Cauliflower with Dill Sauce

Oh dear Lord, this is truly amazing.  I was so glad we got a head of cauliflower at the Farmer's Market--so much zucchini, but really, we need some variety to hold us over until it is all cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn, a season that characterizes the next couple of months in the Midwest.

1 large head of cauliflower (about 2 pounds)
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
handful of arugula
1 tablespoon dill, chopped
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons capers, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
120 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil, plus more for drizzling
sea salt
pepper

Turn on oven to broil.
1. Make the dressing. In a jam jar, mix the capers, mustard, garlic and vinegar. Let sit for 15 minutes to a half-hour. Add the oil, shake it up, and add salt and pepper. Set this aside while you cook the cauliflower.
2. Put the cauliflower florets on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle on some sea salt and fresh pepper, too. Slide into the oven until it begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Take out the pan and turn the cauliflower over, so the other side gets brown, too. This will take about 10 more minutes. When the cauliflower is nice and roasted, remove from oven and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, put the cauliflower, tomatoes, arugula and dill. Add the dressing and gently toss.
It can be eaten warm or at room temperature (or as leftovers, cold, the next day.

Reflections on Grandparenthood

My first and for the moment only grandchild turns two today, and I want to take just a few moments to revel in what she means to my spouse and I.  While I do try to avoid this, I do occasionally put words into his mouth,  and on this subject I think he feels more of everything that I feel, that the impact of a grandchild has been explosive and mesmerizing.
In order to commemorate this moment right now, I made this very playful and hopeful quilt, that the world she grows up in has more possibilities for her than it had even for me and her mother, that the patriarch be gradually dismantled and in it's place we see real equality and respect between the genders, especially as the concept of gender is devolving within her parents generation.  I would not have predicted that, but there you have it.  May that ultimately benefit us all.
My heart is full with her, and she is all that we need.  We have no problem sharing her with everyone.  I feel no jealously, only an expansion of the love I feel for my friends and family in a new and different direction that I am very grateful to be able to experience.  It is so cool to be taught something brand new so late in the game, and today I once again revel in it, and on this occasion, mark it with a craft associated with me as well.

Vehicles of Change

The only thing wrong with this meme is that it should say if you hate what our country is doing, because the vast majority of people who are speaking out against the current regime love their country, but they hate what it has become.  Problematic is the inhumane detention of immigrants in such a way that harkens back to the Nazis, who separated people into us and them, and proceed to kill those that were perceived as other. 
So what happened?  There have been calls for people who do not agree with these policies to leave.  Drop for the moment that these same people were apoplectic about having a black president, and encouraged him to leave. I will return to that in another post.
There is the depiction of four junior congresswomen as the face of the Democratic party, and then the vilification of them.   As we have seen repeatedly with this leader, in order to deflect attention from himself, he paints a target on someone else's back and then encourages people to shoot at them, at times literally, so that he can slink back to his hole.  He is unsavable, beyond redemption. But we as Americans who love democrasy must fight to keep it.  Do all of the above.

Ginger and Rosa (2012)

The movie is about two girls born to two friends in 1945, with the shadow of the nuclear bomb and the Cold War being cast across their childhood.  Ginger and Rosa grow up in a London of weary shortages of food, living space and cheer. The girls become the kind of friends their mothers were: Ginger, whose father Roland was a conscientious objector during World War II, and Rosa, whose father isn't in the picture.
Ginger  becomes completely swept up in the Ban the Bomb movement's marches, and in her youthful fatalism then becomes convinced the Earth is on the brink of nuclear annihilation.  Such matters are more passionate to Ginger than to Rosa and this is where the split starts to occur. Ginger's dad, Roland, takes the girls for sails on his boat, and through its thin walls, Ginger is wounded to overhear conversations that can only suggest Roland has a personal interest in Rosa, who is her age but much more intrigued by the opposite sex. 
The tensions between Roland and Ginger's mother mount, and then the whole thing unravels for Ginger in a real and awful way.  Well told story that can be a bit painful to watch, but well worth it.

Nimbu Paani (Indian Gatorade)

This is also known as Indian Lemonade, but you might also call it Indian Gatorade because it has salt and sugar in it, and as we face both a heat index over 100 degrees, and the fact that the planet is warming at an alarming rate, we might want to tuck this away in the recipe cupboard for first aid as well as enjoyment.
There are a number of different variations.  Using black pepper is one option, but coriander or cumin can be added.  Fresh mint can be added to the blender as well.  Finally, for an adult beverage, vodka or gin can be added.

• Lemons – 4 ( 1 sliced for garnishing )
• Fresh Mint sprigs – 4 – 5 (optional)
• Sugar –6 teaspoons
• Salt – a pinch
• Black Pepper or Cumin or coriander--optional
• Water – 4 c. chilled water
• Ice cubes

Instructions

1. Take a large Jug, add a cup of water. Now add sugar (you can adjust the sweetness as per your taste) and stir till it dissolves into the water nicely & completely. Squeeze all lemons and add the juice to the same jug. Add pinch of salt and pepper and continue to stir. Now add chilled water and crushed ice to the jug and stir again. Add in few mint leaves to it too. Serve in chilled glasses garnished with lemon slices and mint sprigs.

Columbia Sportswear's Tim Boyle Takes on Racisim

For the second time in 13 months Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle has publicly blasted the Trump administration for its immigration policies.

In recent speeches and tweets, Trump has fiercely attacked four members of Congress, all of whom are liberal Democrats and women of color. One of the four, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, is a Somali immigrant. The three others were born in the United States.  Trump’s attack prompted a Charlotte, N.C. crowd last week to begin chanting “Send her back, Send her back”.

“I saw the news that the President of the United States had been using Twitter to tell some members of Congress to go back to the countries they are “from” Boyle wrote. “That kind of taunting language is far more extreme than the refusal to process a routine visa application, but there is a theme through both that should be unacceptable in any organization and certainly at the top of our government.”

Boyle reminded his staffers that Columbia exists today as one of the state’s largest private companies only because his mother, Gert Boyle, found refuge and welcome after fleeing Nazi Germany in 1937.

 “We understand, from personal experience, what it means when government leaders demonize any group as being inferior, unworthy, and fundamentally unwelcome to be a part of a country,” Boyle wrote. “We were incredibly fortunate to be able to move to the great state of Oregon. The ideals in the U.S., while not perfectly executed, supported the notion that we would have the same opportunities as others, and we feel strongly about paying that forward.”

“Telling any citizen to “go back home” is offensive,” he wrote. “This is home." 

Leave No Trace (2018)

This is a pretty painful film to watch.  Ben Foster, a rising star as an actor, plays a combat veteran who is living in the woods on public land with his daughter.  It is unclear what it was like before his wife died, but he was just very ill equipped to raise her in a traditional way, despite loving her deeply.  The two of them manage to cope quite well, in that the father is teaching his daughter and they are most definitely homeless.  The relationship between them is companionable, and the daughter feels safe and cared for.
Then they get hunted down by police and after much ado, they are housed in a pretty rural setting, and while the daughter seems to blossom a bit, the father is clearly very stressed and not managing.  So they are on the road again.
The end of the movie is not what you would hope for, but probably much closer to the truth about the struggle that combat veterans have with PTSD and being closed in.

Don't Like the Law of the Land? Leave.

Just because you don't like your current government does not in any way mean that you do not love your country, and to say that it does is both offensive and unAmerican.  When those who are super duper happy with the current president and his racism were very vocal when Obama was president.  Some suggested that he was not American because he wasn't born here (wrong) and claimed that he was Muslim and followed sharia law (also wrong).  They were not asked to leave, nor would I say that they were unpatriotic.  I would just say that they were racist.  At the time I did not say it publicly, but now that there are responding to the race baiting, both in rallies and on social media, they are out of the closet.  They are wearing their racism on their sleeves and it is perfectly okay to say so.

Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewell by Pico Iyer

This is a memoir, written by the travel writer Pico Iyer.  He finds himself in Japan, which for decades has been his chosen second home. He is there because his Japanese wife, Hiroko, a seemingly more pragmatic and uncomplicated soul than her spouse, has just lost her nonagenarian father, a man who survived the bombing of his native Hiroshima because he was away, fighting in World War II, which he misses.  She is now grappling with next steps while Pico is trying to catch up with what has happened.
The death feels quick and unsettling to him, again probably because he arrives in the aftermath, going to the two-room apartment he’s shared with his wife for years in the Deer’s Slope community near Nara, Japan.  So it is both home and not home at the same time, which is unsettling for him, just as Japan is neither home nor not home.   He allows the coming the fall season to reveal the beautiful impermanence of life, and to reflect on that.  It is contemplative and a mixture of hope and questioning.

Juliet, Naked (2018)

This is admittedly a pretty predictable romantic comedy, but as I like all three co-stars, I had a good time watching it.  Everything does not have to be epic.  I can use a little diversion every once in awhile.
So here is the story.  Duncan ( Chris O'Dowd, playing the terrible self absorbed boyfriend like he was born to the part) has an obsessional infatuation with Tucker Crowe (played by Ethan Hawke).  He collects all of his bootleg recordings, has pictures of him all over the room he stores his music in, writes a blog with a following of similarly obsessed fans, and devotes time everyday to fan the flames of his love for Tucker's music.  Reminded me of Grateful Dead fans of years gone by.  His girlfriend gets fed up with him one night and writes a comment on a blog post that she disagrees with, and guess who responds to her by email?  Tucker Crowe, agreeing with her assessment of which recording was better.  And so their unlikely friendship begins.  A good light date night kind of fare.