We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
4 cans of Goya black beans (make sure they are GMO black beans, much better) 2 medium onion diced chopped garlic, as much as you like (not organic garlic, please) about 4 slices of bacon a couple of bay leaves some chicken broth thyme cumin and/or chili and/or cayenne pepper powder 1 fresh jalapeno pepper chopped (or jarred - doesn't matter) and/or chopped scallions
Cook the bacon. Remove it. Sautee the onion and garlic in the bacon grease a little. Chop up the bacon. Dump out most of the bacon grease, then dump in the beans (don't drain them), onions and garlic, bay leaf, chopped bacon, some chicken broth, salt, and a couple of dashes or so of the flavorings. (I hold the jalapeno in abeyance as not everybody likes it. Can be added as garnish when done)
I don't use cilantro because I hate it. Cilantro - some like it, some do not. It's genetic.
Simmer covered for an hour or so or toss it in a crock pot. Add more chicken broth it it's too thick. Then mash it in the pot with a potato masher. Some people just take half of it and run it thru the blender for a creamier result but I like to mash it. Scallions on top, +/- chopped jalapeno.
I like it with a big dollop of mashed taters in the middle of each person's bowl, but some people prefer sour cream and salsa on it. Whatever.
Mom used to send us kids out into the meadow edges in July and August with our blueberry cans on strings around our necks. Wild blueberries, the small ones. Now you can get blueberries year-round, but they are not the same. Big fat things mostly.
On an old shore, the vulgar ocean rolls Noiselessly, noiselessly, resembling a thin bird, That thinks of settling, yet never settles, on a nest.
The wings keep spreading and yet are never wings. The claws keep scratching on the shale, the shallow shale, The sounding shallow, until by water washed away.
The generations of the bird are all By water washed away. They follow after. They follow, follow, follow, in water washed away.
Without this bird that never settles, without Its generations that follow in their universe, The ocean, falling and falling on the hollow shore,
Would be a geography of the dead: not of that land To which they may have gone, but of the place in which They lived, in which they lacked a pervasive being,
In which no scholar, separately dwelling, Poured forth the fine fins, the gawky beaks, the personalia, Which, as a man feeling everything, were his.
The Law says that there always are some of those. People in business analyze them carefully, as do war-planners - in advance. Even so, many or most things do not work out as planned. When it comes to politicians and policy-makers, often-enough things that appear, in retrospect, as Unintended, were covertly intended.
Today’s political process tends to steer people away from thinking carefully about the many trade-offs in deciding public policy issues. This leads to a cycle of overreaction in which policymaking focuses on minimizing error in one direction, leading to worse errors in the opposite direction.
A psychiatrist colleague recently retired but he turned to coaching as a second career because it emphasized the relationship he had valued most in his work as a psychiatrist. As an example, he finds that coaching is particularly relevant for dieting and exercise needed to reduce obesity. A late-career psychologist switched more and more to coaching techniques. Those who have had mental health care training can add depth to coaching that others may not be able to obtain.
Why the King James Version of the Bible Remains the Best - The 400-year-old translation is denigrated because of its archaic language. That’s one of its greatest strengths.
I love regional Italian cuisine - all except the Neapolitan (except for their world-class desserts). We have dined on local fare in Italy from the Alps and the Veneto down to the southern tip of Sicily.
Sicilian fare is as different from Southern Italian as Southern Italian dialect is from Sicilian. Sicilian food was heavily influenced by the Greek invasion, the Moslem occupiers, then the French Norman occupiers, then by the real French, then the Spanish. Never was part of Italy until recent years and it still is not, really.
Raisins, pignolis, wild boar, sardines, risotto, couscous, eggplant of course, Pecorino, lemons, mint, and blood oranges, pomegranites... and octopus. Generally, lots of seafood and grilled meat. I love that Sicilian food but the real thing is hard to find outside that island.
You would be hard put to find this quality and variety of a Sicilian menu in a single restaurant in Sicily itself. Their Timballo looks amazing. Check out the menu just for fun. It's the real deal: Bar Eolo. 190 7th Ave.
I happen to love Borscht, but I never make it, Mrs. BD has never made it, and I've only seen it on the menu in the old Russian Tea Room. My Mom, Yankee WASP that she was, would make it to please my Dad. A refreshing cold soup.
Everybody knows how to make Harvard Beets. They are just sweet-and-sour beets, but on a bed of buttercrunch lettuce it's a salad.
Heading down to Georgia now for a few days on an island nature preserve to get away from civilization. Hiking, biking, swimming, birding, snake-watching, gator-dodging. I want to see a big Indigo Snake and a Pine Snake. Will see Diamondback rattlers for sure because they are always sunbathing on bike paths. No stores, no TV, no a/c, no cars, no roads, no amenities etc. which is why it is somewhat expensive - but they have some electricity. No tennis or golf, and no pool - just Atlantic Ocean and lots of it. They do have an on-site naturalist, which is good. With luck, some fine greasy Southern cooking. It's been a while since I have had good biscuits and gravy, and my soul needs some. Shrimp 'n Grits would be welcome too.
Mrs. BD just warned me that, rustic as this place is, jacket and tie for cocktail hour and dinner. Also, trousers. It's a small, historic place you get to on a little fishing boat, like Little Saint Simon Island. I appreciate the maintenance of standards, just as they do at Gwynnie's hunting lodges in the middle of nowhere. I think it never hurts to wear jacket and tie on the plane, so you don't have to pack them. Civilized, too.
Set a good example, ya know? Why dress like a teen if you aren't one? Adults must represent dignity and appropriateness - in attire if not in behavior.
Mom used to send us kids out into the meadow edges in July and August with our blueberry cans on strings around our necks. Wild blueberries, the small ones. Now you can get blueberries year-round, but they are not the same. Big fat things mostly.
The most refreshing salad, especially with grilled meat. Watermelon, Feta, and chopped mint. Lots of mint.
A Brief History of the Wristwatch - 
I love regional Italian cuisine - all except the Neapolitan (except for their world-class desserts). We have dined on local fare in Italy from the Alps and the Veneto down to the southern tip of Sicily.
I happen to love 
Scientists