Random Notes from a Crank

As I can attest to, gardening is good for people from a physical and mental standpoint. The New York Times has a nice little article about the subject: "Why Gardening Is So Good for You." 

As much as I hate weeding, especially flower beds, I enjoy seeding and planting new crops. 

However, there are benefits of digging in the dirt. 

I'm in the midst of watching the Netflix documentary Turning Point: The Vietnam War. It's a good documentary. It's not as good as the PBS documentary by Ken Burn and Lynn Novick, but it's solid. 

As I was watching the third episode "Life Is Cheap," I had the idea or rather the question of whether anyone has ever written speculative novel that narrates what would have happened if Bobby Kennedy would not have been assassinated and would have become President in 1968. 

I guess what I'm looking for is perhaps some positive speculative fiction. 

At an antique bazaar we went to on Saturday, I bought a movie poster for Ferris Bueller's Day Off, easily one of the best comedies of the 80s. 

The poster inspired me to watch the movie yesterday, and it was excellent. 

The one scene in which the teacher talks about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that launched the Great Depression and George W. Bush's description of "voodoo economics" is relevant. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Comeback Sauce

I got the basics of this recipe from watching either Cooks' Country or America's Test Kitchen on my local PBS station.

It's a common sauce to pair with fried fish in the Deep South. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of mayo
• 1/4 cup of minced yellow or Vidalia onion
• 2 TB of avocado oil
• 2 TB of chili sauce
• 1 TB of ketchup
• 2 1/2 ts of Worcestshire sauce
• 2 1/2 ts of hot sauce (I used Alabama Sunshine)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 ts of yellow mustard
• 1 ts of lemon juice
• 1 ts of Penzey's Justice seasoning
• 1 ts of cracked black pepper
• 1 ts of paprika

Process

It's pretty simple. Put it all into a mixing bowl and whisk. I sautéed the onion for a bit because I'm not a fan of raw onions. If I were to amp up the recipe a bit, I might put some cayenne pepper and smoked paprika into the mix. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Ranch Dressing

Mrs. Nasty doesn't like buttermilk ranch dressing. If I use ranch dressing, I prefer it to be buttermilk ranch, but for the purpose of making a ranch dressing from scratch without buttermilk and without all the chemicals, I happened upon this recipe by chance. 

I tape episodes of Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen, the cooking show you can find on your local PBS station. The most recent episode I watched had a recipe for fried cheese curds with ranch dressing. 

That's the base for this recipe, which I tweaked a little bit. 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of fresh chives, chopped finely
• 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro, chopped finely
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh dill, chopped finely
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/3 cup of mayo
• 3 tablespoons of sour cream
• 1 small clove of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon of Penzey's roasted garlic
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

Process

It's pretty simple. Put it all into a big bowl and whisk vigorously. Put in enough salt and pepper to your taste. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Blueberry Cornbread

I got this recipe from one of the episodes of either Cooks' Country or America's Test Kitchen on PBS.  

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of AP flour

1 cup of yellow corn meal

3/4 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

12 tablespoons of melted butter (cooled)

1 cup of whole milk

2 eggs

2 cups of blueberries

Process

Set the oven to 375 degrees. Put the dry ingredients together and whisk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (butter, milk, and eggs) and then combine the wet with the dry ingredients. 

You don't want to overwork the batter--just get it mixed. Add the blueberries until mixed. 

Grease a cast iron skillet with butter and sprinkle corn meal on the surface so the cornbread comes out cleanly. 

Pour the batter into the skillet. Sprinkle the top of the batter with sugar. Cook for roughly 40 minutes until a paring knife comes out clean. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I'd venture to guess that the people who say "America is the greatest country in the world" haven't been to many other countries. And if they've been to other countries, it's not been for a long while, possibly only on a vacation. 

I know of family who has had to have fundraisers to help pay off their debts because their father, who died recently, had cancer. The US has to be one of the few, if not the only, first-world industrialized countries in the world that doesn't have universal health care.  

We don't have one of the best health care systems in the world, but it's certainly one of the most expensive. 

I think there needs to be a Karen/Karin support group out there. Being a "Karen" has been a negative epithet for a few years now. I've never thought of the name Karen in a negative light. 

One of my former girlfriends in high school was named Karen. And she provided fabulous hand jobs. So when I hear something along the lines of "you're being a Karen," all I have is fond memories. I smile and have an overwhelming feeling of good. 

The past month or so when I wake up in the morning I have found one of my bird feeders and the hummingbird feeder knocked down. My bird feeders are "squirrel-proof" because they have a mechanism on them that shuts the feed holes if a rodent weighs down on the feeder. So I was nonplussed about how a squirrel cracked the code. 

I pulled into the drive the other night and discovered the perp who has been knocking down my feeders. It's a raccoon. 

When my son was young, I remember watching a PBS nature documentary on raccoons. The scientists were tracking their movements in the city of Toronto. It was amazing how active they are and how many they are. They're everywhere. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I'm trying to invent a new word. This word needs to concisely sum up this feeling: a professor who has taught for many years sees freshmen making bad decisions that he or she has seen year after year, but he or she has a sense of futility that whatever advice he or she might give is not going to be heeded. 

If you have any ideas for the new word that exemplifies that feeling, please post in the comments. 

Here are some intriguing data points from September's "Harper's Index":

• Amount that Carrier promised to invest in an Indiana plan in a deal with Donald Trump to save domestic jobs: $16,000,000
• Percentage of that money that will be used for automation: 100
• Amount taxpayers spent in 2013 on food stamps, Medicaid, and housing assistance for Walmart employees: $6,200,000,000

This evening I watched the final episode of the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary The Vietnam War. The ten-episode film is one of the most poignant and powerful documentaries I've ever watched. When they talked about the Vietnam Memorial tonight, I choked up and then started crying. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I introduced my kids to Andy Capp's Cheddar Fries. That's a damn fine snack food. Too bad the comic strip is basically about a guy who is an alcoholic. Or at least a guy who drinks too much. 

I guess we might be able to say the same thing about Homer Simpson.




If you like a good documentary about mass corruption, political kickbacks, oligarchic wealth, and possible/probable conspiracy theories, I have a recommendation. And no it's not about our American "democracy." It's about Vladimir Putin. Check out PBS Frontline's Putin's Way. 

ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 has the Crimson Tide ranked at 10. I think that's a fair evaluation. There are important question marks at LG, RG, RT, LB, QB, and Safety.