What a Turkey!

I'm on Food Network's website trying to figure out how to cook the turkey, since this is the first year that I haven't bought a pre-cooked one, and God forbid I give my family salmonella (shudder). I found a recipe, but what really caught my attention was a comment on the recipe. One person wrote in that the name of the recipe: "Whole Thanksgiving Turkey with Miles Standish Stuffing and Gravy recipe" was incorrect. Here's his comment:

"Since this is for Thanksgiving, a holiday our family enjoys very much, two clarifications: 1.MYLES, for Myles Standish, Pilgrim, Plimouth Plantation , not Miles, 2. I doubt very much that any Pilgrim knew what pepperoni and mozzarella cheese were, let alone dijon mustard and Marsalla wine.
The recipe sounds worthy of a try otherwise."

Incidentally, that's the way I've always seen it spelled as well, but we know the early settlers weren't always sticklers for spelling. But what I had to look twice at was the response to his comment:
"First, a note to Kenneth from Virgina: most likely Miles Standish is the name of Alex's [the chef] father, so she must know how he spelled his name. Second, i can't wait to make this on Thanksgiving - I love all of Alex's recipes, and she makes everything look lovingly easy and delish!"
 
Um. Wow, honey. Bless your heart, but first, Kenneth is from Virginia, not Virgina, and Myles Standish isn't the chef's father. If you had been reading his post, you would have realized that Myles Standish was a Pilgrim. On the Mayflower. You know, that little boat that came over here bringing settlers from England back in 1620. If you had actually been paying attention in History class in elementary school, you would have known that. Maybe it's my New England bias, but don't the kids out here learn about the pilgrims too? I just don't know what made the last person who commented thing that Myles Standish was Alex Guarnaschelli's father -- besides the obvious similarities in their names. ;)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alexandra-guarnaschelli/whole-thanksgiving-turkey-with-miles-standish-stuffing-and-gravy-recipe/reviews/index.html

Sorry, but I couldn't let that one go by without saying something about it!
Happy Thanksgiving!

So I left a little note for those in my building...

 

...and they let me know that they got the message. 

Be rich. Read.

From an article from the Guardian online
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/09/streets-atlanta-haiku-advertising

We've all seen the signs saying "We Buy Homes" or "Make Money in Your Spare Time." I've read them, even though I'd never call. It's like asking to be scammed.

Apparently a guy is going around Atlanta putting up signs that look like those, but that are exhorting people to do beneficial things such as "read to your children" and "dump your bigotry." I want one of the read to your children ones for the library. But I guess that's preaching to the choir. Maybe one should be put up outside the studios of the Jerry Springer show. (Does that still come on?)

Childrearing: All Joy and No Fun?

This article tells the truth , and is more an indictment of the lives we lead, our idealism about parenting, and the lack of support and amount of pressure parents get in modern American society. I really feel like I'm dammed no matter what I do: I'm just a bad momma (and not in a good way).

I'm posting this at the risk of sounding ungrateful for my sweet little girl (22 months old), who when I apologized to her for being generally cranky and hard to get along with this afternoon, looked pensive and then gave me a much needed hug and kiss, like "I forgive you, Mommy". It really is moments like that which make the tantrums (hers and mine - not kidding), guilt, anxiety, and lack of freedom worth it. Actually, my tantrums aren't really worth it so much as a side effect of frustration, but oh, that's for another day.

Plus, my girl is a great teacher in the art of slowing down -- if only I had the time to learn...

All Joy and No Fun
New York Magazine, July 4, 2010
http://nymag.com/news/features/67024/
Accessed August 17, 2010

Pyrex Love!

OMG! I was fiddling around on the internet jumping from blog to blog wasting time as I am wont to do, and found this photo of my mom's Pyrex dish on the Lorenz Studio blog. I have no idea how I got there.
http://lorenzstudio.com/2007_01_01_lorenzstudio_archive.html 

Actually and anyway, it's not really my mom's Pyrex dish, but she had a set of Pyrex bowls that I wish I had rescued when she died. My only hope is that my sister might have them, but I"m sure my father's new wife wouldn't want any reminders of my mom around (It's bad enough my sisters and I exist -- oh! don't I sound like I have "evil stepmother" syndrome? That's so bad. I'm like a walking, talking stereotype).

I found a dish just like this, same color, etc. with lid, at a store that was going out of business and probably paid too much for it ($11, I think), but it reminded me of my mother, so it was worth it. However, now, I'm afraid to use it because I'm afraid I'm going to break it, and I don't know what will actually fit in this tiny little dish -- you'd have to have a very small amount of leftovers to use this. I'll have to wait until I get a real kitchen with a nice display shelf and keep it up there, far from my the hands of my little explorer.

Anyway, I'm shocked to find out that I am not the only Pyrex lover out there. Here's a blog devoted to collecting Pyrex pieces: Pyrex Love
That might explain why on my one flea market expedition, I found my beloved Pyrex bowls, but the vendor was selling the set of three for $60. I only had a $20, because I figured I was going to a FLEA MARKET, so why should I bring a lot of money? I offered her the $20 for one of the bowls (I even offered to take the smallest), but she wouldn't break up the set. I thought that was rather uncharitable of her, since that was all the money I had on my person. I wonder what they were really worth. 

Curvy Girls of the World, Unite!

New Curve Jeans from Levis  
from Jezebel.com, August 9, 2010
accessed August 12, 2010

Finally. Maybe now I'll be able to wear jeans without worrying about "the gap" (not The Gap, but the gap that invariably occurs between my smallish waist and my larger behind). Not everyone has square hips. Still, I'll wait until I try on a pair before I thank Levis. I haven't forgotten the disasters that resulted from my trusting in other jeans manufacturers that promised (promised!) to eliminate "the gap" or to fit a "curvy" girl.

It's Hip to Be Square....Riiiight.

"Because, 10 year olds of the world, you shouldn't believe what your teachers tell you about the beauty and specialness and uniqueness of you. Or, believe it, little snowflake, but know that it won't make a bit of difference until after puberty. It's Newton's lost law; anything that makes you unique later will get your chocolate milk stolen and your eye blackened as a kid." Sloane Crosley, I Was Told There'd Be Cake.

The woman tells the truth, I tell you. She tells the truth.

On some blog or in some review journal, I saw a book out for teens called Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd. It's basically a collection of stories about being a nerd (Full disclosure: I have not read this book yet). I also saw some comment a couple of weeks ago in Entertainment Weekly (I read it at the Laundromat) that it's cool to be a nerd. I remember being nerdy as a teenager (actually, at the time I would have preferred to call myself "weird" and did, on a regular basis -- Never would I have called myself a nerd - weird connotes "I chose to be this way", and is slightly artsy, Nerd is a label that no one picks for themselves, and if they do, it's totally in an ironic way, and usually (well) after high school). Let me tell you, it wasn't cool. I didn't call myself "weird" (nerd) because I was cool. Because part of being cool means never having to say you're cool. You just are.

It's been (gasp) 21 years since I graduated from high school, but I'd hazard a guess that it's still not cool to be a nerd when you're a kid. It may be cool for adults to wear "nerd chic" now in the 2010's, but let me repeat: kids still want to be cool. Glee (as much as I've loved the few episodes I've seen) is a TV show. In real life, everyone still wants to be the beautiful, popular ones. Dare I say that even among adults, it's the confidence that's really cool, that everyone aspires to. The cool nerd costume just doesn't fly without it. Admit to yourself, there aren't long lines waiting to be friends with the super shy recluse, with the uncomfortably awkward. And that's too bad. But it is true. I just can't stand hearing people who probably have always really been a little cool appropriating nerddom. 'Cause when it gets right down to it, are you going to make space in your latte circle for someone who doesn't fit the quirky cool nerd criteria? I doubt it. Okay. Getting off my bitter box now.