I was feeling inspired last night, so I cooked two batches of chili: one for my mother-in-law and one for us. Here are the ingredients for the one we ate. Some of the ingredients are very local, but substitutions are always possible.
Brown:
3 lbs ground chuck
1 onion
Add:
2 large cloves garlic mashed with sea salt
1 yellow pepper, chopped
2 fire-roasted red peppers, chopped
2 serranos, seeded and minced
Medium chili powder from Penzey's
ground chipotle peppers
Adobo seasoning
Chicago steak seasoning (Penzey's again)
dried epazote
Stir a bit and add:
1 large can Rotel (tomatoes and green chilis)
1 large can hominy, drained
a Tupperware container of red beans with liquid, cooked Salvadoran style by daughter Emily
Cook until it looks like a whole rather than the sum of the parts.
Serve with grated cheese and steamed zucchini.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Cairn II
It is instinct that causes us to find partners and breed (or not), but a driving force is certainly the inclusion of our DNA in future generations. I am not sure what it is that causes us to befriend other species and make them part of our families. It does not seem to favor our chances of survival, so I have to conclude that there is a human need to love, whether it be our own kind or others.
Take dogs, for instance. Or one particular dog--the hearth, the pivot point of our family for 15 years. How does this happen? One day you are bringing home a puppy with large uncertainties and no manners, who is basking in the wind of the car vent, and the next, you are curled around the bed of a very sick dog, with the fan trained right on his face, because he always liked it. Is that a suitable final hour of his life? I would like to think so.
His last week was spent in a place he loved, with our undivided attention, because we did not have to be at work. Within eight hours of our arrival home, he was too sick to stand and the prognosis was grim. We could find out exactly why he was sick, but we would not be able to do much to make him better. We made the hardest decision of our lives, and yet it felt right.
We will miss you Bailey--we signed on voluntarily for this sorrow but that does not make it any easier to bear right now.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Cost
I was amused a few weeks ago to read about a small revolt in which the consumer appears to have been the victor--at least for now. I can only imagine the discussion about market priming and timing that took place before Amazon offered a Kindle version of a new release by a popular writer at hardback prices. The Kindle consumers of popular literature (which until then had cost them less than $10 per download), said no, no, we won't go. And didn't.
Good for them, I say. We have been sheep too long, which was made very clear by the rationalization for upping the price. Apparently, it is not cheaper to provide an electronic version of a book. No, the cost is all in the marketing and promotion, and advances to the authors, etc. The paper and ink, and the expense of transporting them are very nominal costs. The reason that Kindle downloads have been so cheap is that they have been subsidized at a special introductory price to support a new market.
Wait a minute. The cost is in the content and not the materials and shipping? Then why is a "pocket" paperback $10, the larger trade version that used to be reserved for "literature" $15, and the hardback around $25? I wondered this the other day when searching Border's for a book that I found in both pocket ($10) and trade ($15). Hmmm, what to buy? Were there fewer words in the cheaper version? Key scenes left out? No, of course not. But I did kind of assume that there were different costs for the printing, the paper, the shipping, etc. Now I find out otherwise. And where does that leave audiobooks at $50 or $60 per set? If the difference between print and audio format is pocketed by the narrator, that is one fabulous career choice that I wish I had considered.
And now I read that piracy of electronic books is proliferating. The authors certainly deserve their copyrights, but based on what I know now, the piracy has been going on a long time and it is consumers who have been walking the plank. Another recent article bemoaned the fact that audio rights were going unpaid when electronic devices read the electronic versions. I don't even know what to say, (and I am a little afraid that I might have to pay someone to say it.)
Do you suppose Johannes Gutenberg had to deal with these kinds of issues? I can hear it now--"But everyone will have access to written materials at a fraction of the cost. The monks who are currently producing books will have no livelihood and the masses might learn to read. We don't need no stinkin' European Renaissance."
Stick to your guns Kindle readers--we sheep are depending on you.
Good for them, I say. We have been sheep too long, which was made very clear by the rationalization for upping the price. Apparently, it is not cheaper to provide an electronic version of a book. No, the cost is all in the marketing and promotion, and advances to the authors, etc. The paper and ink, and the expense of transporting them are very nominal costs. The reason that Kindle downloads have been so cheap is that they have been subsidized at a special introductory price to support a new market.
Wait a minute. The cost is in the content and not the materials and shipping? Then why is a "pocket" paperback $10, the larger trade version that used to be reserved for "literature" $15, and the hardback around $25? I wondered this the other day when searching Border's for a book that I found in both pocket ($10) and trade ($15). Hmmm, what to buy? Were there fewer words in the cheaper version? Key scenes left out? No, of course not. But I did kind of assume that there were different costs for the printing, the paper, the shipping, etc. Now I find out otherwise. And where does that leave audiobooks at $50 or $60 per set? If the difference between print and audio format is pocketed by the narrator, that is one fabulous career choice that I wish I had considered.
And now I read that piracy of electronic books is proliferating. The authors certainly deserve their copyrights, but based on what I know now, the piracy has been going on a long time and it is consumers who have been walking the plank. Another recent article bemoaned the fact that audio rights were going unpaid when electronic devices read the electronic versions. I don't even know what to say, (and I am a little afraid that I might have to pay someone to say it.)
Do you suppose Johannes Gutenberg had to deal with these kinds of issues? I can hear it now--"But everyone will have access to written materials at a fraction of the cost. The monks who are currently producing books will have no livelihood and the masses might learn to read. We don't need no stinkin' European Renaissance."
Stick to your guns Kindle readers--we sheep are depending on you.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Courageous
Last fall we finally built the kitchen garden that has been in the planning stages for the past ten years. Yes, ten years, since we ripped out the old raised bed, relocated the perennials that lived there, and repeatedly discussed the replacement. Last fall, Tom moved more than a ton of stone, a task especially onerous when one is coerced into an extra layer even after the neighbors have weighed in with their opinions. (Just remember, opinion counts for nothing when set against vision).
Last fall, I planted bulbs and a few perennials and was gratified when the squirrels didn't plunder all of them. This weekend, I added almost four flats of herbs and color in the form of both perennials and annuals. I know I will love raiding this bed for dinner all summer long--rosemary, oregano, fennel, arugula, parsley, savory, chicory, thyme, cilantro. These plants will be watered and lovingly tended.
But my favorite plant in the garden today is the volunteer viola I found growing in the brick patio. This was no nursery plant, carefully fertilized and watered. This is the bloom that had a rough life and beat the odds. I will cut and eat the bounty from my kitchen garden all summer, but this is the plant I will remember.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Cliches
I have a love-hate relationship with cliches. On the one hand they embody the trite, the unoriginal, the shopworn. On the other hand they are linguistic shortcuts, the common currency of our verbal interactions. Imagine if we had to laboriously explain cliches each time they were spoken and you get an idea of how much time we save by using them.
Proverbs are cliched notions that have wormed their way into a folksy vernacular: "A stitch in time saves nine," "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched," etc. I don't really have problem with these; they have stood the test of time (another entry in the cliched phraseology hall of fame). They are so familiar, in fact, that we don't need to produce the whole sentence to convey the idea. Simply stating "don't count your chickens" is enough. Maybe someday we will evolve to the point that declaring "chickens!" (or texting dcyc) does the trick. But I digress.
The cliches that cause me indigestion are the newer ones--those that meet the trite test but are not time-tested (can all those T's be accidental?). New enough that they are often uttered with the air of having hit on a new idea, a clever turn of phrase, but old enough to make me wince inwardly when I hear them. I think in this age of constant and instant communication, this plague of cliches hits harder than it used to--original thought is under constant threat.
Specifics you say? Well okay. How about thinking outside the box? I simply don't anymore. I will think everywhere BUT outside the box. So there.
Can we agree to disagree? No, we can't. What that says to me is "I am right, but my time is too valuable to waste arguing with you." And that just makes me want to short-sheet your bed. Also argue about this topic and any other that comes to mind. You lose either way, believe me.
What goes around comes around. Perhaps, but not as often as it should.
It is what it is. Technically this is a sentence but I think it should be downgraded to a punctuation mark, along the lines of a period. Why? Because it doesn't actually add meaning, other than symbolic, and it will stop a conversation cold.
I could go on, but I think you catch my drift. One of the biggest problems I have with cliches is that they are so seductive. My efforts to avoid using them probably gives my speech a somewhat halting quality, like a reformed stutterer. It is not that I am trying to not repeat myself--I am trying to not repeat myself and thousands of others. That is why I like analogies. Ideally, they are composed on the fly and the most successful are both unexpected and apropos. I keep trying for the bullseye in this extreme linguistic sport.
So, finally, this latest thing of asking questions and then answering them? Talk about total control of the conversation. Do I think this is really lame? Yes, I do. Have I caught myself doing this? Sadly, yes. Did I hate myself in the morning?
You know I did.
Proverbs are cliched notions that have wormed their way into a folksy vernacular: "A stitch in time saves nine," "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched," etc. I don't really have problem with these; they have stood the test of time (another entry in the cliched phraseology hall of fame). They are so familiar, in fact, that we don't need to produce the whole sentence to convey the idea. Simply stating "don't count your chickens" is enough. Maybe someday we will evolve to the point that declaring "chickens!" (or texting dcyc) does the trick. But I digress.
The cliches that cause me indigestion are the newer ones--those that meet the trite test but are not time-tested (can all those T's be accidental?). New enough that they are often uttered with the air of having hit on a new idea, a clever turn of phrase, but old enough to make me wince inwardly when I hear them. I think in this age of constant and instant communication, this plague of cliches hits harder than it used to--original thought is under constant threat.
Specifics you say? Well okay. How about thinking outside the box? I simply don't anymore. I will think everywhere BUT outside the box. So there.
Can we agree to disagree? No, we can't. What that says to me is "I am right, but my time is too valuable to waste arguing with you." And that just makes me want to short-sheet your bed. Also argue about this topic and any other that comes to mind. You lose either way, believe me.
What goes around comes around. Perhaps, but not as often as it should.
It is what it is. Technically this is a sentence but I think it should be downgraded to a punctuation mark, along the lines of a period. Why? Because it doesn't actually add meaning, other than symbolic, and it will stop a conversation cold.
I could go on, but I think you catch my drift. One of the biggest problems I have with cliches is that they are so seductive. My efforts to avoid using them probably gives my speech a somewhat halting quality, like a reformed stutterer. It is not that I am trying to not repeat myself--I am trying to not repeat myself and thousands of others. That is why I like analogies. Ideally, they are composed on the fly and the most successful are both unexpected and apropos. I keep trying for the bullseye in this extreme linguistic sport.
So, finally, this latest thing of asking questions and then answering them? Talk about total control of the conversation. Do I think this is really lame? Yes, I do. Have I caught myself doing this? Sadly, yes. Did I hate myself in the morning?
You know I did.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Chickens
It seems fitting to write about chickens three days before Easter, and about eggs as well. (My favorite philosophical question has to be the chicken/egg conundrum and I invoke it frequently in a work setting, but this is about chickens and eggs in a very real sense.) It is actually, specifically, about the eggs in this photograph. You may not be able to tell from looking at them, but these eggs came from happy chickens. At least this is what I am told by the man who should know.
Who is this man? Well, he has a place on my list of good people to connect with should the shit ever hit the fan in a major way. Not because he is an attorney (though he is) but because he is also a doctor, and a chicken farmer. Yeah, I know, but no, I am not going to share his name or the location of his farm.
So this is a person who provides both medical advice and eggs, and mostly I take advantage of the eggs. Eggs from happy chickens do add complications to any baking activity. For starters, and I probably don't even have to say this, the ugly eggs get broken and used first. That sometimes makes for hard decisions. The pretty eggs get transferred from one box to the next until finally I feel compelled to crack them into something--an omelet, a pan of brownies, wherever their fate takes them. In addition, each egg must be broken into a separate container--I learned this the hard way because even though they are nature's perfect package, eggs still have a shelf life. (Especially the fertilized eggs which I like to think came from especially happy chickens.)
I like the green ones best and when the green-egg-laying chickens were swept away by the Spring 2008 floods I felt the loss very personally. Fortunately a new generation has matured to take their place and I can once again count on green eggs amongst my dozen. Every once in awhile, I save pieces of shell because they are exactly the color that I want to paint my bedroom walls. For some reason these are eventually determined to be cooking refuse and are thrown away by someone (who coincidentally wants white walls in every room).
Never mind--there are plenty of eggs and shells to take their place--and all of them from happy chickens.
Happy Easter!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Charter
How do I hate them? Let me count the ways, or the whys. Perhaps it was the time they disconnected our service because the automatic deduction of their bill from our credit card failed. You know how you get a new expiration date every two years? Well, that baffled Charter. Or may be it was when they cut off our service the second time AFTER we had corrected the information about our automatic deduction to our credit card. Or was it the fact that both times they tried to charge a reconnection fee even though it was their error that interrupted our service?
Perhaps it is the wasted Saturday mornings on speaker phone waiting for answers, or at the very least, a human voice.
It wasn't the hours our service was out during the Emmys last year--we don't care enough about them to mind that too much, though I did use that as a reason for not handing over our phone service. What would we have done with the time the Emmys were unavailable if we had also lost phone service, I ask you?
No, finally it is about a company that enjoys a virtual monopoly with lousy customer service and yet, does not seem to be able to run a business without going bankrupt.
Did I mention that my niece's husband was expecting to receive some $25,000 as the result of a suit regarding shady overtime practices that Charter recently lost? Hmmm, class action suit, loss, bankruptcy. Could there be a connection?
No, I am seeing things--must be time for a medication adjustment.
Perhaps it is the wasted Saturday mornings on speaker phone waiting for answers, or at the very least, a human voice.
It wasn't the hours our service was out during the Emmys last year--we don't care enough about them to mind that too much, though I did use that as a reason for not handing over our phone service. What would we have done with the time the Emmys were unavailable if we had also lost phone service, I ask you?
No, finally it is about a company that enjoys a virtual monopoly with lousy customer service and yet, does not seem to be able to run a business without going bankrupt.
Did I mention that my niece's husband was expecting to receive some $25,000 as the result of a suit regarding shady overtime practices that Charter recently lost? Hmmm, class action suit, loss, bankruptcy. Could there be a connection?
No, I am seeing things--must be time for a medication adjustment.
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