My Own Little Thanksgiving Tradition

It was about ten years ago, while having Thanksgiving at my Aunt and Uncle's, that I was first inspired to attempt my hand at homemade cranberry sauce. I'd been raised eating the tidy round slices of canned cranberry sauce. And I was highly suspect of the canned version, if only because it was too similar in shape and color for me to be sure if I was getting a tart sweet treat... or a mouth full of beets. I'd never given making it myself a second thought. Fast forward to the morning of that fateful day when my cousin started cooking up a batch on the stove.

It was quick and simple. She didn't embellish it much, but embellish it she did. And it was delicious. It was more than delicious, it was heavenly. I kept that experience in the back of my mind, disappointed at subsequent gatherings when my cousin (and her, in my mind, famous cranberry sauce) was absent from the festivities due to the separation of an entire continent. Don't worry, cuz. I missed you, too.

My first Thanksgiving as a married young lady, I decided I needed to try my hand at making the sauce myself. My cousin's directives were simple and, for the most part, were reiterated on the back of the bag of cranberries I'd picked up from the market. The final result was great, but I could imagine more!

Since then, I have dabbled here and dabbled there, tweaking the recipe each year despite resounding exclamations of enjoyment from the masses. And this year I've had several friends fire messages my way, asking if I'd be willing to share my recipe. My homemade cranberry sauce has become my own little statement in the tradition that is Thanksgiving. I love filling the house with its fragrance, and it has become the herald of the start of the holidays in my home.  

So, I thought, in THANKS for all of you who are friends, family and followers, I am GIVING you my recipe. May you enjoy it and/or build upon it for years to come. Happy holidays to you all.  

CRANBERRY SAUCE - MY WAY
1 bag cranberries
1 navel orange, peeled and chopped
1 c sugar
1/4 c orange juice
3/4 c wine (I have used port, rose, zinfandel and riesling all with success)
dash each of ground cloves, cinnamon and allspice

Dump everything in a medium size sauce pan and place on medium-high heat. Stir it periodically to prevent sugar from scalding, cooking to a boil and/or until the berries pop.

Prepare the day before and chill for a good 8 hours. This will help the sauce thicken and let the flavors blend well.


This year, I decided to bolden things: I added the zest of one whole orange. I also augmented the liquids: 1/2 c fresh squeezed orange juice, 1/4 c water and 1/4 c brandy, accented with 1 t lime juice.  MMMmmmmm. 

So, the rule of thumb is to keep the liquid quantity to 1 c, but play around with flavors. With wines, use 1/2-3/4 c and the rest can be water, juice, whatever. If you use a stronger alcohol, take it down to 1/4 c so the resulting flavor isn't too harsh.

Cheers.

Health Kick...

I have been silent for awhile. And to my fair loyalists who have been along for the ride, I am sorry. If you've missed me and ached for the next post... thank you. Sometimes it's nice to be missed for reasons other than a poopy diaper or a grumbling tummy.

So I am back, and I felt compeled to post tonight because of a 2 liter bottle in my home. It contains what some call soda. Others call it pop. Maybe you even take the time to say soda pop. Then there's cola and coke, specific flavors for soft drinks now used as a generic identifier for all things fizzy. If you're my grandma, you'd ask for soda water. And, no, she wasn't talking about Perrier.  With grandma, it was more likely Ginger Ale or some unique flavor of Faygo (back when it was in big clear bottles with minimalistic white labels, and they had names like "Frosh" or flavors like "Pineapple Orange").

The soda of my childhood; single bottles in a rainbow of colors.

Anyway, this particular soda is most lovely to look at. The clear bottle transforms the kitchen lights into crystaline ruby sparkles that catch the eye. It's red color reminds me of marachino cherries. The label touts the virtues of a fruit flavored beverage that has "100% Natural Flavors" and is "caffeine free".

Now before my health-nut friends go all crazy on me, I'll gently remind you that I am not in the habit of drinking soda.  It's the rare occasion that I'll partake of a diet soda, and I can't remember the last time I drank regular pop. And as I'm on a strict diet for a health issue, one that prohibits the intake of simple carbs, I assure you that it's not getting consumed in this household.

Having had a birthday party this past weekend, it was bound to happen that a family member would bring along a little something extra. And so here we are, a week after the celebrants are long gone, with 100 % Natural Flavors still hanging out in our fridge.

I wondered what set apart this particular carbonated beverage from others. I mean, really? Was it naturally brewed? Sweetened with apple juice instead of sugar? Had my family member made the virtuous choice and spared us all from one of those 'other' unsavory cola drinks that are so bad for us? Or was he snookered, like so many others, into believing that this purchase was somehow superior to those 'other' carbonated drinks that are so 'bad' for us?

Here's what the ingredient list says on the bottle in question: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Malic Acid, Poassium Benzoate (Preserves Freshness), Potassium Citrate, Red 40, Calcium Disodium EDTA (to protect flavor), Blue 1. I should note that at the top of the nutrition label it says clearly "CONTAINS NO JUICE". The front of the bottle proclaims in all caps "Naturally Sweetened with REAL SUGAR".

The items that concern me are the Tartaric Acid (a naturally occurring alpha hydroxy agent that is used in skin cream. Yes, those creams that make your skin burn. I'd imagine the amount used in pop is way lower. Still, not keen on the idea of consuming an ingredient that makes my pop sour while simultaneously exfoliating my digestive tract...); the Potassium Benzoate, which has too many potential links to too many issues for me to feel good about consuming it; the Red 40; and the sugar content.  One serving of this pop has by weight what ends up being equivalent to about 9 teaspoons of sugar. When I still used sugar, I never placed more than 1 t in my 12 ounce cup of coffee. I can't imagine intentionally dropping 9 teaspoons into my drink.

And yes, I remember as a kid gleefully enjoying a Big Gulp of soda from the local 7 Eleven. Today, the idea of drinking that much soda makes me cringe (and feel slightly sick). And in the grander scheme of things I suppose a person could consume something way more awful that this soda that's in my fridge? 

I just know it's still sitting there, about to be dumped into the great soda graveyard in my sink. Hopefully the soda is as non-toxic to the groundwater as it supposedly is to our bodies.

More Fun Cooking With Squash

I have to laugh as I read the title of today's blog, because I am an historical 'squash hater'. You certainly wouldn't know it, having the topic of cooked squash occupying space in my day to day thoughts for two posts straight. But it's true.  As a kid, I can remember feeling a twinge of despair as I'd spy my Mom retrieving a translucent bag of yellow crooked neck squash from the crisper. Swimming in creamy, cheesy sauce and topped with crispy buttery topping, I still had to fight the gag reflex with each bite of squash casserole.

Squash was gross. My childhood (and 20-something) opinion was that yellow and orange veggies just shouldn't be. Veggies are meant to be savory, not sweet. To contemplate placing maple syrup, cinnamon, brown sugar, or any other item relegated to baking foodstuffs, on any vegetable was sacrilegious. And any veggie (or I suppose, in this technical case, fruit) that had a hint of sweetness to it was not making its way onto my plate or into my mouth. Yellow squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, carrots, yellow peppers... forget it. In the Land of the Free, sure as shootin' this kid was never going to voluntarily prepare squash, or any other yellow/orange plant item, as an adult. Or make my kids eat something so utterly disgusting. Pinky promise or may I never eat another Hostess baked treat for the rest of my life. 

Yet here I am, not only cooking squash, eating it myself and feeding it to my children. I'm also sharing the recipe because, well, it turned out good. (And, yes, I no longer consume Hostess treats. Sorry Twinkie. And, yes, I do eat carrots and yellow peppers now, too.)

The biggest help to overcoming my closed-mindedness was starting the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. It is highly restrictive, especially in the beginning, eliminating a majority of foods in the 'American' diet, and gradually reintroducing non-processed non-simple carbohydrate containing foods. The endeavor is to determine those foods your body can, or cannot, tolerate. To read more about that, you can go to this wonderfully informative web-site: The Specific Carbohydrate Diet  Or, you can look up the book by Elaine Gottschall, "Breaking The Vicious Cycle". If you decide the diet might work for you, then reading the book is a must. If, after reading the book, you still have the cajones to do the diet, then I recommend you join a support group like the Yahoo Group BTVC-SCD.

Anyway, I digress. What was hysterical (well, not at the time, really) when I first started the diet was that on the very short list of things to eat in the beginning, cooked carrots were somethings I could eat without limit. Welcome to Hell.

The initial weeks of the diet were challenging, at best, as the following veggies that could be added to my limited selection were things like butternut squash. Acorn squash. Spaghetti squash. I had decided to do the diet with my eyes wide open. I'd looked at the Introductory foods, then the first stage of foods for reintroduction, and I knew I had a lot more to overcome than my disease. It was time to kill a palate road block once and for all.

I did a lot of research. A LOT of research. I became particularly fond of a site called Veg Web, which is geared toward vegans. It actually has a lot of stuff I can't eat, ironically enough, because grains and things like milk and soy are on the list of no-no's as my gut heals. Just the same, the creativity with the likes of carrots and squash was enough to inspire me into mixing things up a bit. There is plenty there that I can eat, if I choose not to be picky.

What began as timid experimentation has turned into a love of exploration. I am amazed now at the versatility of carrots and squash. And I'm grateful that my health journey has led me down a road to appreciate these sweet treats from the ground.

All that, shared with you to help you know that I've not always been an ardent veggie-lover, to segue to my recipe:

SCD Spaghetti with Wilted Field Greens, Sauteed Mushrooms and Garlic Butter Sauce
Main Course: 4 - 6 servings
Side Dish: 6 - 8 servings

Microwave safe dish
Medium skillet, with lid
Medium bowl
Stirring utensil
Tossing utensil

1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half and deseeded
1/4 large sweet onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
24 oz. white button mushrooms*
2 generous handfuls of fresh field greens**, chopped coarsely
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
1 c water
 
 First, place water in the microwave safe dish, then set one half (or both, if they'll fit) of the spaghetti squash cut side down into the water. Put the dish into the microwave and cook until soft (this can take anywhere from 7-12 minutes, depending on your microwave and the squash). If you're suspect of microwaves and their impact on your food, you can always place your squash halves in a baking pan instead and cook in a 350F oven for about 30 minutes or so. Again, you're looking for softness.

While your squash is cooking, heat up your skillet over medium heat, adding the butter and olive oil.  Stir them together once the butter's melted, then add the garlic to the pan.  Let it cook for about 1 minute, stirring well so it doesn't burn, before adding the onions. Cook the onions for about 3 minutes more, letting them start to turn translucent.  Now you'll add the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to your liking. Keep in mind that this will be a sauce to coat the noodles, so be generous. If not, it'll be too bland. I used about 1/2 t. 

Once you've coated the mushrooms well, lower the heat a little bit and cover the pan so that they can release their juices and take on the flavors of the garlic and onion.

When your squash is finished cooking, you can scoop out its insides into the medium bowl. The squash will be very hot, so use care. Use tongs or a spaghetti spoon to toss the fresh greens in with the freshly cooked squash noodles. The heat from the squash will wilt the greens.

Your mushrooms should be done by now. Taste the liquid to be sure it is to your liking, adding butter, oil, salt or pepper if you feel it necessary. Otherwise, remove from heat, plate the noodles, top with a scoop of the mushrooms (being sure not to neglect the liquid) and sprinkle with Parmesan to taste. Yum!

My daughter's plate, where I've sliced the mushrooms to make them bite sized

 

My hubby's plate, a much larger serving and with the mushrooms left whole

*Mushrooms - You can slice them or leave them whole. You could also experiment with other mushroom types.

**Field Greens - Spinach or kale would also work great with this recipe. If you are on the SCD diet and have not transitioned to raw veggies yet, simply cook the greens up well before adding them.
 

Painting, Cooking and Traveling To Old Stomping Grounds

It wasn't too long ago that I learned that a dear friend of mine will be moving. Her family, like so many others, had been the victim of layoffs in the economic downturn. Hubby is an engineer in a specialized field and found himself laid-off by the company he'd served for so long. As his company opted to relocate to the next state over, our city became flooded with hundreds of out of work engineers all looking for a job. After nine months, he's finally secured one. 250 miles away. Sigh. Two of my neighbors, husbands both employees of the same company, have also moved away in this past week having had to settle for work anywhere they could get it. Which wasn't here. SIGH.

My dear friend's hubby is already there, transplanted and working. She, on the other hand is here, working, caring for her kids and trying to get her house ready to sell in an abysmal housing market. So I've been painting. Painting a lot. I went to her house with my plethora of paint fans and we picked two warm neutral colors. We picked a lovely white for the ceiling, doors and trims. The rest has been elbow grease, sweat, a few tears and plenty of trips down memory lane as we splatter ourselves with paint (nothing like using a 1/2" roller on popcorn ceilings to really make things fun). It's been bittersweet being able to use my skills to help my friend. I only wish it was a task preparing her home for moving in, not moving away.

On a completely separate note, as you get to know me better, you'll learn that my diet is quite the adventure.  I have Crohn's Disease. We'll trip the light fantastic about that saga of my life on another day. What's pertinent to today's post is that I was introduced to a diet, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet,that helps me keep my CD under control. My cousin pointed me in its direction, knowing the battles I've faced with this disease. Given the choice of healing myself with chemicals or foods, I'll choose foods, thank you.

I really enjoy cooking, so I'm always up for adventures. I spend a good amount of time trying to come up with tasty recipes that are SCD friendly that I will like and, more importantly, the rest of my family who's not on the SCD will like. I recently came up with 'a keeper', according to my hubby. So, I'm going to share it with you guys. It should be noted that SCD recipes are always Gluten-Free (as all grains are off limits) for any of my friends who deal with gluten intolerance or Celiac Disease.

SCD Baked Summer Squash Rounds
Serves 4 - 6
*Preheat oven to 425 F

1-2 large cooking sheets
1 gallon Ziploc bag
1 medium mixing bowl
1 wide shallow bowl (for dredging)

4-6 yellow squash, cut in to 1/4" thick rounds
2 beaten eggs, salted to taste
1 c almond meal/flour
1/2 c grated parmesan
1/4 t salt (optional)
1/8 t ground black pepper (optional)
1 t marjoram
1/4 t paprika
2 t oregano
2 t parsley
1 t thyme
1/2 t taragon

Put the sliced squash into the Ziploc bag, pour in the beaten egg, seal the bag well and shake until slices are well coated. Set aside.

Remaining ingredients go into a medium mixing bowl, stirred until everything's well distributed.  This is your 'breading', for lack of a better term! Place about 1/2 c into the dredging bowl. Have your baking pans on hand; you'll be placing your squash medallions onto the sheets as you go.

Open up the baggie, grab a piece of squash and lightly tap it into the almond/parmesan mix. 

 It's important you not press the squash pieces down into the nut meal mixture too hard or you'll get too thick a coating (which could make for a serious bellyache later on).  You'll still be able to see portions of the squash flesh peeking out from the moderate speckling of the crumbs, as shown in the pictures.

Line up your finished work onto your pans and don't worry about crowding. They'll do just fine. I also didn't worry about oiling my pans, but you can do so if you're concerned about the parmesan causing them to stick.

Set your pans into the preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. I let them set for about 5-10 minutes once I took them out, just so my kids wouldn't burn themselves when digging in. The heat up great the next day, too!

*I have also pan fried these successfully, in which case I used a cast iron skillet with canola oil. I cooked them over medium heat until nicely brown on each side (about 5 minutes per side). But you must drain them before serving, otherwise the combined fat of the nuts, cheese and canola could leave you with a sick tummy. The added warning being that, if fried stove-top these shouldn't be eaten exclusively, but supplemented with another veggie that's been steamed or poached.


Lastly, this past weekend was my high school reunion. Most of the folks I went to school with I hadn't seen in quite a long time. It was great catching up with old buddies and even making a couple of new ones, too.  Something I learned: it was amazing how many of us had a ton of drama going on, yet each of us seemed to be oblivious to it. We had each been deep in our own juju, thinking the chaos had only been in our own universe. Little did we know that there was stress, drama and loss going on with each of us. It reminded me of a quote I had posted for quite sometime (though I can't remember who should get credit for it): "We would worry a lot less about what people think of us, if we realized how little they do."  Ain't that the truth?

"I"

My eldest was working feverishly on homework duty, all in an endeavor to earn some "PBSKids" time on the ol' tellie. As she was reviewing her spelling words with me, she asked, "Mommy, what if we couldn't say 'I'?"

Immediately, I was struck by the challenge. Good heavens? Could I make it through a day, much less an hour, without saying 'I'? What if I attempted to avoid 'me' and 'my' as well? The thought of how egocentric I'd reveal myself to be brought on a wave of self-loathing. I sure am an arrogant something-or-other. For heaven's sake, there are at least four infractions within THIS paragraph alone!

I kept poking at the food in the pan with my spatula, vigorously shaking the pan like I had something to prove. Without being able to stifle my bewildered heart I replied, "Wow. That would be awfully hard."

With a huge smile on her face, she came back with, "I know! You wouldn't be able to say the word 'ti-iiime' anymore. Or li-iiike!..." She drew out the long 'I' sound to drive her point home. Meanwhile, I had paused. First, there was that feeling of a mild sense of relief. And I chuckled along with her while we bantered back and forth, coming up with every long 'I' containing word we could think of.

But that deeper philosophical question
nagged at me and I wondered again at the idea, the challenge. In the ego-centric society we live in, writing about our mundane ins and outs for complete strangers to read as though it's as exciting as Koontz, would it hurt to veer away from 'me' for awhile? Pepper my conversation with a lot less 'me' and a bunch more 'we'? And for once, maybe beauty could be found in the 'you', and not in the 'I', of the beholder.

Variation On A Theme

After much delay and distraction, I finally wrangled myself into beginning work on my Sharpie art. Laying the color chips out in their determined march of colors, I sat staring at them on my coffee table for quite a long time:

The bathroom that will house these graphic delights has quite the mirror installed on its wall. Some might think it a bit bombastic for the size of this little space:

I love it.  The mirror reflects out into the long narrow space, the dark wood adding a warm tone to the overall feel to the room. I love all the patterns and textures all over it, too.  Just look at these different patterns:

It seemed like a no-brainer to draw at least some of my Sharpie graphics inspiration from the textures on the frame of this mirror. As you can see, I'm not feeling constrained to the graphical aspects of the mirror, but it sure got my juices flowing yesterday!  So here's what I managed to get done so far:

My Bugaboo's home sick today, so this post is on the brief side. Hopefully I'll have a little down time today to add one or two to the mix for tomorrow's post!

Fighting The Fall Flu (Or WhatEVER This Misery Is...)

Sore throat, incessant sneezing, runny nose, that funny drainage feeling you get in the depths of your ear canal. I was half tempted to think I was only dealing with allergies gone amok. Unfortunately, queasiness and fever stole away any opportunity for me to claim allergies as the scapegoat to my misery. And since my Tater Tot started oozing green snot on Sunday morning, it was only a matter of time before Mommy succumbed to whatever creepy crawly my little one had seen fit to incubate.

While some bloggers might be able to muster up the ability to write about their goings on hell or high water, I was all about napping every moment I could. So, I'm sorry for my absence yesterday. But it was well worth it: I feel better today. Add to that a tremendous feeling of encouragement that my relief has been obtained via 'natural' efforts, rather than resorting to chugalugging a bottle of OTC liquid cold medicine. The amount of self-satisfaction I feel right now is incomparable.

My hubby and I have dear friends who hail from China. Their old fall-to for handling an on-coming cold is to pop a clove of garlic. Yes. You read me right.  A whole clove of raw garlic. So, when I woke up feeling that mild itch in the back of my throat and the first sneezing fit took over before I had even stopped in for my a.m. 'potty break', my path of action was clear. I stopped by the kitchen counter and peeled a small clove of garlic. Popping it in my mouth I chewed, quite possibly the fastest chewing I've ever done in my life, as I winced on my way to the bathroom. Even though I am a huge fan of horseradish, the pain of garlic gets me every time. Momma is definitely more friendly with the roasted version.

I followed my garlic intake about an hour later with a very green smoothy. Laden with fresh ginger, it almost seemed as though I could feel the nutrients and beneficial effects of the ginger permeate my body. Later that day, after much water, I decided to make another smoothy that'd be anti-cold. This one was an homage to the Mojito. To a bunch of kale, I added lemon and a big handful of mint. I sweetened it all up with honey. What a refreshing combo. I've added that to my recipe annals. 

This morning I woke up not feeling like I'd had a run-in with the proverbial MAC truck. Better yet, there was no sensation of scratchiness in my throat, no sneezing, no queasiness. Yippie! Let's hope my wellness stays on the upswing. I'm planning on working on those paint chips today.  Hopefully tomorrow's post will be filled with colorful creations to share.

Busy Wife, Mom of Two, Thinking Member of Community

Today I'm inclined to revisit severa news items this week that have managed to stick with me. For whatever reason I cannot let them go. And I suppose that's the explanation for the label in my title: 'thinking member of community'. I have been chewing and rolling over in my mind several things either which I can't grasp (and here willing to own that it's likely my own ignorance - so school me) or which I cannot help but feel indignant about (again, which may be due to my ignorance so, again, school me). And, frankly, I find I do this more often than not, so one blog day might have to be dedicated to airing my thoughts and concerns (as politely and respectfully as possible, of course).
So, to restrain myself from rambling, I'm gonna bullet point and lay out my observations, thoughts and even a few questions. I'm curious if anyone else has thought or wondered these same things. I'm also curious if my thoughts, concerns or emotions are misguided due to misinformation or emotional 'life-filters'. Lastly, I'm always open to input, with the caveat that we all play nicely, children.

The points that struck me most:

* L.A. based Egyptian-born filmmaker Nakoula Besseley Nakoula, creator of the anti-Islam film that is said to have contributed to the violence in Lybia and Egypt, was using the pseudonym 'Sam Bacile'. I don't know about you guys, but when I say that name it brings to mind the word 'imbecile'.  Am I the only one who wonders if that was the film-maker's point?

* The Federal Reserve has launched a bond buying program that commits to buying $40B worth of mortgage-backed securities each month, 'until the labor market improves' ('Fed Launches Bond Buying Program; Stocks Surge'. Salzman, Avi.  blogs.barrons.com. September 13, 2012). I didn't study economics, only business. And even that education was only enough to merit a 'minor' for a college degree. So I don't understand a whole lot about the ins and outs of the grander scheme of things when it comes to the American economy. With that acknowledgement out there on the table, here are my thoughts. Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) are a business tool that I find highly complicated and difficult to understand. 

In trying to wrap my brain around it, here's what I think it's supposed to be. MBSs exist so to help lending agencies (in this case, a mortgage company. More specifically Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Maybe even a little Ginnie Mae... didn't know there was a third sibling, did you?). The lending agency (read mortgage company) fast approaches a point where faced with no longer being able to lend out money to new customers because it's pretty much lent out all the freed up cash it had and hasn't been able to collect enough back from everyone it's already lent to. So, in order to have some more cash freed up to lend out to someone else, the lending agency (with this MBS set up) is able to sell some of these loans (mortgages) to a willing investor/purchaser in the form of bonds. A bond is a form of lending where typically a later 'maturity' date is stated wherein the bond holder (or, lender) is guaranteed to receive the money it paid out, plus a little interest (that would have been agreed upon before hand).

At first I was up in arms over this whole scenario because, without even vaguely understanding what an MBS is, I was only hearing "The Federal Government is going to start buying up mortgages!!!". I think any rational adult would have responded with the same "WHAT THE HECK?!!?" as I did, if under that same impression. 

But even with this new found, somewhat on target feel for how MBSs work I'm still not so sure I feel any better about this set-up. In this scenario, the Federal Reserve is the 'purchaser' and three siblings (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae) are the mortgage agencies in question. Our government is willing to take on more debt to give government-run mortgage companies more liquid assets so they can lend more money out for more mortgages. This when existing mortgages are, by all admissions, having a hard time being collected upon? And by encouraging more Americans to take out more loans and have debt burdens they might not be able to repay, the Federal Reserve feels confident that the Mae's and Mac will be able to honor their bond commitment how? This will stimulate the economy, both short and long term how?


It all feels like an incredibly risky gamble with stakes that are much higher than are being conveyed and with odds overwhelmingly not in our favor.

* Mitt Romney got a lot of flack this week for his comment about the middle class. You can visit ABC News' site, George Stephanopoulos' page to be exact, in order to see the full play by play of what was said. Two different issues arose in my mind. 

The first actually has little to do with Mitt's awkward citation of what the upper cap of the middle class income range is. What it does have to do with is something only few have pointed out. I'll start off saying that the term 'average American household' has been thrown around a lot. I'd like to know exactly what that means. Is that per individual? Is that per couple living in a household together? Is that a couple in a household with one child? Two? Four? For the purposes of my stream of consciousness, I'm gonna hold to the assumption that an 'average household' consists of two adults and two children. In which case, a household of four that earns less than $30K/year is, according to the government's guidelines, in need of and therefore eligible for public assistance. If you earn less than $23K/year, you can legitimately say your living 'in poverty'. 

Middle class is a group that's hard to sum up in a short definition, but one phrase on Wikipedia's page "American Middle Class" says, "Middle-class persons commonly have a comfortable standard of living, significant economic security, considerable work autonomy and rely on their expertise to sustain themselves." Certainly for me, the term middle class begged the assumption of financial stability and relative freedom from worry, the 'significant economic security'. I think it's safe to say, then, that if you have to apply for public assistance, you're not feeling all that economically secure in your ability to sustain yourself.  So, it's reasonable, then to identify a salary of $30K/year as the bottom end of the middle class economic spectrum.

So, Romney's identified the top of the scale as $200-250K/year. Let's say $250K for argument's sake. The bottom of the scale is $30K/year. The average American household earns $50K/year. What bothers me most is not Romney's flub. It's the fact that most 'average' folks in the US are just a hair above being essentially upper-lower class, not middle class. If the average household income was more like 100K/year, I'd not be feeling so concerned. But most of us are hovering just above the need for public assistance. That's an awful lot of people who might potentially need a handout if things don't get better/do get worse. Fed, you sure you want to be tying up $40B/month to buy MBSs?

The 100K/year comment I made above leads me to the second issue I had, which is definitely with Romney. Here's a portion of the interview that burns my biscuits:


Democrats say Romney’s plan would cause a $2,000 tax hike on the middle class - something Romney disputes and points to a number of studies that say his plan to cut taxes will not increase the deficit, including one by Harvard professor Martin Feldstein.

Feldstein says Romney’s math will work, but he would have to eliminate the home mortgage, charitable, state and local tax deductions for incomes greater than $100,000.

When I pressed Romney on that point, he conceded that he actually hadn’t read the Feldstein report that he and Paul Ryan cite on the campaign trail.

“I haven’t seen his precise study,” he said. [emphasis added]

“I said that there are five different studies that point out that we can get to a balanced budget without raising taxes on middle income people.  Let me tell you, George, the fundamentals of my tax policy are these.  Number one, reduce tax burdens on middle-income people.  So no one can say my plan is going to raise taxes on middle-income people, because principle number one is keep the burden down on middle-income taxpayers,” he said.

Romney defined middle income as $200,000 to $250,000 a year and less.

“Number two, don’t reduce the share of taxes paid by the wealthiest.  The top 5 percent will still pay the same share of taxes they pay today.  That’s principle one, principle two.  Principle three is create incentives for growth, make it easier for businesses to start and to add jobs.  And finally, simplify the code, make it easier for people to pay their taxes than the way they have to now,” he said.


So, Romney says the first fundamental of his tax policy is to REDUCE the burdens to middle-income people.

What is middle income, Romney? Do you mean middle class?

If 'middle' means the equidistant halfway mark between two points, his term could be meant to identify $250,000/year as the half way point between the lowest paid and highest paid American. Since the lowest paid would be $0 and the highest paid is a billionaire, that can't be true, because the number would actually be much higher. And, since Romney's a money man, we know he's not that dim. So obviously this isn't what he meant by 'middle income'.

 If we take another approach to his definition: the word 'average' in math indicates a number that marks the 'middle' or 'typical' number of a data set.  Meaning, of all the numbers crunched and worked through, the resulting number is right in the 'middle'.  This would mean the average American household income of $50,000 could also very truly and fairly be called middle-income. But this also, obviously isn't the case, since he clearly indicated that his idea of middle-income is actually $250,000 or less.

I'm left assuming he is using the term 'middle income' interchangeably with the term 'middle class'. Add my little caveat to his cap, and the middle class income range we're talking about is between $30,000 and $250,000. He clearly states to Stephanopoulos that "principle number one is keep the burden down on middle-income taxpayers." 

 So he uses the term middle income instead of middle class, which to me muddles the clarity just a little bit. I could let bygones be bygones and chalk it up to semantics. But add that to his admission that he didn't even read the report that he keeps fall back upon to support that his idea will work, and I feel like the sucker at the card shark table actively watching the shyster go down. No, he won't raise taxes. But he'll implement a plan that the report he falls upon clearly states will require him discontinuing multiple tax deductions for people who earn $100,000 annually or more. Uh, so wait a minute. No, you won't be literally 'raising' taxes, but that sure sounds like a potential whole lot more tax burden to the middle class to me.

And it's this obfuscation and acknowledgement of glossing over the details that alarms me the most. I'm not pro- or anti- anybody right now, though I know this last commentary may seem to show otherwise. At the same time, as a voter, if you're trying to motivate me to entrust you with the security of MY life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, I need to feel like you're actually gonna take the time to read and digest the full text of the Constitution, not rely on Cliff's Notes and respond to the points that best serve your latest interest...

Passing the Torch, Er, Heat Gun...

I bet you thought I forgot about you today, didn't you? I know my m.o. has been to post in the mornings. Today was an exceptional day, however. And exceptional days call for flexibility! I know if I just let this day pass by, I may likely drop the ball again as I have in the past. We can't have that, though. So here I am. A little late, but here I am.

Yesterday's adventure was filled with glorious, meltilicious color and fun. I enjoyed experimenting with melting leftover crayons and spreading them all over the place. Well, I did exercise some self-control and kept the color explosion to scrap wood. What ultimately encouraged me most about the whole endeavor, however, was the excitement it fueled in my Bugaboo's heart to attempt the same thing.

Bugaboo has such a brain for spacial relationships and has created quite a number of art pieces that have taken my breath away. Anyone who knows me knows at least four of her creations grace my living room. And they all look like art I paid for. Well, okay, two of them do. The other two are finger paintings where you can just make out her teeny hand prints in the globs of color. I'm sentimental, so kill me. And I digress anyway.

Bugaboo was so delighted with "supernova", she asked to take it to school to show her teacher. Inspired to share this new-found crayon capability, Bugaboo came up with the idea to make her own crayon art to share with her art teacher the following day.

So, after homework time but before bath time, we took some time to camp out by the only exterior outlet we have to do some melting. Call me crazy, but I was able to face flying critters of all sorts at the mere mention of melted crayons and a heat gun in the hands of my seven year old. My poor carpet wouldn't have stood a chance. Grass, on the other hand, is much more forgiving.

It was a fun adventure for both of us as she chose her colors and I helped her to safely use the tools necessary to create her own little masterpiece. And thirty minutes later, as we prepared to get ready for bed, she came into the house as proud as a peacock.

I wonder how that would look in my family room bathroom?....

Getting the hang of holding the heat gun and the crayon with pliers. We quickly reassessed our positioning with the cord dancing so closely to the crayon's locale.

The title she chose: "Raging Seas"

Melted Crayons and Moolah

Today I'm inclined to comment on something I heard yesterday. As fill for a transitional segment of a television program, a song was played called "I Need A Dollar", by artist Aloe Blacc. Here's a link to the video: Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar

First of all, born of a violinist and trained vocalist - and married to a man who studied jazz - you'll quickly learn that I'm a sucker for just about every type of music there is. I love the mixture of old gospel, and the 60's style funky horn section of this particular song.  Add that great piano accompaniment with his mellow voice, and I am smitten. And this won't be the last time I share a musical 'discovery' or 'like' with you. Just warning you now.

Secondly, and more importantly, I'm struck by the story of the song. And here's where I'll dedicate part of my post to getting a little more personal. Why? Because the reality is the simple acknowledgement that our family is low on the economic food chain.  We're not 'poor' by any means. Truer to form, we are like many other 'middle class' couples who make enough to not need state or federal government support, but make too little to not live paycheck to paycheck. Sadly, the only debt we have is in the form of student loans, which sit on our backs like a 300 lb weight. Not an impossible burden, but one that is a burden nonetheless and that is exhausting mentally, physically and spiritually at times.

Things constantly get axed for lack of funds. We are always trying to find ways to cut corners without compromising serious things (like food and shelter) and without sacrificing the need for enjoying simple pleasures in life now and again. But being thrifty nowadays seems to be the challenge du jour and a difficult task at best. It takes hard work. It can be tantamount to a full-time job. And not a lot of people have the stamina to hold down two full-time jobs, if you catch my meaning.

My hubby and I were both subject to lay-offs, just six weeks apart from each other, back in 2008. For almost a year we were carried through by public assistance as we desperately looked for work that would compensate us enough to merit having a job in the first place (nothing like getting paid so little, you end up essentially working for free because all you earn goes toward gas and child care). And as college grads, it was a humbling experience for us to be told by employers in our field that we didn't have enough experience (they wanted people who'd been practicing their craft since the Jurassic), or or told by employers of local retail places that we were over-qualified. It was sometimes terrifying to exist in that kind of limbo. And yet I imagine there are so many more families like ours. Worse yet, I think that there are way more people in this kind of situation than the leaders realize (or care to acknowledge).  And it is this life experience, this scratching for existence, that this song has brought to mind. And, really, it is this life experience that inspires me to do what I do and share what I share.

Most of us are just eeking by, trying to remain as respectable, healthy and house-proud as possible while we do it. For most of us, it is a daunting seemingly insurmountable task. Particularly in our society of instant access, instant information, instant communication, instant food and instant gratification. To keep things cheap, you can't always be 'instant'. On the other hand, I find that in trying to stay frugal and thrifty, my creative side has blossomed and my level of self-discipline (a dying art) has increased. Hopefully, if you're in the same boat I am, you can join me for the journey and have some things rub off that make things a little more bearable.

Now, on to the creative side of things. I know, yesterday I went on and on about Sharpie art. Logic would dictate that I'd be posting my progress of what I'd accomplished. Well, to be honest, not much. I did take the time to figure out how I would like the colored tiles to be laid out when they are mounted on the wall!  Here's the picture:

Prospective paint chip layout for Sharpie ink craft.

The artwork that inspired the color palette.

As my scattered brain would have it, though, I came across my eldest's Tupperware tub full of broken, partly melted, half obliterated crayons and remembered the intriguing crayon melting crafts I'd found on my Pinterest boards. I grabbed a few pieces of scrap plywood from the garage and got to work. 

Jacked up crayons, a heat gun, a pair of pliers and a small piece of scrap plywood (about 5" x 7")

I was really pleased, actually, with my first attempt. Holding my heat gun close to the respective crayon I held clamped in the grip of a pair of pliers, I moved the melting nub of colorful wax over the surface of the plywood, laying and blending colors as I moved along.  I decided the result looked like some sort of space formation from the far reaches of the universe, so I named it 'supernova'. I do concede to my daughter's opinion, just the same, that it looks like some sort of flower.

My finished first attempt: a background of brown, red-violet and dark purple; a foreground of yellows, oranges and a touch of pink.

Emboldened by my first attempt, I went with two bigger pieces of wood, thinking I could lay a marbleized looking background of wax and then finish off by laying thick cut out shapes on top as a kind of multimedia collage piece. 

Second attempt: shades of periwinkles, greys, lavenders and white, with accent colors of turquoise, aqua, blue and silver.

Yeah, not so successful.  For these two boards, concerned I wouldn't have enough crayon to go around, instead of holding the crayons with pliers I used a special garnish tool (that I NEVER use) to shave off pieces across both boards.  

Crayon shavings and chunks before the meltdown.

The bigger chunks of crayon were really hard to melt down and, if focused on them for too long, their color seeped and spread so much they engulfed and/or covered over the other surrounding colors. I don't hate the result, I'm just not nuts about it. And maybe it's because it didn't turn out the way I'd imagined it should.  My husband and daughter loved it for its texture and all the crazy blending and dripping action going on. Jackson Pollock, eat your heart out.

 I'll let you decide what you think. Meanwhile, I need to figure out where I'm gonna hang these bad boys...

 

The two boards, after meltdown.

Board 1, detail.

Board 2, detail.

Sharpie Art

Having Mom move out was a fantastic milestone for our family. We are so encouraged to see her out and about, doing her own thing and full of life. A consequence of Mom leaving, however, are bare walls that once held art work that she had contributed to the decoration of our place. Granted, our walls aren't completely devoid of embellishments. At the same time there are broad enough expanses screaming to the artist in me, begging to be filled.

I decided to start small, and then move on from there (especially with my embarrassing track record of spouting on and on about all the great ideas I have that I then promptly DON'T follow through with... can anyone relate?) So, in keeping with that mindset, and owning that a divide and conquer logic never seemed to fail anyone, I'm going to start with our small half bath off of the family room. Long and skinny (about 10' long and only 3' deep), the door opens up in the middle, so that the sink is to the left and the toilet is to the right. And in front of you, a huge, blank wall. That wall once housed a large, lovely painting of the Titanic (my Mom's deep love and obsession). With the door open, you could cast a side glance and be drawn into the majesty of Titanic at full speed in the open ocean. All this action framed perfectly within the doorway of the bathroom. Now, it's bare. Painfully empty of any point of interest.

The wall over the toilet also housed a smaller, beautiful black and white photograph of a sailboat.  It's a wall you can see in the mirror hanging over the sink as you (ahem) take care of business. More blankness.

I need to fight the desire to go berserk and fill every empty space on the walls. However, I will say that my aunt and uncle have a bathroom with a wall that is succesfully covered with various sized frames, filled with all sorts of marvelous pieces of artwork from over the years (whether purchased prints, paintings/sketches by my cousins, or trinkets from trips abroad). It's a beautiful, captivating treat for the eyes. My reality is, I simply don't have the funds or time to buy enough frames to fill the wall in that bathroom. I mean, I want to do a simple project. I want a craft that won't cost much and that won't take much time for me to see the results, right? So, maybe a wall of art the likes of Uncle and Aunt's bathroom will be an endeavor down the road. For now, I need to keep it simple.

I came across the brilliant art work of Jona Cerwinsk, who in 2007 took Sharpie pen to Lamborghini and produced a piece of art work that was truly captivating and inspiring.  The month of June in our family is rife with birthdays. A niece of ours has definitely blossomed into quite the artist and one of her birthday wishes was a pack of Sharpies so she could decorate her guitar. Wanting to feed her creative juices, I bought her the Sharpies.... and proceeded, with a Cerwinsk method inspired design, to decorate the paper I would use to wrap her gift.  The results left me dumbfounded that I was capable of such patience in creation or detail, to be honest:

Black Sharpie ink on silver holographic paper.  Created by Katie Wenta, June 2012

Though it would seem I've completely gotten off topic, I share all this because my mind was brought back to this June 2012 creation of mine. Why not come up with some similar art for the bathroom?  Better yet, I can use up pieces of an unusual collection of mine: paint chip samples.  I know, I know. I can't help it. I walk past the paint section of a hardware store and leave with a card-deck's worth of colors.  In this case, I have a great stack of colors that I chose to specifically reflect the paint colors of a water color my Bugaboo made when only a toddler. The colors just look so warm and inviting, I couldn't bring myself to toss the painting. And it currently has a place of honor in a frame. But it has yet to make its way to a wall. Most importantly, this colorway would look great in that 'galley' bathroom.

I'm thinking of decorating my small paint chip squares with intricate Sharpie designs, mounting them on some thin plywood I have (that I could prep) and then placing them up in a nice minimalistic style square that would create some interest on that side wall. It will be somewhat time consuming. But I figure I could decorate one or two a day, and that I don't need to decorate ALL of them.  Leaving some of them blank, I think, would add to the interest of the overall composition.  I just need to play my cards right, so to speak, to make sure that I achieve the visual balance I'm looking for.

I have sixteen paint chips, which will give me the opportunity to create a nice 4 x 4 layout on the bathroom wall. They likely won't take up as much space as the noble Titanic did. But I figure I can always visit my local big box hardware shop and snake a few more chips, gradually adding to the grid. The price is certainly right. Who knows? Maybe instead of scores of various frames with artwork from across the decades I'll have a grid work of various colors and graphics that create a visual delight for any friend or family member who finds himself/herself venturing into the restroom for his/her evening constitutional!

The sixteen paint chips inspired by Bugaboo's painting.