Now, there's a difference between flexible and wimpy. Flexible: open-minded but discerning. Wimpy: "I blow with the prevailing wind." (cue Claude Rains and 10 points for anyone who can tell me which movie that quote came from) And no, I didn't Google the quote. It just came out of my very weird brain...
I'm taking an online Restorative Justice class. Not because I need it...or maybe because I need it. I don't need the credit or the CEUs. But I'm interested in learning about inherent privilege and how to best move in the world without flashing too much white female baggage. I mean, we all have bias, and I have learned, from my kids, that it's actually pretty insulting to "not see color" because it renders people invisible.
Much like my grey hair causes people to underestimate me and other women like me. For a man, you see, it's "just because there's snow on the roof doesn't mean there isn't fire in the furnace." For women, though it's changing thankfully, "Oh dear, haven't seen your stylist in a while? Or don't you care?" Honestly, I don't care, but my grey hair isn't the point here.
Over the columns on the Supreme Court building are the words: Equal Justice Under Law. Granted, for a long time, women haven't had equal justice. But that's nothing compared to people of color. I'm talking about not only those who are descendants of slavery, but also those who come here from any other country who aren't white. I like to think I see everyone as equals, but I was raised in an era where racism was pretty casual, even though it wasn't anything as bad as in the south (sorry, but it's true). Tomorrow, unless it's called off, I'm marching in a Black Lives Matter protest. And I want to make it clear: if you're going to say "all lives matter" then you probably need to attend a Black Lives Matter march. Because "all" means ALL. Black, Brown, White, Blue, Red, Yellow, Green - doesn't matter. All lives.
The idea of "protester" and "looter" is being conflated. There are those of us who protest pretty regularly. We don't loot. We're exercising our First Amendment rights. Looters are scum and crooks. Period. I give no quarter here. First, because looters detract from a legitimate protest. And second, because I'm surely NOT going to be collateral damage because the police are reacting to looters and we protesters get caught in the middle. Not gonna happen.
How My Garden Grows...
Well, I have shoulders on my radishes. I'm going to pull some in the next few days. They're lovely and when home-grown, (a) soooo easy to grow; and (b) much tastier than store-bought, even organic ones. The fun thing is you can have at least 2 growing periods for radishes. You can sow them so early that in reality, you can usually get in one more batch before the first frost in most areas. I'm growing red ones and white ones. I think the white ones will take a bit longer. And I'm about ready to pluck some romaine and the softer lettuces.
My poppies have popped! I have several requests for seeds, which is fine with me. This plant -- well, maybe not THIS plant, it keeps re-seeding itself... has been in the front of our garden for over 25 years. It moves ever so slightly every year. But it's so far stayed just west of the milkweed. As with our lilacs, we seem to have an exuberance of poppies. I have no idea if that's a thing - but it is now! They seem to be a little more pink this year.
My tomato is still with us. The tree-rats have left it alone so far. But they have been digging in the rosemary and the parsley. I saw a swallowtail today; so I'm pretty sure egg laying is commencing. I feel kind of bad; we've moved our feeder to avoid the squirrels, but now it's closer to the parsley, dill and milkweed.
And birds eat caterpillars.
The circle of life sometimes sucks.
Garlic Brussels Sprouts & Ham...
We had some purple Brussels sprouts and we NEEDED to eat them. Like today. So I did the Google and came up with a couple of recipes for Brussels Sprouts & Ham. The original one had sauerkraut. I don't care WHAT could be offered to Hubby, but he won't touch sauerkraut. I will eat it almost every day. But he won't and I can't budge him.
Here's my modification of the recipe I used... It wasn't too bad, served with whole-berry cranberry sauce and homemade bread.
1 lb. Brussels Sprouts, trimmed & halved
Penzey's Frozen Pizza Seasoning
1 lb. leftover ham, trimmed and cut into cubes
1/2 c. parmesan
1/2 c. asiago cheese
1/2 c. Panko
Penzey's Granulated Roasted Garlic
2 T. bacon fat (already rendered)
6 green onions, trimmed and diced
4 potatoes, cut into cubes
2 T. lemon juice
In a Dutch oven heat the bacon fat till it's melted then turn off the heat. Add the Sprouts, ham, onions and potatoes. Stir to coat in the fat. Add the seasonings and stir once more. Add the cheese and lemon juice and stir one more time to evenly distribute the cheese. Top with the Panko. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and put it into a 350F oven for 45 minutes. Test the potatoes and stir the mixture up. Turn oven to 450F and take the lid off for 15 min or till potatoes and sprouts are tender.
***NOTE: I had to cook this for quite a while because the spuds and sprouts weren't quite done. If you have to cook it for longer than the time indicated, for the last round of cooking, put the lid back on. It'll help steam and cook the veggies.
And yes, bacon fat. In the scheme of things, it's not a lot. If you do NOT have bacon fat, you can use olive oil or avocado oil.
I like the addition of the cranberry sauce; it brightens up the sprouts and takes the salty edge off the ham. You notice I didn't add ANY salt. It didn't need it. This is after Hubby tucked away the leftovers...an escaped spud tried to stay on the stove!
I like the Penzey's Frozen Pizza blend - it's a zingy blend not unlike Italian Seasoning but with caraway in it, that kind of gives it a peppery touch. I will be doing this again, and I think I'd add more cheese, but I would NOT add anything like Mozzarella. Stick with Asiago and Parm - they meld well with the sprouts. I might also soften the onions by sauteeing a tiny bit.
The Knitting Keeps On...
I'm now on section 6 of 10 of the Breathe & Hope shawl. And I'm still sweating the blocking to come. There are a few blips in here, but I like how the K1b looks like little EKG patterns. I'm liking how the "bands" with the larger needles are working out. That is apparently the repeat of the whole thing. The part with the smaller needles changes, but the bands are the part which will bring the whole thing together.
I kind of thought the K1b part would, but apparently not. I hope it doesn't look too jarring with the switching in the variegated yarn. It's a pretty strong variegation, rather than something more subtle.
But either way, it's still a nice little shawl, that will work for 3 seasons. Now I just have to figure out whether I'm keeping it or sending it elsewhere...One never knows.
Random Picture...How does she breathe like that??? I did a seminar with Young Living Essential Oils and Pets and in my research, found the "breathing pattern of dogs" to be quite interesting. All I can say is that it's a neat trick.
FYI, they breathe through the sides of their noses. If you've ever noticed how their nostrils curl, that enables them to efficiently sniff and snort and breathe.
Anyway, this was her afternoon "meditations." She's such a goofball and such a kook.
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