Category Archives: Education

I Miss Y’All

Posted on May 14, 2012 | 3 comments

Happy belated Mothers’ Day first and foremost. My mom and grandmothers are gone but to M and Nanny, thank you for all you’ve done for the kids.

We miss our families and friends as we’re in a new city with new people but some are breaking down barriers to get us all together.

We had a lovely dinner last night, out by the terrace grill area. We brought steak with chimichurri, and others brought chicken tikka masala kebabs, salads, guacamole, salsa, and here’s the kicker.

There’s a date set for the next get-together, and the challenge is to do a wine tasting from all the countries we picked from a hat. One white, one red, one dish.

Let’s hope we’ve moved and have enough for me to work with. Oh, I picked Greece. No, you guys don’t need to know what I’m planning to buy or cook! Shame on you for peeking!

Everyone did a great job at our dinner. We have some very talented cooks out there and hope this doesn’t become a competition, just a companion-oriented event. Cheers! Dee

ps To Israel, I’ve some Israeli couscous you can have for a salad, if you’d like. d

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Signs

Posted on April 30, 2012 | 1 comment

Sign, Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign

That was from 1971, Five Man Electrical Band. They’re worse now, but not about long hair.

The rules for our condo/apartment comprise a lengthy lease with rules about dog poop, combined with a printed brochure that encompasses more rules.

We went to a mall restaurant (not food court) for lunch yesterday and they have one huge page, on the opposite side of their map at every entrance, for how kids must behave. They even kick kids out at 5:00 on weekends.

Now, I know that these are only put in place to allow HOA’s, managements to kick people out that they don’t like for violating even one rule (your TV was too loud). It’s all about liability.

Children cannot gather in groups of larger than four. Monitor that.

This leads me to think that management companies have gone over the top with liability issues, and parents have been absent in teaching their children manners.

Whatever failings my childhood family had, we had dinner together every night. We talked about everyone’s day and when I was older, what was news that day. Then we had to ask to be excused from the table to do our homework.

I’ve even taken on some of my husband’s Texas traits. When you need to talk with a company or government agency, add “ma’am” or “sir” to the “thank you” and you’ll get nicer and faster service.

I don’t do this because it makes my life easier, though it does. I respect everyone who vies to make a living wage, if it’s my supermarket checker or TSA agent. That respect is conveyed in how they are treated. And I’ve been treated pretty badly by the TSA in the past! Turns out they were putting me through extended searches so they could smuggle drugs in another line!

Still, parents have to start early. Please and thank you. I’m sorry is a really good one to know. Fork and knife skills, Yes, ma’am, no ma’am. Thank you sir. I appreciate your time with me today. Thank you for the offer, I’ll talk to my husband and get back to you in the morning. Yes, I look forward to starting Monday.

You get my drift. But I did have to walk with the OED on my head for posture, and take ballet, piano and violin. Best wishes to the younger generations, Dee

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Falling into Place

Posted on April 9, 2012 | 2 comments

That’s what happens. Like yesterday. I didn’t even think of Easter dinner. But I got up, took out and fed the dog and she went back to bed with my husband. I took off to the grocery store, where as a newbie I’d checked the hours the evening before.

I bought what was freshest, what I determined on the fly: roast Lamb Robert (Jacques Pepin recipe online). I didn’t use the grill because it’s 13 floors down from our temporary apartment and didn’t want to leave Jim down there alone.

Scalloped potatoes – thinly sliced red ones with the skin on, a bit of half-and-half, salt and pepper in a 425 degree oven for an hour. And baby arugula sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

And after I put meat and potatoes in the oven my husband said, let’s drive to see these places to live. My response “It’s Easter Sunday!” Nothing’s open and I’m working on a great dinner!

Finally, he settled on taking dog Zoe for a walk, and we ate and he complimented me on a lovely meal. He didn’t eat the arugula, I cut up a raw carrot for him instead, no Val it won’t help his eyesight (top of the charts for contacts) but he likes them. Cheers! Dee

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Technology

Posted on January 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

A “futurist,” Brian David Johnson opined on Slate about our fear of technology. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/01/new_technologies_enter_our_lives_and_society_in_four_stages_.html

I beg to disagree. But that’s because my iPhone is several generations back and sometimes I leave in my purse or my car (in the garage) and don’t miss it for a while.

My concern is that families are splintering because their kids are texting all the time. Or they’re on their cell so set a bad example. My family always sat down to dinner together, for 1/2 hour to an hour and we had to ask to be excused from the table. Now I hate it when my husband and I go to a restaurant and the first thing he does is take his phone out of his pocket and sets it on the table and turns it on.

I believe family time is family time. Getting to know your kids can be a good thing, and they can get to know you. I’d put cell phones off and in a far corner and sit down and discuss how things were at school or work that day.

My husband has told me many times that, even as a scientist and software engineer, he views the computer as a tool to do work and maybe book a flight or find a good restaurant nearby.

I use mine to write. While I used to write longhand, a computer first scared me and I had to hand-write at least a few scribbles of talking points before I looked at that blank screen and wrote a speech. But I learned, and that was in the 80’s.

Parents have to set an example and put their own phones down for family time. We had one land line when I was growing up, and no-one was allowed to hijack it. Folks don’t understand that just because you have a cell phone doesn’t mean you have to be on it 24/7. It’s like wearing a really skimpy dress on a first date, just because you’re “available” doesn’t mean you’re friend or marriage material.

Ok, I’m writing this before dawn because I was stuffed up and couldn’t breathe as the air is so dry here. Next the dog goes out, I make my husband a hearty breakfast and we go from there.

Hope you enjoyed the long weekend. We didn’t have one and it stymied us a bit on the job front but it looks like a productive week. Cheers, Dee

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HuntingNet.com

Posted on December 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

Yes, writers to their forum (I’ve been denied access) have shot something they probably shouldn’t have shot, a Greater Sandhill Crane. They were looking at ducks and all of a sudden shot a 6′ tall migratory bird.

We watch these birds come up north and land every spring to mate, nest and raise their colts. Even though I have a cooking blog I do not specialize in Greater Sandhill Cranes because I’d rather see them on the Preserve we abut and watch them with their young, teaching them to find food, and to fly.

I’ve always said I’d rather shoot them with a camera instead of a gun.

This year they had two colts that learned to fly early, as last year they lost one to a fox. You can easily see all four looking for food.

All I can say is that I’m glad these and several other pairs, who mate for life, live and breed on protected lands. These hunting sites won’t let anyone in, even if they’ve tagged this blog. No, I don’t know the best way to cook illegally caught Sandhill Crane. Nor will I help you gut it, de-feather it or cook it.

Also, please try to look at the bird you’re aiming at before you pull the trigger, fellas. Maybe that pre-dawn six-pack is kicking in.

And hunters, before you swarm in on me, we got us some wild hogs. I draw the line at protected species, will not give you recipes for dodo bird, and don’t hunt. Keep up the poaching ’til you’re caught, guys. Have fun in HuntingNet-ness. Dee

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The Kennedys

Posted on December 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

To Caroline, you’re a year older than I am, and my parents probably came home quickly from the appliance shop where they were looking for a washer and dryer, when your father was killed. I didn’t remember the details but we watched the funeral. I had a book, called Four Days, afterwards and relived it but certainly not as you did.

Over Thanksgiving we spent time with many family members north of Dallas. We had lunch downtown and went by the 6th Floor Museum, did not go in, but there were many people in line.

One young man ran into the highway and splashed champagne on the X where your father was killed. I was horrified by his behavior. These displays are only going to intensify as we near the 50th annivery of JFK’s death.

Yes, there is interest in his and your lives. Look at who followed. OK, we only had the worst of Vietnam, Watergate, Noriega and “that woman.”

I am sorry you’ve been plagued by the press all your life. You seem to have dealt with it very well and they leave you alone, and for that I am grateful, as your family has done enough for our country.

Sometimes I wonder if you think about being just a regular person, like most people may wish to pretend how they’d be if they were famous.

No, we’ve nothing in common except age and gender. Except I’ve cared for your family since I knew you existed. I wish you and your family well. Cheers, Dee

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Tiring of Old Political Arguments

Posted on December 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

Part of what we see in the interminable, now over 2-year build up to a presidential election is what people are made of, a candidate and his (aside from our female Secretary of State Clinton) staff are judged.  But only the candidate is judged for the most part.

Governor Rick Perry’s latest ad, which must be highly targeted as I don’t see it even in Republican Country out here, condemns President Obama for allowing gays in the military (this issue was ultimately decided by the judiciary and signed by the President and military Chief of Staff).

This ad also states that our children are not allowed to experience Christmas. I happen to know that four generations of our Texas family went to two Christmas parades this weekend, one in town and another where family drove a few hours  to see a grand-daughter in the band and grandson in Scouts in the parade.

If Christmas parades are alive and well in Texas towns, they must be elsewhere in small towns thoughout the US of A. While I saw Chevy’s Freedom of Texas fireworks every year from next door and even know the owner of the pyrotech company, my favorite fireworks are by the local fire company at the lake, in a Yankee state, where we sit on the grass for 15 minutes then go back home.

Perhaps Mr. Perry is preaching to a choir that hasn’t been there since Ronald Reagan or he’s showing that he really doesn’t care about any American voter who doesn’t hate soldiers in harm’s way that happen to be gay, or any American voter who doesn’t like purported Christians who aren’t, like Mr. Perry.

Zealots and haters should not be presidents of anything but hate groups. Not of our United States. Not cheery right now, Dee

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Turning the Tables

Posted on December 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

Yesterday I served lunch to my young butcher. One day I bought a cut of meat and he asked what I was going to do with it. I told him whatever my thoughts were for the day. He replied that he’d let me know how his ramen turned out.

Recently I started marinating beef flap/skirt steak  in olive oil with seasonings. I decided to do what Tuscans do to ribbollita and pasta a fagiole and add a “fillip” but at the beginning, not the end.

So, the other day I put a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a small skillet and added fresh herbs I had leftover from Thanksgiving, some rosemary, thyme and sage. Also a few peeled garlic cloves. I brought the oil up to a simmer for a few minutes then turned it off and let it cool to room temperature. Then I poured it over the meat in a plastic bag and let it sit at room temperature for an hour or two. I peppered the meat well before marinating and salted it well before grilling.

It was excellent and I’d promised a taste to two of my butchers so made a salad with a few grapes and topped it with a few slices of rare steak. Hopefully they liked it.

Last night it was very cold outside (teens) and I made matzoh ball soup (from a mix, never more) with chicken stock and grated carrot. Served with good Italian bread and a salad. Next time I’ll even make my own matzo meal. The NYTimes had a great recipe about 20 years ago with vodka and seltzer water in it. I now know that bubbles make them lighter, and a bit of vodka, rather than water, cuts down on gluten formation so also makes the balls lighter.

Many years ago my mother made soup with farina balls (I’ve never had that as an adult) and my sister insisted she was saving all the “treasures” on the bottom. The flat, heavy farina balls didn’t fit her aesthetic sense. Oh well, we get older and learn.

Oh, and to make a matzo ball soup palatable to the meat eater, I made a second broth with one whole chicken breast, cooked just until tender. I cooled it, shredded it and placed a few shreds in the bowl before adding the matzo balls and broth.

Perhaps David Sax, author of “Save The Deli” has a failsafe recipe for matzo balls he can share with us sometime. Hope all is well in Smoked Meat-ville, David! Best wishes and cheers to y’all this holiday season. Stay warm! Dee

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Thank you!

Posted on October 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

To all the people who ridiculed me in grade school for taking what you called the “retard bus.”  To people who thought I was dumb. To the “popular girls” who didn’t like me. To the boys who didn’t like me beating them at ping pong or brain games.  Thank you.

Taking all that and college and work and marriage in tow, I’ve gained some wisdom and can weigh in on issues as I see fit. No, I’m not preaching from the chior, just letting things settle in.  If one is fully committed to his/her principles and they only lie in political terms, i.e. Republican vs. Democrat, that’s not enough.

Living through and working through some of these debates, I’ve learned that not much is personal and I can see both sides.  Sometimes I can even mediate.  I guess that degree got me somewhere.

Now people online just say nasty things about each other and have no real debating skills.  I ask that when you weigh in on issues you care about, you see both sides and use your intellect, a game of thrust and parry, and not go into personal attacks.

Wisdom is hard-fought, and learned by courage, mistakes, and learning from those errors. Sadly, young people don’t want to learn but will after they marry and have children.

As to the people in my home town many have stayed, some have left as we did when I was in Junior High. I love the fact that my aunt taught at the high school and helped many students yearn for something other than the local fast food outlet. She taught Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet in Freshman year and the best students went on a field trip to a nearby Shakespeare Festival.

There is a way out, and it’s education.  I was a smart girl and got good grades but it wasn’t popular at the time so I didn’t want anyone to know about it. I got into sports and knew my team was always there for me as I was for them as their captain.  Elected by my team, two years in a row.  How about that.

Years ago I entered into a leadership post with knowledge, but not wisdom. Today that game would have been played differently, and we would have won.  The sad thing is that our opponents at the time were few and all they did was throw a couple hundred dollars to politicians so they won against 2,500 opponents who fought a good fight. We had $200 and more but chose not to bribe the city council.  Learning curve for all, Dee

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Sweet Treats

Posted on October 17, 2011 | 3 comments

Our neighbor, a local pastry chef, has been doing some recipe testing and we have been the beneficiaries of some of her trials.  Yes, it’s been such a trial to taste brownies and pain au chocolat.

Of late the hand-delivered packages have come in something like a shirt box.  The first one I opened in the morning and it looked as if a wild animal had been in it.  Oh, it was only my husband late at night.

We saved a few delicious morsels for ourselves and my husband Jim brought the rest to work.  The other day we got another shirt box.  Jim was out with the dog.  I hastily put a post-it note (didn’t want to write on the box because I knew its final destination) RAT POISON!!! and a really badly-drawn skull and crossbones.

I was affixing the sign to the box the second he walked in with the dog.  Oh, well, he asked if it was really rat poison.  It was just to keep him from eating the entire thing.  It would have been better for me to keep the box cool in the garage.

So now Jim has a new team at work and we haven’t even had them over for dinner yet.  I don’t bake but am known around work for my lemon-blueberry-pomegranate trifle with lemon curd.  Now I live in a neighborhood with stellar cooks and luckily we like each other and have dinner at each others’ homes regularly, especially in the off-season (not ski and summer) but these ladies can cook and bake!  And also host a splendid dinner party.

So it looks like I’ll have to cook something for the team, to let them know Jim and I appreciate their work and that I usually don’t burn toast.  Cheers, Dee

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