Cold-weather Comfort Food

I propose a challenge. Graham and I have posted recipes here before, and both were good for eating in the autumn / winter.

What, dear readers, would you add to the comfort-food arsenal?

I’ll pitch in a starter:

Buy a bottom round steak and mince it. Now brown the ground meat with a little salt and pepper. Remove from pan; add 3 tbsp flour

to the pan drippings and make a blond roux. Stir in 1 cup milk to make gravy; turn off heat, stir meat back in. Serve over mashed

potatoes, biscuits, or rice.

Tracy Porter, Drew Brees, Sean Payton ….

Laissez les bons temps rouler, indeed.  New Orleans Saints 31, Indianapolis Colts 17

The Super Bowl this year was a fantastic game.

Congratulations to Sean Payton, former offensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, on winning the challenge on the 2-point conversion.

AP Photo: Mark J. Terrill (Tracy Porter's interception for a 74-yard TD)

Congratulations Tracy Porter, Louisiana native, on the pick six that served Peyton Manning notice — just like Tom Brady he can’t walk on water.

Drew Brees went 32-39 in the game. Congratulations, Austin Westlake’s best QB ever, on tying Tom Brady’s record for most Super Bowl completions.

You know, anything that makes me like Jeremy Shockey is pretty darn remarkable. Congratulations on catching a TD in the Super Bowl.

Way to go, Who Dat Nation …

Another Win for the People

The USDA has scrapped the odious National Animal Identification System!

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Friday that he would work with states to develop their own systems for tracking animal diseases. Producers would be required to participate but only if their livestock cross state lines.

This is truly a victory for small farmers and producers.
The problem with food safety in the US — and there IS a huge problem — arises out of the big factory farming operatons (CAFO) where crowding is the norm and sanitation is ignored.

Kentucky farmer and farm activist Adam Barr told one listening session:

NAIS needs to be scrapped and we need to start over. The new program should look at industrial food production, which is the source of animal disease and food-borne illness. A clear distinction should be made between factory farms and those pasture-based family farms. Industrial ag may need this program. We should let them have it. Small-scale producers for a local market do not need this program, and if it moves forward, we would like full exemption for these producers.

h/t Fire on the Mountain — an excellent blog!

Cornbread and Black-Eyed Peas

Time for another receipt. This one I got from my mother, who grew up during the Depression. For the part that takes the longest:

1 lb dried black eyed peas, rinsed, picked and soaked

1/2 lb cubed salt pork OR 1/2 lb sliced ham hocks, rinsed

3 quarts water

1 tbsp black pepper

2/3 tbsp white pepper

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 seeded diced jalapeno (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and let cook 12-18 hours (in other words, set it up just before bedtime to have ready for the next night’s supper). If you’re on a low-fat diet, turn off the heat, chill it in the refrigerator and skim off the solidified fat, then reheat to serve. You’ll note there’s no salt other than what’s in the pork. If you use salt pork you won’t need more salt but you might want 2 tsp liquid smoke flavor, (which can be substituted for the meat altogether in a pinch, in which case you may also need some salt). If you use ham hocks you might want some salt available on the table. To ease serving, you’ll need to slice the ham hock off the bones; I usually discard the rind (skin). I know people who fight over the marrow…

Black-eyed peas

Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

3 tbsp melted butter or good vegetable oil

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat buttermilk into egg; beat in oil; stir in dry ingredients. Bake at 425 degrees F for 18-20 minutes, until top is golden brown, in an 8×8 inch lightly-greased pan. (Or, for best flavor, in an 8” cast-iron skillet with about 1/2 tsp of clean bacon grease melted in it while you preheat the oven. The hot bacon grease and hot pan give the bread a tasty, crunchy crust.)

To serve: slice cornbread. Split slices open and butter generously. If using ham hocks, debone the meat, discard the rind, and return shredded meat and bones to the peas. Heat peas through while cornbread browns.  Ladle peas over sliced cornbread.  (The peas will thicken the broth in the last couple hours of cooking.)

cornbread

Karma

“And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions.”

President Barack Obama, 27 January 2010, State of the Union Address.

_{Stolen from here}

There were other parts of last night’s speech worth cheering for:

“Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong”.

That, right there, is possibly the best thing the man said all night.

Not just because it revealed USSC Justice Samuel Alito — by way of his on-camera reaction to hearing the truth about the activist decision coming out of the Court that essentially endangers the ability of the American citizen to be represented in government, at the local level, the state level, or the Federal level — for the partisan political creature he is, but because he clearly calls on the Congress to plug this loophole.

Now if Congress be wise, the plug for this loophole will be an examination of the notion, fostered by a clerical error in recording a California state supreme court decision, that corporations are equal to real live human beings. A Congress wise enough to know it can’t afford to stay bought will put that notion to death.

Which really ought to be the focus of the Bill this President sends to Congress. There ought to be someone in the House who could introduce this, and someone in the Senate who would do the same.

There was also this, which IMNVHO is an outstanding — I mean, really, outstanding — turnaround on the anti-intellectual, anti-education stance we had out of the previous administration.

“I urge the Senate to follow the House and pass a bill that will revitalize our community colleges, which are a career pathway to the children of so many working families. To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer-subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants. And let’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years – and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service. Because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college”.

I distinctly remember hearing this President say something else, too:
And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential.

More from the speech is worth repeating:

We should put more Americans to work building clean energy facilities — (applause) — and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy-efficient, which supports clean energy jobs. (Applause.) And to encourage these and other businesses to stay within our borders, it is time to finally slash the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas, and give those tax breaks to companies that create jobs right here in the United States of America. (Applause.)

Now, the House has passed a jobs bill that includes some of these steps. (Applause.) As the first order of business this year, I urge the Senate to do the same, and I know they will. (Applause.) They will. (Applause.) People are out of work. They’re hurting. They need our help. And I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay. (Applause.)

But the truth is, these steps won’t make up for the seven million jobs that we’ve lost over the last two years. The only way to move to full employment is to lay a new foundation for long-term economic growth, and finally address the problems that America’s families have confronted for years.

We can’t afford another so-called economic “expansion” like the one from the last decade –- what some call the “lost decade” -– where jobs grew more slowly than during any prior expansion; where the income of the average American household declined while the cost of health care and tuition reached record highs; where prosperity was built on a housing bubble and financial speculation.

From the day I took office, I’ve been told that addressing our larger challenges is too ambitious; such an effort would be too contentious. I’ve been told that our political system is too gridlocked, and that we should just put things on hold for a while. For those who make these claims, I have one simple question: How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold? (Applause.)

He did tell us, last night, that he never suggested he could do this alone, nor that doing this wouldn’t be time-consuming, difficult, and messy.

Pretty realistic assessment, for a change.
It’s obvious that if the rest of us aren’t willing to back up this President, aren’t willing to ride herd on our Representatives and our  Senators (well, the ones calling and writing and marching around outside the home office with signs could actually, you know, cause to think, at least), the end of the “Yes we Can” movement was, effectively, 21 January 2009.

Remembering how good it felt to watch this President be inaugurated and hear about the first orders he signed, though, I hate to throw in the towel now.

It has finally dawned on me what he’s trying to do. Unlike Bush, he’s trying to work within and through the system, change the culture of politics in the nation’s capitol, and do his job the way the Constitution spelled it out.

Novel concept indeed, in a post-Reagan universe.

Drew Brees, Saints Head to First Super Bowl

They’ll face one of Archie Manning’s boys — the kids who grew up in Mississippi while their dad, Archie, played for the
New Orleans Aints. Peyton and the Colts beat the Jets earlier in the day.

The Saints overcame every imaginable obstacle en route to their overtime victory, 31-28. Five turnovers lost doomed
40-year-old Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings’ offense — Adrian Peterson coughed up two, and the oldest quarterback ever to start an NFC championship game threw two picks, including one to Saints defender Jonathan Vilma.

Saints

laissez les bons temps rouler

Deuce McAllister gets to present the NFC Championship tropy to the team’s owner, Tom Benson.
The confetti, still falling 10 minutes after the end of the ballgame, looks like metallic snow.

McAllister

Full disclosure: I stood on the Superdome floor as July 2004 turned to August. That place can be L.O.U.D.

NFC Champion # 9

“This is for the City of New Orleans,” said Sean Payton. “I’m so proud to be able to coach these players,
and there’s no one else I’d rather hand this to than Drew Brees.”
Indeed, indeed, indeed. FINISH STRONG.

Phoenixlike, a Pirate returns Home

Those of you who read here regularly know that I’m a Texas Tech graduate. I’ve had my quarrels with the University (FSM knows, going to school there will do that to you) in the three decades since I first set foot on the campus (as a summer-school prospective enrollee). A couple of weeks ago the admin took it into their heads to fire the winningest football coach the program had ever known: Mike Leach, of “find your inner pirate” fame.

Out of the blindingly unexpected jerkoffery the University pulled during the Christmas break — indeed, four days before the Alamo Bowl — one piece of good news has now emerged. Ruffin McNeill is the new head coach at his alma mater, East Carolina.

New Pirate Captain

Pirate Captain and highly unconventional Tech head coach Mike Leach brought with him an assistant named Ruffin McNeill. He took over the defense completely a few seasons ago, after (was it OSU? somebody in the Big XII, anyhow) beat Tech despite the offense’s putting up numbers that looked like they belonged on a six-man field, if not a basketball court. Lyle Setentich, wherever he may be now, had failed to impress on the players on his side of the ball that they needed to participate fully in the team effort — so much so that the Red Raiders allowed three different runners to accumulate more than 100 yards apiece in that ball game and gave up 49 points — if Tech were to win; so his job went to McNeill.

Coach Mike Leach named assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill as the interim defensive coordinator. Setencich, who was in his fifth year as coordinator, will be assigned other duties by athletic director Gerald Myers.

Coach Ruff, as he was called (and the kids loved him, and the press came to very quickly) approached the defense with an attitude of blue-collar solidarity. He started with Tech as a linebackers coach; by 2005, in his 20th year as a collegiate coach, he had taken responsibility for the Red Raiders’ special teams as well.

Fittingly, the team’s mascot is a Pirate.

A Year and a Day: Pyrrhic Victory?

We fought so hard to elect someone we believed would restore habeas corpus, bring back the rule of law, repeal the odious Patriot Act, stop American GIs and American governmental agencies and contractors working for the US from torturing prisoners of war in our names, shut down Guantanamo Bay’s criminally uncivilized “detention facility,” shore up Social Security and Medicare, fight for the rights of workers to organize and have decent wages in safe workplaces, rein in the lunatic frenzy of banks and financial institutions deemed “too big to fail” by George W. Bush and his government, and at long last restore some sanity to the balance between rattling sabers and caring for people.
It’s been a year and a day, and I’ll admit to being disappointed, even angry, many times in the last 12 months, with the lack of progress on the issues I cared about — indeed, on some issues, it appears we’ve been going backwards rather than forward.
Now comes the United States Supreme Court to overturn its own predecessors’ ruling barring free spending by corporations in elections, and I think perhaps we have at last heard the death knell for democracy in the USA.

Obama exceeds Reagan, gets GW Bush a job

A moment I’ve been dreading. George brought his ne’re-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job.
— Ronald Reagan, Diaries, May 17, 1986

Digby says this isn’t the right time for snark, but I disagree. Every time a prominent Republican sticks their head up is the right time for snark as well as cynicism and censure and condemnation, especially when the Republican is a thief, a traitor, a mass murderer and an alcoholic cokehead fool.

Dominican Republic: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, is trying to send aid to Haiti. The nation is also bringing injured survivors out of Haiti to its hospitals.

According to MSNBC, hundreds of vehicles are coming over land from the Dominican Republic — the US has put a full stop on flights originating in the US to the Port-au-Prince airport, and rerouting to the Dominican Republic — heavy equipment, orange-uniformed volunteers, ambulances, emergency water and food. The correspondent (Tom Yammas [sp?]) on the ground says it looks like Biloxi after Katrina (except with help coming).

On the plus side, one UN staff member (a guard) has been rescued from the HQ where the whole staff was feared lost. Confirmations of casualties there continue.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters that the rescue was “a small miracle” and that frantic search efforts were on for the 200 or so U.N. personnel still missing.
Ban said 36 U.N. personnel were confirmed dead.
“Many continue to be trapped inside U.N. headquarters and other buildings,” said Ban, noting that includes the U.N.’s mission chief, Hedi Annabi, and his chief deputy, Luis Carlos da Costa. “Other peacekeepers and civilian staff from many member states remain unaccounted for.”

If you can help, even with a $5 or $10 donation sent via text message on your cell phone, please do.

http://www.yele.org/

If you’re listening to MSNBC they’re talking about not clicking email links or doing web searches for ways to donate,
because (scumsucking profiteers) con artists and virus makers are using those methods to infiltrate, attack, counterfeit and hijack donations.

The places to go? home pages like the ones for the Red Cross/Red Crescent, Mercy Corps, or Shelter Box. Secure donations can be made there, or you can find toll-free numbers to donate.

Al Roker says officially 7,000 Haitian earthquake victims’ bodies have now been buried.
Michelle Kosinski says the president of the DR has ordered all hospitals along the border to assist Haitian victims.