My first canning experience

Strawberry Raspberry Lemon Freezer Jelly

I took a class on "Preserving and Canning." It was my first experience with canning and preserving of any kind, and it was eye opening! I've always been sort of nervous about it. Michael actually took the class with me, and that was awesome! We prepped the heck out of the tomatoes and strawberries and garlic. (Tomatoes and Garlic were in another recipe. Don't know how good they'd be in jelly.) We make a great team in the kitchen.

So this jelly was soooo easy to make, and in the end you pop it in the freezer and it will stay for a year or so. This morning we had toast and jelly, and it was freaking delicious. It always tastes better when you make it, though.

We also made carrot fennel soup, bruschetta, and bread and butter pickles. All very good.

If cooking is therapeutic to me, then canning and preserving is kind of like Prozac. I'm all giddy knowing that I'll have this wholesome food that I've prepared in my kitchen at all times. Insane? Probably. But seriously good times. I love the idea that i am kind of moving backwards in time. My Nana used to make all kind of pickles and jellies, and she and my grandpa used to preserve and use every penny that they could. We have since gotten away from that - we are all about fast and easy and fake. you can have both, though. You can have wholesome and fast if you just do a bit in advance.

This is going to sound weird - but there are few things in life that have made me feel as satisfied and happy with existence as i feel when i create a huge pot of good soup. Then we sit down and eat it with a hunk of french bread and a glass of wine. Few things.

We have to embrace the process of it all - or else we are just marching through it. Stop and smell the home grown tomatoes. buy the fresh herbs. Follow a recipe. open a bottle of wine while you cook. maybe play some gypsy kings on your ipod while you cook. dance around the kitchen.

Ebb and Flow

Michael and I visited a friend who lives in Monte Rio and this is a picture we took of the ocean in that area. A friend told us that the reddish ground covering you see right in front of the water is not native to the area, and has been quite a problem because it just grows and grows and grows... It was a struggle to comprehend because it is really beautiful... The colors of the so-called icicles are vivid and amazing against the golds, greens, and blues of Northern California.

Pillars of the Earth

I chose the UK version of the book cover because I like it a lot better than the American version. I am in the middle of this book, and when I say middle i mean DEEP IN IT. Usually when one is in the middle of the book one has about two hundred pages left, and it is easy to hold it up above your head to finish it. In this case I have about five hundred pages left, and the book is so heavy my arm hurts when I read. 

I have a peculiar way of reading. I have done it for as long as I can remember, and it is the most comfortable way for me. I lie on my right side and hold the book above my face. My fingers are on the outside of the cover, while my thumb holds my place in the middle. For some reason when i hold the book like this it keeps it in pristine condition, so pristine that some of my books look like they haven't been read. I am not sure if at some point i somehow taught myself to read this way, or if i am just fortunate and that is a side effect of my reading position. I am a bit anal about my books, so i tend to think that subconsciously i meant to not bend the binding. I still sometimes litter my books with notes and ideas in the margins - i am not trying to keep it in tact in order to sell it or something. in fact, I love the looks of a much read book. One of my favorite books of all time is "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Camus. My friend Nick gave it to me years ago and it was lovingly used, and it had a nice circular stain as if someone set down a hot coffee cup while getting ready. I have no idea how many people owned it before me, and I sincerely hope someone loves it when I am gone. So I am not overwhelmingly neurotic. 

The reason i brought this entire subject up is because "The Pillars of the Earth" is so freaking hard to hold up! Seriously, after a half an hour of reading it is not my eyes that tire but my right arm. 

But I am hooked, I must admit. I did not think i would be, as it is not my normal line of interest, but I am addicted to the story of builders, knights, monks, and townspeople. I think what hooks me most is the questions it brings up about life in that time. (Roughly 1100AD.) 

I feel that i live in this gorgeous bubble of free thinking, sunshine, and good fortune. Sure, times are pretty tough now - money is not easy to come by. But I feel fairly certain that I am safe, and my home will be waiting for me after a shift at work. 

And it is so crazy to think of a different time when NONE of that was certain. When people who worked hard, worked to the bone, would do any job, and were smart could not feed their families. They also worried about "justice" from pissed off spoiled brats. (knights and son's of earls who beat the shit out of anyone they felt like.) And although I know that Follet's book is not fact - obviously he wasn't there - it feels solid and true. It feels like something that happened. How true is it? Please, if you know, if you have studied that time period, let me know. I have to be honest. I probably won't read up on it. There are so many things out there, and this may be one i don't get around to. Or who knows? After 500 more pages maybe I'll change my mind. (If anything I have the feeling that Follet may have been a bit soft on the aggressors.)

PS. This is not a blog on the "Myth of Sisyphus." i will write a blog on that one day when I can find the right words to post on this blog for that book. it is hard to imagine writing a blog online on blogger about the ideas brought up in that book. Talk about absurdity. Well, at least I'm not posting it on My Face or something. :) And I'm out. 

************************

After completion of the novel - March 14, 2009

I was involved during the reading of "Pillars of the Earth." I read late into the night, and i woke up in the morning longing to tear through the pages. I just finished this morning before breakfast, before coffee, before I even needed to wake up. It was a fun book to read. It was full of lust, danger, passion, disgust, and base human behaivor. Human behaivor is so interesting, and it is fascinating how now matter how many years past we are not far removed from the thoughts of the characters in the 1100's. It is such a strange thought - our fears, dreams, hopes are much the same as they have been throughout time. 

One of the most disturbing parts of the epic story is the religious leaders. They were the political leaders of their time. Although the didn't directly make the law they much influenced it, and it was nearly shocking how they twisted the law to their ambitions. And during the course of the story they were painted as pious men who twisted human law to the will of God. They wanted to showcase God's glory by any means necessary, so in the long run, in the endgame, they were forgiven their transgressions and allowed to worship along side the most religious and holy. How is it that a person can lead such a despicable life, but ask for forgiveness and be allowed into the so-called gates of heaven? it is non sensible. Faith aside, this is the biggest problem with religions in my perspective. 

"Blood River - A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart" by Tim Butcher

The book is about a journalist who desires to follow in the famous footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley who traversed the Congo river with a little help from hundreds of Congolese people. I say that with a touch of sarcasm of course. It doesn't translate to the computer screen as well as I would like. 

Tim Butcher sets out from Kalemie on the shores of Lake Tanganika where he first discovers an interesting fact about the Congo. It seems like everywhere he steps throughout his journey has traveled back in time. The cities that used to boom with traffic, visitors, and daily commerce are now broken and falling apart. It's people are swollen with poverty, its politicians cheat, lie, and steal their power, and its electrical outlets haven't had solid power for years. The carcass of an old train has grass growing through its cars. Time is moving backwards, and it is a theme that follows him throughout his journey. 

Butcher starts his journey shortly after a massive attack in Bukavu, a town/city on the edge of Lake Kivu that cuts the border of Rwanda and the Congo. There is a lot of unease from people he meets along the way because of Rwanda's splintered people that has spilled into the Congo. For Rwanda's small size it is surprisingly involved in the politics of the Congo. They hold a bigger influence in the nation that their small size would suggest. The Hutus of Rwanda that fled the country after the genocide against the Tutsis hid in the rain forests and jungles of the Congo. The air was thick with the threat of violence. Still. Again. 

Butcher pressed on. He wanted to follow the Congo - on land - and end at the Atlantic Ocean where Stanley ended his journey in the late 1800's. It seems like he was profoundly affected by Stanley's journey, even though Stanley's treatment of the Congolese people was questionable at best. Stanley was one of the main factors in the beginning of the colonization of the Congo. Perhaps it would have happened anyway, maybe by another country, maybe a bit later, but as it stands he charted the river and told the powers that be that it was a land full of treasure. And it was. Finally he found an interested audience in the Belgian king, and the rest is history. 

I had a bit of trouble understanding why more people did not hate Stanley. None of the Congolese people he met seemed to have a problem with the fact that Butcher was following in Stanley's footsteps, albeit for different reasons, but still following. Perhaps they realized that Butcher was doing it for the adventure, story, and history. Perhaps it was because Butcher did not travel with hundreds of Congolese to help carry his burdens. Perhaps it was because they had not seen outsiders for so long that they yearned for contact. 

The thing i found most shocking about this book was the movement of time in the Congo. It would be one thing if the villages along the river had never had outside influence. But most of them knew what electricity and cars were, and then they abruptly had none. The parents and grandparents in the villages had seen the modern technology and would describe it to awestruck children. When Butcher entered some of the villages at the beginning of his journey on a motorbike most of the children had heard stories about such an item but never even seen a picture of one. 

The thing that depressed me the most was how the small window of so-called advancement seemed to injure the villages and their ways of life. They had their own local "government" and their own faith and beliefs. Each village was part of a village system, and they made decisions within that village. Each decision was based on everyone agreeing that the decision was the best thing for the entire people. Then all the power was taken away from them at a village level. It was handed to the colonists, and when the colonists left it was handed to the crooked politicians that the West believed would honor the wishes of the West. And that is a book in itself. 

Basically the Congo would have been much better off without the "advice" of the outside. Without the missionaries and white government. 

Would they be living primitively? Perhaps. But probably richly. (And I don't mean cobalt and diamonds.) And the thing is, they are living primitively right now, but there are feelings that this is not good enough any more. They are wearing hand me down American clothing. 

Along Butcher's journey he met a father who asked him with pain and desperation in his eyes if Butcher would take his son with him out of the Congo. And with a pain in his heart Butcher said no. Maybe not because he did not want to, but most likely because no matter the desire, the government would never allow him to transport the boy out. (Unless they were bribed heavily and he had the correct paperwork filled out.) 

One of the comments in the book that haunted me was the following (butchering paraphrase to follow) - "Why can't the Africans run Africa?" And it makes me wonder what went wrong? Would things have been different if they had been allowed to run their own countries without the outside influence? There have been many other countries that were colonized over time, but after defeating or somehow breaking away from the colonization they have pulled it together to even thrive. Why has this not happened in Africa? Is it too big? Are there just too many outside influences? Is there too much raw material and hope for riches? 

I don't know. It is certainly a big question. What to do about Africa. What does Africa think? There is one underlying constant in the story. Violence. Attacks. Unrest. Murder. I just think there are so many people there who deserve to live their lives without fearing attacks. If nothing else they deserve to live and breath without that. If they could have that, the rest would come slowly. How do we do that? We can't drop food and medicine without fixing that one problem. What good does food do if your entire village is burned down because of hate and retaliation that has nothing to do with you? Where does the peace come from?  

The Poisonwood Bible

My first Kingsolver book was "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" and I loved it. I have heard her name through the years, and just never jumped on board. Then I found "Animal..." and became interested. She has a witty nearly self deprecating confidence that should verge on pretentious, and would on many people, but does not.

Since devouring "The Poisonwood Bible" I have purchased "Blood River," another book about the Congo, and I am hooked. The story of Kingsolver's fictional Baptist family is crazy and unbelievable but honest. And while i say unbelievable... mainly i mean the story of the Congo itself is unbelievable. The villagers story is amazing and heart wrenching, and the years of white rule is sickening. Even though it is such an old and oft repeated history it never fails to shock me. Diamonds and power and land and wealth... old white kinds sending over weapons and men and taking over... I still can't understand.

The characters in this book are rich. I don't really relate to any of them, but I devoured their story lines. I actually despised a few of the characters, the father included.

Their family is a perfect example of everything wrong with missionary work. I would say that the label of "Missionary Work" has a bad connotation to my ears, so this just reiterated everything i think of when I hear it. I am sure there are good works out there, but this was horrible.

It all started with a feast with a goat, something very special for the people of the village, something that this spoiled Georgia family not only turned their noses at, but practically spit out. The characters claimed to try and eat portions of the dinner, but all they did was spit in the face of amazing generosity from a village of people who starve during major portions of the year, yet share a huge gift with this white family simply because they are guests.

And it just got worse from there.

I enjoyed this book so much. mostly it inspired me to learn more about the Congo area. I love it when books inspire books! It also cemented my anger towards missionaries who pound their beliefs as THE beliefs and THE way. It is disgusting. And they should all be round up in a room together and forced to listen to bad 80's keyboard music while someone farts in tune.

House

House. I needed to get something positive in this damn blog, so I led with House. Funny thing is, he's not positive. But damn, do I love this show. More later. 

Banks and Interest Rates

I'm trying to understand something, and each time I really delve into the subject I just get irritated and sad. I am trying to figure out how the banks come up with their arbitrary rules about who to give credit to. When I was 19, irresponsible, and somewhat retarded they rewarded me with credit cards. They gave me credit without question, raised my credit, cheerily rewarded me with more credit even when I failed to manage a $300 limit. 

Now, at nearly 30, my credit score is well over 150 points higher than it was, I have no delinquent accounts, I have taken care of all my old accounts from ten years ago, I make way more money that I did, and low and behold! They take credit away from me. They raise my interest rates. They tell me snidely on the phone that there is nothing they can do about it. "Sorry, ma'am. It is computer generated, and it doesn't look like there are any offers for lower interest rates on your account. Please try back next month." 

Sorry, ma'am. There's nothing we can do. It is computer generated. 

And they still extend credit to 19 year old losers. (No offense. I was one once.) 

Aren't there rules in place for this kind of blatant ridiculousness? I am the first person to admit when I screw up. I admit it. I screwed up my finances when I was 19 - 22. But now I am doing fine. 

A little over a year ago I received a credit card from my bank with my highest ever credit line. I have paid the card on time for over a year. Never less than twice the balance. Never late. And then one day they cut my credit line by over $1000. What did they say? "Sorry, ma'am. There's nothing we can do. The computer found something that was off on your credit report." 

Sorry ma'am. My ass. They give higher lines to people who miss payments. 

I'm getting irritated. I'm done talking about this. But I am going to leave it on this. 

Would our society be a better place if our banks and institutions were smaller? If the bankers still knew us by name and knew where we worked would the "dire" situation we are in as a nation be a bit easier? Less "dire"? If we had personal relationships with the people in our community who help us with our cars, groceries, taxes, banking, and child rearing would our lives make a bit more sense? Would we be a bit happier? 

I don't know the answer to that, because of course there are negatives and positives about every environment. I do know that if someone knows you they are going to try to help you out. 

And then, if someone took the time to say, "Sorry, Melissa. Your financial history just doesn't allow me to lower your rate. But please come back and talk to me, Jane, next month. We'll see what we can do." And then I wouldn't mind getting the shaft. At least I would understand. It is difficult to understand the logic of a computer.