I’ve decided to share two recent family dinners, put together easily. The first one is a tiny bit more work than the second but they were both extremely satisfying. Give them a try.
Photos and recipes below the cut:
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White Buffalo Calf and the Summer Solstice
“Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of humankind. Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people in a time of such terrible danger? Know that you yourself are essential to this world. Understand both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself are desperately needed to save the soul of this world. Did you think you were put here for something less? In a Sacred Hoop of Life, there is no beginning and no ending.”
Chief Arvol Looking Horse
Chief Looking Horse is the keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe.
Nearly one year ago, I attended the first of what I hope will be an annual event at the National Shrine and Historic Site of St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Fonda, New York. It was World Peace and Prayer Day and was being held around the world on the same day, the Summer Solstice.
Please watch this video as told by Chief Arvol Looking Horse about how the day came to begin, starting with his own life history and the tragic past and present of the reservation system. The words are weighty, and the music only adds to the chills I felt, and I think you will feel as you watch:
In 1994, Miracle, a rare white buffalo calf was born in Wisconsin. It was the first white buffalo calf born since 1933. White buffalo calves are sacred to many Native American nations in the US and Canada. The World Peace & Prayer Day began in 1996 and for a time, rotated to different sites until expanding to individual events held at sacred sites globally. The Kateri Shrine is one of those sacred sites and why the administration decided to hold this interfaith prayer service. The Shrine is sacred to the Native peoples who lived and nurtured the land and there is a Mohawk community nearby as well, and it is also sacred to Catholics who believe the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha lived there in the village of Caughnawaga throughout her child- and young adult-hood. This village is the only fully excavated Mohawk village in the country. I’ve written before about my experience there and how profound it was for me and others who attended it.
The Shrine is planning a second World Peace & Prayer Day service on the Summer Solstice, June 21.
Two days ago, it was revealed that another rare white buffalo was born in Montana, in Yellowstone National Park and according to Lakota prophecy and tradition this foretells better times coming as well as a caution that more must be done to protect the earth. This new calf and Miracle are said to be true white buffalo and not albino – they both have a black nose, hooves, and dark eyes.
Reported birth of rare white buffalo calf in Yellowstone park fulfills Lakota prophecy
In the article I’ve linked about this recent white buffalo calf, there is discussion about the killing and removal of bison every winter to keep the herds at about 5000 animals. There is opposition to increasing the numbers in herds from ranchers and the governor, but I don’t see any input from local tribes or from across the nation. Perhaps because they also oppose transferring the buffalo to the tribes. I wonder why they can’t go back to having the Native tribes participate in their traditional hunting of buffalo which kept the population manageable naturally.
That political segue is important to be aware of, but a digression to this joyous event of another white buffalo calf.
Whatever you’re doing and wherever you are on June 21, take a moment to pray on the continuing vitality of the earth, our home, and all of those who live here. I will be at the Kateri Shrine in Fonda participating in the ceremonies and listening to the prayers both spoken through the participants and in the air swaying the trees.
Friday Food – Idiosyncrasies
StandardAs these come up in my life, I notice them more and more. I know that they are idiosyncratic, and some are downright weird, but they are what they are, and I thought I’d share them with you. Please share some of yours in the comments.
I call everything “jelly,” but I never buy jelly. I only buy jam or preserves.
When I add ice to my cup at McDonald’s, I always pour out a couple of cubes.
I only and always eat latkes with applesauce AND sour cream. I also eat them year-round, and more at Passover than at Chanukah.
This isn’t food related, but I put NO Chanukah ornaments on our Christmas tree.
Now that I have a collection of Big Mac Sauce packets, I bring them with me when we go to a local restaurant that has patty melts (which I love) but no Thousand Island dressing.
Food adjacent – I don’t use Saran Wrap. It never works.
I wing cooking but never baking. Baking is too precise.
I won’t eat matzo or gefilte fish after Passover. I may make an exception for matzo brei.
I only eat kosher all beef hot dogs. When people talk about not knowing what’s in their hot dogs, I have no idea what they’re talking about. My hot dogs only have beef, no fillers, no anything else. Also, Mustard only. And sauerkraut when available.
Real NY bagels – never toasted.
I love bagels and lox, but I only eat it on Fridays in Lent.
The only soda I drink is Diet Coke. Not Pepsi, not Coke Zero, not RC.
I have had a recent obsession with peanut butter and bananas – any bread including matzo. (Not pictured English muffin.)
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bagel.
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Brand names. I am a good tryer of generic and store brand foods. Except:
- Cream Cheese – Philadelphia Kraft
- Macaroni & Cheese – Kraft in the blue box, 7.25 oz.
- Butter – Land O Lakes or Cabot. Exception for Kerrygold when I have the money for it.
- Orange Juice – Tropicana or Florida’s Natural
- Bachman Jax Cheese Curls only.
- Skippy Peanut Butter.
- Pretzels – Rold Gold
- Hot dog rolls – Martin’s Potato Long Rolls
- Craisins – Ocean Spray only
- This is also food adjacent: Ziploc bags and Reynold’s Aluminum Foil. Hands down, generic just doesn’t have the same strength.
A Total Totality
We spent eclipse weekend in Montreal, Canada. Once we were shut out of Syracuse (too expensive) and Plattsburgh (no room at the – or any – inn), it wasn’t a difficult decision to go a short distance further. I love being that close to the border, and luckily our passports are current.
Because of the research I planned to do while we were up there, I thought we’d pop our chairs down at the park near the Ile de Tekakwitha on the Mohawk territory/Kahnawake. We scoped it out the night before and the parking looked extremely limited, but we were still hopeful. We would decide when the time came. As darkness settled in, we drove out to the main road for dinner – Robbie’s Smokehouse!
On Monday, we woke up bright and early; adventure awaited!
Continue readingFriday Food Favorites
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From the top, clockwise: Peanut butter and banana on toast, egg bagel with cream cheese and lox, sweet potato, grilled cheese, Berry French toast bake with strawberry syrup.
We all have foods that we go back to throughout our lives, a lot of them from our childhood. All of the above are in some way, shape or form from my childhood and teen years. My favorite thing as a child, home sick from school, was a soft, buttery sweet potato. I can recall sitting in the darkness of my mother’s bedroom, basking in the soft glow of the television eating this ever so slowly.
Recently, I have become obsessed with peanut butter and bananas. I’ve even slathered on the peanut butter and put a whole banana in the center of the bread and eaten it like a hot dog. A great snack!
Bagels with lox really needs no explanation; nor does grilled cheese. I enjoyed this on a few of my meat-free Fridays during Lent.
This French toast bake is from Cracker Barrel and has a custardy, cheesecake filling on top with whipped cream. Decdadent and delicious. This was a special treat. I am a French toast purist, dipped in egg, griddled, butter, and maple syrup.
In anticipation of Passover, my mouth is already watering when I think about the Matzo-brei that I will make, eat, and share with you here in a few weeks.
What are your own food favorites?
Friday Food – Easy and Loved by All
For the Picky Eater, and Easy for the Cook
I made two weeknight meals recently that were a complete hit with my family, even the picky eater. They were both easy, and the goulash was with leftovers, so it was doubly exciting for the kitchen and the checkbook. There was a minimum of prep for each, and it was so great that the goulash is already planned for dinner for Monday night.
Recipes and pictures below the cut:
Continue readingTravel – Following in Susan B. Anthony’s Footsteps
One year, on our way to Canada, we stopped in Rochester, New York. My boys wanted to visit a comic store (of course), and since we were in Rochester, I suggested we visit Susan B. Anthony’s gravesite (Section C, Plot 93). I wanted my daughter to see a symbol of one of the pioneers of suffrage and women’s right to vote. Especially because when I mentioned that she had been on the dollar coin, there was a little confusion and looking up the difference between the Anthony dollar and the Sacajawea one. Driving to Niagara Falls and the Canadian border, west on I-90, there are several signs for women’s history from Seneca Falls, NY (birthplace of women’s rights) to Auburn, NY (home of Harriet Tubman).
I’ve written before about Susan B. Anthony and suffrage. They can be found by searching my tags in the search bar to the left. Below find some places to visit related to Susan B. and women’s rights as well as the surrounding area.
There are no falls in Seneca Falls.
Susan B. Anthony’s gravesite can be found at the Mount Hope Cemetery. Frederick Douglass may also be found in his final resting place here.
National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House
Near her house is the Susan B. Anthony Park.
Women’s Rights National Historical Park
National Women’s Hall of Fame – reopening in the spring
Spend 48 Hours in Seneca Falls (from the I Love NY site)
Also visit this online, virtual, “museum without walls”: National Women’s History Museum
And this online feature at the New York State Museum: Votes for Women: Celebrating New York’s Suffrage Centennial
Rochester Region Suffrage Timeline
Play Women’s Hall of Fame Solitaire
Finally, use the Freethought Trail to plan your journeys for the following (more available on the website):
Women’s Suffrage Conventions Trail
Lenten Intentions
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Organizing for Writers
StandardYou would think I’d be an expert on this but needs change and so does organization. Looking around the piles of files and notebooks around where I’m working, I wonder if this is something I should be giving advice on. I think that most of us, while not great at taking our own advice, are in fact, great at giving it. Some of the following suggestions are things that I’ve done and have worked, and some are things that I’m planning on implementing. It’s still January, so there’s still a bit of time before those New Year’s Resolutions go the way of the mastodon. Or Dodo Bird, whichever fits your fancy.
Continue readingOrganizing the Organization
StandardWherever you look, wherever you are in the material world, in retail shops, online, and just looking around at the dining room table clutter (but that might just be me), the world is telling you to declutter and organize your stuff, from kitchenware to linen closets to offices to the stuff on top of the sofa (again, that might just be me). And amidst the clutter shaming, they tell you that they have just the right tools for you to organize not only your stuff, but the stuff your stuff goes into – organizing the organization.
Deals to Look For
I don’t know if this is still true, but the best deal on bins is at Target after Halloween. They have orange and black bins (that no one wants) for ridiculously cheap prices – less than $5 for a big bin.
Another great deal to know about is Back to School Shopping has the best deals the week after Fourth of July. Watch the ads, especially Staples. One other note, since the recession (2008), there has been almost no restocking. When they run out, it’s gone. That holds true for most things, not just back to school.
If you’re looking for a television, wait until the weeks before the Super Bowl.
Most importantly, only get what you’ll use in the next three months. You don’t need enough laundry detergent (despite what the ad says) to last through the apocalypse or Zombie invasion. The exception to this is toilet paper. After the pandemic, we always have a large package of toilet paper in reserve, so we never run out.
Where Do You Put that Stuff?
I have bins, baskets, folders, bags for this, bags for that, and what worked yesterday doesn’t always work today. It doesn’t help that I have organization envy to go along with my stationery/office supply envy. Awareness is the first step, and since my kids no longer have back to school supply shopping (everything is done on computers and laptops and Chromebooks), I’ve have been slowly going through withdrawal and mourning those days when I would spend hours (yes, hours) walking up and down each aisle in the school supply sections of Target and Walmart, and yes, even Walgreens and CVS, not to mention Staples, searching for the perfect notepad, the calendar that would get me through the year despite my proclivity to find a “better” one, a “prettier” one, one that was perfect for now, so I changed and added, and rewrote all of the information.
I finally broke myself of this financial-draining and self-defeating habit a few years ago with my calendar/planner. I used to have two (or more): One for my personal/family plans, one for my writing plans, and sometimes one for my lesson plans as a teacher, and none of the twain shall meet. At that time, however, I realized that I never used the weekly section for family plans. I might have repeated what was already on the month, but I never looked at it. That was when I decided to combine my two main calendars: family plans on the monthly section, blog plans on the weekly section, the current week tabbed with a magnetic bookmark. I’ve done this for awhile now, and it works very well. When I see a new planner that I’m drawn to, whether it’s the style, color, or organizational advantages, I walk away. I have a planner through December 31, and I am not spending money on another one. Maybe I can get that one next year. And yes, I save them all in a box in case I want to look back on blog posts even though I know I never will.
I am trying to whittle down the things I have and use to be more consistent and less wasteful. I know that as a writer, I will never run out of notebooks, journals, pens, and the like, and don’t get me started on printing, photocopies, and handouts. Although, I am in the process of reducing all of that.
This year, apart from my computer files and external hard drive, I have three main organizational items that I use regularly. They’re great for at home, they’re great for travel. Two were gifts from my husband, one for my birthday and one for Christmas: a document holder and a folio (both pictured below). I mean, I know that psychologically they make me feel more professional and think that I’ve got my act together, but still.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 