Of herblore and stewed coney

I've always loved the scenes in the 'Lord of the Rings' wherein Tolkien wanders off in a rather humorous fashion into herblore, especially the desperate search for King's foil and the reminiscences of old wives wherein a true professional is rather baffled, and as an expert herbalist myself, having now grown basil successfully for a full two months, perhaps I should write my own epic upon the subject (being that there are far duller things being put into print).  But I will refrain, at least until I am a true master of that particular art, say three or four months in perhaps?  But let me simply conclude that if I can manage it, anyone can, growing basil that is, not writing up their wisdom thereupon, that takes a very dull pen indeed, perhaps Miss Bates might be able to accomplish the matter but certainly not we lesser mortals!  Tolkien's elvish poetry was certainly a good exercise to allow him the privilege, but the rest of us should tread cautiously in this matter...

Sweet pepper cheesy pasta

My brother is obsessed with his insta-pot, which is amazing since I never knew he cooked anything save on the grill.  On a recent visit he made this pasta dish which was amazingly tasty, and while I didn't like all the bits and pieces that needed washing after, I thought I'd adapt it to my non-instal-pot life (less washing up!).  These are more like guidelines rather than a recipe, feel free to adapt it to your own taste/needs/lifestyle!

Sweet Pepper Cheesy Pasta:

In a cast iron dutch oven (who needs Insta-pot when you have cast iron?) or your favorite pot with a lid, saute 1/2 of an onion (minced) with 1/2 of a yellow or orange sweet pepper in a little oil until tender.  Add 3-4 chicken thighs, skin side down, seasoned to taste, and sere until skin is brown and crispy, flip over and cover pot, continue cooking until cooked through.  Remove from heat, allow to cool until you can handle the chicken, remove bones and skin (if desired) and shred chicken into bite sized pieces return to the pot.  Add ~4-6 cups of water (or broth) and return to heat; bring to a boil, scraping lovely brownings off the bottom of the pan as you do so.  If using water add enough bouillon to make 2-3 cups of broth and stir until dissolved.  Add ~1 pound of rotini or other small pasta and bring to a boil, making sure there is just enough liquid to completely cover the pasta.  Replace lid and cook on medium low until water is mostly absorbed and the pasta is tender.  Add a cup of mozzarella cheese and a block (8 oz) of cream cheese, stirring over low heat until melted and well blended (add a little milk or cream if necessary) and a smooth sauce is formed.  Enjoy!

Parenting in an alien world?

The world we knew as kids (assuming you were born in the 1980's or prior) no longer exists, save perhaps in movies like the Karate Kid or ET.  I love freaking out kids by telling them I existed before the internet!  So what has technology done to a whole generation?  How do we make the best of it if we still have kids at home?  Here's a very interesting article on just that topic.  Personally, we've raised our now six year old with very little technology, basically only an occasional movie or baseball game on TV.  He's struggled a little bit with all the computer based testing (apparently the only thing they do in school!) but otherwise I think he's done very well and even his teacher thinks the benefits far outweigh any negatives.  I figure since my husband's 90+ grandmother figured out how to do email and computers weren't commonplace until I hit junior high and my generation still managed to figure it out, he'll have no problems whatsoever.  The best part is imagination doesn't run on batteries!

Epic Gardening

In honor of the season, we'll go retro and look back at why I don't raise veggies:

The Egyptians got locusts, the Irish had blight, I get a haybine (for all you city people, just think of it as a giant lawn mower).  Of all the gardening disasters, this really wasn't something I had anticipated.  Weeds, drought, disease, bugs, deer, rabbits, okay, those are foreseeable garden annoyances.  Someone turning your sweetcorn into silage, not so much.  Our house has hayfield on three sides and the previous residents had a little garden out back on the edge of one, so that is where we stuck ours, except technically we don't own the property so the owner was well within his rights to mow hay right through my vegetable patch, I'm not sure he even realized it was there!

I'm actually very amused by the whole ordeal, I was not meant to have a vegetable garden and this just proves it!  And now I don't have to weed and water the rest of the summer for hardly any return.  The deer had trampled my poor peppers, my squash never came up, and the rabbits were slowly decimating my corn (like beavers!).  The potatoes were doing well, but as I had less than $1 invested in seed potatoes it is not a staggering loss.  I was getting rather grouchy with those silly bunnies though, every night I would have one less corn plant and it was horrible watching it die slowly, much better to have the whole thing done with in one fell swoop!  It is almost revenge on those atrocious rabbits…mwuhaa haa haa…yes that was evil laughter.  I think I'll stick with flowers from here on out or maybe try a few peppers in containers.

Gourmet or Bad Gardener?

I've finally taken the plunge and become a trendy foodie: I used fresh, homegrown basil in my latest pasta dish!  Now before you roll your eyes and say 'that's so three years ago, get with the times lady,' let me remind you that I am so far behind the times I still think the original Oregon Trail (circa 1987?) is the best video game ever!  I love basil, I use it in practically everything that isn't a dessert, but it gets spendy buying herbs and I've always wanted to try growing my own.  It is impossible to grow anything in my current climate, at least of the edible sort, what with herds of rampaging ungulates, 100% clay soil, and pretty much zero rain for most of the summer so I content myself with a few weeds, I mean wildflowers out in the flower beds and refrain my vegetable gardening to the freezer section at the local grocery store.  But I do have some nice big, bright windows so thought maybe an herb or two (also of the weed family!) might survive indoors.  I planted basil and parsley and both seem to be doing well, but the basil had reached the stage where I should be pinching it back.  I pinched back a tad too much on one plant, half the plant to be honest, and instead of wasting it, it went into the goulash.  Bad gardener, good cook?  Only time will tell!

Baby photo fails

It is finally a beautiful spring day out there, the dandelions are blooming and I really wanted to take a picture of our daughter amid the signature spring flowers (yes, they are flowers!).  I got some really cute shots, except in every one she is literally trying to or in the process of eating the dandelions!  Good thing they are edible!

The Strange Controversy of Celebration and Existence in the Modern Era

I was just thinking the other day that it isn't safe or politically correct to celebrate anything anymore, because obviously you will be offending someone somewhere, no matter how innocuous the day, I'm sure even Groundhog's Day must tick off the animal rights community no end.  Columbus ruined his day by apparently being a genocidal maniac.  I need not even mention the scandal that is Christmas.  In the US we just celebrated Mother's Day this past weekend, but I wonder how long it will last.  Father's Day is inappropriate and insensitive for all the fatherless children and single mothers of the world and because it celebrates men of all things, therefore it is obviously anti-woman (as some would reason it).  But what do you do with Mother's Day in light of the gender-transition movement? I've heard the UK is moving to strike 'mother' from it's medical jargon as an offensive term just in case the expectant parent happens to identify as male or something else.  As if that weren't confusing enough, motherhood itself is becoming rather a questionable pastime in our modern west.

I struggle personally with the holiday, having been raised by an abusive mother who once questioned my methodology in requesting a hug and later in my struggles with infertility and adoption, but I don't think we should quit honoring other women just because it is acutely painful to me, but there are many that think differently, either because they have likewise been injured by their own mothers or are unable to have children for a variety of reasons, understandable but selfish, or because they consider children at best a hobby or a nuisance and at worst a plague upon humanity.  I find it a rather chilling side-effect of modern culture that the very foundational stones of civilization (people) are becoming less important than our domestic animals.  The pet section at your local big box store is likely bigger than the baby section.  I'm fine with people having pets, but when those pets have a more socially acceptable place in society than kids, it becomes rather worrisome!

How many people do you know that have foregone having kids and instead 'adopt a fur baby?'  Few people see anything wrong with loving a dog, but a growing number are seeing something wrong with even wanting kids in the first place.  But the hard irony is that there wouldn't be people around to love dogs if previous generations hadn't also loved kids.  This isn't to beat up on the pet industry, I could as easily go on with examples from other lifestyle choices like traveling or skiing or any other human endeavor.  What it comes down to is the robot's worldview from 'The Matrix' is slowly coming true: humanity is a disease that is ravaging the planet.  The grand irony is that the robots were the bad guys in that film but a growing number of people seem to be agreeing with them, ergo having kids is akin to destroying the world and therefore a selfish and heartless endeavor, much better to commit suicide as a species and enjoy our innocuous pleasures in the moment and feel smugly proud of that fact and socially shame anyone who thinks otherwise.  How long will Mother's Day last?  The more important concern is how long will civilization last with such an attitude?