Calling Mary Anne!

I most daftly lost your address - could you send it again please? I have something to send...

Thanks!

Salmon Dip

I don't think I've posted this recipe before, but the spirit's moving me now. I've been up for the past hour, since 5 a.m., prepping food for the day since supper doesn't make itself and I'm committing the Great Wednesday Runaround. So I'm pulling chickens out of the freezer, peeling potatoes, mulling over veggies - as well as packing for the trip.

One of the things on my list was this salmon dip, more for the travel portion of the day than the supper end. It's tasty protein, portable, and gluten-free. I find travelling GF to be a pain in the knickers. With rice-crackers, this stuff is marvellous. I got the recipe from my sister-in-law, and I don't know where she got it, but I'm forever grateful.

So -

1 brick cream cheese
1 tin salmon
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
generous dusting of dill
fresh ground black pepper

Mix. Eat with rice crackers.

Actually, I don't use the pepper anymore, as it seems to annoy my body into constant hunger, but it's still very good without it.

And now for something completely different...

Someone told me the other day that she rarely blows her nose, maybe two or three times a year. (Context is everything, folks, and my lips are sealed.) My gaster was flabbered! In this house the walls ring from first light to last with the honking and skirling of our sinuses. I mean, not constantly, but you know, at regular intervals. And when someone arouses the somnolent dust bunnies under the furniture, the forests suffer our nasal wrath.

Now you know I hate to get personal, but can anyone one else here make a claim to blowing his/her nose a mere 2-3 times a year? It's in the cause of science, my dears.

The Aubergine and I

morguefile.com

I'll admit, I haven't known a lot of vegans in my life, nor ovo-lacto vegetarians. I chalk that up to the fact that I've always lived in a climate that's extremely discouraging to vegetable growth for about 9 months of the year. Fresh fruits and vegetables are just a bit pricey to make an entire meal of, you know? When you're this chilly, you need a few extra calories. Fats. Personally I think I'd need to eat a truckload of fruits and vegetables in a day in order to fulfill my basic requirements for fuel. And I'd be flippin' grouchy about it.

But lately, vegan/vegetarians have been cropping up (ooh - good one, eh?) in my life with startling frequency. It's probably the circles I'm running in; massage therapists, acupuncturists, etc. Folks who already show a pronounced leaning toward DIY health.

If you want to be a vegetarian, or even a vegan, sure, I'm fine with that. It's sure as hell not a local diet, and I don't buy that it's a healthier one (especially veganism), but whatever. If you've got the money to support that habit, go for it. There are worse vices.

But you know what I've noticed about vegans in particular? This isn't a scientific study or anything, just my wool-gathering. One thing I've noticed is that all of the vegans I know are absolutely OBSESSED about food. They think about food day and night. They talk about food constantly. Every conversation gets hijacked by food issues. The other thing is, that all the vegans and wanna-be vegans I know have been sexually abused.

I'm suspecting it's just another way of expressing control, like anorexia. If you have something in your life, like food, that you can obsess about, totally control, and makes you feel like a a holy martyr who's purer than the unwashed rabble, it's easier to cope with the reality that actually the world isn't an in-control place. Stuff happens all the time, and a lot of it, well, we just have to suck it up and make the best of it.

Just a thought. I'm sure there are all kinds of people who would declare themselves an exception to my generalization, but I still think there's something there. A vegan diet, even moreso than an ovo-lacto diet, requires so much maintenance and attention that it seems like it can overrun an entire life.

Something else I've been hearing with more frequency lately is how much more "karmically sound" a vegetarian or vegan diet is.

Oh please. Let me tell you about all the little animals that get killed in the fields while big tractors harvest your quinoa. Let's talk about the human cost of the petroleum required to get the food from seed to table. Let's talk about the possibility that plants scream when you cut them down. And then you can tell me again about your superior karma.

Gack. Ain't no innocents. Not me, not you.

Sorry. This morning I seem to be out of patience. I think a coyote ate my little Maggie-cat yesterday. Dammit. I wish I could convince the coyotes to adopt a vegetarian diet.

Hey, Sweetie!

Photo credit: cohdra from morguefile.com

And the winner of the Sweetheart Madcap Giveaway is.....

For being first, valentonality, and reminding me of hot-water-bottles (my seasonal obsession), Kate of Another Thing Or Two is Winner #1!

In the "Limerick" category, the hands-down Winner #2 is.... Mary Anne! She is to be congratulated on not only utilizing the limerick form, but incorporating plot development and encouragement towards physical phitness.

And Winner #3, in our Harlequin division, with extra merit for flattery, is Jim of Earth Home Garden!

Send me some e-mails with addresses!

Play My Giveaway!

Righty-ho!

The fabric is RED. You know why.

You do know why, right?


Anyway, it's give-away season, and I'm in the mood for a little poetically inspired stitchery. Write me a poem with a February theme, and your name goes in the toque. The end result? Not entirely certain, but it'll be fabric, it'll have at least a little bit of red on it, and it'll be some useful item.


Rules:

*Naughty is fine (possibly encouraged), grossly graphic is not.

*Doesn't have to be original.
Limericks are always a happy choice. But I can be a haiku kinda gal too. Sonnets count.
(Watch your feet.)

*Entrants must have a valid Terrestrial citizenship.
(No illegal Aliens. The postage would be astronomical.)


The draw will be made on February 14!

Controlled Substances

morguefile.com


The world of vice is opening up. Soon, even the squarest among us will have the pleasure of being I.D.'ed to obtain our quilty pleasures...

... if this article is any indication.

"Common sense is very uncommon."
-Horace Greely

Open Hand

Photo credit: kevinrosseel from morguefile.com

CG is having a February giveaway!

LINK...LINK...LINK

Go on over, read her post and follow the directions.