"...mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guard for their future security."

Thomas Jefferson, from the Declaration of Independence

Go Here, Read This

McCain campaign persists in repeating false accusations about Democratic tax plan.

This is Just Wrong

Ok, these costumes for babies from Martha Stewart start out promising, with the little goldfishy in a tub, but the babies dressed as food are just weird.

This piece is definitely one of those "what is Martha thinking?" moments. You can imagine her hard marble-y syllables rolling adoringly through the descriptions of these weird costumes while the people around her smile tensely and give each other the "Can she possibly be serious?" look behind her back. Love the Spider Baby, though. If you could incorporate the black socks into a baby carrier, you could have a costume with or without the baby.(Father Ted reference here.)

Soup and Risotto

May I direct your attention to the Parsnip-Cauliflower-Leek Soup, whose link can also be found at the right. This soup is so simple to make, and so deceptively delicious, you should put it on your list to try. You don't even have to like cauliflower. The parsnips are what really make it.

And, of course, I don't stick to the quantities that are listed. I had one very big leek, two parsnips, and one cauliflower, so that's what went in it. I had chicken stock, so that went in instead of water. Everything else was pretty much the same. Damn good with buttered crusty sour bread and butter. Be sure to puree. I had it for lunch again today, too.

Turnips also appeared this week. Some beautiful Scarlet Beauties again. Cooked up in a little stock with their chopped greens and a pinch of sugar, they were so delicious-- even the next day-- they could have made their own soup.

It doesn't appear that I've mentioned risotto in my posts, which is unfortunate, but which will soon be rectified. I learned to make risotto on the line at Tra Vigne, while Michael Chiarello was still the chef. During my week in the kitchen for manager training, I dressed in whites and was to observe the workings of the "back of the house".

While on the hot side, on sautee, as they call it (as opposed to grill), we had a pretty busy lunch. The line cook ran me through the steps of making the already par-cooked risotto for each order as it came up. Front of the house manager trainees were expected to remain hands-off in the kitchen, but as the lunch rush heated up, and risotto orders poured in, the line cook began to get busier than he expected. An order of risotto was fired, and I watched the first cook-down. The rice began to bubble dry...

"Permission to stir risotto, sir?" I asked. Permission was granted and for the rest of the lunch it was "Fire risotto!" from him, and "Fire risotto!" back from me as I ladled and stirred each order of risotto*. (Later, my week turned into two weeks when the baker's assistant went to Mexico and didn't come back. If you had biscotti at Tra Vigne that was mysteriously missing its fancy sugar topping, that would have been me.)

Basic risotto recipe

As usual, I am not going to give you quantities. Use the guidelines on your box of risotto rice (Festa per la tavola! A party for your table!) for portions of rice and liquid. Do not try to do this with regular rice. It's not the same. Have an extra container of chicken stock (or vegetable stock) on hand in case you've underestimated. You've got one anyway, right?

Ingredients
olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
(no matter how much risotto I make, or how little, I find that I use 1/2 an onion)
short-grain risotto rice
thyme
white wine
chicken stock, simmering in a pan next to your risotto pan
parmesan cheese, grated, about 1/2 to 2/3 cup
salt if necessary

Materials
2 med/large saucepans or one saucepan and one anything else pan to hold stock
wooden spoon
ladle

Method
heat olive oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat
add onion, saute until soft and only slightly golden
add rice, stir into oil and onion to coat
add thyme
listen to the sound of the rice as it hits the sides of the pan when you first pour it in. When it starts to sound tinny and looks slightly translucent and a little golden, and the onions are just barely brown, you are ready for the next step
Pour in just enough wine to barely cover the rice, about 1/2 cup. Cook the rice and wine just until absorbed.
Now you are ready to begin your "cook-downs". It will take 3 or 4 to finish the risotto.
Ladle in 2 to 3 ladles full of warm stock. If I buy stock from the store, sometimes I throw in a celery top or two while it is cooking to give it more flavor.
Stir the risotto constantly until your spoon leaves a dry path at the bottom of the pan. The rice and stock at first will be soupy, and the spoon won't leave a path. As the stock cooks into the rice, the rice will stay parted a little bit, then a lot, when the spoon-- did I mention it has to be a wooden spoon-- passes through.
When this happens, add another 3 ladles of stock and do it again. After the third cook-down, check your rice. It should still taste a little dry in the middle of each grain. Add more stock, and cook until not quite dry and the rice just al dente. The last cook-down should be a little bit slushy, because the liquid will continue to evaporate as it sits. It's ok to put in a little more stock to achieve this. Stir in parmesan, taste, and salt to your taste. I don't recommend salting before adding the cheese, but if you choose not to add the cheese, check it for salt anyway.

A VERY BIG SPIDER IS HUNTING ON THE PILLOW IN THE WINDOWSEAT RIGHT NOW.

I think that's it. Tonight we had risotto made with stock I already had in the freezer, sauteed swiss chard, and roasted Delicata squash. (I love these damn squash!) I have pictures for you, but at the moment, Lightroom is not cooperating to release my pictures, so I'll post them tomorrow.

Roasted Delicata Squash

This is a basic method that works for pretty much any fall/winter squash except spaghetti squash. You can just keep that.

Halve and seed squash. Sometimes a bread knife helps in the sawing, or a very sharp pointy knife. Keep the squash on a flat surface for stability.

Each cleaned squash half gets placed face-up on a foil-lined cookie sheet (face down is ok for the first half of cooking if you want to do it that way, just oil it first with olive oil so it doesn't stick). If you're cooking face up, give each one a sprinkle of salt and pepper, a dab of butter, a sprinkle of brown sugar and a sprig of sage. Bake at 350 until soft and sweet. If you like, you can baste the tops with the melted butter/sugar as they bake. If you've started out upside down, flip them at some point and add the goodies.

Yum. Again, pictures will be coming.

*If you ever go to Tra Vigne, and you sit on the left side of the long bar that flanks one wall, there is a small black and white picture of Peter Lorre nestled among the colorful bottles. That is Il Santo di Risotto: The Saint of Risotto. One of the first sous-chefs at Tra Vigne resembled Peter Lorre, and he was the one who discovered just the right method of par-cooking the rice so that each and every order of risotto-- cooked from scratch to order-- wouldn't take 30 minutes. This was a very important revelation, learned the hard way by the patrons, waiters and cooks who worked that first opening month. Thus, he is a saint.

Just the Right Size Batch of Oatmeal Cookies

Just the Right Size Batch of Oatmeal Cookies
10 minutes max to prep using a stand mixer, 20-30 minutes to bake

Ingredients
1 stick butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tblsp molasses

1 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup slivered raw almonds
1/2-1 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter (room temp if possible) with sugars until light and fluffy or well-mixed (if your butter is cold). Add egg, molasses and vanilla, mix again thoroughly. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl, add slowly to wet ingredients. Once combined, add oats, nuts and raisins, mix until just combined.
Using two teaspoons, drop onto parchment-lined baking sheet (press down with spoons to flatten slightly). Bake +/- 10 minutes, cool on rack completely before moving to a plate.
Tasty, chewy, molasses-y, not too sweet, and full of oats and nuts that aren't so bad for you.

Scary

Am I the only one that finds this whole TV appearance weeks before the election thing really surreal? It's like a scary movie about the future, where we all vote with remote controls for imaginary political candidates on television screens built into the backs of other people's heads.

Presidents and celebrities are not the same. Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin is scarily funny. Sarah Palin head-bobbing on TV to a fake rap song is a little sickening. (Amy Poehler singing it while hugely pregnant, surrounded by faux-eskimos and a stuffed moose only very slightly redeeming. Poor Amy!)

Sarah Palin is beautiful, ok, but she's not auditioning for America's Next Top Model, she's running for VICE PRESIDENT. Is this what it's come to? When the lines blur so strongly (Reagan flashback) between celebrity and reality that we are in danger of electing someone who is a caricature, running with someone who is pretty, over thoughtful, intelligent men... well, I just don't even want to think about it. How about we just elect Tom and Katie?

Read this. And this. And this. And this.

It seems every sound clip I hear of McCain lately has him desperately squawking his new mantra: "Kills Jobs! Spreads the wealth! Awk! Kills Jobs! Spreads the wealth!" You'd have to be a moron not to see that he's trying to stoke the most primal fear of loss. At the simplest level, the seed is being planted: "Fear the black man, he is going to take away what you have." The language he's using always contains strong negative associations. Even when he (weakly) defended Obama after he'd been criticized for ignoring the jeers and threats, he said, "...he's not a man you need to be afraid of being president." It doesn't matter that the foundations of his statements about Obama's tax cuts vs. his own aren't true. (I doubt even people making over $250,000 a year are shaking in their boots.) The people he's addressing-- the people who are responding-- believe him. What makes them think that a man who has helped to build the government structures that have created the world they live in today would do anything to change their lives if elected?

OK, OK, OK. This is what happens. I set out to make a simple point about how weird it is that the candidates are smiling and laughing on late night TV in the midst of one of the worst economic crises in the nation's history, and seven paragraphs later, I'm ranting and raving.

VOTE. VOTE. VOTE. Democrats, Liberals, Greens, Independents, Converts, Undecideds, women, men, young people, old people...it's going to take every single one of us to make that margin decisive. Don't give up.

By The Way

I'm not really reading Divisidero by Michael Ondaatje, yet. I've gone back to My Stroke of Insight.
***
Keep a big watering can in your shower and use it to catch the water as you're waiting for it to warm up each day. It also helps to remind you to water your plants. At least it does me. I have one pot on the front porch that always used to get neglected in the scorching summer, now it doesn't.
***
Reduce, reuse, recycle. If you are overwhelmed by the options, try reducing your use of little things, like shampoo, fabric softener, detergent, to see how little will actually do the job. I now use the small scoop from protein powder for detergent, and only one third of a fabric softener. I use a boatload of conditioner, but hardly any shampoo or body soap. No need to deprive yourself, just see what works. It may be a lot less than you think.

***
And while we're on hygiene, it's taken me a year, but I've fully adjusted to organic cotton, applicator-less tampons, which reduce waste and resources used. And I've switched to washable glad rags for night. (More than you need to know, I know, but I felt I should say something.) Mike is using a replaceable blade razor instead of buying packs of disposables.

Ack!

Look! I don't know if you see what I see, but my google ads (which don't add up to anything in terms of income, so they may soon go away) have been McCain-ized! Mine offer me several options of going to McCain sites, seeing pictures of Cindy McCain (like I would), and who knows what other malarkey. Guess what? Ads are paid for by companies and entities and political candidates. I mention Obama just as often as I mention McCain. Does that mean Mr. M is spending more money on Google advertising? Maybe he should have spent it on fact checking research about Colombia.

And don't you think it's a little weird that he and shoot-em-if-ya-got-em Palin are doing appearances on Letterman and SNL before the election? Don't they have better things to do than to yuk it up on TV two and a half weeks before a Presidential election? I haven't heard yet, maybe Obama is doing some similarly lame stunt to try to make people like him before the votes are cast, but I sincerely hope not. Please lord, let Obama win and give Sarah Palin Jerry Springer's job when he's done. I think she'd fit right in. She's going to try to show the world she's a good sport, just like her cheerleading cousin George. Please, please, America, just buy them a beer if you feel sorry for them this time.

That's Aubergine to You, Mate

Eggplant Parmesan

In my vegetarian college days, I used to love eggplant. One of the reasons is that it is usually sold by the piece, rather than by the pound, so as a person on a budget, I always looked for the biggest, prettiest one for the money. And eggplant is cheap to begin with. Here's how to make Eggplant Parmesan (Parmigiano if you prefer):

1 large or several small eggplants, sliced 3/8" thick
salt
paper towels
bread crumbs or bread ends
dried oregano
dried basil
grated parmesan cheese
garlic salt
eggs
milk or milk-like substance
tomato sauce
mozzarella cheese

glass baking dish
parchment
food processor
cookie sheet

The reason this recipe is so vague is that if you are eating by yourself, you are going to buy a small eggplant (did you know that they are so named because the variety that existed in the new world that was "discovered" by the europeans was small, white and egg-shaped?), use one egg, one piece of toasted bread, etc., while if you are feeding a family, you may use two large eggplants and increase everything proportionately. You're going to have to wing it.

Slice eggplants, toss with a sprinkle of salt in a bowl, and lay out on paper towels. Flip after 20 minutes. This step is optional, but it allows the salt to draw out some of the moisture and bitterness, making for a firmer, less slimy end product. If slimy bothers you, you might want to do it.

While the eggplants are draining, toast your bread ends, stale baguette pieces, whatever, in the toaster, then chop roughly and crumbify in the food processor until very fine. (If you've been thriftily saving bread ends and already have your dry crumbs in the pantry, good for you.) Add a teaspoon or so of dried oregano and basil, a half-teaspoon of garlic salt, and about one part parmesan cheese to two parts of bread. Whirr in the processor until well combined.

Now you can do this one of two ways, and I've tried both. Beat some eggs with a dab of milk in a bowl. Pour your crumbs into a shallow pan or plate. From here, either line a cookie sheet with parchment and oil or spray with cooking spray, or pour some tomato sauce into the bottom of a glass pan. Depends on how you want to cook your eggplant, wet (firmer) or dry (moister).

What I like to do is bake off the eggplant first, THEN layer them in the tomato-sauce pan with sliced mozzarella and top with cheese. Alternately, you can toss ALL of the eggplant in the egg bowl, mix, and then toss all of it in the crumbs to coat, and pour the whole mess in the pan with the tomato sauce. This is the lazy way, and it doesn't cook evenly, but it still tastes good. (If you are a fried-green-tomato fan, this is the way to get out of dipping each dainty little slice and getting a thick gob of crumby goo on your fingers, too. Chop your tomatoes into 1 inch cubes instead of slices, coat with egg all at once, toss in crumbs and spread the whole mass out on a greased cookie sheet or fry in a big cast iron pan. Kentucky style. Thanks Diana Brown.)

First things first. Dip each slice in egg, then in crumbs, then place on the parchment. Bake at 350 until golden on one side, then flip and finish the other side. Prepare glass pan with a thin pool of tomato sauce, then layer the cooked eggplant slices with slices or dabs of mozzarella cheese, and finish with the remaining tomato sauce and a sprinkle of the remaining parm over everything. Bake again until the cheese is melted and the tops brown.

We had this yesterday with chicken that was coated in herbs, sliced thin and baked in the same hot oven, and some steamed broccoli. Tonight, the leftovers were tossed with green beans and penne pasta. My vegetarian days were important and nostalgic cooking days for me, learning how to keep a budget and keep myself fed and healthy. I still think about those times when I eat this dish. It's warm and smells like a pizza palace, the eggplant has a meat-like bite to it, and it's comforting and yummy in the tummy. And cheap.

Election Etc.

Wednesday:
Today I had lunch with a friend and her parents. We were each talking about trying to make sure we were home to watch the debate tonight. Her mother started talking about her feelings about the two candidates. I didn't even have time to steel myself to what I expected to be a conservative take on things before she said, "Obama just sounds like a more intelligent, more thoughtful, man. More of the kind of man that we need right now." Amen, Mom.

***

In the 8th grade, a bunch of kids ran for student government. The speeches were pretty basic, probably the same speeches given by kids running for office every year in every school in the country. Nerdy, likeable, hard-working kids promised to do a good job. Popular kids' campaign promises of "vending machines in every room" or "longer recesses" or "no homework for a week" brought cheers and whistles from the crowd, and sometimes won them the election.

I remember thinking then, just as I'm thinking now when I hear some of the campaign promises being offered, "Do the people listening really believe that the candidates are going to be able to deliver on these promises?" It's easy to get caught up in the fact that someone seems to want for you exactly what you want-- be it free candy or lower taxes-- but can he or she really deliver, and does it make any sense to promise it at all?

***

After watching the Frontline profiles of the two candidates last night on PBS, I have a better understanding of their backgrounds. While I see McCain as a little more human now, I still think that Obama is a smarter man. McCain was 5th from the bottom of his class. Obama presided over the Harvard Law Review. McCain was the son and the grandson of Navy Admirals, and chose to get into politics after he married the daughter of a wealthy Arizona beer distributor. Obama, on the other hand, tried community organizing out of high school, and chose to go to law school after he realized that his efforts at the grassroots level weren't enough to make a big difference.

And the number one reason not to vote for McCain? His stand on choice, second only to his choice of vice president. The sound of President Palin sends shivers up my spine. If he becomes president (at age 70) I believe it will happen.

***

And finally, Fact Check.org is a great resource for seeing who lied, who fibbed, and who got confused during the debates.

Yet Another Reason to Get Out There and Vote

I knew there was something fishy about her.

Hie thee to Salon.com's article about Mrs. P., and then pass it on.

I Wish I'd Said That

Hop over right now and click on the Say No to Sarah link over there on the top right under FABULOUS. Read what some very intelligent, articulate women from different political parties are saying about Sarah Palin and John McCain's roles and responsibilities with respect to the thoughtless and vicious comments made by their supporters.

Gma Update

Grandma is back out of the hospital and comfortably watching TV at home. The caregivers are back on their regular schedule. My father and his brother have had a chance to spend some time with her this weekend and have headed or are heading home.

I'm so amazed at the resiliency and the plasticity of her brain, and her amazing ability to right herself. Each time she has one of these strokes, she seems not only to bounce back but to regain function. Grandpa says that her language is coming back, almost to the level it was before Tuesday.

For a glimpse into how strokes work, and what one might feel like, check out My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor. (The link is for the youtube video, here is the link to the book.)

Where is My Hybrid?

Subaru, Subaru, Subaru…where is my hybrid???

I am currently the owner of a Subaru Impreza WRX, and I love my car (28-30 mpg still beats out all hybrid SUVs). If I had my choice, I would only buy Subarus. But Subaru is seriously lagging in getting into the hybrid market, and it seems that all they can offer is excuses. Batteries are not ideal, but they seem to work fine for the Prius, and all the other hybrids. Toyota, Lexus, Ford and Honda aren’t claiming that they can’t get them, or that the technology isn’t there yet. The article is full of facts and figures, all sorts of smoke-and-mirrors “education” attempting to mask the fact that Subaru doesn’t have an answer for the hybrid market and didn’t really do its homework. What's the real story?

Subaru drivers pride themselves in being sporty, outdoorsy, environmentally-correct types. We are the perfect market for the sporty hybrid wagon (that sort of looks like a shoe) you’ve so elaborately described in your article on HEVs.

So WHERE IS IT??

Even though our cars are fuel-efficient, very soon we’re all going to feel just a little bit more guilty (as though we don't already) that we’re not driving something less harmful to the environment and more economical. One by one, Subaru drivers are going to switch to hybrids. Will you be there for us, or keep making excuses?

Ruining a Perfectly Good Hairstyle Forever

Illustration by Victor Juhasz

Rolling Stone corrects the myths about Sarah Palin. Oh, lordy. The article is full of spit and venom, and somewhere in between really scary and very satisfying to read, but the truth behind her wink-wink, nudge-nudge campaign claims needs to be seen. Don't those voters who think she's cute as a button care that she's lying? Not little-white-lying, but big, fat, to-your-face- without-flinching lying. Read the whole article and see. (Isn't the illustration just awful? I want it as a t-shirt. Now.)

Remember that we are dealing with politicians on both sides here. Photo ops and media clips. Never trust anyone 100% if they are trying to sell you something. There is a whole lot of selling going on in the next four weeks. I totally disagree with politicians on both sides about their approach to healthcare. I think they are both equally full of it on the war, and their ability to fix what's wrong. But on the issues that I care about, only one party is saying what I want to hear.

Spoke Too Soon

Here is the email I sent to close family members yesterday, after visiting with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday:

"Mike and I went up to help them out with winterizing yesterday. Gma is doing pretty well-- seems a little more anxious, but no trips to the emergency room this week, and that's a good thing. Next time, we hope to be able to spend more time. Gpa has lost more weight, but he looks good. Often it's hard to get a read on how he's feeling on the phone, as there is always somebody right next to him. Sometimes the girls even answer the phone. But both of them seemed well this weekend other than that...and we all made it down from the roof safely.

The girls that come and help them are all very nice and have been doing a really good job keeping the house clean. Nichole (one of the caregivers) actually dismantled and cleaned the whole dining room chandelier, and I washed the tablecloth, so it's looking pretty good in the dining room along with all the dusting that you did. The living room stuff is now confined to the side nearest the door, and it looks like it's getting smaller.

We all sat down at the kitchen table and had meat and cheese sandwiches, soup, potato chips and bread-and-butter pickles, just like old times. It was so nice to sit at the table again! One question: Grandpa and I were looking for Grandma's cookbook from the 40's that used to sit right behind the TV in the kitchen. We couldn't find it upstairs in either of the bookcases, or in any of the kitchen drawers with the rest of the recipes. Unless someone knows where it is, we'll start going through the boxes until we find it, but I didn't see it when I was moving the stuff around in the living room either. Does anyone remember seeing it?"

And this morning, Tuesday, sometime between 3 a.m. and 12 p.m., Grandmother suffered another stroke that left in its wake the physical signs you always hear about. She's not talking right now, and we don't know if she will again.

Wow.

I hadn't thought about what a big deal that is until I typed it. She can still understand, as far as we know. As of this morning, the caregiver said she was understanding and responding to directions, but couldn't speak. The CAT scan confirms that there has been major damage this time.

Tomorrow will be as tomorrow will be. Dad and his new wife are flying in from Tennessee and Missouri. My uncle is coming up from Fresno tonight. The doctor says now is the time to visit, but I wish they had all been there in September. Grandma was still having a good time then. I wish that they had all been there on Sunday, too, to talk to her and see that despite the setbacks, she was comfortable. Anxious but happy, participating in conversations and jokes. She had her sense of humor--and her trademark icy glare at Grandpa when he told her she was doing just fine eating by herself. Earlier in the week, she had said she wanted to make applesauce from the apples on the little tree in their backyard. When Grandpa could only reach one, she-of-few-words-lately popped off with a perfectly sarcastic, "Oh, the last of the big spenders-- thanks a lot!"

Sunday, she remembered the location of her jam recipes at the bottom of a kitchen drawer and made me take them home. She told me at least ten times to be careful, thank goodness Mike fixed the dishwasher, and have a safe trip home.

Grandma, I wish more than anything that you have a safe trip home, too.

Love, Tamarina

Don't Vote- and Don't Miss This

The Saturday Night Live parody of the Vice-Presidential debate takes a little bit of the sting out of the fact that people actually praised the alleged Governor of Alaska for not completely blowing it.

If you'd like to view the fascinating celebrity "Don't Vote" video, hop on over to my friend Briana's blog for the link.

Don't forget that you have just over a week to register to vote. This election will make a huge difference: the prevailing party will put the judges of their choosing on the Supreme Court, and the rights that our mothers and grandmothers fought for in the 70s are on the line. Every single vote counts. Every woman's voice, young and old, needs to be heard. We cannot go back. We will not go back.