Creasy Greens

Never heard of them?  Creasy greens are a relative of water cress and are also called upland cress. When I lived in North Carolina I heard the name but never tried to eat them.  I heard they were another of those North Carolina oddities like ramps that had to be foraged from the wilds!

A few months back I was looking at an on-line seed catalog and saw them for sale and decided to give them a try.  Well I'm pleased to say they grow like the weed they are!  You don't need a "thumb" to grow them.  They are a small plant and do indeed look just like a clump of weeds. They taste like arugula fresh, and are ridiculously easy to prepare cooked.  I prefer them cooked with garlic and caramelized onion.  Once you add the greens to the pan you only sautee for 1-2 minutes and when they darken they are done.

This is the company I ordered my seeds from
on-line.

Another great thing about them is they are loaded with anti-oxidant properties and have been touted recently in Life Extension as having anti cancer benefits.

If you want to try them I purchased mine from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.  If your jaded tastebuds are looking for something new Creasies might just do the trick.

These are fresh picked creasy greens.

What I'm Doing NOW!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTLr_g6X96A

Hi Folks!

This is what I am doing now......Trying to get through this crazy election season.  Watch this video and if you are in my area vote for this man!  The election has been a real "ride" but it will soon be over...for this cycle.  It is never truly "over".  Stay calm!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTLr_g6X96A

Watch the video!

By popular demand: CollardGreen Pesto

Collard Green Pesto

4 ounces - about 4 cups -                2 tablespoons grated 

stemmed and chopped                    Parm/Reggiano cheese

collard greens 

Juice 1/2 orange or 1/4-1/2 up OJ 

                                                        1-2 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup chopped nuts

pecans/ walnuts/ or                          Optional: chopped garlic,
mixed nuts                                        sun dried tomatoes
                               

Kosher salt/pepper to taste

Want a creamier texture? Add 1 tbsp Blue Cheese or Caesar
dressing 

                                                                    

Note: be careful with salt additions and remember the cheese also has salt. It is easy to get it too salty or too garlicky! If this happens add more chopped greens to the mix.

Put 1/2 inch water in you largest steel fry pan with a lid and bring to a boil.

Place greens in pan and lower the heat and steam briefly (blanch) no more than 2 minutes and just until greens are bright green. Drain well.

Add greens, orange juice to the bowl of your food processor or blender and pulse until they are chopped fine. This may be done in batches until desired consistency is reached. Add pecans, cheese, oil, then the seasonings. Taste as you go to adjust your seasonings.

Refrigerate until ready for use then serve at room temperature with toast rounds or pita chips. This recipe is the creation of Atlanta Chef Steven Satterfield. Options were my additions.

The photo shows the bright green color of the blanched greens!

It's Late

I'm sorry
but I must go
to bed.

I have no time
for wit
and repartee'.

My brain is fuzzed.

My feet do ache.

My head does throb
this live long day!

Just trying
to get back to
a point
of reason
and
serenity.

There's rape and then there's the violation of trust in our justice system

There have been a rash of rape/homicides in India where the victim is found hanging by an article of clothing from a tree after having been raped. The public is becoming more sensitized and outraged and has even come to suspect the police in certain cases of being perpetrators.

I'm trying not to draw any correlations to the US where over 400,000 rape kits are estimated to sit un analyzed in jurisdictions across the land. I'm not trying, but there you have the crux of this issue. Departmental funding aside, the idea that biological material that could convict or exonerate someone wrongly accused, sits deteriorating, in many cases due to inertia, seems ludicrous and derelict.

Should there be a legal time limit to the processing of rape kits that have been collected? It would appear that this is the stage where the process breaks down. The material is being collected so why is there a disconnect at this point? Completion of the kit would prioritize the crime resolution by the accumulation of evidence, or so one would think. We read daily of parties who have gone on to commit numerous other offenses, but if the evidence was collected, and a single perpetrator indicated in a number of crimes, and this was shared information, convictions should follow.

The stigma on rape as a crime has been slow to disappear but the fact remains that rape is a commonplace, violent crime in our society, and regardless of that stigma rape must be dealt with professionally by well trained officers and technicians in tandem.

Can we not move forward?

The definition of Heuristic

I've just finished Brian Beutler's article in New Republic which comes to no conclusions about the present Iraq war. Smart man, Brian. Well that is the point, there are no valid conclusions at this time to come to except that we screwed up big time the first time around. Do we want to do it again? He goes to some lengths, even if those lengths are a bit murky, to remind us of the motivations some hawkish elements in our society might have to promote reengagement, but no matter what, skeptics are right in viewing these opinions as tainted by more than a smidge of justification.

Most of our country including myself are weary of the war machine. We want better methods of dealing with these terrorists than sending the fleet, or expensive bombers, or feet on the ground made up of our children. We know we're naive and don't need to be told. We're just tired of the mantle of universal protector. We look around and see so much dysfunction in our surroundings that needs correction and feel the urge to shout "Iraq take care of your own damn problem" knowing full well how much our own nation's gross misjudgments contributed.

And so we come full circle to the big question: what is our responsibility to Iraq? Is there any body in our administration or legislature capable of coming to the cogent assessment without being drawn into partisan politics? We all know too well the answer to that question. Thank you Brian Beutler for causing these reflections without conclusions.

Melt Down

I had a minor melt down today on the way to the bank. There was a substitute for Cokie Roberts on Fresh Air today and he was replaying an interview by Cokie with Ray Price done in '99. They played "Crazy Arms" and I just couldn't hold back the tears. There is something about music that can touch emotions and memories you've buried so deep you think they'll never surface. In this case it was memories of my father, that Alabama wild man, dry, wry sense of humor, bourbon drinking, gambler.  Ray Price died on Monday, he was in his 80's and a contemporary of my folks. He made a lot of good music! Some of my favorites of his were: For the Good Times, Am I That easy to Forget, You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me, and of course his first big hit Crazy Arms. Any Ray Price fans out there? Or for that matter any classic country music fans out there. I've been mostly Rock n Roll my whole life but when you hear his music it does strike an honest chord that a few modern day artists are bringing back, notably Jason Isbell. I've heard a few cuts from his album Southeastern. I think it's going to be a monster. If you haven't heard him pull up the single "Elephant". Then you too can have a meltdown.