband.

I would like for the people who claim to represent us in government to do more than make speeches.  Live our lives.  Know what life many of your constituents lead who have lost jobs and can’t find new ones in this depressed economy.  Thanks for listening.  ‘night now, Dee

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Posted in Editorial

Tagged

Transparency

Posted on January 29, 2009 | 3 Comments

Our money, $750 billion of it, went out without a thought about how it would be spent or how its use would be reported back to Washington.  Hopefully when reports got to D.C. they would share that information with the people who paid for it.  Those people are us, the U.S. taxpayers.

Now we find that billions have gone out in bonuses to stock traders, and it is lamented that they couldn’t pay more of our money out to buy Ferraris and other minimal luxuries for these workers while others are laid off and the banking industry is in chaos and has to depend on taxpayer money to survive.

This is an insult to tax-paying Americans.  Billions in TARP money (our money) was used for bonuses.  Please, new Administration, get your priorities straight.

IF more aid to banks is needed, there needs to be transparency, a cause for any funding and quarterly reporting to their lenders (us, the US people).

A real plan for jump-starting our economy is required.

No funds should be expended for insurance companies – AIG was a huge mistake – unless they agree to be regulated federally (as are the banks). Insurance companies don’t exist to pay out when someone hits your bumper, they are investment companies who invest our premiums for money and never reduce premiums when we reduce their payouts (witness seat belt laws).  Same for reinsurance companies.

As to the Big Three auto-makers, they should have made themselves more competitive in the 1970′s.  Forget about the give and take of fuel prices, look to the next step and do it!  They deserve to fend for themselves and not have any more bailouts.  Management blames it on unions, unions blame it on management.  Let those folks on the board earn the perks they get, for once, and make things right.  And let the engineers and workers do what they do best, build cars.

You’re spending our money here, Mr. President, Senate and House.  We elected you and expect you to act in the best interests of your constituents, not your lobbyists.

Perhaps the White House and House and Senate cafeterias should start offering only franks and beans or the stuff that’s in their freezer or walk-in frig.   That way they can feel like we do when we’re laid off.  Cheers, Dee.

p.s. We thank the banks that didn’t invest imprudently and didn’t need taxpayer assistance, same to the auto manufacturers.  May you continue your prudent work and investments in the future.

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Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas

Top Chef Tonight

Posted on January 29, 2009 | Leave a comment

Hollywood went home.  When asked for one dish he always made 3-4 and bossed around his colleagues in what seemed like a collegial way but when one is locked up with a bunch of people they don’t know, they’re up against every day, and they have no TV or radio or family contact people tend to go a bit nutso as the weeks pile up.

Jeff, the wanna-be poster boy for LA surfboards, was canned.  All I can say is it should be an interesting finish!  Enough damage has been done on air between Hosea and Leah that girlfriend/boyfriend would (should) never take each back so they may as well consummate the deal.  In my view, it’s gone past “get a room, already.”  Once they do, one of them will be sent home forthwith, in order to make for more drama.

Oh, no, this was about cooking talent alone, not who looks good on camera.  Sorry, Bravo for mis-interpreting your mission.

If I think of what is going to be on my plate tomorrow, very few chefs in this contest would win a place on it.  For mostly machismo, charm, talent and a fabulous accent Fabio is one I’m watching.  Hosea might come close but Stefan will take the cake.  Leah’s packing her knives next.  That’s just imho.

It’s easier to see what happened to some cooks a few months ago than deal with jobs and the current economy!  Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial

The resulting soup

Posted on January 27, 2009 | 1 Comment

“Today I took the cold stock and removed the fat, and added a 28 oz. can of tomatoes and their juice, 2 stalks celery and a couple of carrots, sliced, 2 15 oz. cans white beans (drained and rinsed), chopped romaine lettuce and some partially cooked egg noodles. It’s still kind of bland so I’m simmering it a while before I add more salt and pepper. I did put in some dried marjoram and basil. Will let you know how it turns out.”  This is from a comment from the prior post.

Now, I let it simmer for another 45 minutes and reduce by a cup or two.  Then I added salt and pepper.  Jim went back for seconds, in the large lion’s head bowl!  Now the kitchen smells like tomato and I’d prefer for it to smell like chicken broth, but it was good and we’ve at least 12 cups of soup left in the frig.  More frugal food, yea!  No, the broth didn’t get to be Zoe accoutrements to her dog food.  More about that later.  I cleaned out a beef stock box that I don’t really like for her food the other day.  She loved the boiled chicken off the bone today in the after-stock cache, however.

We enjoyed the soup with BJ’s sausage from East TX and frozen french fries.  Jim had ketchup, of course.  Cheers!  Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Pet, Recipe Ideas, Recipes

Resume

Posted on January 27, 2009 | Leave a comment

One could say that in the French, as re-su-me (don’t expect me to do the ague or whatever I haven’t done since college), or English as to resume.  I actually found a job of interest today.  It utilizes skills I learned at a younger age and have not been involved with for several years.  But one of them is writing, check on that, working with people, yep, and other qualities I exude.

Now I find that we have a couple versions of Jim’s (husband) resume and none of mine on this nearly two year-old MacBook and placed my old files on it.  I can’t find them for the life of me.

The worst of it is that our five year-old mutt Zoe has two resumes!  I wrote one to get her into a boarding/daycare facilities and another for instructions for feeding et al.

How can I look for a job at my age and a few years out of the public market when I have to start my resume from scratch?  Perhaps I’ll do it much better this time.  Perhaps a perfectly written letter will get me in the door for an interview.

My immediate circle of life has become about my husband of now six years and my dog who is now five and all the things that come with those responsibilities.  Cooking is a passion, as are free spay/neuter programs for low-income pet owners and education on the same issue for all.

Perhaps when Jim and Zoe arrive from their walk I’ll nearly have dinner ready and he can use his magic to find my old computer files.  Must go now.  Hope you had a great day.  Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Pet