DangerChicks (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} dangerchicks) wrote,@ 2004-11-15 18:10:00 |
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| Current mood: |  tired |
| Current music: | Song:Dreamboat Annie - Artist:Heart - Album:Dreamboat Annie |
Marcy: Speeding Things Up
I have decided that there is no reason I shouldn't answer you, even if it is only two days since you posted. Hence, I am here, writing away, with no idea at the moment what I am going to say.
I fired someone last week. I hate that almost as much as anything I ever have to do. It seems like an admission on my part of managerial failure, even though I know that it is not precisely my failure that we are talking about here. Beyond clearly laying out the requirements and setting standards, and spending as much time as I could coaching and encouraging and reminding, there is nothing I can do. That's what personal responsibility means. Nevertheless, it made last week harder than I wanted it to be. (I'm not self-absorbed enough to think I was the person involved who had the worst week, or anything. Just, it was pretty bad.)
I got a new pair of shoes, which I really like, although they are not sexy or anything. What they are is COMFORTABLE. Really, really comfortable. You can see a pair here. While it's true that they are a bit clunky, they are not as stupid looking as Earth Shoes, but I think they may be the most comfortable shoe I have owned since my last pair of Earth Shoes died in about 1981.
I grew up in California mostly, so of course I am used to beans in chili. I like that okay, but it's not my favorite way to eat beans. I think my favorite way to eat beans is Greek Navy Bean Soup.
You wanted to know...
1. Any thoughts about slightly-non-traditional holiday food? When I lived in San Francisco, Lynne and I used to eat Chinese food for Christmas supper. We'd have the big dinner the night before, and then send for delivery on the afternoon of the day itself. Yum. (This is after the harden-your-arteries blow-out breakfast, so really after the roast the night before and the breakfast, we skipped lunch and then had Chinese food for supper.)
2. Hm, any guesses as to how the term "short" got to be used to describe baked goods that are buttery-and-crumbly as opposed to flaky? I always thought it was because such baked goods are higher in fat (or shortening), but I realize as I type that perhaps I just made that up when I was 10 and never bothered to find out if it is actually true or not.
3. Also, whither cranberries? My cousin Tom makes this cranberry-and-horseradish chutney-relish thing that he learned about on All Things Considered one evening about 15 years ago. I loathe it. Most people seem to love it, however. I like dried cranberries reconstituted and used in place of raisins in spice cake.
4. What food do you think is Just Wrong (or, more sensibly, Not For You) when associated with various holidays? My Grandfather always ate oyster stew on Christmas Eve, and believe me, there is no more WRONG food in all the world. You take oysters and suck them into a pan of milk and then you simmer it until the oysters are rubber. Serve it in bowls with a pat of margarine in each bowl. Ick Ick Ick. Also, sliced strawberries in lime jello is NOT a good Christmas day dessert.
It's hard to believe next week is T'giving already. I have no idea what I am doing for that day. Maybe I will just go for a long drive on the Olympic Peninsula and have a picnic on the beach in the rain. Or maybe not.
Anyway, I do have questions for you...
1. What do you think belongs in trail mix or gorp? What should never be in there? I think gorp should be raisins, peanuts and M&Ms. Period. End of discussion. Trail mix can be more creative, but it should never have dried pineapple in it, because I am allergic to that, and so I can't eat trail mix that has it. I like dried cranberries in trail mix, and also dried cherries.
2. What's your favorite sickeningly sweet thing to eat? I like 7-layer bars, slightly modified. My layers are butter, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, pecans, milk chocolate chips, toffee chips, and condensed milk. Much more sickeningly sweet than the original, and damn good, too.
3. Have you ever felt inspired to reverse engineer a recipe that was polluted with too much convenience food? In the 1970s in California, there was this casserole that all the moms made that they called Chicken Sopa. You made a sauce from a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of cream of celery soup with a can of chopped green chilis in it, then you layered that with cooked chicken, shredded corn tortillas and a whole lot of cheese, then cooked it until it all melted together. I loved it as a kid, but when I made it as an adult, I hated the taste of yucko canned soups. So I tried it with a sauce made of homemade chicken broth, a little cream cheese and some sour cream whisked together, and then chopped scallions and chopped green chilis. Much, much better.
4. And on a non-food note, and a non-holiday note, have you discovered any poets that you like, but had not heard about a year ago? I think I must have been hibernating or something, but I had not run across either Mary Oliver or David Whyte until last fall.
