Leek and Potato Soup

It rained almost all day yesterday. It was darkish and sort of dreary. So, even though the temperature hovered around ninety degrees, it felt like a soup kind of day.  I had been to the Mexican vegetable stall the day before and could not resist buying 3 beautiful leeks.  I had one huge Russet potato and two shallots in the veggie bin and one getting stale Hoagie Roll taking up residence in the refrigerator.  It was a no brainer. Creamy Leek and Potato Soup 3 leeks, split, cleaned and finely sliced (see video below) 1 huge or four medium potatoes cubed small 3 shallots diced 3 cloves garlic finely  minced 1 qt/4 cups chicken stock salt pepper celery salt a kiss of dried tarragon 1 cup heavy cream 1 stick butter divided home-made croutons 2 finely sliced scallions Sautee shallots, leeks and garlic in half the butter in soup pot add chicken stock and cubed potatoes simmer for 45  mins or until potatoes are soft There are several ways you can proceed at this point: You can set a sieve over a bowl, strain  the broth into the bowl, transfer vegetable to another bowl and mash them with a potato masher (extra dirty dishes, extra work). You can try mashing them right in the broth (lots of work, you can't really see what's going on in the broth) You can transfer vegetables to a blender or food processor to puree (more to wash) Or, you can be lazy like me  and just shove an immersion blender into the whole mess and zip, it's pureed. Next add your cream and remaining butter, cook gently over low to medium heat until piping hot. Meanwhile drizzle bread chunks with olive  oil and brown at 400 degrees. Slice 2 scallions paper thin. Top individual portions with croutons and scallions. This recipe will serve 6 as a starter or 4 as a main course accompanied by a salad and rustic boule'.

Boom De Ya Da

From The Best People I Know Are Dogs file:

Every morning, immediately after the three Girlz go out for the first time, as soon as they come back in, I  give each a MilkBone.  They get very excited as I open the cupboard, reach in blindly and rattle around those biscuits in the dog "cookie jar."  We have an order, always the same...Taffy first, the Rico and finally the baby, Poncho. Each dog has their habitual, self-selected, private eating spot.   I noticed today that Poncho's MilkBone had one end broken off.  I thought about replacing it with a whole biscuit, but he was spinning and wagging his tail and begging so I gave him the broken biscuit. He took it, tail wagging and ran to his spot.  He never whined, "Hey mine's broken! Mine is smaller!  They each got an whole one, a perfect one!  I got cheated!  I want another one!  You love Taffy and Rico more!  You favor them over me"   He just ate his biscuit, happy that he had gotten one. This is just one small example of why dogs are the finest people I know.

 

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I've lived on this side of Florida since 2010.  Every single day of those four years, summer, winter,spring and fall, my allergies have  slammed me.  Today, I found a photo of our house on Google Maps.  Our house is the one with the white screened pool cage to the left of the house with the red dot.  After looking at our back yard and the other side of the lake, I now "get it" about the non-stop allergies...all that green and no frost to kill anything off.

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An Earworm for my friends...you can thank me later

Sweet Lorraine

Admit it...you cried. And, if you didn't, you should have.

Willful Blindness

Willful blindness (sometimes called ignorance of law, willful ignorance or contrived ignorance or Nelsonian knowledge) is a term used in law to when an individual seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally putting himself in a position where he will be unaware of facts that would render him liable.

For example, in a number of cases, persons transporting packages containing illegal drugs have asserted that they never asked what the contents of the packages were and so lacked the requisite intent to break the law.

Such defenses have not succeeded, as courts have been quick to determine that the defendant should have known what was in the package and exercised criminal recklessness by failing to find out.

 Hopefully, at this point in the post, you're asking yourself, "What does the legal concept of 'Willful Blindness' have to do with a music video of 'Stand By Me'?"  Of course, now I'm going to tell you.  A few days ago I was watching a Ted Talk about Willful Blindnessand how it related to an environmental issue that led to abnormally high incidence of Asbestoses among citizens of a small Montana mining town.  The speaker told of the part an  everyday woman in that town became a Whistle Blower and involved the federal government in the situation. 

Then, this morning, a Face Book friend shared the video above.  We all know the song, Stand By Me, but this was a new spin on it.  As I watched and listened, I was moved by the video's message.  Then, the concept of Willful Blindness slammed into my brain...hard, like a jack hammer into concrete, breaking through the concrete, breaking it into small pieces of rubble. 

I thought about how much I have, how well I live, what fabulous medical care I receive, what freedoms are guaranteed to me...all the things I take for granted.  Then, I thought, "I did nothing to deserve to have any of this.  It was dumb luck, that's all.   I was born in the most powerful country in the world.  I was in the beginning of the most prosperous decades our country ever enjoyed.  I was born white.  I was born healthy.  I went to wonderful suburban schools.  I completed university degrees through scholarships and grants.  I did nothing special.  I was just born in the right place at the right time to the right people.  EXCEPT for those things, I am just like every person in that video."

After all of that thinking, then, by no free will of my own, the idea of Willful Blindness,wiggled itself into my thoughts.  I thought about how every time we pass a homeless person and look away, we're practicing Willful Blindness.  When we drive through the ghettos/slums and think, "these people live like animals, they're disgusting" and drive a little faster, we are being willfully blind.  How about when we're at the store and see a parent screaming at their child and yanking the child by the arm and we avert our eyes.  Is that Willful Blindness?  What about that couple next door with their loud arguments and screaming matches?  The couple we whisper about to each other guessing that there is domestic abuse over there, but we do nothing, we say nothing, we don't reach out.  Willful Blindness for sure.  What about the kids in foster care and their damaged parents?  Who really in the general public thinks much about them and their futures much less their presents.  We practice Willful Blindness by thinking, "They're trash.  They're not like us. ."  Our proficiency at Willful Blindness protects us from not only realizing they are like us but, truthfully, there by the grace of whatever higher power you choose in which to believe, the ARE us.  Willful Blindness prevents us from helping.  It makes it easier for us to cocoon and remain comfortable away from the fray, away from the need, away from sharing the pain and the struggle of "the others" whomever they may be, whatever needs they present to our world.

So there you have it...from a Ted Talk about the legal concept of Willful Blindness and environmental whistle-blowing to a video of an old Ben E King classic song re-configured and re-recorded by musicians around the world and shared by a Canadian friend of mine on Face Book to me connecting those dots and sharing my thinking here with you.  They are indeed interesting times in which we live.

What It's Like to Hear Voices in Your Head

This woman and what she has to say are absolutely incredible. For me, minute 12:10 to the end are worth hearing over and over. Her insights apply to ALL of us. Do yourself a favor and invest 14 minutes listening.