Here And There

I know I have been missing from around here for a few days but it has been very busy. The Flea Fling was Saturday and appears to have been a big success and I spent all day cooking dogs and sausages. I had full shifts Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and Sunday was especially bad since it also included the annual "Cashier Olympics" on Sunday night after we closed. I've finally gotten a day off and I am still exhausted...I even slept until 7am this morning and I am most always up and around by 5. My intent to go to the gym first thing has been thwarted by a bit of lower GI disturbance which is probably due to just being so bloody tired and I don't feel safe going to far from home right now. Maybe later.

Just a heads up on how the shutdown may affect you. As you may or may not know the CDC here in Atlanta is crippled by the shutdown and the function of tracing food borne illness is not operating. AS luck or whatever would have it there is at outbreak of food poisoning from chicken out there due to Salmonella Heidelberg and possibly produced by the firm Foster Farms but we won't be able to determine the extent or source of the problem until or if the shutdown goes away. My best advice, since we don't know the extent or source of the problem, is to avoid all chicken until we have all of our safeguards in place again. If you just have to have chicken then double up on safety and cook the hell out of it. That means rubber gloves, double sanitizing work areas and food segregation. Remember that even rinsing raw chicken and poultry causes splashes and water mist(probably contaminated) in a large area of your kitchen. Be insanely cautious. While you may safely live through the actual bacterial infection the ancillary damage to kidneys and other systems my be with you a lifetime.

Speaking of shut downs you really must support the President in this. While the shut down and credit default are monstrous, the actual real danger in all this is the future of the office of POTUS. If the GOP is successful in getting away with their hostage taking then they will forever change the way our government works and effectively neuter the office of President. If they can override the election and the settled law of the land and the power of the executive veto then we are going to be in a world o' shit. The President knows this and he definitely does not want his legacy to be the President that destroyed the office.

If the GOP forces the government into default we are going to see a full blown recession that will make the last few years look like a walk in the park. Start thinking about how you can weather such a storm.

Flooding Maybe

I just checked the latest weather forecast and they are calling for heavy rain on Sunday. I decided I had better defer my baking until later today and make an effort in the garden to protect all of my hard work. I've gotten the raised beds all set and mulched the paths between but I really haven't done anything to control the water that comes off the property that is up hill to the West of me. In heavy rain it really gushes down and through the garden. I have a ditch around the West and North edges that catches and diverts a lot of it but it can get overloaded when it really pours. I need to build a cinder block dam to the West to divert even more water and deepen the "moat" a little more. I few hours with the shovel and a little engineering ought to do the trick.

I was kind of looking forward to a quiet, relaxing day in the kitchen but since this will be my last chance before the forecast heavy rain I'd better bite the bullet and get it done.

Time to get my ditch digging gear on and dig. I'll be glad I did on Sunday. I've already gone and done the shopping for my biscotti....shelled pistachios are $4.99 for an 8 ounce bag at TJ's...Ouch! Good thing this for charity but I'm going to have to charge $.50 for a single cookie at that rate. I've posted my recipe here a while back if you are interested in making your own. They are nice and especially with a nice cup of espresso.

Not Shutdown

Even though GOP insanity has shutdown the government Mother Nature is not overly concerned as she is getting ready to give the Southeast a little heavy weather over the weekend. Good for us that the people at FEMA and NWS aren't furloughed.

I am actually on the second of three straight days off. Yesterday was gym and garden. One thing about a big garden is that the fall cleanup is a bear. It is especially bad when the garden was such a disappointment. Still have over 2/3 of it to finish but I got a good start.

Tomorrow is the Great Flea Fling. It's a big fundraiser for the Historical Society's effort to restore the Hembree Farm buildings to their 19th century state. I have once again agreed to provide the cooking for hot dogs and brats so I'll not get anything done tomorrow but that. It does look that we will be able to get the whole thing done and cleaned up before any of the weather from TS Karen rolls in. We'll keep the fingers crossed.

I also always provide biscotti for the bake sale tomorrow so today is going to be baking day. I'll run out in a few minutes for supplies and then get to baking a few batches. Cranberry/walnut and pistachio are the plan. I actually didn't have time for the baking part last year and there were many complaints so I am under pressure to produce this year.

So, while the government is shut down yours truly is quite busy. 

Getting What They Want

A lot of folks may be unclear as to why we are facing a government shutdown in a few hours. The reason is quite clear and the shutdown is exactly what the craziest side of the GOP wanted. Steve Benen makes it clear here.

The Senate and the House both passed budget bills months and months ago and in the normal way of governing would have gone into conference and resolved their differences through compromise. The radicals in the Republican House have refused to conference in favor of getting us to the point of shutdown hoping that they would get enough "leverage" so that they wouldn't have to compromise at all. Yes, it's insane but don't every think it is not on purpose.

Crazy Times

I am trying real hard not to follow the insanity going on in Congress but it is sort of like a newly missing tooth and I still get sucked in to reading about the crazy stuff and shaking my head. I keep coming back to the same question. Why are the teatards so intent on denying health care to so many people? Are they just against poor people in general or are they just truly evil trolls?

I think it best to just keep my head down, think positive thoughts and see what happens. I'll sign up for some kind of health insurance next month that will take me through to next September when I will turn 65 and have Medicare. I am pretty sure by that time most people in the country, except for the truly insane tea party types, will have figured out that the ACA is overall a good thing but like all new things it will have some warts and wrinkles that have to be ironed out.

Yesterday was my first day off in what seemed like forever but I am back at it tonight from 5 till 9 and again tomorrow. Just basically kicked back. Did a little reading and got sourdough started that I will put in the oven in a few minutes. There are a couple of little garden tasks that need to be done before I head off and after the bread is cooling but that's it for today. Gorgeous fall day and Madam and I took a little spin through the Alpharetta farmers market a little while ago so we did get to enjoy a stroll in the sun. Plenty of North Georgia apples on offer and still some nice tomatoes but the produce is getting scarce overall.

Everyone enjoy the day.

It's Fall, Let's Have Pancakes

In celebration of the Autumn Equinox I decided the Sunday morning breakfast today would be buttermilk pancakes. Even though fall doesn't officially start until 4:44 EDT this afternoon I thought it would be OK to get a little jump on things. I actually only make pancakes 4 or 5 times a year but I do like them as a treat once in a while.

One of the things that seems to have gotten lost in the present day kitchen is making simple things from scratch. From what I gather most people now used boxed mixes which is a big shame. I even saw Giada use a box mix on TV! From scratch pancakes are so much better and you don't get all those pesky preservatives needed to keep the box mixes viable for years in the box. All it takes is flour, sugar, milk, eggs, baking powder and soda and a little butter.

Here's my recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups A/P flour
1 TBLsp sugar
1 scant TBLsp baking powder
2 large beaten eggs
1 Tsp baking soda
1/2 Tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk (you can use regular milk but then they wouldn't be buttermilk pancakes would they?)
2 TBLsp melted butter plus more for the pan


Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix the beaten eggs with the buttermilk(start with the 1 1/2 cups. Add the wet to the dry and mix with a whisk but don't over work it as a few lumps are ok.
Gradually add a little more buttermilk to make the mixture a thickish batter. With a little experience you'll know what the right consistency is. Stir in the melted butter.

Cook on a hot griddle that been liberally greased with butter. I use a 1/3 cup measure but use whatever depending on how big you like your pancakes. Cook on the first side until bubbles appear on the top and flip and cook for another minute or so.

I like maple syrup and Irish butter on mine but anything goes just as long as it is not one of the plastic "pancake syrups" you see in the grocery. A lot of the Brits like powdered sugar and lemon or fruit jams.

I always try to have thick sliced hickory smoked bacon with my flapjacks(I like Wright's from Texas) but country sausage is pretty good as well.

Try making your pancakes from scratch next time and you won't go back to the box again.

Losing Ground

The good news is that there is very little chance the mean spirited bill to take 40 billion out of the SNAP program is going to survive the Senate. The bad news is that the Crazy Party is not likely to give up on their program to make being poor even more miserable than it already is.

On the near horizon, the Crazy Party is going to try and shut down the government if  they don't get their way on defunding the ACA and failing that will try and use the debt limit to try again. It is looking very much like everybody's life, if you're a regular person, is going to get a little bit worse. The Congresscritters won't suffer and neither will the fat cats but all the rest of us will.

Speaking of fat cats and suffering...Home Depot announced this week that I won't be able to get health insurance as a part  timer after the end of the year and instead will have to go the ACA exchanges. I went over to the Kaiser website and ran my income and stuff through their ACA calculator and it looks like I will get to pay about twice as much as I do now for the Silver plan and about the same as now for the Bronze plan. I won't know until I actually go out and start looking at the various plan offerings how the new plans will compare to what we have now which is very minimal(read sucks) and limited to a max coverage of 20 thousand a year and 2 thousand for outpatient. I discovered the 2 grand limit the hard way when I had my outpatient hernia surgery a couple of months ago and I got to shell out 4 grand out of pocket. Again, the good news is that I will be 65 next September and Medicare will kick in. I'll only have to deal with the insurance thing for 8 months. The younger part time folks at HD are probably going to be a little more upset than I am about this.

Anyhow, a rainy Saturday here in Georgia so nothing happening in the garden. I have finished and planted 6 raised beds and we needed some rain. I only work 5pm til 9 tonight and noon til 8 tomorrow so really not much of a weekend planned anyway.

Oh, Happy Birthday to minimonk who turns 49 today.

Culture Night

Just got back from meeting Rick Bragg at his talk in Cumming. Very nice and charming man but definitely doesn't come across as a Harvard educated and Pulitzer Prize winning kinda guy. I am sorry to say I have read but some of his first book "All Over But the Shoutin'" but I will finish it and read the rest of his books as well...I couldn't help but think of the late Joe Bageant when I heard him talk.