Archive for November 2008
Proud to be a (native) Virginian
Virginia going Democrat for president is big election day news. The former capital of the Confederacy relinquishes its ghosts to cast a vote for social change.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/04/AR2008110404110.html
Maryland, of course went overwhelmingly for Obama, and approved slot machine gambling and early-voting. Those were hot issues while I was at The Baltimore Sun.
And in Oregon, Obama surely won but the Gordon Smith-Jeff Merkley Senate race was too close to call. This seat is essential for the Democrats to gain the coveted 60 seats, so much so that Obama taped a TV endorsement for Merkley. This Democratic activist Steve Novick had an aggressive plan to take on the incumbent Republican Smith. The WW launched his campaign, his policy proposals got favorable coverage from the mainstream media and popular bloggers, but then he lost to Merkley in the primary. I heard him speak on political reporting at a recent journalism conference.
How about a 50-cent bottle deposit?
Recycling bin, trashcan, yard waste bin at Corvallis curbside (from left to right).
- Returning bottles for 5-cents a pop.
They do everything a little differently out here in Orygun. Take the trashcans, for example. Our recycling bin is a big roll-can while a smaller vessel accommodates our trash, encouraging us to throw out less. And glass doesn’t even go into regular recycling, because Oregon gives you five cents per bottle you return to the grocery store. To reduce waste and incentivize recycling, Oregon was the first state to pass a bottle bill in 1971. But the bottles often aren’t returned to the stores of purchase, which means the beer and beverage distributors profit. That five cent deposit hasn’t kept up with inflation. It just doesn’t give people the same push to return the bottle it used to.
But a more substantial 50-cent deposit seems reasonable (of course consumers have to pay that on the front end). At the University of Oregon, I recently bought a Eugene-made kombucha drink you paid a 50-cent deposit on. It made returning the bottle that much more of a priority.
Do you think the bottle bill works? What deposit amount do you think is appropriate?
They do everything a little differently out here in Orygun.
Link to this article;
You say chorizo, I say linguica
Use Portuguese linguica or Spanish chorizo instead.
- Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup (Gourmet Jan. 1990).
Soup is what I like to make for Sunday dinners come fall. It’s a hearty start to the week and economical, leaving you with several lunch-size portions for the days to come.
I stumbled upon this recipe for Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup, a variation of that country’s national soup, known as caldo verde. I couldn’t find dry cured Spanish chorizo so I substituted Portuguese linguica sausage instead, which of course is how it would be made in Portugal. Mexican chorizo would probably taste fine too, it just wouldn’t retain its shape when removed from the casing and crumbled to sautee.
I also threw in diced turnips with the potatoes, as this recipe for Spanish Galician soup also inspired me. You could also add tomatoes, beans or whatever other veggies you have lying around. I topped the soup with grated parmesan to serve.
Vegetarians could substitute soy chorizo for the pork sausage or try just a simple Potato-Kale Soup without meat. The kale gives it a tangy kick that more demure potato-leek soup (though still a personal favorite) lacks.
The kindness of neighbors
Our neighbor two houses down dropped off a gallon of home-pressed apple cider this afternoon, just because. He extracted the sweet juice from the fruit of his own overbearing tree. This same neighbor, who recently retired from Hewlett-Packard here, brought us a homemade blackberry cobbler when we moved in.
And the apples on the right are a rare Royal Gala/Fuji blend our other neighbors, both forestry folks, created from a graft on a tree in their yard. I used them to make an apple crisp. Those kind next-door neighbors have given us plums, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers from their harvest. They also lent us tables, chairs and lamps so our house wouldn’t feel so barren before our furniture arrived. Corvallis people are rather generous and always willing to lend a hand.
Nary a trick-or-treater
What’s the point of owning a house when you don’t get a single trick-or-treater? We were prepared with a bowl full of gummy bear packets and organic, corn syrup-free Oregon-approved lollipops. I propped several kinds of pumpkins up on our front stoop (we didn’t carve them…hoping to make pie with them instead).
But not a soul came by. Perhaps we’re too much of an outlier, too close to the smelly Oregon State dairy farm. Or perhaps the kids had their fill treat-or-treating earlier in the day at businesses downtown.
Growing up in Richmond, our long driveway scared trick-or-treaters away. And they didn’t bother us at our apartment in Baltimore. I guess they won’t here either.
BaltimOregon to Maine 