Csquared Thoughts

sometimes a short week doesn't feel like a short week

This was one of those weeks.

sanction

It's interesting how a word in English can have opposite meanings. "That event is sanctioned by the governing organization." "He was sanctioned for not following proper procedures."

Several years ago, in my days as a technical writer, I had an officemate who was a lesbian Wiccan Pagan who regularly participated in Episcopal worship. (She still is and still does. Not relevant to the current topic, but it informed her personality and my relationship with her. We're still friends.) We had a manager who, in my opinion, was not the best of managers and who would not always react rationally to a given situation.

My officemate was planning on doing something I had my doubts about, and I told her, "You better get sanction for that, or you might be sanctioned."

No wonder many of those who learn English as their second language often find it frustrating!

(P.S. If you're interested in such things, go to Bartleby.com, select the American Hertiage Dictionary, and look up "sanction." A very interesting word history note there.)

polenta

It's been a long time since I've done something entirely new in the kitchen.

One of the restaurants we frequent has a neat dish that consists of polenta wedges, spinach, cheese, and marinara sauce.We thought it would be fun to try to re-create it at home. I've never made polenta before, but I had some polenta-style cornmeal that I've used in bread recipes, and the package contained a couple of recipes for making polenta. We decided to give this a try on Monday. I had my doubts mixing 1 cup polenta with 3+ cups water and putting it in the oven in the baking dish, but it turned out well. I used the result and put it together with the other ingredients, and the meal was quite good. Not your typical Memorial Day cookout dinner, but it was a much cooler than average Memorial Day, so it worked out fine.

Looking forward to trying polenta variations with different seasonings.

a new project

I often complain to myself about not having time to do certain things, like pull out my camera or work on my photographs with Photoshop. But the reality is, it's all about choices.

I've long struggled with the idea of how to best organize my recipe collection. I've wanted to computerize it, but it seemed silly to have everything on the computer upstairs, and then need to print out a recipe whenever I wanted to fix it. So I've ended up putting recipes into binders, either cut out of magazines or printed out from my computer, depending on the source.

The advent of the low-cost "netbook" made the idea of a small, single-use computer for the kitchen a logical and practical decision. I bought one (my own company's version, of course), and downloaded and purchased (after asking for recommendations) Living Cookbook.

Now comes the real work. I have two recipe binders: one for vegetarian and one for non-vegetarian recipes (reflecting my schizophrenia with respect to the vegetarian lifestyle). Recipes in my binders from magazines I can look up on their Web sites and copy and paste into Living Cookbook. Recipes from online groups which I have printed out I need to scan and then import into the software. The same for recipes clipped from the newspaper. That's what I've been spending a lot of time doing,

It's time consuming and a tad tedious. But the end result will be a recipe database I can search on any way I choose: ethnic cuisine, ingredients, preparation method, or whatever. And all this using a small computer on the kitchen counter without the need to print out recipes

It really is about priorities and choices.

5k!

On Saturday, Terry and I roused ourselves out of bed at 6:00 a.m. (no mean feat on a Saturday!) to participate in the Mushroom Mardi Gras 5k Fun Run/Walk. I won't give you our times, and while we didn't set any records, we completed the course successfully. It's good to know the treadmill work is paying off!

Afire With God

Earth’s crammed with heaven And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees, takes off his shoes — The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries. —Elizabeth Barrett Browning, via inward/outward

on reading fiction

Finishing the first novel I'd read in a while, I was struck by a down side to reading fiction. You become engrossed in a world you enjoy, but when you come to the end of the novel you have to leave that world whether you want to or not.

Still, it was fun while you were there.

fiction as memoir

Last year I ranted about memoirs that didn't accurately reflect the writer's experience. Alternatively, I recently finished a novel, College Girl, that struck me as very much a roman à clef. The book was just published, but the events take place in what seems to be the late eighties or early nineties without there being any purpose to that which served the story line. The story takes place not at a fictional school, but a real one: UConn. Family conflicts that take up a long winter break interlude are never resolved or brought full circle. The family dog makes a cameo appearance that does nothing for the plot. A future studies abroad experience is referred to in such a way that really doesn't help tie up loose ends.

The line between fiction and memoir is often blurry.

The Hubble and Science

So great to read that the upgrades to the Hubble have been successfully completed, and that we have several more years of great science from that marvelous workhorse.

And speaking of science, it's nice to see that science seems to have survived eight years of the Bush II administration, and now we have a White House that actually believes in science.

Nick, we hardly knew ye

One of our favorite places to eat out was Nick's South Philly Cafe, at the Gilroy Crossings shopping center. It opened last fall, not long before the holidays. It was run by a personable Philadelphia transplant with grey hair, a beard, and an earring. Nick served a combination of Philly-style sandwiches and Italian main dishes. We loved it, and were regulars from the beginning.

We needed to make a Crossings expedition on Saturday to hit up Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, BevMo, and Barnes & Noble. I suggested to Terry that we have lupper (I trust that term is self-explanatory) at Nick's. I was having a hankering for a Philly Chicken sandwich. We completed our rounds and headed over to Nick's. The place was locked up and empty and all the fixtures were gone. Sigh.

Nick, if you're out there, we love you and we miss you.