Food For Thought

If you know me, then you probably know that I'm a sucker for a good cause.  I have been donating stuff, making calls, writing letters, babysitting people's kids or pets, scrubbing floors, baking, cooking, taking phone calls, mailing packages, stuffing envelopes, making or accepting donations, comforting people or animals, knocking on doors, moving shit, picking up trash, and generally being what some people refer to as a "do-gooder" for over two decades now.  I even did volunteer work for a Free-Net in the 1990s!  (Do those things even exist anymore?)  Truth be told, I'm not really sure where I came upon this habit.  It's just kind of the way things have always been.

You may also know that I love to cook.  Back when I was more mobile than I am now, I was the kind of person who'd throw elaborate dinner parties, with multi-course meals featuring an insane amount of choices for my guests.  Or I'd just cook for my husband, who often disliked exotic or unusual foods; he also isn't a fan of leftovers, so much of the time, the stuff I'd make would eventually depart this world via the garbage disposal, as opposed to the toilet, as a good meal should.

I view cooking as an art form; an extremely temporary and short-term way to get the gratification of making something, without the hassle of storing it forever or figuring out how to put it to good use.  You cook the food, you (or the people you love) eat the food, you toss the leftovers.  And if there were actually people to cook for -- oh, happy day, like when my husband's workplace used to have their holiday parties -- I would bake cheesecake for days, thrilled to impart some of my happy vibes into the dessert assignment!  (I miss those times!)  But, how sad it is to cook food that might not get eaten.  So for the longest time, I have wanted to help out at a shelter or a food pantry.

Upon finally learning of a shelter that accepted donations of cooked food -- something which hadn't really occurred to me until then -- I decided to roll up my sleeves and make something good.  I did an enchilada casserole, which was basically ground turkey in beans and rice, with some cheese and spices.  It wasn't a lot of food -- only one little tray, which might have feed half a dozen hungry folks -- but I was still proud to make something good for someone.  It was such fun that this month, I decided to have a cooking party to prepare something good for the shelter.  And yesterday, that's just what we did!

I am still battling with phone issues, so I didn't get any pictures.  But I will say that we had an absolute blast.  And so many friends helped out -- one of them went out of her way to do our shopping and kicked in 20% of the food bill!  Another friend helped to straighten up the house in a hurry, played chauffeur to a partygoer in need of a ride, donated some surplus canned food, and ran a bunch of errands.  We even had a friend drive from 40 minutes away to help me peel apples, chop celery, and dice onions.  And of course, there was my man with his mighty chili-stirring arm.  Between all of us, we were able to produce 6 trays of food -- that's 3 apple-raisin noodle kugels and 3 turkey-chili tamale pies -- for the Lowell Transitional Living Center.  I didn't get to come along for the food delivery since I was hosting, but I was told that the chili received an especially enthusiastic welcome.

Things went so well that we've decided to do it all over again next month.  I haven't decided yet what we're going to make.  I'd also love to have some more volunteers and/or food donations.  I paid for almost everything myself.

One thing I would suggest to readers, though: If you want to volunteer to do something, don't think "there's nothing I can do."  I have to take it slow even on my best days, and then there are days when I hurt so bad that I can't even get out of bed -- in fact, I tend to stay inside almost all of the time because of my health issues.  But I didn't let that stop me from helping; I brought the playing field onto my turf instead, and made my own volunteer event.  Anyone can do it, really.  And if you're feeling particularly down about your own life, isn't it nice to stop worrying about your own problems for awhile & do something to help people who are even more screwed than you are? 

I can't cook the way I used to, but I was certainly able to get onto Facebook, invite my friends to come for a volunteer party, and then put their asses to work! :)  The point I'm trying to make is that you CAN do something.  And even if you don't think the stuff you can do is worth very much, there really are people out there who can benefit from it.  You just have to know where to look.  Trust me!

P.S.  I used a variation of a Wendy's chili clone in my tamale pie.  All I did after that was make the crust (boil 4 cups water, add 1 cup cornmeal & spices if you like, then stir until thickened), pour the crust in the tray, top with chili, & add the cheese.  It was a very easy recipe for a crowd!

Hoarders: PGS Edition

  OK, so maybe I'm not a hoarder!  But, I am seriously drowning in crap over here lately.  I've been flirting with the idea of moving, as I've posted before.  Now that the end of my lease is coming closer and closer on the horizon (I still have several months yet), I've decided to go through my crap and seriously start to purge.  I have a few ideas of where I may be moving, but still haven't quite nailed down the perfect locale; regardless, it will be a smaller space that what I am accustomed to.

Some of you might have wondered whatever happened to my plan to donate one box each month.  Well, I didn't end up doing it every single month, but more often than not, donations were made last year.  A close relative passed away unexpectedly this past year, so donations have been going on a regular basis while we've been travelling between states for the past few months.  It's a mishmash of things -- mine, family's, whatevz.  I did, however, stop selling my used books and things on Half.com.  Way too much work, and I didn't make enough to really justify it.  Most of the stuff I wound up donating, and some of it was just tossed.

This week, I went down to the basement to see what was going on.  I was shocked to see the stuff that was piled up down there!  There were clothes that I didn't even remember that I had, or stuff that I thought was long gone (and have since replaced).  I brought up a big ole vat of things to sort through.

Here's where I worry about my hoarding tendencies... The clothes.  I have stuff that fits, stuff that doesn't, stuff for sitting around, stuff for clubbing, stuff for funerals, stuff for business meetings, stuff for psychic gigs, stuff for repairing, stuff that I save for nostalgia, and stuff that I save because I want to do something else with it.  And quite honestly, it's really hard to make decisions about what to part with.  I love my clothes.  It's not even that I buy a lot of them, but I do save things that I love.  And with the basement being what it was, I've "lost" things that have had to be replaced, so now I have extras.  Not good!

Hoarders have problems with getting rid of things, too.  It can be very hard to make decisions about what to throw out and what to keep.  

I always refer to my guide about decluttering.  (But, sometimes I save clothes that I probably won't fit into next year!)  This year, after saving a couple of boxes of clothes which I still hope to wear again one day, I've decided to just eBay them!  They are way too cute to be sitting in boxes!

I still have a few months before it's time to move; even though I've been decluttering, donating, and tossing all year, I have a whole lot more to do.  Here's hoping I'll get it finished soon!  I miss having a decluttered house! :)

Speak Out & Save the Internet!

Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.

The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.

Sign the petition here.  And be sure to use the widget below to call your representatives to urge them NOT to censor the internet!

To help even more, please share this blog entry (or the links) with anyone and everyone that you can -- repost in your blog!  Forward to your friends and family via email!  Share via Twitter and Facebook.  Do it now, before the internet is changed (for the worse) forever!

Thank you!!!

Q: What Do Disco Bandits Eat? A: Disco Fries!

Ordinarily, I try to eat healthy. Honest, I do! Recently I joined Bat Fit 2012, so my next few recipes should be much healthier than this one.

One of the things that I make during hectic holiday seasons is Disco Fries, which I did a little while before my phone died. It is a spectacularly unhealthy dish which I make only rarely, but wonderfully easy and tasty. This is my thrice-yearly guilty pleasure -- especially comforting when the weather's cold, and our day has been busy and tiresome. I usually have the Disco accoutrements on hand, all we need to do is pick up a big order of our favorite spicy fries.

And, before you ask... no, I'm not exactly sure where the term "Disco Fries" originated.  All I really know is that while there are various versions of cheese fries in America and, indeed, the world, fries which are topped in a cheese and brown gravy are known as Disco Fries in the NYC area.  One thing I do know is that if you're getting ready to don some sparkly bell-bottoms and bust a move at your favorite discotheque, you'll need lots of dairy and carbs to keep your booty shaking all night long!

INGREDIENTS:
spicy fries -- a serving for as many people as you're feeding!
shredded cheddar cheese
brown gravy (make your own, buy it, steal it... whatevz!)

You can buy some fries at your favorite fryery if you're feeling lazy and/or want that great factory-fresh taste.  Even McDonald's would be OK, but if you can find or make spicy fries, it'll be even better.  After they have been purchased or prepared, place them onto individual plates, and spoon some brown gravy over the fries.  Then sprinkle some cheese over the whole thing.

I've heard that some people melt the cheese in the broiler in the oven, but I just microwave mine for about a minute; I like my cheese a bit on the firm side.  The trick is to keep your little eyes on it, so that it doesn't burn or get nasty.  Just let the cheese melt and the gravy bubble, while feasting your eyes on the majesty of Disco Fries.  Then remove from your heat source, let it cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!

I will leave you now with the Disco Fries song by Parry Gripp, to prepare you for this culinary odyssey.

Farewell, 2011!

As we ring in this new year, I want to take a few minutes to wish a fond farewell to 2011.  With that, I am also bidding goodbye to eleven things that I hope not to experience in 2012, so let's leave them in the past.  Here goes!

Goodbye, anxiety!
See ya; wouldn't wanna be ya, negative self-talk!
Laterz, procrastination!
Hasta la vista, disorganization baby!
Smell ya later, powerlessness!
Adios, closed minds!
See you in hell, despair!
Farewell, crankiness!
Cheerio, needless worrying!
Toodle-oo, stress!
Peace out, chaos!

....And a big HELLO to a postive, prosperous, happy and healthy 2012 -- for all of us!

Love, Peace, & Chicken Legs

I'm not exactly sure how or why, but I recently came across this blog entry from Dine & Dish about baked chicken legs.  Somehow, the author has become obsessed with them to the point where she wants to eat them every day!

I showed Fuzz this article, and he was like "WTF is so special about baked chicken legs?"  And it's true; the ingredients are pretty simple -- just salt and pepper, a soupçon of olive oil, and the legs.  You basically pop them in the oven, and Bob's your uncle, baked chicken legs!  The commenters seemed to be singing the praises of these simple leggies to high heaven.  They were so fanatical about the glory and wonderousness that is baked chicken legs, that I had to try it and figure out what the deal was.  We made a half-batch for dinner soon afterward.

Well, I must say, dinner was rather unimpressive that night.  "Um, yeah, it's just chicken," Fuzz said, picking at his legs.  I wasn't quite as snobby about it as he was, and enjoyed it for what it was -- just some simple chicken, salt and pepper, a tiny bit of Frank's, no big whoop.  We packed up the excess legs, and within a day or two, I was requesting some of the leftovers for lunch and/or dinner.  Much to Fuzz's surprise, I enjoyed the hell outta those leftovers!

For the record, I don't consider these baked chicken legs to be quite as orgasmic as the enthusiastic commenters in each blog.  However, these sure were easy.  And the leftovers were just what a mobility-challenged gal like me needs on a high-pain-score day: plentiful, great without heating, and highly "grabbable."  What's more, a medium-sized chicken leg, sans frying or crazy sauces and condiments, is approximately about 70 calories or so (80-something if you absolutely have to eat the chicken skin).  So, even though I wouldn't call them God's gift to chicken legs, I would absolutely say that they're very tasty in their own right, convenient, and quite healthy too.  I'll be experimenting with some more seasoning techniques in the future, and will let you know how it goes!

P.S.  Apologies for the lame-ass clip art -- it was either clip art or nothing, and I didn't want to break my own anti-perfection rule!  Turns out that my Motorola Cliq has officially bitten the dust!  Fortunately, my replacement phone has been ordered, and should be arriving any day now.  So I'll be going back to some more regular posting in the near future, I'm sure. :)

Review: Karma Naturals Cosmetics

I apologize for not posting more within the past several weeks -- believe me, you have not been far from my mind! :)

Unfortunately, the cell phone that I keep with me to document all of my awesome projects -- a Motorola Cliq that I had finally gotten used to using -- has died a sudden and untimely death.  Currently I'm back to using the first cellphone I ever had, a Samsung r225, from around 2002.  All of the phones since then I've donated or thrown away, but I always keep my durable old r225 for "just in case."  Although the technology is primitive, and there's a lot less to keep me occupied while I'm on the toilet, it's a durable and serviceable phone.  I am rather enjoying my bout with involuntary simplicity, at least as far as phone usage goes.

Because I don't have any cute pictures to share, I figured I'd just do a fast review on a company that I've recently done some business with.  I needed some new mineral foundation, so I bought a few samples from "Karma Naturals" through eBay.  Although I had ordered a "White Mousse" shade, they were out of that -- so I wound up getting colors called "Almond Latte" and "Vanilla Creme," which I mixed together and added a bit of baby powder to lighten.  (I have very pale skin, so it's not an uncommon thing for me to have to do.)  Despite the substitutions, I still liked the foundation.  It covered smoothly and evenly, and definitely made my skin look prettier in a natural way, rather than a corpse-y way -- which is good, since I've been needing to be a little more in the public eye lately.

Added benefits of doing business with Karma Naturals: The items shipped fast, and they even included a free vegan lip balm in pina colada, which I enjoyed even more than the foundation itself!  The foundation has stayed in the makeup kit in my purse, though the lovely moisturizing lip balm has a place by my bedside; I tend to use it in the morning and at night.

I was also given a coupon code to use at the website as well, which I definitely intend to do once I run out of stuff.  I am sooooo getting another lip balm -- with flavors like Devil's Food or Clover Honey, how can you resist? -- and the African Red Tea (rooibos) face cream sounds like something I'd like to give a whirl as well.  Their presentation is just the way I like things to be -- practical and effective, yet luxurious and fun, all at the same time. Karma Naturals makes all kinds of very interesting things, from organic lip balms and vegan makeup products, to soaps, fragrances, lotions, and other interesting body products.  Their website can be found at http://shop.karma-naturals.com, so check 'em out -- and hopefully they won't be too mad at me for borrowing photos from their website for this post! ;)

First Pumpkin of the Season!

Well, I am proud to announce that this week, I was able to get myself to Agway with some friends and purchase the lovely pumpkin below.  (No, it wasn't pre-cut; I did that yesterday.)  It came without a stem, but I like it anyway!

I was thinking about doing a jack o' lantern featuring my business name, but decided to do a PGS jack o'lantern this week instead, just for a bit of practice.  I actually think it turned out fairly well.  The only tools I used were my pen, my knife, & pumpkin scraper.  The letters were freehand -- the little loopy part of the "P" in "Pretty" fell off while I was cutting it.  I have another picture where I stuck it back on with a piece of skewers left over from summer's choochacheechachoo, but I was too lazy to put it up. ;) I wound up having a ton of little pieces of leftover pumpkin from the letters, so I'll be putting those in my crockpot today.

Anyway, here's the first of many of the 2011 season.  I'm already trying to decide what to do with my next one!

Mmmm, smell those fresh pumpkin guts! :)

The Incredible Edible Vegg!

I came across a recipe for vegan egg yolks on The Airy Way.  Usually I just do a tasty tofu scramble with my "secret ingredients," but I thought Zoa's take on vegan egg-style meal was really innovative!  The pictures were so tempting, and the idea of making a tofu "egg white" with a yellow "yolk" just couldn't be filed away for too long.  And yes, there was a footnote about people finding the ingredients to be "gross" -- which, I must admit, I kinda did!  But my curiosity outweighed the gross factor, and I'm so glad it did, because I discovered that it's actually pretty good.  So try it, maybe you'll like it too!

Here are the ingredients from Zoa's blog:

Vegan egg yolk (makes 2 yolks)

1/2 tbsp Veganaise
1/2 tbsp carrot juice (if you don't have carrot juice, just finely grate a carrot and squeeze the juice out of it)
2 tbsp vegetable broth (or 2 tbsp water and 1/4 tsp nutritional yeast)
1 tbsp Earth Balance*
1 tsp cornstarch

(*Admittedly, I did not vegan-ize this recipe all the way.  All I had was "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter," please don't be mad at me!)

The real technique can be found if you click on the Airy Way link above.  The recommended microwaving time is in 5-second increments, which I failed to remember while I was doing my cooking (I had only written down the ingredients.)  As it was, I just mixed everything together -- using the water/nutritional yeast method -- and microwaved it in 20 second increments, whisking the hell out of it after each pass.  I think it took me two 20-second passes in the microwave.  You might need a third, depending on how hot your microwave cooks.  Or you can just follow Zoa's directions and do it correctly. ;)

After I first mixed everything together, I must admit that it that it looked pretty ho-riffic.  I began to have some second thoughts, but decided to press on!

Yeah, it's not a pretty picture.  If it looks like this, you're (unfortunately)
 doing it right.  But... keep going.  It gets better, I promise! :)

After the first 20-second pass in the microwave, I whisked the hell out of it, then did another pass.  It mellowed into a beautiful golden egg-yolk yellow shade.  The consistency was smooth and velvety, with just a hint of lumps from the carrot I grated to get the carrot juice.  And incidentally, I would not recommend omitting the carrot juice from this recipe; I must admit that I don't taste it much at all, but it really does help impart a beautiful eggy color to the finished product.

Somehow, everything melted and melded together
into a beautiful "vegg yolk" starter!

Zoa carved a hole into the tofu and then in a separate post (here) recommended microwaving the tofu before filling the hole with the "yolk" -- it makes the wet tofu give up its water a lot more efficiently, and become more eggy in texture.  I carved my yolk holes, and did my best to shape the tofu.  Mine weren't even remotely as pretty as hers, but hey, I tried!

Yum!  It's not just for breakfast anymore!

The blog posting also recommended that the yolk mixture made a good sauce on its own as well, so for the rest of my 'fu, I made another batch -- only this time, at the end, I added a dash of Montreal seasoning and a packet of True Lemon.  Viola... I Can't Believe It's Not Hollandaise! ;)

All in all, I'd give this experiment a good solid B+.  I'll give it another shot sometime and make it an even better grade in the future.