Saturday, November 17, 2007

The End is Near

Just a couple more things to be knitted before Christmas. Mom decided that my niece and the puppy needed matching sweaters for Christmas. This is the final proof that she's finally become "that crazy old wop" she always poked fun at. It happens to all Italian-American women as they age. It starts with wearing increasing amounts of jewelery and ends with wanting to dress your grandkid and your dog in matching sweaters. Time to move to Arizona with the rest of them, Mom. They even have Dunkies out there just for the old New Englanders.

What actually making the sweaters says about me I'm not quite sure, but hubby is scared. I think it says I didn't want to argue with mom about how freaky it is to dress them both the same. My husband fears it means I've started down the path of "that crazy old wop" a little early in life. Mostly I had a lot of yarn left and why not make Mom happy on Christmas.

I'm also almost done the Christmas shopping. Just a couple more people and some gift cards to pick up. I try every year to be done by Thanksgiving, I can usually make it. I'm one of those people who starts Dec. 26th for the next year. Why? Because I'm damned cheap.. umm frugal, OK poor. Not like living under a bridge poor but like most everyone else lately every buck counts. Plus there's a certain satisfaction in finding a bargain and we have a pretty big Christmas list. Also, I make a LOT of gifts and i like to keep everyone kinda equal. I can't make something for just one person, it doesn't seem fair.

I never suffer the "oh s*%t I need to bring a gift" crisis. I have a whole closet full of goodies I can tap at a moments notice. I've bailed out a lot of family members with my "gift closet" over the years. There's always some last minute event or invitation and you really ought to be bringing a gift. I dislike regifting so I have my closet.

We don't really regift in my family, we kinda have a grab party. This is the result of having a lot of educators in the family. When you teach you get a LOT of little gifts at the holidays. We usually open them "shower style", one person opens while the others catalog for thank you notes. There's usually doubles or triples of a lot of things and the whole family enjoys them.

While I'm on the subject of teacher's gifts, and because it's my blog, I'm taking this opportunity to offend a lot of people by saying WHAT HE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU INGRATE CHEAPSKATES?! Seriously, I was reading Consumer Reports about average holiday gifting/tipping and the people you entrust with your kids rate lower dollar wise than your dog groomer and hairdresser? I was at a craft show once, in a very affluent area, and overheard someone say they didn't want to spend 25$ because it was only for a teacher. I about dope slapped the woman. Here's the thing, teachers make NOTHING compared with equally educated people in other fields. Out of that pittance a lot of them have to reach into their own pockets for class supplies or go without. Show some appreciation! If you have money to spend at the holidays try spending some of it on the people who deserve something nice for the holidays for sacrificing all year for the good of YOUR kids.

I'm not talking about people who don't have much money or are hardcore poor. Believe it or not they are the most generous with what little they have. They appreciate the teachers far more than the snotty folks with the bucks. I've seen both my mom and sister brought to tears over a small 3 dollar gift or a handmade card with some homemade cookies from a family with nothing simply because of the appreciation it shows when money comes so dear. I've also seen the same 3 dollar gift come from a VERY WEALTHY family and what does that say about how much they think of an educator. Priorities people! This is another example of why I didn't go the family route of education, if I want to be taken for granted I stay home with my family =)

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Strike! Strike! Strike!

Three cheers for the WGA, leading the way in getting everyone paid for new media! The studios make money off it so should the people who did the actual work. Lets hope SAG, AFTRA and the DGA follow.

I've seen a lot of stupid *^%$ on the web this week about this strike. Someone actually put on a blog that if this strike messed with "Lost" they were gonna thwap Tina Fey with a strike sign.... I only have one thing to say to people of that mindset and it's not for polite company. You get paid for your labors so should people in the media. TV beams into your little rikki tikki brain for free 24/7 how dare you presume to comment on what a writer or anyone else should make for putting there, ingrate!

There are very few secure jobs for writers, a lot of them are one shots deals or freelance and even if you have a regular gig there's always cancellation. Residuals pay the bills folks. They pay for insurance, heat, food, retirement and everything else the rest have to pay with your weekly check. The studios make a ton of money on DVD's and new media they just don't want to share. There's more money in the DVD's than box office now but they want to pay the same and keep the rest for themselves. If your boss wanted you to do more work but not give you more pay you'd tell him to go sit on something sharp. Same goes for the writers, their work is being used in all sorts of new media but the studios don't want to pay them for it.

For those of you who are of the opinion that "they're just writers, anyone can write a crappy TV show"... TRY IT. Go ahead, give it shot big mouth. There's a reason Hollywood is coming to a grinding halt without the writers, they cannot be replaced. Writers create the characters and stories you all are so addicted to and it's hard work.

You want your TV back? Call or write the studios and tell them to give the writers what they want and deserve. In the meantime, go buy a few dozen box lunches and deliver them to a picket line. To those of you who can't appreciate the work of the writers and see the validity of their demands.... bite me you deserve a bunch of reality and game shows.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Stormy Saturday

It's cold, wet and windy here today. The remains of a hurricane are moving through coastal New England but it's a good excuse to cook and nap the day away. Lucky for me my Brother-in-Law brought down our share of the side of beef we got from the farm. If you've never bought meat farm-fresh, you ought to try it. They're from small farms not giant corporate ones. You know who is slaughtering and cutting your meat, their family eats it too so they have a vested interest in cleanliness. You pay by hanging weight not cut, so while it might be per pound pricey for ground and chuck it's VERY cheap for steaks and roasts. The cows are free range and organic. They get to be happy cows while they're growing and you know what's being fed to them. The meat is cut and packaged to your specifications. Hate making roasts they'll grind them, want a prime rib they'll leave the bone-in, only cooking for 2 and they'll pack in small portions. We get pork this way as well.

One of the best parts of buying meat this way is you get EVERYTHING. That includes the fat, suet, organs and we take some of the bones as well. The organ meat goes to the old-timers in the family who have trouble finding heat and tongue nowadays. Grandma always wants the pig's feet, I say yuck but she's and old Italian and she misses having them. The beef suet gets rendered and made into some of the best soap on earth for hubby and laundry and the fatback from the piggies I brine into old fashioned salt-pork a must have for baked beans as well as lard for pie baking and soap. My sister handles the sausage making and does up some hot dogs as well. Waste not, want not is a big motto around here and there is something to be said for hanging on to traditional skills.

Now for what's in use today, the bones. I got a nice sack of meaty joints delivered into my hot little hands Thursday and they went straight into the oven to roast for stock. If you've only every had beef stock from the store, you have no idea what the real thing is like. Real stock makes a rich, thick and out of this world stew like nothing else. It's a little time consuming but worth the effort. Older cookbooks usually have stock making directions so go hunting at the library but it's pretty straight forward. Roast the bones and some onion, celery, and carrot. Dump in all in a pot with cold water and simmer for oh 8 - 24 hours and skim it every so often. Then you strain it simmer it and maybe repeat depending on how you'll use it. When it cools, if you've done it right, you have a clear, brown jelly-like substance that freezes well and has a million uses.


Today I made beef stew. Doesn't it look yummy? Real stock also has some extras that store stuff just can't say. It's fat free, you skim and skim and then when it's cool the fat makes a solid disk on top that you lift and toss. There's calcium and other minerals from the bones that we mostly take as vitamin pills. It's loaded with natural gelatin, remember that stuff they always told you to eat for nice hair and nails, it's in there. Plus it tastes wonderful. You also get the satisfaction of knowing you minimized a lot of waste and utilized every bit of the cow who died to feed you and your family and the knowledge that it was well treated before it hit your plate.

There's another recall from one of the super-farms today on ground beef. I never have to go hunting to see if something i got at the market is going to kill one of my family members. I know exactly where everything came from and who handled it. My suggestion, buy a deep-freeze for your basement or garage and try buying meat direct. It's well worth the time and effort.