Allyson

Well, the VP debate was interesting. I thought it was MUCH better than the presidential one, for what that’s worth. I was pleasantly surprised that the moderators weren’t horrid (they had moments, but they weren’t horrid). I was very surprised at how well Walz did, as I’ve not seen him do much public speaking outside of rallies. Vance, on the other hand, did incredibly well. I was thrilled to see him answer each and every question put to him. The same cannot be said of Walz, Harris, OR Trump. If you’d like to read the transcript of the debate, you can do so here: CBS News Transcript.

Tim Walz got hit with a rough question fairly early on. The moderators asked him whether it was true that he’d lied about being in China during the Tienanmen Square protest in ’89. He did not answer the question. He went on a rambling diatribe about small town America and taking teams on trips out of country. The moderator had to remind him that he hadn’t answered the question, and ask it again. He still dodged it:

“MB: Governor, just to follow up on that, the question was, can you explain the discrepancy?

TW: No. All I said on this was, is, I got there that summer and misspoke on this, so I will just, that’s what I’ve said. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest, went in, and from that, I learned a lot of what needed to be in governance.”

Almost immediately after, the moderator asked Vance about why he changed his stance from being anti-Trump to being the VP pick. I loved Vance’s response:

“…I’ve disagreed with the President, but I’ve also been extremely open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump. I was wrong, first of all, because I believed some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record. But most importantly, Donald Trump delivered for the American people rising wages, rising take home pay, an economy that worked for normal Americans. A secure southern border. A lot of things, frankly, that I didn’t think he’d be able to deliver on. And yeah, when you screw up, when you misspeak, when you get something wrong and you change your mind, you ought to be honest with the American people about it.”

It was a gentle but firm kick in Walz’s teeth, that Vance could be honest about his mistakes, and about his personal growth.

Read More

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFUyS4At/

@adampopemusic “Five Hundred Year Flood” 🙏 #hurricanehelene #flood #blueridgemountains #appalachia #smokymountainstennessee #folkmusic #folksong #flood ♬ original sound – Adam Pope Music

Go and listen. It’s not available anywhere but TikTok right now because the guy (Adam Pope) wrote it and recorded it there. He had no idea it would take off. It’s *good*. It captures the feeling of what’s going on down there. It really is a song that has faint whispers of Johnny Cash and a whiff of Appalachia.

That nip in the evening air, the scent of rain in the distance, and the sound of falling leaves in the forest behind the house all call to me that it’s soup weather! My favorite part about soup is that you can make pretty much anything into soup if you really want to. My turkey noodle soup is a great example. On Sunday evening, we treated ourselves to a lovely turkey breast for our supper. It was much too large for us to finish, even though it wasn’t a whole turkey, and so I diligently denuded the carcass of meat and put it into the fridge for use later in the week. Then it occurred to me that I ought to make broth!

This is a great recipe to use if you’ve got leftover carcass of any kind. If you like to pick up rotisserie chicken, it’s perfect for making this kind of soup.

Ingredients for the stock/broth:

• 1 stripped carcass (turkey or chicken), with whatever skin and gristle there is
• any drippings from the cooking process
• the skin of 1 or more onion
• several crushed garlic cloves, skin on
• the peelings of 1 or more carrots
• the leafy tops of 1 or more stalks of celery
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh herbs to taste (optional)

Read More

It seems appropriate to talk about what to do after a flood, right now. With all the devastation down in the southern states, it’s on all our minds.

First and foremost, if you’re in the path of something and you know about it, listen to locals. If you’re asked to evacuate, DO SO. The people in the Carolinas and Tennessee didn’t receive evacuation orders until after it was too late, but people in Florida knew what was coming. Those who chose to stay behind did so at their own peril. When you ignore an evacuation order, you are telling the authorities that you are entirely on your own, and do not expect any aid from them. You do so knowing that 911 won’t work, that health and medical emergencies will need to be dealt with in house, and that you’ve decided you know better than the weatherman.

I realize it can be hard to leave everything behind. I’ve done it twice in my life, and it wasn’t any easier the second time than it was the first. What you’re leaving behind is Stuff and Things, and I guarantee you, Stuff and Things are not nearly important as Friends and Family. I speak with experience and authority here. Leaving ahead of an emergency allows you to leave on your own terms.  You can take the time to pack bags, to grab family photographs and important documentation. You can bring along family pets, and favorite children’s toys. Leaving (or attempting to leave) once the emergency is upon you means you’re leaving on the emergency’s terms, rather than your own. You may not have time to find the cat cowering in the basement, or find the woobie your kid can’t sleep without.

If you can’t leave, for whatever reason, then you need to make reasonable plans for what is likely to happen, what could happen, and what is unlikely to happen. There will always be things that can’t be planned for (like the current destruction of Asheville, for example), but you have to do your best.

In my area, we deal with freezing rain often enough that we know the power will go out at least once, and likely twice over the winter. In the spring, it’s wet weather and high winds knocking down trees and taking out power lines. The most likely occurrence is that we’ll be without power for a day or less. What might happen is that we’re out of power for a couple of days, and our water might be affected. It’s unlikely that we’ll be out for more than a few days, but we have things on hand to make that less troublesome if it does happen. We’ll be very busy canning all the stuff in our freezer, honestly.

Read More

BLUF: Are you in the area that’s been affected by Helene? Talk to us. We want to hear what’s going on from those who are there. If you need help, let us know what we can do. We might not be able to do everything, but we’ll do *something*!

As I watch what’s unfolding in the Carolinas and Tennessee, I am just heartbroken for the people who’ve lost family members, homes, everything. I’m happy to see so many people, “average people,” standing up and doing what needs doing. I know a lot of people are turning to X for their information from boots on the ground, and I watch TikTok for the same reason.

I want to scream at the people who are whining about their holidays being cancelled, due to the hurricane’s devastation of the area. Yes, there are people on TikTok who are actually complaining that they can’t go visit scenic Appalachia and such. I suppose they don’t realize that the hotels and AirBnBs they had booked are simply no longer there. It’s not that trips are cancelled to do a bit of clean-up… it’s that entire communities are under water, or have been destroyed. On the other side of that spectrum, there are so many people who are cancelling their bookings but not their fees, meaning they let the owners know they aren’t even attempting to come, but to keep the money because they know it’s needed.

Yesterday, I watched Trump talking in Georgia (I think? I can’t remember, but one of the places hit hard), and he commented that the state governor couldn’t get ahold of Biden or Harris. I also watched a reporter ask Biden if there was more aid going to the southern states to help dig out the towns devastated by the hurricane, and Biden’s very clear answer was no. Now, Trump’s campaign tends to cut it off right after the “no” but Biden do go on to say more (here’s the clip). I don’t know that Biden’s staff is ignoring the issue, and certainly he managed to get on tv later in the day to tell everyone that there was more aid going to the south. I think the problem is that *Biden* isn’t doing anything. I didn’t really expect him to. He can’t handle simple stairs; I don’t know that we want him somewhere that the ground is uneven and it’s moderately dangerous. Regardless, the mainstream media seems to think that the clip I reference above simply doesn’t exist. They say that Trump is lying about it. But it’s RIGHT THERE.

I really don’t know what to make of all this. I understand not wanting the President or the VP on the site right now. When Katrina hit New Orleans, Bush delayed going so that he and his entourage of Secret Service didn’t interfere with search and rescue. I didn’t expect anyone from the White House to arrive on scene for a few days, and that’s just fine. But I did expect to see Harris, at least, on television saying words of hope and concern. Isn’t that what she’s all about? The fact that she seems to have completely ignored the red states makes my skin crawl. I mean, let’s face it, there are Blue folks down in the rubble there. Surely she cares about them?

Read More

There are foods that I consider to be autumn foods. Squash, pumpkin, sage sausage, and soups in general come to mind. I love cooking seasonal foods, partly because it tends to be a cheaper way of eating, and partly because there’s just something scrumptious about picking up a squash that was in a field 2 hours ago, and baking it up. Today’s recipe is for a stuffed squash, but I haven’t told you what type. The honest answer is, it doesn’t really matter. I found Sweet Dumpling Squash on sale today, but had originally gone looking for acorn. I will say that Spaghetti and Butternut Squash don’t do as well in this recipe, only because they don’t have a big hole in them to stuff full of yumminess. But if that’s what floats your boat, go for it! You do you, Boo!

Ingredients:

• 2 winter squash, halved and cleaned of seeds
• 1 lb ground sausage, sage/breakfast style
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 2 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of COOKED rice, barley, quinoa, or other grain
• spices, to taste (either sweet or savory, your choice)
• cheese, for topping (optional)
• walnuts, for topping (optional)

Preheat your oven to 400F. Place the four halves of squash, open side down, onto a rimmed baking sheet. Add a bit of water (this helps by steaming the flesh of the squash slightly), and put in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour. Check after 30 minutes for doneness; you want the squash to be soft through, but not brown or caramelized at all.

While the squash is cooking, brown up your ground sausage in a cast iron pan or pot. I prefer to use a nice sage sausage for this, because it’s my go-to flavor for this time of year. If you prefer sweet or hot Italian, go for it. If you don’t do pork, feel free to substitute in ground beef, tofu, TVP, venison, squirrel, turkey, or chicken. If you’re not using a sausage, pick up a good “sausage spice” to add to your ground meat, or it will be bland later. You don’t want bland.

When the sausage is thoroughly browned but not yet crispy, use a slotted spoon to remove it from the pot. Leave behind as much of the fat as you can (add olive oil if there isn’t enough in the pan). Toss in your onions, carrots, and celery, and saute until they’re just soft and starting to brown up. Add in the garlic, and saute until it releases its oils, about 30 seconds to a minute. If there’s a decent amount of meat or veg stuck to the bottom of the pan, deglaze with a splash of red wine, using a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly. Add in the cooked grain, and stir to incorporate. The grain should soak up any excess liquid. Add in the meat, and then spice to your taste.

When it comes to spicing this, you can go either savory or sweet. For savory, consider salt and pepper, oregano, thyme, and sage. If you go sweet, start with salt and pepper, then add in a bit of sweet paprika (get a GOOD type like Szeged rather than using glorified red dyed sawdust like McCormick). Then stir in either a bit of maple syrup (my favorite) or some dark brown sugar. If you go the sweet route, also consider tossing in some raisins and dried cranberries or cherries for a delicious flavor burst.

Once the squash is ready, fill the hole with your meat mixture, adding an equal amount to each half. Top with cheese if you’ve decided on savory, or nuts and berries if you’re going sweet. Return to the oven and bake at 400F for 15 minutes or so, just until everything is hot through and the cheese, if used, is thoroughly melted.

Notes:

If you have picky kids who are likely to eat the filling and then ignore the squash, do what we did: cut the squash up and add the filling to it. Make it into a casserole! This way, they have to eat the squash to get at the “good bits” and you get to feed them well. 😉

This is one of those “do whatever you like” recipes that changes every time I make it. I’ve made vegan versions with Beyond Sausage, or with diced up vegan Field Roast sausages, or with tofu. I’ve made non-pork versions for friends who don’t do pig, and it’s turned out beautiful. If you want it to be a side dish, simply skip the protein entirely and stuff the squash with your grain and whatever veggies you have on hand. Shredded brussel sprouts are pretty good in this, especially when mixed with a Tex-Mex wild rice blend and raisins.

Enjoy!

I’m all about prepping canned and dehydrated food in advance of any emergency. I’m more interested in learning to garden than in having 20 years of supplies on hand. My goal is to have enough food (“food” being defined as the proper ratio of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins to keep a person not just alive, but thriving) in my pantry that I can last for 18 months. That’s the longest time I would be without a garden harvest. These are good plans, but I also like to know what I can get from the world around me.

I live in New Hampshire, and there are lots of things to eat that can be foraged easily. Starting with the easiest, there are blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries pretty much all over the state. They’re largely free for the taking, and there aren’t any “look alike” poisonous versions. Eastern Hemlock is a type of fir tree that is indigenous to the area. You can tell it by its flat spines/leaves (see the picture). It contains a lot of Vit C, and makes a very nice tea. In the spring, dandelion leaves are a great source of fresh greens. While a little bitter, they’re full of vitamins and minerals, and can be added to salads and soups. Don’t forget fiddleheads, though they’re only available in the spring for a very short amount of time. Cattail (you know, the “corndog” like things growing in ponds and slow moving rivers) is also edible. Different parts of the plant are good at different times of the year.

There are many mushrooms that are edible, but all mushrooms come with a caveat. Mushrooms, all of them, are edible… but some are only edible once. Meaning, there are poisonous mushrooms, and ones which will mess with your gut in bad ways even if they don’t kill you. As an example, I found a stand of amazing looking fungi at the base of a tree in my back 40. I asked a friend of mine, who is an expert mushroom hunter, if they were edible. They looked very much like an edible mushroom I know about. She laughed when she saw the image, because the shroom in the picture is more of a “draino” style medicine. Basically, if your stomach needs to be cleaned out entirely, it’s a really good mushroom to eat. It doesn’t harm you, but it goes right through your system, taking everything with it. I’m glad I didn’t make those into mushroom soup…

Read More

Update – Wed. Sep. 25, 2:39pm:

So it turns out that each state has its own election rules, and there are several places that you cannot do what is suggested in the video below and the post. I encourage everyone to find out BEFORE the election what you should do if you find out someone has stolen your identity. Also, if you’ve had family members move out of state, pass on, or change voter status, make sure your local pollsters know that. It behooves us to ensure this stuff before each election, so that only the people who should vote, do vote.

I also urge people who live in states that only allow mail-in ballots to change that. There should always be the ability for a citizen of the United States of America to step into a polling station and cast their ballot in person. Always.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Original post, unedited:

I’ve never had it happen to me, but I know a couple of people local to me were told at their polling place that they had already voted. This is, essentially, a form of identity theft. There are things you can do. What you should absolutely NOT do is harass the volunteers at the voting station. It’s not their fault and they are just following their rules. I was trolling on TikTok while I’ve been sick, and ran into this video, which I suggest you watch. The sound can be funky on it, not sure why. Works on my phone but not my computer.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFjSh3rx/

There’s a lot of other stuff on the video, such as advice on checking to make sure dead relatives aren’t on the rolls, and making sure that someone who’s changed their name (due to marriage or whatever) doesn’t have someone steal their pre-change identity.

So apparently there are people out there, professional looking people, telling the populace to fill in their voting oval, and then to draw a line to their candidate. Please know, that will INVALIDATE your vote. Do not do that! Just fill in your oval.

If you make a mistake, do not scribble on it. Go request another ballot. Yes, it’s a hassle. No, it’s not stupid. Yes, it’s worth it.

If someone makes any kind of mark on your ballot, request another one. You do not take a ballot that has been marked on by another person, because it can invalidate your ballot.

For those who don’t do TikTok, here’s the step by step written explanations on what to do. Please note, I am not a lawyer, and I literally got this off TikTok. It “passes the sniff test,” as Chris often says.

Read More

Ally here, stepping in for Chris for a change. I ran across this on TikTok, and then went and found it on YouTube to get the full effect. I found myself tearing up while watching and listening. I’m impressed. The song itself is amazing. The video is… yeah. I’d love to see Trump walk into an event with this playing. Regardless, I really wanted to share it.

At the end, when they show the iconic moment where Secret Service hustle him off the stage, I saw things I didn’t in the color version. The black and white gives you a look at Trump’s face that you just do not get in color. He’s obviously afraid. And then he stood up and did what he knew he had to, to reassure those who were there. Damn. Never thought I’d hear myself saying the words, but thank you, Trump. I hope you win.

Header image attribution: Office of the President of the United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I made this one this past week, and was thoroughly impressed by it. The flavors were good, though it needed a bit of tweaking to make it perfect. It was a VERY good “dump meal,” meaning all I had to do was stuff things in the crock pot and set it to high. I’ve been sick as a dog this week, and needed stuff that was simple to make. This fit the bill, and was healthy and tasty as well!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups barley
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken (thighs, breasts, or a combo)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• black pepper, to taste
• 10 oz frozen sweet peas
• 1/4 cup creme fraîche, sour cream, or plain yogurt (dairy free works well)
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, plus more to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh tarragon or dill, minced
• Parmesan cheese

In your crock pot, combine all the ingredients from barley to the black pepper. Stir well to combine, and then cook on high for about 3 hours. Stir again, making sure to immerse the chicken in the liquid. It’s going to seem a bit soupy, but trust in the recipe. Cook for another hour on high, or switch to low to cook for up to another 3 hours.

Remove the chicken to a plate and let sit for a few minutes while you do other things. Stir in the frozen peas and let them heat for about 2 minutes.

While the peas are warming, whisk together the creme fraîche and mustard. Taste, and add more mustard to suit your palate. Fold this mixture into the barley and mushrooms in the crock pot. Now, shred or pull apart your chicken. It should fall apart easily. Return the chicken to the pot, then taste to see if you need any more salt or pepper. Stir in the chopped fresh herbs, and serve immediately.

Add the Parmesan at the table, for those who wish it.

Notes:

I found the tarragon to be a bit strong in flavor, even though I only used about a tablespoon of it. The slight liquorish flavor just overpowered the rest of the dish. I would omit this next time, and use either all dill, or a mix of dill and Italian Seasoning instead. Another suggestion would be Herbs de Provence.

Even though you’re only adding about a half cup total of “creamy” stuff to this dish, it comes out incredibly creamy tasting. I used a cashew based yogurt, because I’m not able to eat dairy, and it was delicious. I used a smooth traditional Dijon, and I think I might try a more stone ground style next time. This was great as a stand-alone, and could easily be put together in a morning before running out the door. I think it would also be nice paired with a light salad.