Real Life Conversations with JT: Subtle Asides edition

The backstory:  JT was at the mall with me, a trip he made voluntarily because he had something he wanted to buy himself at the Apple Store.  After the errand at Apple, he found himself at Talbots with me. I had stopped in to purchase a scarf that was on sale.  I treated the mission as a strategic strike and was in the store less than a minute before I located the scarf and stepped up to the counter to make the purchase.  Talbots has a shopper’s reward card that offers occasional discounts.  This fact matters to the conversation that ensued. 

Clerk:  It’s your birthday month.  Would you like to use the 10% off on this purchase?

Me: (knowing that the 10% off can’t be combined with the 25% off I was already using):  No thanks.

Clerk:  Are you sure?

Me (wanting to get out of the store as soon as possible):  Yes, I’m sure.   I’ll come back later this month.

JT:  You’ll come back WITHOUT ME, right?

Apparently, when I return, it will be without the boy. The clerk was distinctly unamused by our  mother-son communication, a fact the boy noted when we left the store, as if it's a character flaw to not get (or enjoy) sarcasm.

One Child at a Time

Some weeks bring more difficult than I would like and this week seems determined to be that sort of week.  But I’m the kind who fights back against rough weeks and last night I did it by baking and wrapping up homemade cookies for a bake sale at school this morning.

The bake sale benefits Pardada Pardadi School in India, a place where rural girls receive an education.  The Middle School sponsors a student at the school and I can’t think of anything better than ensuring that at least one more girl has a chance at the freedom of education.  

Also: homemade cookies.  That’s happy!

Real Life Conversations with T: Organic Ingredients edition

The backstory:  T enjoys Annie’s organic bunny fruit snacks and as I looked the the box and its claim to be both organic and vegan, I had questions.

Me:  How do they make fruity snacks without gelatin?

T:  Weasel earwax?

Me:  Weasel earwax?  

T:  Yes.  No weasels are harmed in the harvest of their earwax.

Turns out it’s just organic tapioca, which likely tastes better but isn’t nearly as amusing to consider.  Also, who has “weasel earwax” at the ready as an answer to questions of any kind?

Food Friday: All Mexican, All the Time

It’s my birthday week and I decided to treat myself by cooking Mexican food for suppers this week.  Here’s a road map to the feasting:

Sunday supper: chicken tacos

This is a go-to celebration supper at Sassafras House, the original comfort food in our world.  A recipe for my chicken can be found here.

Monday supper: burrito bowl

This bowl came together incredibly quickly and was perfectly awesome.  I used red cabbage and leftover guacamole from the day before.  I also used canned black beans that I warmed and spiced up.  I don’t like plain rice, so I used saffron rice from Sunday’s taco supper supper.  I served the bowl with some warmed corn tortillas.  Tasty, easy, delicious and likely to become a staple in this house, the recipe can be found here.

Tuesday: 8 layer dip

Strictly speaking, this dish is Tex Mex but it fit the theme and it’s my birthday, so it qualified.  Plus, JT loves it.  My 8 layer dip features refritos, sour cream, guacamole, chopped tomatoes (the last ones from my garden), grated cheese, green onions, cilantro, and black olives…..in that order.  There are zillions of recipes for layered Tex Mex dip and if you’ve never made it, try this one.

Wednesday:  shrimp quesadilla

As should be clear by now, Simply Recipes is my go-to website for food basics.  The writer is from Sacramento, California, a place near enough my hometown to ensure that her definition of Mexican food meets mine.  I saw this recipe on the website and give it a try.  Tasty and easy to pull together on a weeknight.  Try it!

This week is proof-positive that I could eat Mexican food every day of the week.  Plus, having a theme for the week sure makes the planning part of cooking easier.  Happy Birthday week to me!

Real Life Conversations with JT: Life Evaluation edition

The backstory:  Yesterday, JT asked me how I felt about my upcoming birthday, when I will turn 47.

Me:  Well, when I was your age, I don’t think I imagined this is where I would be at 47.

JT:  You have a steady paycheck, a nice girlfriend, a place to live, and you've been to Europe. Plus, you have a bad-ass, amazing 14 year old son.  You have a good life.

Put that way, I guess I’m in good shape.

Your Weekly Dogwood: November 5

As predicted, one windy storm wiped out the rest of the leaves on the dogwood tree.  The last of them fell off the tree during the Nor’easter last weekend.

Winter will bring snow and ice on the branches of this tree and then, as sure as the sun rises and sets each day, spring’s daylight and warmth will bring blooms.  I'll be here to see it all.  Marking the seasons with my dogwood tree reminds me of the value of patience.

That’s happy!

The Government We Deserve

I have to confess that I am absolutely enraged at the response of Governors Cuomo and Christie to America’s full-blown case of ebola panic.  The disease is clearly dreadful and I acknowledge that the anxiety is real but let’s make note that our anxieties are not REALISTIC.  I haven’t been impressed by the CDC in this crisis, but the WHO and Doctors without Borders do have a strong sense of how the disease spreads and how it can be contained.  President Obama has been measured and careful in his rhetoric.  Congress, busily campaigning for re-election after two years of doing nothing, has been virtually silent.  In the meanwhile, the nation has panicked.  In a way, this is a case study of the nation we have become, a group of citizens ignorantly lurching from one media event crisis to the next, with no sense that this is our government and therefore our responsibility.

At the same time, my daily inbox has been clogged with hyperbolic requests that I donate money to various Democratic political causes and candidates.  Many of them are political causes and candidates that I passionately believe in but this year I just couldn’t donate.  Even $5 seemed like a quiet endorsement of the ridiculous behavior of Congress.  I certainly don’t want Republicans to take control of the Senate so that they can run that institution are poorly as they have run the House, but I can’t fathom actually spending a dime to support the nonsense that has become Congress, no matter who is in charge.

I thought about voting against all incumbents, but my Representative (Rush Holt) has resigned and both of the candidates for the House in my my district are newcomers.  My senator, Cory Booker, has only been in office for a year.  He’s up for election to a full term in this seat.  I like and respect him and he has made efforts to reach across the aisle.  I will be casting an enthusiastic ballot in his favor this morning.

As for the rest of it, I feel like the nation is trapped in a cycle of irresponsible behavior as we wait for the bloodsport that will be the 2016 presidential election.  Harry Truman's famous do-nothing Congress has nothing on us.  I expect that Republicans will gain a narrow victory in the Senate and that the Democratic opposition will then take up the obstructionist tactics Republicans have used for the past two years.  The national interest will suffer, of course.  The list of serious issues we've failed to address (global warming, immigration, student loan debt, and more) will grow longer and more serious.  And we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.

Morning Light

The time change occurred over the weekend and for a few days it feels like I get to sleep in.  Better than that is the sunlight which now arrives a little earlier in the morning.  This was the sky I saw as I enjoyed my first cup of coffee this morning.    The pink quickly faded to be replaced by sunlight.

It’s a good way to start the week.

Sycamores

There are several tall sycamore trees on my street.  Though none grow in my yard, the large leaves and strips of bark will make up several of the bags of leaves I’ll eventually rake up and set on the curb.  I don’t mind the chore because the stately trees shade our street all summer long.  I figure a little raking is fair payment for the pleasure they bring me.

November 1: Front Yard Flowerbed

The clock falls backward this weekend.  The extra hour of sleep will be most welcome and I have a plan to ease the darkness of the shorter days, so I’m ready for the change.  Mother Nature must have her eye on the calendar because right on schedule with the arrival of November the weather has turned chilly.  Last night, I fell asleep to the sound of the wind scudding dry leaves up the street.  I awakened this morning to breezy rain and temperatures in the low 40s.   Fall is definitely here, a fact that is abundantly clear in the ragged edges of the front yard flowerbed.

It’s time for me to dig up the dahlia bulbs to store for the winter and make the garden beds ready for their winter season.

I’ve planted some bulbs already and plan to put down a few more before the frost sets in.  It’s raining this morning but when things dry tomorrow, I’ll get out the mower out for one last mow.  That mow will serve several purposes — trimming the green grass one more time, mulching the leaves that are already down into fertilizer for the lawn, and running the mower out of gas for the winter.  I like these seasonal chores.  The fact that my garden needs rest is a reminder to pause myself, grab a cozy sweater, pour a hot mug of tea, and embrace November.