Friday, November 20, 2009

Let's Go to Copenhagen

~

Distractions. Pick your flavor. We have lots. However, some are bigger than others.

Take a recent Google search for two separate but current issues.

  • Heath Care Reform: Results 1 - 10 of about 29,000,000 for health care reform. (0.18
seconds)

Logging into Yahoo! today, seeing the upteenth headline on health care reform, and it suddenly hit me... perhaps I'm a bit slow on the uptake...this is all just a distraction. Not the need for health care reform, but all the damned (to borrow a word from my "favorite" Republican) dithering, the lies and fear-mongering about death panels, less choice and *gasp* higher taxes, etc.

We have sick people who are dying because they don't have health care, or because their health care is inadequate, or because their health care dropped them because they got sick. This is a non-issue that has been made into an issue, a dilemma that has a solution. Arguing about abortion and death panels turns the whole thing, and all of us, into a joke.

Smoke and mirrors.

How many people know anything about what's coming up in December? Who in our government is talking about its importance? Who in our media is telling the whole truth?

The search results speak for themselves.

~FdlL

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Cherry Dump Cake from scratch!


This is "traditionally" made with a boxed cake and canned pie filling, but this version isn't as sweet. This one is just sweet enough, and not much more difficult to make. Prep time is perhaps 15-20 minutes if you use frozen cherries (longer if you use fresh and pit them yourself). Not bad!

2 lbs (32 oz) frozen dark pitted cherries.
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup honey
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
butter for greasing the pan
1/2 fresh pineapple
2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/4 cup unrefined sugar
2 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
10 Tablespoons cold butter (1 1/4 sticks)
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest, minced

In a large saucepan, put cherries, half the water, and honey and turn heat to medium. In a small cup, mix the remaining water with the cornstarch. Set aside. Cook the fruit until it simmers, stirring occasionally.

While the fruit cooks, Cut the pineapple into fairly small pieces. Butter the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan. Layer pineapple in pan. Set aside.

By now your fruit should be simmering. Add the cornstarch/water mixture. Stir well. Allow to simmer for another minute and remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter, with two knives, with a pastry cutter, or with your fingers (my preferred method. Grab a piece of butter, pinch and drop. Repeat.) When the butter is thoroughly incorporated (it should resemble something like a cornmeal), stir in the orange zest.

In the 13x9 inch pan, Layer the cherries over the pineapple. With your hands, sprinkle the flour mixture over the top of the cherries. Even it out with your hands, but don't press down too firmly.

Put the pan in the oven and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Turn the heat to 325 and continue to cook another 45 minutes.

Voila!



Can also add chopped nuts and/or shredded unsweetened coconut to the top before baking.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Thankful and No One to Thank

~


I mentioned in an earlier blog that I would write another explaining to who or what I am thankful.


The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti


There's an article over on About.com's Atheism site about Thanksgiving and atheists, arguing against the belief that atheists have no one to thank during the holiday. While the article brings up some valid points, siting as targets for our gratitude such things as people, scientists, modern medicine and technology, etc., as usual, the atheist persona online is a very stoic one. Matter-of-fact.

For me and, without a doubt many others, it's simply not the whole picture.

Yes, I thank the farmers who made the meal possible, the turkey who gave its life (unwillingly and unwittingly)... and not just at Thanksgiving. The people and animals who provide us sustenance are always at the top of my Thank You List, every day of the year.

But what about a particularly beautiful sunrise, or even an ugly one? (Is there such a thing?) A wispy cloud and a light breeze that takes me back 20 years to an almost-forgotten memory? A show put on by a group of birds dancing and twirling in the air over a rush hour-clogged street? A day which, for reasons unknown, is a particularly good one, where everything just seems to click?

For some things, there really is no one to thank, and yet I am still thankful. To whom or what you might ask.

To which I might respond, "Does it matter?"

So, during this month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful to the tangible, the people, animals, scientists, etc., for their particular contributions to life on Earth. I am also thankful to the less tangible and often nameless but no less important forces that govern life.. Mother Nature. Fate. Luck. Happenstance. The Universe. Everything. Nothing in Particular.*

~

*I assign no supernatural power to these things. Some are not even "real" (fate, for example), and yet there is a definite lack in our vocabulary to describe their equal and so I use the words anyway. Some atheists would cringe at my nod to "Mother Nature." I do not believe that nature is female, nor that there is a Mother Goddess, etc. However the symbolism of the female figure giving and nurturing life is a wonderful one that can be viewed in the same way Einstein viewed the harmony of the universe.


Monday, November 2, 2009

Sex in a Pan from Scratch

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of recipes on the net for Sex in a Pan. They are all nearly identical: layer prepackaged this with prepackaged that, and let's call it cooking.

Over at The Copy Writer's Kitchen, there is a great list compiled by Lorraine Thompson of the Ten Good Reasons to Start Cooking From Scratch. It is really a fantastic list. If you've ever wondered why I (and so many others) are so adamant about cooking with real food, that list really says it all.

I've searched in vain for a from-scratch recipe for Sex in a Pan, but with zero success. Either I'm missing the one that's already out there, or it just doesn't exist. Changing that today!

It's all very basic. Rather than using instant pudding or cool whip, we'll use real pudding and whipped cream. If you really want to go all out, you can make your own cream cheese too! The rest is the same as any other Sex in a Pan: layer the various ingredients, chill, and voila! A wonderfully rich dessert. :)

SEX in a PAN from scratch



The Crust:

  • 1/2 cup each unbleached and whole wheat flour (totaling 1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup butter (8 tablespoons), cold, cut into tablespoons (not margarine)
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350.
While the oven is heating up, combine the flours with the butter. You can use a pastry cutter for this or, as I prefer, your hands. Pick up a piece of butter, pinch, and drop. Repeat until the butter is incorporated into the flour. It should resemble a coarse cornmeal in texture.
Stir in the pecans
Press into a 13x9 inch pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until it is a light golden brown.
Cool completely, in pan, on a wire wrack.



Do the following step a few hours or up to a day in advance, since the pudding must cool completely before the dessert can be assembled
Layers 2 and 3--Puddings:

  • 1 cup unrefined sugar
  • 2/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 5 cups half-and-half or whole milk (5 cups = 1 quart + 1 cup)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (not imitation)
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt.
In a separate saucepan, gently heat the half-and-half on medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
Slowly add half and half into sugar/cornstarch mixture, over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk.
Once it's combined,continue to stir until the mixture thickens.
Turn the heat down to very low and cook, stirring constantly, for 10-15 minutes.
Stir in vanilla.
Divide the pudding equally into two bowls.
In a small saucepan or double boiler, melt chocolate.
Add melted chocolate to one of the bowls of pudding, mixing until thoroughly combined.
Place both bowls in the refrigerator for a few hours until completely cooled. (No need to cover them with plastic wrap. When ready to use, just remove the "skin" from the top of each pudding.)


When the pudding is cooled--

Layer 1--Cream Cheese:
  • 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, at room temperature (or make your own)
  • 1 cup unrefined sugar
(Here you're going to make your own confectioner's [powdered] sugar. Once you do this, you'll never buy another package of the stuff! I like to use a coffee grinder that I have just for grinding sugar, nuts, grains and spices. To clean a coffee grinder between uses, run a tablespoon of white rice through it for about 30 seconds)
Take one cup of unrefined sugar and pulse it in a food processor or coffee grinder until it's a powder.. and that's it!
Combine the cream cheese with your confectioner's sugar. Mix well.
Set aside in a covered bowl until ready to assemble.


Layer 4--Whipped Cream:
  • 1 quart heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup sour cream (which you can also make, if you were feeling adventurous!)
  • 1/4 cup unrefined sugar
In a chilled bowl, combine heavy cream and sour cream. In a standing mixer or with a whisk, beat cream just until soft peaks begin to form.
Add the sugar.
Continue to beat just until stiff peaks form. (Make sure you don't overbeat or you'll end up with butter!)


Layer 5-- Garnishes:

  • 1 square semisweet chocolate, shaved
  • 1 teaspoon Dutch-process cocoa powder (optional)
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)


Assemble it all!
:

Over the cooled crust, spread the cream cheese mixture.
Then, evenly spread the vanilla pudding, followed by the chocolate pudding (using a large spoon or whatever utensil works best for you, remove skins from the top of each pudding before layering).
Next, spread the whipped cream.
Top it all off with any or all of the garnishes.

Chill and serve! Best if eaten within a day (as if this thing will sit around uneaten that long!! :)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

I'm not really an environmentalist

An off-the-cuff blog that won't be edited for PC-ness.

How many times have you seen this, or perhaps said it yourself?

I am not an environmentalist.

I'm always struck with the strangeness of this statement, almost like someone saying, "Yeah.. I'm not really into food."

Well, actually, a friend once called me a foodie, and my incredulous response was, "Aren't we all?" (I'd never before heard the term foodie.) I mean, we all eat. And, even if we personally find that eating takes up just way too much time in a day, or that cooking is a complete waste of a life... well, at the very least, two things are true: everyone needs sustenance to survive, and most people have taste buds and therefore enjoy the taste of at least some foods.

So, back to environmentalists, and all of those people who claim to not be one...where are they living? An environment-free bubble?

And no, I don't mean to imply that they are living in La La Land with their heads in the sand, not paying attention (although for some, that may very well be the case). I mean, are they not living in THE Environment? You know, the one, and only one, responsible for sustaining their lives? The one, and only one, that is essential in not only their survival but that of all their friends and family?

It often seems to be said as though to quickly assure people, "No, I'm not going to start bathing in cow dung, or wiping my ass with leaves and sticks, or any of those other wacko things those hippie treehuggers do, because.. well, I'm not an environmentalist!"

I understand not being into.. video gaming, religion, body art, spectator sports, soap operas, Mafia Wars, chocolate, high fashion... you could spend days listing everything aside from the basics: food, water, clean air, shelter, community. The rest is just bonus. Take it or leave it.

You can't leave THE Environment. It's just not an option.

I try my best to not be intolerant, to understand the origins of people's viewpoints, etc. I really do. But, if I'm being honest, anyone who's very survival depends on the health of THE Environment is making the most absurd statement ever when they say, "I'm not an environmentalist."

~

Autumn, Thankfully

Autumn.. arguably one of the finest seasons of the year. Autumn is one of my favorites.

“Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night.”
~Hal Borland


Saying autumn is one of my favorites isn't saying much, as I claim each season as "one of my favorites." I like them all, each of the seasons, for their own beauties and bounties. Spring for its temperate breezes and renewal of life. Summer for its clear skies and vibrant energy. Autumn for its varied colors and crisp air. Winter for its dark calm and permission to stay indoors.

This morning, a friend on Facebook asked that people leave a comment listing things for which they are most thankful (in preparation for the American tradition of Thanksgiving coming up at the end of November).

A more appropriate question for me would be: what are you not thankful for. The answer would be, "Not much." Good and Bad. Yin and Yang. Summer and Winter. I am grateful for them all and everything in between.

"According to yin and yang theory, there is a permanent tendency to balance between opposite forces. Right and wrong, winter and summer, they always contain some of its opposite and are always interacting. According to this, there is nothing completely good or completely bad, and there is nothing permanent. All opposite aspects are always going through a cycle and looking for balance between each other."
~Yin and Yang-The Opposites in Balance

It might seem glib, but I mean it with 100% sincerity. (To who or what I am thankful can be left for another blog on another day! :)

For many people in this world, there is certainly more sorrow than joy. I do not necessarily speak of being thankful when one's land is taken away by corporations, or when one must work in a factory 12 hours a day for mere pennies so that people half a world away can have stuff. Rather, I speak from my own experiences.

(One might argue that happiness and gratitude are relative to one's own experiences; while I think anyone, in any situation, is capable of feeling happiness and gratitude, even in something as "simple" as a sunrise, an embrace, or a large plush toy, I do not wish to trivialize that kind of pain which I can only imagine.)

Life for many of us has been made simpler through modern conveniences and technology, to the point we might think we will never know again what it is to truly struggle. But, nothing, other than the changing nature of everything, is permanent, not even our current state of ease. Can we be thankful for what we have whilst not being equally thankful for the changes that made it possible, and the changes that are inevitable?


Would spring be as enjoyable if it wasn't a respite after a harsh winter? How sweet would laughter be if it did not occasionally follow tears of grief? Would dessert be as wonderful if it came before dinner rather than after?

It's true that sometimes dessert should come before dinner.. or take its place entirely! Were it to do so every time, however, dessert would lose its special oomph. We might in time come to view dessert as the thing we have to get through in order to get to the good stuff... like Brussels sprouts.

One might say, then, that to keep things in their right order, we should be immensely grateful for life's Brussels sprouts





so that we can better appreciate its Sex in a Pan

(btw, I tried and tried to find a recipe for Sex in a Pan NOT using crappy boxed pudding or cool whip. It can't be found. That must be changed! I will post one very soon!!)