Monthly Archives: June 2011

>Open letters to the so-called Leaders of Wisconsin

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>Dear Governor Walker;

You claim that Wisconsin is Open for Business. Businesses require an educated workforce. Think it over, please.

Sincerely,
Daisy
Dear Senator Ellis;
The title President of the Senate looks good on your letterhead. Your abuses of power, however, look lousy. Stating, “We’ll just pass all the bills without you if you’re not here” was a snotty and rude manner of addressing your colleagues. I’m embarrassed to admit that you represent my district. Didn’t your parents teach you that “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”?
With grave concern,
Daisy
Dear Representative Bernard-Schaber;
Thank goodness you’re in the Wisconsin Assembly! I noticed that the new, re-introduced version of the union-busting bill exempts public transit. I’m sure the Gov won’t give you credit for the original amendment, but I will. I know you brought it up in the beginning.

Thank you for maintaining your sanity in an insane atmosphere.

Your loyal constituent,
Daisy
Dear Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices;
I’m thoroughly disappointed in your decision that Wisconsin Act 10, a.k.a. the Union Busting Law, was passed constitutionally rather than in violation of the open meetings law. This decision tells our narrow-minded majority that as lawmakers, they are above the law. Is this really what you wanted to say?
Regretfully,
Daisy
Dear Benjamin Franklin,
What kind of government do we have? “A republic, if you can keep it.” Sigh. We’re trying. It’s not easy.

Historically yours,
Daisy
Dear John Adams,
You once wrote to Thomas Jefferson “I cannot contemplate human affairs without laughing or crying. I choose to laugh.” I wish I could laugh, but current political climate is so negative it scares me.
Thoughtfully,
Daisy
Dear Governor Walker,
I’m a mediator by nature and by training. The way I see it, consensus beats conflict any day of the week. In fact, I taught fifth and sixth graders to mediate conflicts. Would you like assistance in learning peer mediation? I noticed you don’t have these skills – yet.

Cooperatively yours,
Daisy

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>Shrimp and Mushrooms over Spaghetti

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>I usually plan and pre-post Tuesday’s recipe. I’m running a little behind; I blame the nice weather. Yesterday I finally got around to testing this dish (it was a hit), and then after supper I was weeding and mulching and enjoying the evening birdsong. Oops, no post. Better late than never, though, and this is an easy dish for busy cooks.

Shrimp & Mushrooms over Spaghetti
4 oz. spaghetti
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 cup white wine
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Cook spaghetti and drain.
Combine garlic, shrimp, and mushrooms and cook slowly for 5 minutes in a saute pan, tossing lightly. Add the spaghetti to the shrimp mixture. Add cheese, salt, white wine, and lemon juice. Stir until done. Serve immediately.
Ah, readers, you know me well. You know for certain that I made changes when I served this for supper last night. I did follow the basic recipe, but I added/ changed a little here and there. Here’s my list of modifications.
Add:
small amount of diced red bell pepper
1/4 diced onion
1/2 pound scallops (add with shrimp)
1 cup spinach (don’t laugh; in August it’ll be grated zucchini)
Replace spaghetti with egg noodles
I did not use the white wine. Instead, I boiled up the shrimp peelings and used 1/4 cup shrimp stock.
Next time, I’ll add herbs. I wonder how basil will work in this combination of flavors? Maybe in August I can serve it with a side of disappearing zucchini orzo instead of over pasta.

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>My yard – it rocks.

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First it looked like this. Mint, mint, everywhere, as far as one could see.

Then the mint was gone (Hah! Take that, invasive weed) and covered by a handy home made biodegradable barrier.
Next step: gather supplies. On the right, gravel. Basic, commercial gravel, previously located under a lilac tree. On the left, random rocks, most of which were scraps of concrete salvaged when we replaced our driveway.
Then I brought it the family member with the best sense of aesthetics: La Petite. She helped me put it all together. It looks much better now. The concrete planter needs a plant, and the pine trees really need a new unbroken home, but that will come later. For now, we have a rock garden where the mint used to be, and that’s exactly what we wanted.

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>Home gardening – how do you rate?

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>Mother Nature Network continues to be one of my favorite sites. Today their newsletter led me to this graphic describing home gardeners in the U.S. According to their statistics, I fit the mold pretty darn well.

  • College Graduate
  • Age 45 or (ahem) older
  • Average amount spent per household: $70 (seeds, seedlings, supports, etc.)
  • Average return on investment: $530 ($600 dollar return – $70 investment = $530)
  • Most common foods grown: tomatoes, beans, summer squash, lettuce, peas, peppers.
If I’m honest, my cost is a bit closer to $100. I invested in starter soil for seeds, a mini-greenhouse, and organic heirloom seedlings, all of which cost a bit more than the average. I believe it will pay off in quality, if not quantity. It’s not the $64 tomato, but it’s a sizable investment.
Time spent: their average is 5 hours a week. I’ll say it varies. Between watering, weeding, and making compost and chasing away the critters, I spent at least that. The time spent is an investment in the garden and its food output. This time is also an investment in my own peace of mind. While I’m weeding and watering, my mind is wandering. I’m thinking and processing all kinds of random thoughts, sometimes working through problems or writing whole blog posts in my head. There’s no dollar amount to attach to the mental health benefits of caring for a garden. I call it priceless.

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Get out of my compost, critter!

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Never before, in more than ten years of letting compost happen in the backyard, never before has the big black made-of-recycled-plastics compost bin been raided. This year I’ve found evidence several times – evidence in the form of the side access panel removed and compost in various stages scattered around. I reached for a quick solution: a rock. A big rock. A heavy rock, right in front of the access panel. That should keep the furry creatures out of the bin, right? Right?

Wrong. This big, heavy rock wasn’t enough. The critters, obviously with significant dexterity, just reached over the top of the rock and pulled the panel open again. Again!! This critter (or critters) was nocturnal, so I never actually saw it in action. I just saw the results, and the results frustrated me no end.
So I did what so many people do: I turned to duct tape.
I taped the other side shut, too, even though the nocturnal critters with maximum dexterity (and probably opposable thumbs) hadn’t attacked that side yet. I wasn’t taking any chances.
So far, the tape is working. Let that be a message: get out of my compost, punk!

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>Blueberry Muffins

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>I looked through my archives and was surprised to see I hadn’t posted this standard recipe in my repertoire. I made these yet again on Sunday morning using frozen blueberries. Something about pulling last summer’s bounty out of the freezer makes it a little easier to wait for the first downtown Farmers’ Market. It’s a standard muffin recipe from the Good Home Cookbook. I made one change: I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Blueberry Muffins
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in a medium bowl until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the milk and eggs until well combined.
3. Add the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Fold in the berries.
4. Preheat oven to 350. Divide muffin batter evenly among twelve muffin cups.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve! These are delicious. I’m sure I don’t need to mention that they go well with coffee.
The Good Home Cookbook, edited by Richard Perry, has been on the market for several years. I got my copy to review when I was a fairly new blogger. Since then it has become my go-to cookbook for many recipes, most notably muffins. I enjoy reading the little bits of baking and cooking lore included with the recipes themselves. The blueberry muffin recipe notes that wild blueberries are popular with bakers because they’re slightly smaller than the commercially cultivated fruit. Interesting, isn’t it?

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>Walkerville vs. Hooverville

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>Walkerville is a symbolic movement currently going on in (of course! You guessed it) Madison, WI. Protesters have set up tents and small shelters around the Capitol grounds and scheduled events to call attention to the risks of the proposed state budget and the governor’s extreme agenda. Walkerville, they say, represents the equivalent of a Depression-era Hooverville.

One argument of the makeshift community’s: Gov. Walker’s union busting is unconstitutional, unwise, and wrong. The law, if it makes its way through the State Supreme Court, will cause more economic harm than good. More than 100 days after its introduction, Wisconsin’s citizens and legislators remain polarized and conflicted around Walker’s philosophies in general and the so-called Budget Repair Law in particular. No disagreement there; the union busting attempt has a direct effect on me and on my colleagues in education.
In addition: access to the Capitol has been severely limited. Any groups potentially in opposition to Walker have been forced off the floor and onto the grounds.
But is Walkerville equivalent to a Hooverville? No, it’s not. Organizers chose the name Walkerville to invoke the memories of Hoovervilles, the shanty towns of the depression. Major economic crisis: check. Job scarcity: check. Shanty towns: let’s talk it over.
The best description of a Hooverville I’ve ever read was in Christopher Paul Curtis’ Newbery winner Bud, Not Buddy. Bud, a 10-year-old orphan, is on his own and looking for shelter when a local man tells him to head toward the outskirts of town and find “Hooperville.” Bud finds his way to the shanty town and finds out it’s not Hooperville, but Hooverville, named after the president, who thought they were so special that every town ought to have one.
Bud asks, “How do I know I’m at the right Hooverville?”
“Answer these three questions. Are you hungry? Are you tired? Are you scared?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.”
“Then you’re in the right Hooverville.”
Hoovervilles were home to people who had no home. Many were riding the rails, sneaking into open boxcars to travel far away from home in search of work. These people were homeless, but not entirely hopeless. They banded together to feed each other (Bud eats muskrat stew cooked over an open fire and served in a square tin can), keep warm, and stay safe.
Walkerville isn’t made up of shanties; people brought tents and sleeping bags. The comfort level is much, much different. Residents of Walkerville are temporary; one was quoted as saying he couldn’t stay because he had final exams most of the week. They’ll go back to their dorms or their homes when the time for protest is done. Residents of the real Hoovervilles had no place to go but another Hooverville.
Walkerville is a planned protest, complete with scheduled speakers and music and even documentary movies in support of the cause. Hoovervilles sprang up according to extreme need. The name works in a way, as this site describes it, reminding skeptics that “(n)aming a forced settlement after the person who made it necessary has historical significance in the labor movement.”
The tent city in Madison is an attempt to direct attention to policies that will hurt the middle class. Walkerville and the movement as a whole have historical significance in the labor movement nationwide. This is a creative way to make a point and gain publicity.
But is it a Hooverville? No. Walkerville is named for a leader known for divisiveness and conflict, but he hasn’t forced masses of citizens into homelessness yet.
Yet. If he continues along the same political road, Walkervilles may no longer be camp-outs. I hope this month’s Walkerville tactics help make the point and change direction enough that we don’t need the real thing.

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>From mint to a rock garden

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This is the “before” picture. Mint, mint, and more mint. A few tulip and daffodil bulbs, but other than that, the area is almost entirely occupied by mint. Sure, it smells good. I could use it to make mint syrup or garnish a refreshing beverage. But this plant is aggressive. A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E. It takes over. I’ve tried pulling it; it comes back. I’ve tried moving it; it spread. I placed layers over the mint last fall, hoping I could start a new raised garden over the top. Nope; mint was determined to find the sun.

I started again by removing the mint. I moved the bulbs (see the daffodil remains on the right?) to a better place. I set the mint on a drying table in the backyard. I might compost it. Maybe. Does mint seed get destroyed in compost or does it flourish? I’ll find out.
Next step: cover the soil, again. This time I’m going one more step. The area will become a rock garden. This concept worked around my rose bushes, intimidating the clover and other weeds into submission so the roses could thrive by themselves.
For now, it’s just a batch of packaging held down by large stones and heavy planters. I have extra gravel; but do I have enough? Maybe, just maybe, I can build this rock garden without spending money on the materials. I’ll find out, and I’ll let you know on the next episode, when I hope to have a picture of all rock, no visible packaging, and certainly no more mint.

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>Rain! Spinach! And more!

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>Rain! We finally had a little rain! My rain barrels were empty, and I actually watered the garden with the hose two nights in a row. It felt so wasteful, yet was so necessary. My poor plants were drying up in the cracked soil.

Spinach! We have spinach! I harvested a big batch of spinach to cook up with chicken in my slow cooker. The produce drawer looked like Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard (with the exception of bunny food), so I stopped at our neighborhood market and picked up 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, and one small onion. I found out that the best cheese is located at the meat counter. Feta will be perfect on this dish!
I’ve also discovered two relatively new thrift stores. I picked up a pot and two tiny cute buckets, sized perfectly for giving away two jars of jam each. Total purchase: $1.97.
Next door was Starbucks. I don’t get out much, so I used a gift card and got myself a treat. After that, I mailed a few books and picked up prescriptions.
Now back to the neighborhood market. I used my own bag at the thrift store and for the prescriptions, so when I got to the market, I had to take their plastic bag. Famous last words: “Oh, I don’t need to keep all three bags in my purse. Two will be plenty.” Uh-huh. The clerk even teased a little because I never, ever need a bag at this little store.
Now the crock pot is simmering, the medicines hiding in their designated cupboard, the new buckets and I’m debating what to grow now that I have another pot. Meanwhile, time to make lunch and relax with the mid-day news.
So, readers, I’m curious. Do you bring your own bags? How many do you carry with you on a regular basis?

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>Cheese! Glorious cheese! Sargento Fridge Packs

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Being part of Mom Central Consulting is a lot of fun. The current fun is cheese. Yes, cheese. This cheese is good quality (it’s from Sargento), and the product itself is all about the packaging. Speaking of packaging, I was very excited to open up the box when it came. Look at all this cheese!

Below is the cheese as it fits in the refrigerator. Sargento Fridge Packs are made for convenience. As much as I prefer bulk packaging for most of my foods, I have to admit I liked these. Each cheese stick is vacuum wrapped to keep it fresh.

I opened the box of Colby Jack first. It didn’t take long before all three boxes were open. La Petite and Chuck dipped in immediately. This is a good sign for Sargento; we’re cheese snobs. We like our cheese real and we like it fresh. This cheese, thanks to its packaging, was very fresh and very delicious. Chuck packs a stick or two in his lunch. La Petite eats it any time of day, including breakfast. My favorite time to dip into the Fridge Packs is mid-afternoon to keep me from nibbling later while making supper.
Did I say it went quickly? It was a blur, honestly. Who needs junk food? When something healthier is this convenient, the family will eat it.
I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Sargento and received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate. No, it wasn’t a cheesehead. I already have one of those. This product review was tasty and fun; thanks for including me, MomCentral and Sargento. The family thanks you, too.

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