Overheard this morning from the trio on the couch...
Fiona: "Where did Cocoa come from?"
Dan: "We got him from the SPCA. Mommy and I went to get him before you were born."
Fiona: "Were grandma and Papa there to take care of me?"
Dan: "No, you weren't even born yet. You were just an egg inside Mommy."
Fiona: "Did Mommy eat me?"
Dan: (laughing) "No, your egg was there since mommy was a baby."
Fiona: "But how did Mommy get in Grandma's belly?"
Dan: "She came from an egg that was there since grandma was a baby."
Fiona: "But who was Grandma's mommy?"
Dan: "You mean your greatgrandmother...I don't know, maybe mommy knows her name..." (Dan went on to explain who his grandparents and greatgrandparents are...) "Did you know you have eggs in your belly right now?"
Fiona: "I have eggs in my belly right now? Am I a chicken?"
And later while sitting on the dog,
Fiona: "Am I disobeying cocoa?"
Dan: "No, that's not possible"
Fiona: "Well, he wants me to get off of him."
Dan: "Well, I guess you've got a point."
And later still...
Fiona: "I have eggs in my belly and when I grow up my eggs will grow bigger and bigger and I will poop! my eggs out like a chicken!"
Dan (laughing) "I don't think so! That's not what Mommy did. Do you remember how Elijah was born?"
Fiona: "He wasn't an egg, he was a baby!"
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Little Man of Few Words
We had a thunderstorm last night, and Elijah couldn't sleep through it. While Dan and I were out in the big room facebooking and talking, the wind started blowing cool air through the windows, and the rain pelted the gutters, the lightening flashed, CRACKED across the sky, and that was it for the Little Man.
You'd think it might be a chore to have to put a little one back to sleep, especially since the thunder stuck around for a while, but it was one of the sweetest times I've had with him in a while. Elijah doesn't talk much yet. He has several words, and many that he spontaneously uses but won't repeat. But, most of the time when he really wants to say something, he slurps. He'll point to the object he wants and make a sort of "ssshhsslllsss" sound, and look at you meaningfully, as though he just said something that any idiot would understand. It can be frustrating to an 18month old when no one knows what he just said, and so we have our dramatic moments in which he throws himself bodily to the ground and protests loudly at our incompetence.
But last night, when I went in, he was just sweet. He cried out, and when I got to the bed, he pointed to the window and slurped. I laid down with him and tried to soothe him, but each crack of thunder and flash of lightening would pop his eyes open again. So, we got up and went to the open window and peered out through the screen at the downpour in progress. I talked about the rain and he pointed and slurped. When we saw the sky lighten and go dark again, he held up his hands as if to ask where it went. I told him the thunder was coming and to get ready for the boom boom boom, and he smiled when it rumbled in. I stood swaying in the dark, holding him, and we watched the storm for quite a while, until he laid his head on my shoulder and drifted back to sleep, calm and secure, unworried.
When I laid him back down, I stayed with him for a while, watching him sleep and remembering. I remembered the night he came into this world, remembered laboring in this same room. I remembered holding him and nursing him for endless hours. I remembered when all of our focus was on Fiona, because we only had one, and how that's divided with two, but seems multiplied at the same time. And I thought about how short this time is where he doesn't have the words to say things to me and we pay such close attention to each other to be able to communicate.
So, I paid very close attention for a little while longer.
You'd think it might be a chore to have to put a little one back to sleep, especially since the thunder stuck around for a while, but it was one of the sweetest times I've had with him in a while. Elijah doesn't talk much yet. He has several words, and many that he spontaneously uses but won't repeat. But, most of the time when he really wants to say something, he slurps. He'll point to the object he wants and make a sort of "ssshhsslllsss" sound, and look at you meaningfully, as though he just said something that any idiot would understand. It can be frustrating to an 18month old when no one knows what he just said, and so we have our dramatic moments in which he throws himself bodily to the ground and protests loudly at our incompetence.
But last night, when I went in, he was just sweet. He cried out, and when I got to the bed, he pointed to the window and slurped. I laid down with him and tried to soothe him, but each crack of thunder and flash of lightening would pop his eyes open again. So, we got up and went to the open window and peered out through the screen at the downpour in progress. I talked about the rain and he pointed and slurped. When we saw the sky lighten and go dark again, he held up his hands as if to ask where it went. I told him the thunder was coming and to get ready for the boom boom boom, and he smiled when it rumbled in. I stood swaying in the dark, holding him, and we watched the storm for quite a while, until he laid his head on my shoulder and drifted back to sleep, calm and secure, unworried.
When I laid him back down, I stayed with him for a while, watching him sleep and remembering. I remembered the night he came into this world, remembered laboring in this same room. I remembered holding him and nursing him for endless hours. I remembered when all of our focus was on Fiona, because we only had one, and how that's divided with two, but seems multiplied at the same time. And I thought about how short this time is where he doesn't have the words to say things to me and we pay such close attention to each other to be able to communicate.
So, I paid very close attention for a little while longer.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Genetically Modified Food
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| See the trailer here |
There are a bunch of issues at hand here. There's the first question that comes to mind, which is whether or not it is safe to splice genes of differing species (and often kingdoms!) together and then eat the resulting organism. I don't think there's enough information out there to say whether or not this is safe, and until then I'd like to err on the safe side. In fact, since we consume so much genetically modified foods in the U.S., other countries are watching us like guinea pigs to see how our children will fare.
But more imminently concerning to me is the hostile takeover of our food system via patenting by one major corporation. Monsanto, the devil incorporated, is waging war on the small and not-so-small farmers and holding them hostage while extorting money from them. And then binding them with gag orders to be sure the story doesn't get out too much. Think that's bad? Apparently, with our current patent laws, you don't have to invent an organism to patent it. In other words, any plant (or animal, etc) that doesn't have a patent can be taken by anyone down to the patent office and become private property. First come, first served. Why is this bad? Because patent law in the U.S. and around the world supports these corporations, and if ever you are found in possession of any of their genetic material without paying for it, you're a thief.
It gets worse.
They, the big M, are patenting local varieties of food plants in third world countries and attempting to force the indigenous subsistence farmers to pay Monsanto for the right to farm their own food. Anyone who says organic/sustainable farming can't feed the world needs to open his eyes and look at the reasons people around the world don't have food. It's not for lack of land or labor. It is to fill the pockets of the ones in power.
This means, and has been established by precedent in a court of law, that if I endeavor to grow my own non-GMO corn on my own little acre, and purposely avoid Monsanto, and then later am found to have this product on my land (via cross pollination or any other means), I will be found to have infringed on the patent they own and will be held accountable. My corn will be their property.
To use an example from the movie, what do you think about this: Say you're growing a field of peas. Say I decide to go out and buy some cows, because I'd like to raise them for beef. Say I don't do anything to contain them. Instead, I just bring them home, and put out a water trough, and go inside and watch some TV. Now, you look out your kitchen window and notice my new cows stomping through your peas, eating them all up. They are delicious, after all. Who owns the cows, now? According to Monsanto, I do. And who owns the peas? According to Monsanto and the American legal system, I do. Who makes restitution to whom? You, of course, owe me, because you allowed my cows on your land. Shame on you. Now please destroy the rest of your peas before you get more of my cows over there. And give me some money, too.
Right about now I can hear the clammoring of the American people for the government to DO SOMETHING. Stop the evil corporations, because clearly they make profits and stomp on the little man, and that's evil.
But, wait. Let's stop and examine how all this came to happen. Did we have a free market in which the crops were grown to feed the demand of the consumer? Was the justice system blind to the profit potential of the laws it made and enforced? When it was decided that regulation would be appropriate, were there inspectors to oversee these corporations who did not stand to profit from looking the other way?
No.
No.
No.
The crops we grow are subsidized. The lawmakers are executives of the corporations that make the seed, the fertilizers, the herbicides and pesticides, the equipment, the animals, the feed, the processing equipment for the crops and animals. The regulation is on paper, but the inspections are not happening, and when they do happen, they favor the large corporation that already owns everything (including the justice system).
I want to stop here and go back through with citations for every little thing I just said. But it's late and I'm lazy right now, so I'll just say watch the movie. I, for one, will be looking for ways to avoid GMO foods at all costs, and we'll not be feeding it to our livestock when we get our operation going. The easiest way to do this is to avoid buying anything with a barcode. When you know your farmer and can look him in the eye and ask where he gets his seed and how he raises his meat, you can be sure of what you're getting, and you won't get that in almost any store.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Breads and Peanut Butter
I'm reading a new cookbook. Local Breads is the kind of book I love to read. Written by a baker who owns his own shop and teaches at a culinary institute, it is part text book, part cook book, part memoir and all yummy. Well, at least, I hope it's yummy. I haven't made anything out of it yet--we're still only on our third date.
In the book, he talks about american breads and how we don't put enough water in our breads. Apparently he's watched European artisan bakers add lots of water and then knead a dough for 20 minutes to give the flour a chance to soak up all that water. It's frankly counter to what I do right now, which is to keep adding as much flour as my dough can handle. I can't wait to try some of his recipes in my own kitchen! For tonight, I've got rye dough rising, and it's a little wetter than I usually make it, so we'll see how it turns out.
The other fun thing we did tonight was shell a bunch of peanuts we have from several opened packages, and we used 3 cups of them to make peanut butter. It's so easy! 3 cups of roasted peanuts in the food processor, with salt to taste (we put 1/2 tsp total), and process until it's as creamy as you like it. It took quite a while. All the youtube videos I could find have people adding oil and honey, but we just used peanuts and salt, and it turned out great. Now we have a pint jar of peanut butter in the cabinet with the perfect amount of salt (I think storebought is too salty, but the no-salt-added needs some, you know?) I think next time we may re-roast the nuts a bit to darken up the peanut butter.
...
It's a little later this evening, and I thought I'd add that the wheat/rye bread I made is fresh out of the oven. I've just had a steaming slice with delicious grassfed cultured butter and that chewy warmth is perfect on a cold rainy night like tonight. Nothing beats homemade bread :)
In the book, he talks about american breads and how we don't put enough water in our breads. Apparently he's watched European artisan bakers add lots of water and then knead a dough for 20 minutes to give the flour a chance to soak up all that water. It's frankly counter to what I do right now, which is to keep adding as much flour as my dough can handle. I can't wait to try some of his recipes in my own kitchen! For tonight, I've got rye dough rising, and it's a little wetter than I usually make it, so we'll see how it turns out.
The other fun thing we did tonight was shell a bunch of peanuts we have from several opened packages, and we used 3 cups of them to make peanut butter. It's so easy! 3 cups of roasted peanuts in the food processor, with salt to taste (we put 1/2 tsp total), and process until it's as creamy as you like it. It took quite a while. All the youtube videos I could find have people adding oil and honey, but we just used peanuts and salt, and it turned out great. Now we have a pint jar of peanut butter in the cabinet with the perfect amount of salt (I think storebought is too salty, but the no-salt-added needs some, you know?) I think next time we may re-roast the nuts a bit to darken up the peanut butter.
...
It's a little later this evening, and I thought I'd add that the wheat/rye bread I made is fresh out of the oven. I've just had a steaming slice with delicious grassfed cultured butter and that chewy warmth is perfect on a cold rainy night like tonight. Nothing beats homemade bread :)
Friday, October 01, 2010
A little sunshine and a cool breeze
After what seems like an eternity of rain (which included over 8 inches of rainfall yesterday alone!), the kids and I finally got out this afternoon for some outdoor time. We stopped by the library for a quick drop off and pick up run, put our books in the car, and took off across the way. Our library is right beside the local high school. This afternoon there was track practice, field hockey practice, some folks playing soccer, and a JV football game going. It was a new experience for me because the home team was actually winning 40 to 0 when we arrived. When I think back to high school football, I identify much more easily with the visitors to this game.
It was a beautiful sunny fall afternoon, and everything was green and lush from all the rainfall, with a cool breeze and a touch of fall crispness in the air. The walk from the library to the football field isn't too much of a hike, but it still took a good twenty minutes since we were moving at the pace of people who are three feet tall and have no particular drive to arrive anywhere. We explored tall trees and steep hills, stopped to collect sticks and flowers, and Fiona occasionally announced, "Listen everybody: We don't know where we're going, and we're never going to get there!" in a booming announcer-like voice that matched that of the guy calling the plays over the loudspeaker. We paused to examine people running at various practices and listen to the booming of drums in the distance.
When we finally arrived at the football field, we found a spot outside the fence on the visitors' side (like I said, way more comfortable with the underdog), and I explained a few basics to Fiona. Elijah was mostly interested in the rocks. They were big and most could be fit through the holes in the fence, but not all. Fiona liked the different colored uniforms, the tackles and the cheers. But mostly she like when the crowd would all start yelling. She and Elijah both yelled at the top of their lungs whenever there was a significant play. I like to think it helped because the visitors scored a touchdown shortly after we arrived.
The kids had fun playing in the soccer goals that were stacked up near us, and watching when the play got close, and after a while we walked back to our car, which was another adventure. Elijah got a ride on my shoulders part of the way--this was probably the longest he's ever walked. When we got to the edge of the grass back at the library and were about to step into the parking lot, I called out, "I need hands so I can cross the parking lot" even though there were no cars. They had both started walking ahead and both stopped short and came back to hold my hands. But here was the precious part--Fiona, chubby little hand in mine, looked up and said, "It sure is a good thing we have a Mommy to tell us about parking lots and hold our hands so we can cross!" *melt*
Tonight before bed, Fiona and Elijah took turns tackling Dan. She wants to play football tomorrow, so now I have to find a ball :)
It was a beautiful sunny fall afternoon, and everything was green and lush from all the rainfall, with a cool breeze and a touch of fall crispness in the air. The walk from the library to the football field isn't too much of a hike, but it still took a good twenty minutes since we were moving at the pace of people who are three feet tall and have no particular drive to arrive anywhere. We explored tall trees and steep hills, stopped to collect sticks and flowers, and Fiona occasionally announced, "Listen everybody: We don't know where we're going, and we're never going to get there!" in a booming announcer-like voice that matched that of the guy calling the plays over the loudspeaker. We paused to examine people running at various practices and listen to the booming of drums in the distance.
When we finally arrived at the football field, we found a spot outside the fence on the visitors' side (like I said, way more comfortable with the underdog), and I explained a few basics to Fiona. Elijah was mostly interested in the rocks. They were big and most could be fit through the holes in the fence, but not all. Fiona liked the different colored uniforms, the tackles and the cheers. But mostly she like when the crowd would all start yelling. She and Elijah both yelled at the top of their lungs whenever there was a significant play. I like to think it helped because the visitors scored a touchdown shortly after we arrived.
The kids had fun playing in the soccer goals that were stacked up near us, and watching when the play got close, and after a while we walked back to our car, which was another adventure. Elijah got a ride on my shoulders part of the way--this was probably the longest he's ever walked. When we got to the edge of the grass back at the library and were about to step into the parking lot, I called out, "I need hands so I can cross the parking lot" even though there were no cars. They had both started walking ahead and both stopped short and came back to hold my hands. But here was the precious part--Fiona, chubby little hand in mine, looked up and said, "It sure is a good thing we have a Mommy to tell us about parking lots and hold our hands so we can cross!" *melt*
Tonight before bed, Fiona and Elijah took turns tackling Dan. She wants to play football tomorrow, so now I have to find a ball :)
Gumbo Recipe
I never do things exactly by a recipe. For some reason I always find a good reason to alter at least some ingredient, even when I'm trying to be exact. This makes for some duds in the kitchen sometimes, and other times it's pure magic. Last night was just plain yummy--Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, inspired by one of my favorite gumbo recipes in the Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. (that's a great book--I've only made one recipe in the whole thing that wasn't superbly delicious) So, here's what I did last night. A lot of ingredients were used because that's what I have, so feel free to substitute and make this gumbo your own!
An attempt to recreate deliciousness in a pot...
Ingredients:
-1 Kielbasa Sausage, diced
-About 2 chicken breasts worth of diced white chicken meat, salted, peppered and seasoned heavily w/ rotisserie chicken seasoning and left to soak that up in the fridge for a day or so
-The back and neck meat of 4 chicken carcasses I used to make the broth
-About 8 small green bell peppers, diced
-1 very large yellow onion, diced
-1/2 a head of garlic (maybe 8 cloves?), minced
-About 4 stalks of celery, sliced (the whole thing, not just the heart)
-1 zucchini, diced
-1 yellow squash like gourd thing, seeds scooped out, diced
-1/2 pkg frozed sliced okra (about a pound?)
-3 pints of chicken broth
-a handful of bay leaves. Like, ten. Or more. Best tied together if you can find something to tie them with :)
-1 heaping tbsp Zataran's Cajun Seasoning
-1-2 tbsp dried Thyme
-1-2 tbsp Worcestershire
-3-4 shots Tobasco, to taste (my crew doesn't like things spicy, so I'm not allowed to put much)
First, I take out my nice thick cast aluminum dutch oven and cook up the diced sausage. I let it sit on high heat to get nice and browned before stirring to get it browned all over. Keeping the drippings in the pot, I remove the sausage and brown the chicken next in the same way. Then, remove the chicken and saute the veggies (first the garlic, then onions, celery and peppers, in small enough batches to get everything browned, not steamed) in the same drippings. It gets a nice coat of browned stuff on the bottom. Leave it and keep cooking. If you run out of drippings, add a little homemade lard from grassfed pigs :) (You don't have to brown the veggies, but i think it adds a lot of flavor. You can just brown some to cut down on time--the rest will cook in the soup. I didn't brown the squash).
After everything has been browned, you have a few bowls of meat and veggies on the counter around you, and now you make the gumbo. Take equal parts lard and flour, and cook over med heat to make a roux. It takes a while. Like 20 minutes. You want it to get chocolatey brown, so it will have a nutty toasted smell (sort of like burnt, but nutty and toasted sound way better). The start adding veggies to the roux. It will be a thick muddy mess as the roux coats the veggies. Once you get them all in, cook for a few minutes to get everything coated, and then you can start adding the broth slowly. As you add the broth, make sure you scrape the bottom of the pot good to get all that that lovely brown fond into the stew, and stir well until you get all the broth in. Take a deep whiff. It should smell yummy, but it's not gumbo yet. Let it get to an energetic simmer and add your seasonings to taste, feel free to sample often. Don't forget to smell the deliciousness after you add each seasoning. Decide what you like so you can change it next time. Keep the top on when you're not stirring and sampling. Go ahead and put the chicken broth meat back in now, so it can soak up some flavor, but keep the rest of the meat reserved.
After the veggies are cooked enough that the onions are clear, you can add the breast meat and sausage back in. This way you don't overcook it. You can also throw in a few shots of bourbon for an extra kick, but I didn't have any last night. Let everything get warm and happy together and serve over rice with file (pronounced fee-lay) on top if you like. This gumbo will warm you up on a cold rainy day like nothing else :)
An attempt to recreate deliciousness in a pot...
Ingredients:
-1 Kielbasa Sausage, diced
-About 2 chicken breasts worth of diced white chicken meat, salted, peppered and seasoned heavily w/ rotisserie chicken seasoning and left to soak that up in the fridge for a day or so
-The back and neck meat of 4 chicken carcasses I used to make the broth
-About 8 small green bell peppers, diced
-1 very large yellow onion, diced
-1/2 a head of garlic (maybe 8 cloves?), minced
-About 4 stalks of celery, sliced (the whole thing, not just the heart)
-1 zucchini, diced
-1 yellow squash like gourd thing, seeds scooped out, diced
-1/2 pkg frozed sliced okra (about a pound?)
-3 pints of chicken broth
-a handful of bay leaves. Like, ten. Or more. Best tied together if you can find something to tie them with :)
-1 heaping tbsp Zataran's Cajun Seasoning
-1-2 tbsp dried Thyme
-1-2 tbsp Worcestershire
-3-4 shots Tobasco, to taste (my crew doesn't like things spicy, so I'm not allowed to put much)
First, I take out my nice thick cast aluminum dutch oven and cook up the diced sausage. I let it sit on high heat to get nice and browned before stirring to get it browned all over. Keeping the drippings in the pot, I remove the sausage and brown the chicken next in the same way. Then, remove the chicken and saute the veggies (first the garlic, then onions, celery and peppers, in small enough batches to get everything browned, not steamed) in the same drippings. It gets a nice coat of browned stuff on the bottom. Leave it and keep cooking. If you run out of drippings, add a little homemade lard from grassfed pigs :) (You don't have to brown the veggies, but i think it adds a lot of flavor. You can just brown some to cut down on time--the rest will cook in the soup. I didn't brown the squash).
After everything has been browned, you have a few bowls of meat and veggies on the counter around you, and now you make the gumbo. Take equal parts lard and flour, and cook over med heat to make a roux. It takes a while. Like 20 minutes. You want it to get chocolatey brown, so it will have a nutty toasted smell (sort of like burnt, but nutty and toasted sound way better). The start adding veggies to the roux. It will be a thick muddy mess as the roux coats the veggies. Once you get them all in, cook for a few minutes to get everything coated, and then you can start adding the broth slowly. As you add the broth, make sure you scrape the bottom of the pot good to get all that that lovely brown fond into the stew, and stir well until you get all the broth in. Take a deep whiff. It should smell yummy, but it's not gumbo yet. Let it get to an energetic simmer and add your seasonings to taste, feel free to sample often. Don't forget to smell the deliciousness after you add each seasoning. Decide what you like so you can change it next time. Keep the top on when you're not stirring and sampling. Go ahead and put the chicken broth meat back in now, so it can soak up some flavor, but keep the rest of the meat reserved.
After the veggies are cooked enough that the onions are clear, you can add the breast meat and sausage back in. This way you don't overcook it. You can also throw in a few shots of bourbon for an extra kick, but I didn't have any last night. Let everything get warm and happy together and serve over rice with file (pronounced fee-lay) on top if you like. This gumbo will warm you up on a cold rainy day like nothing else :)
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