paste-eaters anonymous

Butter and Gas

During wartimes, my grandparents and my parents learned to "make do." I stumbled upon some ration coupons in an antique store and thought how valuable they must have been at the time, now only for sentimental reasons. The fragile paper brought back stories my parents would tell me of the War. Everyone played a part; my father was an Army man, my mother made diodes for bombs in the war effort. My grandmother, making meals with what she had, worried as two of her sons were prisoners-of-war. 

Gas was limited. Butter a luxury.

Thank a veteran today. Thank their loved ones, too. 

The Modesty Panel

We live in a teeny two-bedroom apartment with two cats. We don't have room in the bathroom for a litter box, so I'd had to deal with them right there in the office where I try to do my homework. 

Not very inspiring.

I tried to find a screen for them, but I couldn't find anything I liked that wasn't too tall, ugly, or under $100. Then I went to a yard sale last Spring and had a brainstorm.

I found this fireplace screen for $2. I figured I would cover it with fabric and Ta-Da! Answer solved. 

I finally got around to doing it this weekend. 

I had some old matboard laying around taking up space, bought some bookbinding tape (conveniently chartreuse) and just taped fabric around the board.

Since it was mostly for my benefit, I decided to use fabric I really liked, not worrying about getting it done for real cheap. I picked Amy Butler's "Sunspots" from her Love series. It coordinates well with the storage box I covered with another design of hers.

I used black grommets for the holes (luck was with me that I had the exact number I needed) and tied the boards to the screen using some black rubber cord I had stuffed in my stash.

Altogether, $30. More than I usually spend on my projects, but I think it's worth it. 

Now I can get some homework done. 

Really.

Why Retail Clerks Can Be Surly: An Explanation In 56 Indictments.

Indictment 1:  She pulls up to the bookstore and parks her Cadillac Escalade right up front, except that she makes no effort to straighten it out and it takes up half of another space. 

Indictment 2: She might have been able to park better if she wasn’t talking on her cell phone when she pulled up...

Indictment 3: ...or if she had driven in using the entrance instead of the exit...

Indictment 4: ...or if she had approached it at a reasonable, slower speed.

Indictment 5:  She is still on her cell phone as she takes a child out of the back seat.

Indictment 6: She lets the child run out into the parking lot.

Indictment 7: She drags the wailing child into the store.

Indictment 8: She is still talking on her cell phone.

Indictment 9: She makes no attempt to quiet wailing child...

Indictment 10: ...instead talks louder on her cell phone to be heard.

Indictment 11: She pushes wailing child towards the Children’s section...

Indictment 12: ...while she heads for another section on the other side of the store.

Indictment 13: In spite of being far removed from the wailing child, she still talks loudly into the cell phone...

Indictment 14: ...discussing the inconvenient scheduling of her mother-in-law’s upcoming gall bladder surgery.

Indictment 15: Wailing child has stopped wailing, but is now calling for “Mommy! Mommy!”

Indictment 16: “Mommy” is oblivious to child’s calls.

Indictment 17: She fails to respond to the crashing sound in the Children’s section.

 Indictment 18: Clutching several magazines in one hand and cell phone in the other, she sits down in a chair flipping through them, depositing them on the floor when she gets to the end. 

Indictment 19: She gets up from the chair, leaving the magazines on the floor.

Indictment 20: Her child has cleared out the entire bottom row of picture and story books, also leaving them on the floor.

Indictment 21: While perusing the Parenting section, she pulls out a pile of books, holding some, but putting others back in the wrong shelf.

Indictment 22: She is still on her cell phone...

Indictment 23: graphically discussing childbirth...

Indictment 24: ...in the Children’s section.

Indictment 25: She steps over a pile of books the child has left on the floor.

Indictment 26: She grabs her child by the arm, causing the child to wail.

Indictment 27: Again.

Indictment 28:  She makes no attempt to quiet the child.

Indictment 29: Again.

Indictment 30: Struggling to hold books in one arm while holding the hand of the wailing child and holding her cell phone in the other, she drops the books onto the check-out counter. 

Indictment 31: She never acknowledges the presence of the cashier.

Indictment 32: She leaves the books, Your ADD Child, Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems, and It’s Easy To Organize! at the counter...

Indictment 33: ...while she heads to another section for more books...

Indictment 34: ...leaving the wailing child at the check-out counter...

Indictment 35: ... and continuing to discuss female reproductive problems on her cell phone.

Indictment 36: After holding up the check-out line, she returns with a daily calendar.

Indictment 37: She has not yet acknowledged the presence of the cashier.

Indictment 38: The child intermittently breaks up the wailing with more cries of “Mommy! Mommy!”

Indictment 39: “Mommy” talks louder into her cell phone...

Indictment 40: ...moving on to the subject of a neighbor’s impending divorce.

Indictment 41: Declaring on the cell phone what she would need for monthly alimony, she pulls her wallet out of her handbag and hands the cashier a card to pay for the books.

Indictment 42: It’s a library card.

Indictment 43: She frowns at the cashier, taking back the library card and dropping her American Express card...

Indictment 44: ...on the “Mastercard/Visa Charges Only” sign taped to the counter. 

Indictment 45: Another frown after her error is pointed out.

Indictment 46: The child continues to wail.

Indictment 47: Besides the frown, she has yet to acknowledge the cashier. 

Indictment 48: She signs the charge slip while discussing on her cell phone the difficulty of finding a good nanny.

Indictment 49: She decides this is an excellent time to clean out the jumble of papers in her wallet...

Indictment 50: ...unconcerned with the line forming behind her.

Indictment 51: She leaves her trash on the counter...    

Indictment 52: ...as she drags the still wailing child along with her to the door...

Indictment 53: ...complaining on her cell phone about the lack of responsibility in household help...

Indictment 54: ...while ignoring a man on crutches struggling to open the door.

Indictment 55: She is still on the cell phone as she pulls the Escalade out of the parking lot...

Indictment 56: ...driving out the entrance.

Talking Back to Charlotte Allen

 take the quiz: "Which has more fat and calories?" and get the answers here.

Hey Charlotte! I read your opinion piece, “Keep your self-righteous fingers off of my processed food,” as well as heard your interview on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. It’s very...thought provoking. But I respectfully ask that you calm down for a moment. 

    No one is telling you what to eat and how to live. They are just showing their side of the story, one that most local businesses and small farmers share too. It would help American consumers if they were shown more than the glossy ads and public relations created to sell you Lunchables and KFC’s Double Downs. Knowledge is usually power, and who knows, maybe you would think twice about buying that chicken “sandwich”--no matter how cheap it is--if you knew how the chicken was raised, what it ate, and what chemicals were pumped into it, (we could get into the whole fat and sodium content thing, but that’s another battle). 

    I’m lucky that I am able to buy locally grown food, even though cheaper produce is available in the supermarket down the street. I know that Steve the farmer started the seeds in March. I watched as they planted seedlings and harvested crops all summer long. This was particularly soothing information to have when E.Coli was prevalent in spinach grown on large commercial farms. I find it all tastes better, too.

    I also know that the money earned by Steve will be spent in my community, and that Steve truly cares about what happens here, especially environmental and social issues that effect the health of me and my neighbors. He also employs many friends of mine, with good benefits. I find it reassuring that I can call up the farm, ask a question about the produce, and get an answer, not some “FAQ’s” off of a web page.    

    If you are concerned about “America’s poorest people affording automobiles, cellphones and TV’s,” perhaps you should be concerned about the corporations that broke the unions that provided decent jobs and benefits to Americans. Or took their business out of the U.S. so that they could avoid not only paying higher wages and benefits, but also higher taxes--money for the customs inspectors for the goods they ship from overseas, roads they ship their products on, or education for the people who buy them. 

    Instead of making a good living and being able to afford health care, many have been driven to making less than they did in the past, hoping they don’t get sick because they don’t have coverage. And while the cost of living--processed products included--have gone up, earnings have not. 

     It’s true, people can’t afford to live on the wages that the Chinese make. But the drive to pay less doesn’t help create sustainable, durable products. We now live in an age where it is acceptable to dispose of products after a few years, regardless of where it is made. This damages the ability of workers to earn a true wage, and is causing undeniable damage to the environment. 

    There is a cost to low prices, and I believe Ms. Shell and Mr. Pollan are simply pointing it out. They also admit to succumbing to the seduction of low prices and processed foods. This is America, after all. We are a corporate nation and we will never be pure. 

    So eat your Haagen-Dazs, your Hostess cupcake. Enjoy! But please, be mindful that your decisions do have consequences, and respect those that point them out. 

    

Who thinks of this stuff?

go here

And shouldn't they be in jail or sumthing?

It's all in a name...

So The Husband and I had to pick up a friend at the airport. I do have to say that although the Big Dig has cost us all a lot of money and I still drive through the tunnel looking up for loose panels, driving to Logan is one of the easiest trips I make through the city now. 

Since we got there early (one of the drawbacks of having painful memories of previous drives), we decided to stop and split a coffee and a cookie. If you have read my previous posts, you can imagine my surprise when I saw Brunswick Stew as a soup of the day.

I asked the cashier what was in it.

"Oh, it's kinda barbequey, with some kind of white meat,

 like chicken or pork." 

I explained to her that I have a cookbook that lists squirrel

 as the main ingredient. She didn't blink.

"No, I don't think it's squirrel."

Though I did find it interesting that all the other soups list

 the ingredients on the sign.

who knew

Brunswick Stew

Another old cookbook gem; The Farm Journal Cookbook from 1959. One of these days there might be a backyard massacre. And no one likes a lot of fuss.

Fast Food

When it's well past dinner time and my blood sugar has dropped so dangerously low that I may not be held accountable for my actions, I like to have some quick fixes available. Fortunately, I live less than five miles from a Trader Joe's (or The Traitor Joe as we like to say here in Paste-Eater's ville).

Everything in this meal comes from TJ's: 2 cans of Garbanzo Beans, 1 package of Israeli Couscous, 1 jar Curry Simmer Sauce (if you like it spicy--we do), 1/2 bag of frozen peppers, 1/2 bag of frozen peas, Whole Wheat Naan, Olive Oil (not pictured--nothing against it, just forgot it).

Saute peppers in olive oil until they are soft and defrosted. 

Drain and rinse the beans, add them along with the curry sauce and peas. Cover and turn down so it simmers.

Prepare couscous using package directions (do I have to tell you everything?). I suppose to make this "authentic" (but it's from an American supermarket, so how pure can it be) you could use Basmati rice but this is supposed to be fast and I really like Israeli couscous.

Serve with Naan (I use the kind that's with the bread products, not the frozen ones. I think they might be cheaper. Wrap in foil and pop in the oven for a few minutes). Ta-da!

Why It's A Holiday

4962.