The silver lining...

I have fallen on interesting times. It seems to me that from a young age we are all told that we will leave high school, attend college, get a job, and start a family. Its such a simple progression. I believed it. I didn't excel in high school because I didn't try. why would I? I was going to college one way or the other, and I did. In college I took little advantage of my extracurriculars and made my way through with as much fun as effort and although I have graduated, I still am missing something.

You see, like many people, and unlike just as many find myself bouncing from job to job.

The economy sucks! There are no jobs! Ive tried but this is the best I can do!

Ive said these things as many have and looking back I realize how badly I was crutching myself. My whole life I thought there was this master plan and now that its fallen apart, I see that there was no plan at all, and blaming things like the economics of our nation is taking my legs out from under me. These thoughts put the blame on a system that is not at fault.

What is the truth then? The truth is that there ARE jobs out there and many people are finding great pay at rewarding experiences and the best candidates are the ones getting them. That's an interesting thought. I realize only after months of wandering that the problem isn't the system, the problem is me.

Now don't jump to insult or console me, I am not writing this to look for a cookie, I'm writing this to let people like me know that there is hope. It is possible to make yourself more desirable. There are many people out there that are just under trained. Go back to school, get certified, take a class, it is possible to get trained in your desired field without being hired. In fact, it will make you more desirable.

I for one am tired of sending out the same resume and wondering what the problem is. In four years, I plan to look back on this recession and smile because I knew that when the going got tough, I got tougher and took my goals and my dreams back. My ambition is too great to be stuck here waiting to see the news man tell me its ok to go out and start applying.

I challenge everyone who is not in the situation they wish to be in to do something about it. I for one have a plan, and I wont stop until I'm living my dreams.

Talking turkey...

Thanksgiving is at an end, the family has returned home, football has been played, and its time to clean. We all go through the routine, we all get to do sit ups for weeks to pay for our bounty. But if the experience is the same, the why isn't the dinner? We all know what we love about thanksgiving, but what don't we know? I am taking the time now to look back on what I consider to be the three most underrated food items which may or may not be at your thanksgiving feast. You may agree with me, but be warned, by not agreeing, you only strengthen my case.

3. Fruit Salad. Lets face it. Thanksgiving is a holiday for feast and good times, health should not be a consideration. But that does not mean that our taste buds must suffer. The author of The Physiology of Taste, Brillat-Savarin points out the distinction between hunger and appetite. He states that your appetite, ability to eat, is entirely separate from your hunger, your need to eat. This explains how you can eat a food item until you are full, but upon arrival of dessert you are renewed in your desire to feast. This is the point of a sweet and tart fruit salad. Have it in a bowl on the side, use it to cleanse your palate. This will give your tongue a break and keep the meal satisfying. Not to mention a few vitamins for your trouble.

2. Cranberry Sauce. Bring 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water (simple syrup) to a boil. when sugar dissolves, add one bag (16 oz) whole cranberries. stir until cranberries pop and fall apart. Let cool. total effort? 15 minutes. Why do we bog ourselves down with a muddles canned product from the store when less effort than mashed potatoes will give you such a delight. A sweet jelly which rouses the spirits. It makes turkey sing, stuffing pop, and even lets your kids color the veggies as they enjoy. Cranberries are packed with vitamins and the smell is fresh enough to keep you in a good mood. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, mushrooms, blah blah blah. that is a plate of grey and white. throw some bright red on there and look like you know what you are doing.

1. The number one most underrated item at your thanksgiving dinner is... Stuffing. I know, I just lost some readers because all of you know stuffing and use it often, but you don't understand stuffing, so it is extremely underrated. First of all, it is only stuffing if it is cooked inside the bird, otherwise it is "dressing". Now stuffing is delicious, we all know, but it is also dangerous. That's right, stuffing is the leading culprit in a failed thanksgiving. did you know that? Stuffing packs the bird, thus giving more mass within the turkey. This means that more cook time is required to raise the internal temperature to the proper level of food safety. Fully cooked stuffing usually means dry turkey, since the proper internal temperature makes for a greater outer temperature. You can go ahead and make your turkey juicy and delicious, but now the stuffing is not at a safe temperature. I'm sure you will be fine, but Salmonella could lurk within. I recommend dressing in the future, instead, fill the turkey with citrus and aromatics, discard after, enjoy the meal.

So you see, some things need a second look, and others need a harder look. don't change grandmas recipe, just give a little respect to your food. Happy Thanksgiving.

The Magical Fruit...

There are few foods in the world as complex and as beneficial as the small bean. It is representation of human history and is a basis in many cultures diet. Beans are as complex a carbohydrate as you can find and packs enough protein to substitute meat at proper amounts. Beans will be around longer than you and I. Its about time we all take this little friend for what it truly is, delicious.


In a previous post I already discussed the merits of adding beans to rice, but what if you just wanted beans and you wanted them in the most delicious fashion possible? Well I think I have that covered for you. Start with one bag (16 oz) or pinto beans. empty the contents into a pot of cool water and let sit at least 12 hours before you plan to cook. The newly soaked beans are swollen and ready.

Now this next step is up to you, but I think I have found the best option. You need some serious flavor. You want to add to the beans a bone, preferably with meat. Pork is the best option for this as it is salty and flavorful. Go to you local butcher and for a few dollars you can walk home with either a Ham Hock or a Ham End. Both have a ton of flavor, a good deal of meat, a lot of fat and will make your beans sing.

I chose the Ham End and your butcher would probably agree with me. Put these pieces into the beans fill with enough water to cover a few inches above beans. You want enough water that after a long boil you still have a soupy mixture. Add maybe a tea spoon of salt and put the pot to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and let it sit for one hour.

After the boil, remove the ham end and cut as much meat as you can from the bone, dice that meat up and return to the pot. Discard the bones and fat. Return to boil, then simmer for twenty minutes.

Here is your choice. You can use a slotted spoon and remove your new treasures or you can use a ladle and get the broth as well. I choose the latter. A splash of tabasco sauce, or spicy white vinegar will make the flavor sing. Enjoy it, as I'm sure this will quickly become a family favorite.

Its Alive...

When you take the remains of something to build something else, does it have to be a monster? Is it possible, or even probable that things are changing for the better or even for the good? I think that reusing is as close to good as you can get and I'm not just talking about your plastic bottles.

I'm talking about soup. Not just any soup. I mean my soup. A creation that I saw coming together and made it happen and it did not start with soup, it didn't even start with broth, no this sordid story begins with grandparents and change of plans. Id like to tell you about how a plan can come together.

Grandparents on both sides were coming over for dinner. We bought two giant (I can eat my beef, but these were mammoth) cuts of beef. If I had to guess I would say 48 oz a piece. We were going to grill them up and give meat to everyone for two days. Two short phone calls later, the guests are all skipping and we have a lot of food; Apples. My solution? Applesauce.

I mean that figuratively. The crock pot was assembled, the meat seared, a sauce made. The sauce was tomato sauce, tomato paste, Worcestershire, Cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper, a dash of soy and half a bottle rose wine. I know, sounds good. 24 hours later we are making tacos with some serious flavored meat. When that was all gone, we had about 4 cups of some serious flavored gravy.

After some soul searching (calling my chef cousin) I had a plan, I had the ingredients, I was going to make this sauce better, tastier, more flavorful than it was before. I was going to make soup. Into a pot went some olive oil, garlic, and the parts of mirapoi (Carrots, Celery, Onion) that I'm allowed to use (onion is forbidden in my house, don't complain, I already feel the loss). When that cooked up, I added the super beef sauce, a large can of chicken stock, water, bouillon to compensate the water, salt, pepper, some chicken breast(raw), and a few dash spices (I don't remember exactly). When the chicken was cooked, I removed, chopped and returned it. I then added egg noodles and peas, let this simmer until noodles cooked, then I feasted.

There you have it. A flavor explosion of a soup that is hearty, warm, perfect for these cold days. I have half the batch frozen for later consumption and the other half was eaten within days of it being done. Sometimes in life your going to have a lot of little when your looking for something big. Its up to you to make a plan, stick to it, get help when you need it, and make something big for yourself.

Fire of Life...

I took a trip last week. This was no ordinary trip, I was traveling out to the expansive mid-west for an opportunity to see new additions to my family and spend some much needed time relaxing and taking my time to enjoy a new area. By relaxing, I mean I was working in the rain moving large rocks from the woods to a flower bed so that other people can marvel at how beautiful nature is. I needed a reward.

I found this reward in the heart of the magnificent Greek district located in downtown Chicago. For those of you think of only greasy thick pizza when asked about the fine cuisine of the windy city, I dare say you are doing that town an injustice. Chicago is also home to some of the best hot dogs in the nation (even if I get a cross look when I request ketchup) and lesser known except for the locals who pride themselves of the fact, a fantastic Greek district.

The time was 7:30, the place was the Parthenon. When you enter, you are greeted by a boisterous woman who says hello to every new face and leads you to a table which is very close to the surrounding tables, a bad sign? I might have thought so at first. As the night went on, you realized that they were going to fill their walls and the group was to feast together at the sights and sounds presented.

We began with a delicious salad made with feta cheese and anchovies and a crusty bread. This led to a group of eight sharing three bowls of soup, we all tasted the Lentil, the Egg Lemon, and my favorite, the Navy Bean. We made our order, received our wine and little did we know what we had started.

Quick additions were made immediately. A traditional Greek appetizer was brought to us, cheese wrapped in filo dough and lit on fire to the crowds amazement and shouts of "OOPA!". I still don't know what that means. Then the food came. The meals were put in place then immediately moved, portions passed, flavors tested, wine drank, laughter echoed. I had half my meal still on my plate when my body told me, "no mas". Put a fork in me, I was done.

I am not Greek. Not even a little, but for two and a half hours, I was laughing, shouting, drinking the wine, and enjoying the flavors. I drank bitter Greek coffee and tried to read my fortune in the mud (I saw only mud - a bad sign?) I had more cheese than my digestion cared for and still I look back and see that as a high point of the trip. There were many Asians, Indians, Whites, Blacks, and of course the Greeks. They were all enjoying a culture other than their owns. They were all opening their eyes to another world. That's the beauty of life, some people don't have to move rocks for a relative but there heads are still hidden beneath one. See the light. Get out there and learn what someone else has to offer.

Too Much Good...

Call me crazy. It seems to me that if you take a good thing and mash it together with another good thing, you should end up with a super good thing. What followed was a journey through my very being as a food lover. I love rice. I love beans. Join me now as I tell you my journey through the monster known as... Rice and Beans.

I didn't eat beans until recently. I love them now. little sacks of awesome. But now I eat them and I am curious how to use them better. I decided that I must love rice and beans so I set out to create it. The first attempt was with Caribbean style. Basically it is beans prepared and flavored with coconut milk, Cinnamon, assorted other spices and rice is then added.

This is an odd flavor. sweet. dessert like. in a word? unsatisfying. I didn't like it. It was just not a combo of flavor that I enjoyed. not to mention that I used a whole pepper with seeds and didn't get a bit of spice. oh and fun fact, the coconut milk burns acrid, bitter, and black if you over cook it even slightly. Ok, moving on.

I was at a grocery store chain which I will refer to in code, Hole Foods. Hole Foods has a cafe area where they pride themselves on food options for all people, including a vegan food bar. They had a rice and bean dish there and I grew intrigued. The product!? miserable. poor flavor, over spiced. The dish was savory and cold. unappetizing and disappointing. So, I heated it up. Slightly better, but on a whole, the flavor was the same. No dice.

Why was this so hard? I wanted to just get to basics. Bag of beans, check. Ham hock, check. Lets do this. I just boiled the beans with the ham hock until the beans were tender. I cut the meat from the bone and returned it to the pot and added the rice to the salty, meaty, hearty mixture. With a top off of water and a return to boil, it was ready to cook.

This was great. Delicious. Meaty, not too salty. It was just as god intended it to be. Just rice and beans. how hard was that? I think that in the end its nice to know that two rights can make a wrong and that to each his own. I may not have liked the other options but its important to keep trying. I will try more in the future, but this is a start. I will continue to delight in life's most delicious flavors.

On Love...

"I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is" - Forrest Gump

What does it take to fall in love? Is it a journey within the eyes of another, or a look within oneself that makes it love? What does it mean to love? They say, "It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all". I cry foul play at this sentiment! To love is to be open, to put your heart within the scissors blades and place the grips in the hands of another. Can you decide that you are in love or will love choose you? I dare say that I have chose the woman, but I did not choose to love her. Quite the contrary. I found myself in love with her. Love comes to man and makes him sing. A touch, a smile, a kiss, or even the frown beneath the eyes of a disapproving stare, all confirm what your heart knows already knows is true.

In reality, a candle holding the night at bay from the wind has more a chance than love. Chaos. Two people run the roads of life hoping their paths connect. Disorder. Worlds within a world, trying to understand those they meet when they barely know themselves. Passion. The recognition of your ability to be strong and, at the same time, weak with another. Is man the sword and woman the sheath? But what of, "The souls recognition of its counterpoint in another"? Does this mean yin for yang, or is yin for yin possible? A dance, then, founded in challenge, a relationship that demands progress; only the best will do.

What is love to me? Mutual association. My very being, split in two. An explanation of who I am which at first demands the description of another. Completed by another person, myself in them and they in me. To remove that piece means unthinkable pain. Reducing a soul to pieces so that one can try to start over. Is it best then to move on when uncertainty nears? Spare yourself the torment, collect your tears and whats left of your dignity and let that person go? I would sooner burn my house, the symbol of my safety and happiness, to the ground than, "let" that someone go.

Symbols. A representation of something more. To love is to make a person into a beacon which shines with the light of everything good in your life. Could you throw away your childhood blanket, bear, or other item which you held so dear? Would it be any easier if these symbols spoke, moved, and knew you better than you know yourself? I know that out their, out the window of my life, I am imperfect. But with love, I shine immaculate and without fault. How can one desire that feeling to leave?

At times, however, the heart cries. You feel the scissors tighten as you stare through tears, pain flowing through your very being. A short tone, a cold shoulder, bitter indifference can all erupt from your lover to you. However, you hold fast because you know that with a smile, a mere whisper, you will feel relief and more. You can forget the darkness fore it makes the light shine brighter as you dare to fly again.

Without love, is this feeling possible? Meetings of the heart are the moments of Kings and Gods; should mortals have to suffer for such arrogance as to dare to love? Human nature and free will cannot be changed or controlled. It is in each of us the power to choose our own life. I do not wish the control or command of anyone else. I'm just a boy who's been in love. That's all I'll ever be.