respublica

We've lost our sense of common decency

I've been bothered by the practice of people using the comment areas of social media, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, news sites, whatever, to write the most vile thing that comes into their heads. This is true in secular politics, food reviews, crime stories, etc.  Today this tendency is out for everyone to see after the train carrying republican members of congress to a retreat, crashed into a trash truck which was in the middle of a set of tracks. The comments make me sick. You can disagree on politics but this kind of thing is beyond the pale. For example from Twitter:

"An AMTRAK train carrying Republican members of congress has hit a dump truck near Charlottesville: Hazmat workers on the scene are reportedly having trouble discerning which garbage is more hazardous — Republicans or the trash from the truck."

"Author and self-proclaimed CNN “talking head” Jonathan Tasini took to Twitter on Wednesday to declare that “God is working hard today to clean up the stink” because a “train full of Goopers” slammed into a dump truck moments after news broke that GOP lawmakers were in a collision that resulted in at least one death."

"Darn. The wicked spared."

There were many more.  Some have been taken down, but the internet is forever and others do take screen shots. The worst part is this is not unusual. For some reason people think they can say anything, rip anyone, call others names while on their phone or computer and it's ok. Because you think differently from me, I can lash out in any despicable way I want.

We're living in out of control times.

 

 

Picture of the day

Who thought this was a good idea? Look closely at the words.

Burgoo with squirrel

The February Feast Magazine is out and found near grocery store entrances-free. Slipped in between pages 18 and 20 is maybe an ad by the Missouri Department of Conservation which touts Small Game Hunting and cooking with small game. The recipe that is included with this story is Boone County Burgoo "with squirrel".

That stopped me immediately. First, what is Burgoo? I had to google it and learned it is the most popular food in Kentucky, a dish mid-way between a hearty soup and a stew and made with a variety of ingredients and "anything that ever walked or flew". It should be cooked for no less than 6 hours. (This is before the Insta-Pot craze).

So that brought me back to the Feast recipe. It uses squirrel. Ugh. I honestly can't swallow this mentally or physically. Years ago when we were new to Venedy, someone brought us a foil wrapped meal. It was still very hot. It turned out to be fried squirrel. That was my only contact with squirrel as food and the last...I hope. Don't believe anyone who tells you it tastes like chicken because it doesn't.

But if you're interested and want to find a use for all the excess squirrels in your yard, here is the recipe.

Serves 6 to 8

• 2 pounds squirrel meat (about 4 squirrels)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 cups water
• 1 cup white hominy
• 1½ cups lima beans (or other dried beans)
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup sliced okra (or fresh green beans)
• 1 to 2 red bell peppers, diced (or combination of sweet and hot roasted peppers)
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels
• 1½ to 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon (or more) coarsely ground black pepper
• ½ to 1 teaspoon chile powder (depending upon desired heat)
• ½ teaspoon red-pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Clean 3 or 4 squirrels to obtain 2 pounds of meat on the bone. Rub the meat with salt and pepper and broil the whole squirrels for about 30 minutes (keeping squirrels about 8 inches from the heating element). Turn halfway through to brown both sides. Alternatively, you may put your squirrels in a large pot, cover them with water, and boil them for 2 to 3 hours (older squirrels take longer to cook until tender). Debone and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Heat oil in the bottom of a big pot and brown squirrel pieces for 4 or 5 minutes, turning them frequently. Add water to the pot and then the hominy, lima beans, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and bay leaf. Simmer for 1 hour and skim off grease (if any).

Add okra, bell pepper, tomatoes, corn, salt, pepper, chile powder, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauces. Bring the stew back to a boil, stir well, and reduce heat. Simmer, partially covered for 2 more hours or until it is as thick as you like.

 

Apple juice from a Keurig

Business news today reported that Keurig bought Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc which means Keurig now owns Dr Pepper, 7UP, Snapple, A&W, Mott's, Sunkist and Keurig's single-serve coffee makers. I guess that doesn't mean we could get all those drinks out of a Keurig, but it's a quite the variety of drinks. And, who knew Dr. Pepper and Snapple were part of the same company.

An invention idea

If I could tell appliance designers what I'd most like to see in the kitchen is a dishwasher which stood higher. Filling and emptying a dishwasher means staying bent over way too long for my knees. I'd love to see one which was taller.

An Illinois Mattress

A mattress fell on to Route 14 at 255 this morning

Mattresses 11

Ladders 7

People must be taking advantage of January mattress sales or something, they're falling off vehicles more frequently than ladders right now

We're in a pickle now

Of all the food trends I never thought would happen is this one. Pickle juice. Seriously, the benefits of pickle juice are all over the place right now. How about, "The Incredible Health Benefits of Pickle Juice." These include: preventing or getting muscle cramps, good for digestion by encouraging the growth and healthy balance of good bacteria and flora in your gut, getting rid of a hangover, eases PMS.

Maybe. But do you have to hold your breath while swallowing pickle juice in order not to throw up?

Also, Dill Pickle soup is big. In St. Louis, The Fountain on Locust is said to have a great one.

I enjoy reading about food fads, but too often, like now, I just can't bring myself to join the bandwagon. Or pickle jar. But I'm pretty rigid in my eating habits so don't go by me.

Then of course, there is pickled wood, pickled herring, and pickled peppers by the peck.

Car break-ins

St. Louis news reported that Thursday night 36 cars were broken into in the Soulard area and south city. While that was going on more than a dozen cars were smashed in south county. This has become a nightly nightmare for residents of St. Louis and beyond.

A San Francisco friend of ours wrote that that city's police news stated that in 2017 there were over 30,000 car break-ins. From 2011-2017 85,000 cars were vandalized. And, only 13 arrests were ever made.

This seems to be THE crime of the times and like San Francisco, rarely are the perpetrators ever caught. What to do to protect your car? I have no idea. Locking up obviously does not work. I guess don't keep anything inside that can be seen which won't help you get your windows replaced but at least you won't have anything of importance taken.

Food delivery!

St. Paul Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin, has delivered food to our students for several years. Pastor Gerry Kuhnke drives down pulling a trailer full of all conceivable varieties of food and drink, pulls up in a parking area and students unload box after box after box. Then after a prayer everyone fills their own bags, boxes or wagons full of meat, snacks, vegetables, and baking ingredients. They even send things like kleenex, great at this time of year and other similar products. Yesterday was the second delivery in two months and I talked a bit with pastor Kuhnke and was amazed at the generosity of the people in Madison.

He told me that in the past couple of years they've brought down over a million pounds of food. Think about that. It means so much to our students, especially the married students who have kids and very little extra money. We are humbled and actively thankful for this extreme generosity.

Students lined up to help unload the food boxes

Pastor Kuhnke with one of our students.

A prayer and then...help yourself to anything everyone

Just amazing

This is not the Onion

At first I thought this was a satirical news story, but it seems not to be.

"Climate Change: Sandwiches eaten in UK have same environmental impact as 8 million cars"

Researchers at the University of Manchester calculated the carbon footprint of 40 different types of sandwiches – both home-made and pre-packaged – taking account how the ingredients were produced, the packaging, as well as food waste discarded at home and elsewhere in the supply chain.

The worst offender is supposedly the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.

We just keep spinning