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.
Raise it to 75. Americans are not like lazy European slackers. We like to be useful and productive, and it helps us respect ourselves. Any 65 year-old American will tell you that they are in the prime of life and ready to do anything. 65 is the new 45. The vast majority of Americans who retire at 65 have incomes at or below $20,000 per year. That's a bad plan.
Obama’s postelection arrogance and intransigence can put you in a fighting mood. I sympathize. But I’m tending toward the realist view: Don’t force the issue when you don’t have the power.
The irony is that over the last 30 years, the U.S. homicide rate has declined by 50 percent. Gun murders as well. We’re living not through an epidemic of gun violence but through a historic decline.
2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
2:2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
2:3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
2:4 And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come."
2:5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
2:6 Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
2:7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
2:8 He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it.
2:9 When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom
2:10 and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now."
2:11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
It's not an Italian dish (it's an invention of Italian-Americans, poor immigrants from southern Italy who found they could afford meat in America), and it gives adults heartburn, but American kids seem to love it and it's easy to make.
I loved it as a kid, but now I feel it's an unpleasant meal. At least, we have evolved beyond Chef Boyardee. Here's Easiest Spaghetti and Meatballs.
One genuine Italian touch: Crazy Martha says to throw the drained pasta into the meat and sauce in the saucepan. That's the right way to do it. Pasta in the sauce, not the sauce on top of the pasta.
Black Bean Soup. Good stuff. I like it with a big spoonful of mashed potatoes in the middle of the bowl. Don't be afraid to use instant mashed taters for it: it's cheap and easy, consistent with our theme.
Red Beans and Rice. It doesn't really need the ham hocks as long as you use some bacon. I lived on this when I was in college. I miss it. Need to make some.
Each of these dishes is not harmed by some hot sauce or hot pepper flakes.
We went after the eating fish (Spanish Mackeral), not the big game fish. More practical.
It's like a zoo. With the Humpback Whales all around peering at your boat, the Frigatebirds stealing your bait, and the Sea Lions stealing either your bait or your catch, it was a bit of an obstacle course. But how bad is that?
When you go, make sure to sup at our friend Roberto's shrimp joint, and at Mi Casa for traditional Mexican food and jollity. Good fun. To cook the fish you catch, bring them to Solomon's Landing and ask them to make some wonderful dishes with it for suppertime. They will amaze you.
Being Yankees, we are attached to exotic American Indian foods like winter squash, cranberries, corn meal, baked beans (and hot Thai curries).
A friend asked me about squash pie. It's really the same thing as pumpkin pie, but made with winter squash (of which the pumpkin is just one type).
The winter squashes were discovered and genetically-engineered by clever American Indians - as was corn (maize), the potato, and the tomato. Modern Western cuisine owes a lot to the Indian gourmets.
This recipe for Butternut Squash Pie works for any type of winter squash including pumpkin. Squash pies (as in photo) have a more subtle flavor than pumpkin.
Pumpkin or winter squash ravioli is a fine dish too. We have become convinced, by a Cordon Bleu chef friend, that using supermarket wontons is perfectly fine for making ravioli. We will never bother to make our own homemade ravioli pasta again, because it's too darn much work and it's the inside that counts. (My Woodcock ravioli recipe will be posted one of these days).
I am fond of baked Acorn Squash with some butter and Maple syrup inside, but you can use any winter squash. Simple, and tasty:
...if an employer has 40 full-time workers and 20 part-time workers, that employer would be considered by the government to have 50 full-time workers and would be subject to the mandate because the 20 part-time workers average to 10 full-time workers – meeting the 50 full-time-worker threshold.
House Passes $50 Billion In Sandy Relief (Mostly Unrelated Pork) With Democrats Providing Majority Of The Yes Votes - UPDATE: Less Than Half The Money Is Sandy Related
The Whiz Kids - They didn’t come here to cut spending:
This is the overcaffeinated game of leapfrog that’s characterized Washington for years. Policy wonks and whiz kid pundits fly to a problem, waving calculators and smacking each other with rolled-up charts in attempts to get there first. Legislation is passed that supposedly ameliorates the problem. Everyone trips over each other and gets a convenient case of amnesia. Then it’s on to the next problem. And for God’s sake, don’t look back at the previous one…or at least not for another few years when everyone can return and try to solve it all over again.
Americans are suckers for a sob story. But a lot of them are also suckers for personal freedom. Whenever a bullseye is put on freedom for the greater good, two narratives battle it out for the soul of the country. "We have to fix this" and "Leave me alone."
Think of We have to fix this" and "Leave me alone" as the devil and angel on the shoulders of every cartoon character for the last hundred years. "We have to fix this," wears an earnest expression and her appearance is calculated to suggest nurse, teacher or PTA member, when in reality she's usually an Ivy League grad with a lot of time spent in government and political advocacy and whose kids are raised by Elena from Guatemala, whose immigration status is that of Undocumented Democrat.
It's the best use of an inexpensive chuck roast or round. Pot Roast can be terrible dry mystery meat, or it can be OK. Pot Roast never looks very appealing, and should taste better than the pile of grey, well-overcooked meat looks.
Either way, it gets the family well-fed and meated-up. Kids need meat to grow their brains. I like this recipe because it has lots of my favorite root vegetables in it, parsnips, turnips.
Pot Roast is not a roast, it's braised. I call it Braised Beef and it has to be cooked until fork-tender.
It's the dumplings that make it worth eating. Good stuff. Otherwise, it's sort of like Chicken Soup or Chicken Stew, which are good if you have the flu but, otherwise, not too exciting.
When young, most Americans never saw any tuna that did not come out of a can. Tuna Noodle was indeed a classic and, for Fridays, a Catholic standby. Cream of mushroom soup in it, of course: Tuna Noodle Casserole.
I would not want to eat it today unless I were starving. Was not even Catholic, just had enough of it.
Shucks, I almost forgot the notorious Tuna Surprise, aka Tuna Disappointment.
Italians do love their Mediterranean Tuna, and you can Google plenty of tasty Tuna sauce pasta recipes. Here's one: Italian Tuna and Pasta
Security came to my office this morning and said that they found a bucket with what appears to be medical waste in it in Driscoll Dining Hall. They thought it might an art project. It has been turned over to Health Services for testing to see if it’s real.
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, was a black guy. His Dad was a famous French general, born in Haiti (then Saint Domingue - Santo Domingo).
Alexandre's novel was based, in part, on his Dad who also had a grueling imprisonment after being captured by the Neapolitans in Taranto after being shipwrecked.
Tom Reiss researched this book for almost ten years.
3:15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,
3:16 John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,
3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
A couple of years ago, on Lago Maggiore in northern Italy, my son and wife ate gelati and sat on the steps at night and listened to the choir rehearsing in the sanctuary. The structure on the right is the baptistery. (My photo)
Boring, unless you want to spend two hours looking at Jessica Chastain's quivering lips.
Argo, equally tedious.
Two movies in a row that kept me checking my watch to see how much longer I had to sit there. Much rather read a book. Why do I bother going to the movies? Well, to be a good husband.
You get a mess of big old quahogs or sea clams (steam open and then chop them up), or some chunks of fresh Codfish, Haddock, or Monkfish - or just a bag of frozen corn.
The base of your Yankee chowder is the same, whether Clam, Cod, or Corn. See Grandma's Corn Chowder for the base (substitute other ingredients for the corn).
You can add a little thickener if you want, corn starch or whatever. Not necessary, though.
My Mom would serve chowda with Bisquick biscuits. Good memories: Mom cooking up a chewy, clam-packed chowder with the basket of quahogs we kids had harvested from the low-tide mud off Great Island in Wellfleet.
Fellow parents: Our job is to build sustaining memories and traditions as best we can, isn't it?
You haven't heard of Peter Buck, PhD, but it's a story. Buck was an nuclear engineer, I believe for GE in Bridgeport, CT, and teaching an engineering class at the University of Bridgeport when he loaned a bright and hard-studying local student in one of his classes named Fred DeLuca $1000 to open a submarine sandwich shop to help him pay his way through college after the kid's family ran short of cash. That was 1965.
(I remember that first shop. I think it said "Submarines" on the sign, and I wondered what that was. I had had "grinders," but never a submarine. Just a 12" deli sandwich with lots of good stuff in it, as it turns out.)
A couple of years later Buck lent DeLuca a little bit more to open a second shop in Bridgeport, even though the first was not too profitable.
The privately-owned Subway now has 30,000 franchised restaurants worldwide. I don't believe that Dr. Buck ever worked for Subway or made any substantial further investments in the business but, based on their original deal, DeLuca and Buck have shared the profits ever since, 50-50. No lawsuits.
If you ever wondered why the Subway bags say "Doctor's Associates Inc" on them, it refers to Dr. Buck and his young engineering student Fred DeLuca, who remains the President of the Subway chain's corporation, Doctor's Associates.
The Buck and DeLuca families both still live in Fairfield County, each in fairly modest and quiet ways despite their unexpected wealth. Yes, I do like those Subway sandwiches, especially the Italian combo with Swiss cheese and some jalapenos on it. Oil and vinegar on top.
Their bread is too mushy for my taste, though. As Dr. Merc suggests, experiment with their different bread varieties. Still, compared to the burger chains, Subways are a treat when on the road, and they really do use prime and fresh ingredients.
I cannot eat a whole one. Just a half at most, and save the rest for later. My skinny daughter eats the whole thing.
National Geographic Links Snow And Cold To Globull Warming
Mayor Of Gun Violence Capitol Of America 
John 2:1-11
It's not an Italian dish (it's an invention of Italian-Americans, poor immigrants from southern Italy who found they could afford meat in America), and it gives adults heartburn, but American kids seem to love it and it's easy to make. 
Black Bean Soup
Being Yankees, we are attached to exotic American Indian foods like winter squash, cranberries, corn meal, baked beans (and hot Thai curries).
It's the best use of an inexpensive chuck roast or round. Pot Roast can be terrible dry mystery meat, or it can be OK. Pot Roast never looks very appealing, and should taste better than the pile of grey, well-overcooked meat looks.
More city co-eds turning to sugar daddies for school support
It's the dumplings that make it worth eating. Good stuff. Otherwise, it's sort of like Chicken Soup or Chicken Stew, which are good if you have the flu but, otherwise, not too exciting. 
When young, most Americans never saw any tuna that did not come out of a can. Tuna Noodle was indeed a classic and, for Fridays, a Catholic standby. Cream of mushroom soup in it, of course: 
Alexandre Dumas
You get a mess of big old quahogs or sea clams (steam open and then chop them up), or some chunks of fresh Codfish, Haddock, or Monkfish - or just a bag of frozen corn. 
A freshened-up re-post: