Sunday, December 16, 2012

Sending Love to Sandy Hook, Newtown, and CT

I have been trying to formulate a response, decide on a stance, sort out my feelings, etc, regarding the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. tragedy.  senseless killing of children and adults.

We hear about the shooter.  About his mother.  About the victims and their lives, cut short.
We've been hearing responses from all sorts of people via the media.
About 'gun control'.  About the counterargument-- guns don't kill people... people kill people.

But actually, people kill people. With guns. People kill people using guns.


That being said (written)... just because you give someone a gun doesn't mean they are going to use it in a harmful way. And guns are not the only potentially dangerous weapon.  Just because a person does not have access to a gun does not mean they are incapable of inflicting harm on another.

"Fixing" the "problem"  is most likely not as simple as helping people and/or controlling guns. I put fixing in quotation marks because I think the concept is, like most solutions, a moving target.  I put problem in quotation marks because violence is in no way a singular issue able to demand a singular solution.  Maybe addressing the problems could be the semantic shift.

If the words and sentences of this post feel random, discombobulated  and just not smooth, it's on purpose--rather, it's unavoidable. This is pretty indicative of how my mind has been working through the event.  I've done my best to avoid television coverage and the media firestorm. No, I really don't want to hear from the children who were at Sandy Hook on Friday.  No, I don't think I want to hear a teacher have to relive the events in front of a national audience.  Let's let these people have some privacy.  Give them access to lots of love and help if/when they need/want it.  Let's let them tell their stories if/when they're ready.  Maybe I'm just not ready to hear more about it... actually that's pretty evident by the lack of clarity in my own thinking.

This "we need to have a national conversation regarding gun control" is great, but even more, we need some national ACTION regarding violence.  and inequalities.  and religious intolerance.  and many other things.  But first, Americans, and worldly beings in general, stop killing each other.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Beef and Mushroom Ragù With Pappardelle

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/beef-mushroom-ragu-00100000086755/index.html


New recipe. Beef and Mushroom Ragu.  A few changes:  1.  added two slices of bacon, chopped, to the garlic onion mixture.  2. used one can of mushroom stems and pieces.  am considering a second can next time (I love mushrooms)  3. used DreamField (http://www.dreamfieldsfoods.com/) spaghetti instead of pappardelle.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Soup Mode!

I think I've been in soup mode for a few months now, but I thought I'd share this recipe that I tried for the first time today!  It was good.  Very very good :)
Slow-Cooker White Bean and Kielbasa Stew





http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/white-bean-stew-00100000068403/

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Hasta luego, Yanktonia!

le chef

Momma's plate

     
my plate.  sausage casserole, cinnamon roll, berries
Another feast! This time, brunch before B and I leave.  Yummy yummy :)  Thanks for an awesome Turkey Day, Yanktonia friends and family!  See you in late December! 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

Miss Peaches
pre-smoked beef roast


busy body
Greetings from a blustery but beautiful SoDak!  Lots of good things happening today... window washing, cooking, football watching, standing rib roast smoking (who needs turkey with a professional food smoker for a dad?!?), and maybe even napping.  Many more pictures to come from today and tonight!

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A few more Turkey Day Pictures
She loves looking outside

Chocolate Mousse with whipped cream. so yummy :-)


oh hey!  are you taking a picture of me?!?  what is this?

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Dad nailed it!

look eerily like last years feast...


'sketty-o's' as my dad calls it :-)  this was dinner on Friday night... no leftovers for us!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Today, I am thankful for

my DAD!  I am thankful for all the enthusiasm you had during the college (and grad school!) search.  Thank you for traveling to a few far-away places to help me realize that WashU was the place for me.   I am thankful that you have shown me what it means to be passionate about a career filled with helping people every day.  Thank you for pushing me to set goals and follow through.  Thank you for talking politics and business with me, for answering all of my ridiculous 'what if' sports questions, and for passing on your love of driving (even though I have yet to master the 10-hour solo adventure).  Thank you for never giving up, for maintaining open and honest relationships with those around you during those rough times, and for teaching me what it means to persevere.  Oh yeah, and thanks for putting the phrase 'vanishingly small' to shame :-)

I love you, Dad, and can't wait to give you a big hug next week!