Indian potatoes

Cube 4 very large, or six medium or eight small potatoes in to half inch cubes. In a huge frying pan heat six tablespoons olive oil to meduim, start to fry 4 dried chilis and a tablespoon black mustard seeds (yellow will do in a pinch). When the seeds start to darken, add 2-6 cloves crushed garlic, a tablespoon chana dal and a tablespoon urad dal (dals are indian for split peas, if you cannot find these use just a tbsp of dried yellow split peas.) Keep frying until the dals are golden. Add all the potatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and scraping up all the goodies on the bottom of the pan keep mixing until the potatoes are coated with oil and seasoning. Cover and let cook, using a metal flipper to scrape the potoatoes off the bottom and mix them about every 5-8 minutes. It should only take 20 minutes or so for the potatoes to be cooked, they should get soft and browned on the outside. Taste one to see if it is ready. Serve with a green salad and curried spinach and tomatoes, which I will post tomorrrow.

Today we went for two long walks up in the hills behind out property. We found trails, and walked probably 2 miles each walk. I made sure to stretch my ankle each time, and it felt fine, although it got very tired after the second walk. Tom loved it, he took his sword and hacked any undergrowth which got in our way. It was really cute, he got on his blog and wrote about protecting the biscuit queen! It was a beautiful day, just the right temp, and not too many bugs out yet. We saw several rabbits, startled a herd of deer (they are noisy and huge up close with no windshield to separate you!) and found beautiful flowers ~mallows, ranunculous, hawthorn,
and apple.

Tom has a grand plan to walk to my friend's home in a city 90 miles away. He thinks if we walk 10 hours a day, and camp at night, we can make it in 3 days. I thought a trip to the hardware store first would be in order, 4 miles away. He has big dreams, that one.


Nick had a dentist appointment and I had a half an hour wait. They had Cosmopolitan on the table, so being curious and cynical after the last two movie expiriences I had I started reading it. Now this is a family dentist's office, where many times moms make appointments with their kids. How many times have I been in the chair when my kids were out in the waiting room reading?

There was 10 secrets how to wow him in bed, how to give a good tongue bath, a story, with illustrations, on how the vagina worked and how it could expand to accomodate any size penis, vaginal farts, is spit a good lubricant? and there were several explicit erotic stories, plus the usual array of half dressed models, rape scare articles (if you storm off mad it could be the last thing you do), and consumerism.

Now if grown women want to buy this drivel then go right ahead, but in the dentists office? And since many of these topics are sexual, shouldn't this be in a brown wrapper on the top shelf? They might as well put Playboy out, because there was no content difference.

I have an appointment next week and I think I am going to bring the issue up front with one of the inappropriate articles out. I am betting that a single woman brought that in, and no one else has read it.

Or maybe no one cares?

Has anyone read Dr James Dobsen's Raising Boys? He talks about the pressures facing boys today, including the rampant sexual culture and relative morality. I sit here terrified because I have already seen everything he spoke about. I have been writing about it and doing things about it (like killing the tv), but to see it all laid out in one book like that just makes the task of raising my boys seem so difficult. He does give great pointers on how to handle things though.

I have decided to start saying grace at meals (part of the solution). Tonight I ate after the boys because I had clients over. So I say down by myself and started to say grace. Tom asked me what I was doing and I told him. He actually asked me what is he supposed to believe, since there is death, disease, sickness and pain. Why is God so great if all those exist? ! Wow. I told him I asked those same questions at his age, and my parents said "because I said so" and "You do too believe in God". Oh, THAT changed things-not!

I talked a little about how bad things must exist or we wouldn't appreciate the good. I also mentioned how free will means there will be bad things. But I just didn't know how to answer well. He asked how I knew those things and i said i read a lot and observed what went on around me. I told him we will have to go ask the priest, that is what he is there for. I will be interested to see what he says. Tom was very mature about it, I was impressed.

What do you think about faith? Are anyone of you guys religious? I used to think that religious was brain washing, I was a complete athiest in the college years, but the older I get the more I believe. Is raising healthy, responsible children who feel they have a meaningful life possible without faith in a higher being?

How do you start talking about faith, even within your own family, without embarrassment? My family went to church every Sunday, said Grace at every dinner, and said the children's prayer every night, but we lived without faith. These were rote mechinations which labeled us good Catholics, but we never talked about God. To this day I am embarrassed to bring up God because i feel I am shoving my faith down other people's throats. Even now I wonder if the few who come here will run since I brought up God.

It is sad that we can feel comfortable with the kind of message that Cosmopolitan delivers, yet to speak of saying grace is an embarrassment.

biscuits n honey

Sift together two cups unbleached white flour, 1 tablespooon baking powder, a pinch of baking soda, and half a teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cut in 1/4 cup cold butter, margarine or bacon fat. Add one cup milk, and mix thoroughly. Add in enough flour, a handful at a time, until you can knead the dough without it sticking too bad to your fingers. Roll out the dough to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness, and using a biscuit cutter, a glass, or a jelly jar lid cut into rounds and place touching in a buttered pan. You should get between 9 and 12 biscuits, depending on how thick the dough and how big the circle. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, and check. You may need to bake longer, until the top is golden. Cut in half and spread fresh honey on each half.

You can substitute whole wheat for up to half the flour, although I would make it white first then add a bit more wheat next time. You can also add in a tsp of herbs like rosemary or thyme.

I have a little rant tonight, about last night's movie, and the one I watched tonight. I din't want to go to bed angry, so I waited until tonight, when Dave was gone.

In the theater last night, there were 10-I counted out loud-10 commercials. Cars, shoes, soda, and one decent one about family. However, I cut out TV in this house precisely because I did not want the influence of commercialism in our home. I did NOT appreciate paying over 40 dollars for a movie only to have to watch commercials. And of course several of them were making the man look like an idiot.

Next came the previews. First let me say that Narnia looks AWESOME! I cried watching the preview! OMG! I cannot wait until December-I am so excited. Oh, and the fantastic four? So cool!

Anyways, I am there with my children, ages 9 and 14 to see Star Wars, a pg 13 film. While the rating was pg 13, the movie is advertized for kids, at fast food restaurants, toys stores, and on TV. So imagine my disgust when the preview for Mr and Mrs Smith comes on. A story about two secret agents who are married but are unaware that the other is an agent, who are each paid to kill the other. So amid snitches of bullet riddle rooms, explosions and action there are steamy bedroom shots. NOT what I really want my kids to see.

But wait, it gets better. The last movie is the Wedding Crashers. Guess what that movie is about? Two guys who crash weddings so they can con women into sleeping with them. Not only do they show the guys using lines like "I will play mr balloon animal and you dance with the flower girl" but they then show each woman first smiling at the guy, then falling down on a bed in panties and a bra. One girl even said it was her first time, and that she loved the guy.

Now most likely the guys will have a change of heart, admit they were wrong and settle down, but quite frankly I don't care. What were they thinking? I wanted to hold my kid ears and tell them to shut their eyes. They did not need to see that stuff. Why the heck do people wonder at the sexual activity of teens when we have shoved sex down their throats since they were little. I am reading Raising Boys by Dr Dobsen, and he sites that the average kid will be exposed to over 800,000 sexual images per year!

I am afraid to take my kid anywhere!

But then it gets worse. I am home tonight, and the kids want to watch Sky Captain. I hadn't seen it yet. We sit down, and we cannot fast forward through the previews. So we watch them. Now Sky Captain is only PG. Yet the preview for Without a Paddle, rated PG -13 for drug content, sexual material, language, crude humor and some violence. Which they showed something of each on the preview, including three almost naked men trying to keep warm but playing suggestive music to make it look like they were gay.

What is wrong with people? Am I the only one who thinks that if the movie is PG, then only PG previews should be shown? And since when is a woman falling into a con mans bed almost naked, or a wife trying to shoot her husband in the head appropriate for all audiences? These people are not stupid. They know that kids will be at these movies. They suck us in with an appropriate movie then while they have us stuck subject our kids to material which clearly should not have been approved for all audiences.

I refuse to go to that theatre again. I will be writing the company and telling then why, for all the good it will do me. I also will not let my kids watch the previews at home until I have seen them. Is money so important that they are willing to risk our kids? And i do believe that every image makes an impression. I personally think that we have become so immune to the onslaught of television, with the sex, violence and the hard sell that most people cannot see it. But turn off your tv for a year. It is like taking off the blinders. I am so shocked at the audacity of the media now that i am not numbed by it. I am embarrassed that nothing is sacred anymore.

Fried egg sandwiches and Star Wars spoilers.

In butter or oil fry one egg for each sandwich, breaking the yolk and frying until the yolk is solid. Place on white or sour dough bread, add ketchup or Red Hot, and have at it with a glass of V8 or orange juice. Makes a great breakfast. You could add bacon, salsa, guacamole, cheese, ring balony or sausage if you wanted. I just like them plain myself.

We just went to see the third Star Wars. This will be full of spoilers, so if you don't want the movie to be spoiled, step away from the keyboard. I wasn't going to see it but my husband wanted to see it for the third time. It was WAY better than I thought it would be. Anakin/ - and not to spoil it or anything-/Darth Vader, was as always a horrendous actor. The kid just needs to find a new career or something. He is no Vin Deisal, where his outstanding physical presence makes up for his lack of brilliance in other areas. Of course Dave tells me that Luke was just as bad in the first three, which I of course denied adamently. The first three were untouchable. (I say this as I am plugging my ears and yelling LALALA!)

Of course LucASSs horrible writing did not help. But this time you felt is was meshing the two series together, it was really cool to hear the old Vader music creep in, and see the storm troopers looking very, well, storm trooperish, and watch Padme start to look more like Liea. I still miss muppet Yoda, CG Yoda just isn't the same. The transformation that Anikin makes is very believable, even though you just wack your forehead at his gullibility. The whole laying on the lava beach burnt to a crisp was...yuck! I kept waiting for him to say "It's just a flesh wound...come over here and I'll bite your leg off!"

The only real complaint? What is up with the NOOOOOO! at the end? CHEESE! Sometimes you wonder if the editors ever really watch the movie.

The critter that Obi Wan rides on one world looks like an iguana with a bird head, and it can MOVE! Way cool. Chewy was really neat to see too. And General Grievious? All I can say is wow! Four light sabers! He was so COOL! By far the best bad guy they have come up with in the second three.

Well, the hubby came home this weekend, and is probably getting impatient that I am up writing instead of going to bed.

So g-night.

Quick and Sleazy Italian

This one is a made up dish that is never the same twice in a row. All measurements are approximate, as I don't really measure all the time!

Put a large pot of water to boil. Take about a third of a cup of good olive oil in a skillet, and add 2-6 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp oregano, salt and pepper. Saute on medium until garlic is starting to brown, and remove from heat. When water is boiling, add 4 servings worth of pasta, and cook to package directions. When done, drain (don't shake every ounce of water off the pasta, just let it fall off) and put in a big bowl. Pour the oil over the top, smother in parmasan, and serve.

If you want to get creative, you can add in some or all of the following to the oil after the garlic:
Dried whole chilis
black olives
sun dried tomatoes
capers
artichoke hearts, canned or cooked
garbanzo beans
shrimp
scallops
good hot italian sausage
veggies like fresh green beans, broccoli florets, red peppers

Just saute all the other ingredients with the garlic & oil until everything is cooked the way you like it. If you have any other ideas, please post them.

Last night I went to a bachelorette party for a new friend of mine. My old friend (who is in the party) and I went into Spencers gifts, the novelty shop, for some stuff to dress up the bride to be in. Oh my! Some of the stuff in there was just too much! There was a pinata shaped like, well, a guy part, and the clerk had a mechanical chihuaha humping his leg when he asked us if we needed help! I had no idea they could sell that stuff at the mall.

Everyone met and we went to a Thai place, which was awesome, if you have never had a Thai iced tea you are missing out. Spicy black tea with heavy cream, yum! I had squid in coconut milk, lemon grass and red curry, very good.

We then went to an adult bookstore next which made Spencers look like church. We each bought the bride to be several small novelty gifts and wandered around learning just how many ways there is to duplicate the female anatomy, and how many things I have never tried in my life! I think my favorite was the swing, which looked like an adult sized velvet Johnny jumper! I found a blow-up sheep with the same name as the bride, and she blew it up in the parking lot and carried it for the rest of the night.

We then went out dancing, which was stupid of me to do because of my ankle. I was doing fine until 'Irene' came on, you know that 80's song, where the video had everyone in a irish village dancing around? Then of course I had to dance, and I just love to dance, so....I am icing it tonight. I played pool, danced my head off, drank too much, got home around 1, to bed by 2.

Today we went to see a play with the kids "Wayside School" based on the books. What riot! They were a young group and had to use several people for more than one character, but it was extremely well done. The kids loved it, except for when the Tango teacher walked up into the audience and wrapped her boa around my 14 year old, insanely shy son's neck! I thought he was going to melt into the floor!

Anyways, I had all these thoughts on what to write tonight, but I suddenly changed my mind. Impromptue, just like my cooking!

One of the women who came to the bachelorette party is someone I disliked. She and her husband rub me the wrong way (he gives me the creeps too). I was dreading the whole thing, but know we needed to do this, and since I really like the bride( and my best friend is in the party) I wanted to go. Well, this woman was fine all night. I really enjoyed her company, even though she is the same one who is toxic to all who know her. She was on good behavior, and in doing so was bright, funny, and had good ideas.

My husband at the same time went hiking with her husband, and everyone else who was going was nervous that the husband was out of shape and couldn't do it, but insisted on coming anyways. And while he did not manage the whole day, he did do one peak with little complaining, and well enough that my husband was impressed at his tenacity.

Now I have learned to push away toxic people in my life. If people cause me stress, I cannot trust them, or they lead me towards bad places, I tend to cut them out of my life. I had to do this. But now I am at a point where I don't allow people like that to effect me so deeply. I can take what there is positive from these people and hold the rest at arm's length.

My question is, are these people put there for a reason, and is cutting them out completely going agianst the geater plan? Can you learn from people and enjoy their company while holding them at arms length so as not to get burned? Or is it not worth it? Is life to short to waste it on people who always end up hurting you or those you love.
***
I went to a dog camp a few years ago, where I was teaching frisbee. The dance instructor within 10 minutes of meeting me said something so insulting that the only thing I could think to say was "ouch". I didn't say another word to her for the rest of the night. The next morning she apologized to me (because of how I handled the night before), and even though she was horrible to others, she was great to me, and I learned so much from her. Is this someone I want to hold close to me? No way. Is this someone who had a lot to teach me? Yes.
***
So, how do you accept people as they are without letting their bad traits effect you? Are you using people by sharing their company for your own pleasure or education? Or if you treat it like a normal friendship with caution, are you giving back enough to make it equal?

My greatest failing is that I am critical. I try so hard not to be, but I am. So is this an issue of me being too critical, or is this a self protection issue, or what?

I swear, life is just so complicated sometimes.

Popcorn in bacon fat and an ice cold Yuengling

Put the beer in the freezer. Take 2-3 TBS of bacon fat, melt in a big pot. Tip the pot so that the fat runs in the corner, and add enough popcorn that the fat comes to the top of the popcorn pile. Cook on med, shaking occasionally, until the popping slows to once every 2 seconds. Add salt, pour into bowl, add more salt, take beer out of freezer, and enjoy!

I have been gardening all day. Tom worked like a little beaver, driving the tractor around, filling it up. I got pole beans with teepees made of fallen branches, cocoa rubeckio beans, and three kinds of lettuce planted, after I redug the area since the sod is desparately trying to return to it's former condition. I also started hoeing out the 50 yard bed along the streambed, which has been choked with leaves, sticks and last years weed stalks, and the lawn was strewn with pine cones and sticks. My hands are dry, rough and sore, and I am aching from all the work. But I got a bowl of popcorn and my second beer, so all is well. I have gotten several compliments from my students about how nice the property looks now that I have been weeding, edging and mulching.

I guess that leads me into tonight's musings. I have been criticized for my role as a stay at home mother from both sides. Mainly that I am not supporting my family, that I am selling out, that I am making my husband do all the work, and I just glide through life, or at least that I have more control of my time.

It is very important to my husband that the house looks good, and to me now too. We spent 10 years in a house that looked like a trailor, and we finally have a stunning 100 year old home on 5 acres, and both he and I are proud of it. When I do these things like take care of the landscaping, it makes him happy that our home looks so nice. I in effect thank him by taking good care of the things he has provided. It in turn takes care of him by giving him a warm, relaxing and beautiful place to be when he is done working. I am growing a large garden, will have fresh eggs in a month or so, and as soon as we move them from the wall of our house I will be a bee keeper. These things interest me, and provide fresh food for my family.

This leads me to my point. What makes one's life meaningful? Can anyone else define your life for you? I spent my childhood being raised that being a wife and mother were not enough. One had to be an individual, had to get out and make something of one's self. I spent the first half of my marraige trying to escape it, wanting 'me time,' wanting 'a life,' wanting 'more'. What I started seeing, either because of the men's movement or coincidentally, that being a wife and mother are an integral part of who I am. There is no separate me, I am not compartmentalized. I am a mixure of everything, and to try and separate out the me is to miss the point.

So what has happened since I stopped trying to cut myself into slices? I am content with what I am doing, at the time I am doing it. If I am gaming with the kids, I enjoy it, if I am gardening, I enjoy it, if I am ironing...oh wait, I don't do that...if I am cleaning, I may not enjoy it but I am not resenting it. I do not wait to be myself until I am alone. I am myself every minute. With my husband, with my kids, with the dogs, whenever. The funny thing is, since I stopped trying to find my identity, stopped trying to make time for myself, I have discovered that I really like who I am, that I have moments every day in which to have time. I feel fulfilled creating a home for my husband and children and finding things which make me happy. Funny how that works.

This is my biggest gripe with feminism. The original feminists wanted equality. The right to vote, the right to own land, the right to protect yourself from divorce. While they may not have been saints, what they were fighting for was more or less legit.

Gender feminism, or the 60's variety, has destroyed women's identity in an attempt for ... i don't know... power, victimhood, sorority? I recommend Spin Sisters and Who Stole Feminism for an in depth look at the legacy of gender feminism. We are told we must have this, that and the other thing, we must have freedom and choices and respect and jobs and in the attempt to gain these things we must hate men and not trust the patriarchy, we must trust them, the gender feminists, we must have solidarity, every man may be a rapist, we are victims, we make less money, are abused more, at risk more, we lose ourselves when we marry or have kids, marraige is a trap, a prison..AHHH ( think High Anxiety spiral and intense music.)

Well, guess what. Marraige is what you make if it. Life is what you make of it. I for one am not about to let anyone tell me how to live my life. If people would just use their brains. This isn't a gender issue. It is a human issue. THINK!

Gender feminism to me it the end of demanding that people use their minds. Feminism, like any social fabrication, depends on people accepting the status quo and not challanging it. That is why it cannot stand up to debate. It must make up reasons to discreadit the debate process (logic is a male construct) because under debate it collapses.

So the moral of the story? Put two beers in the freezer.

Rhubarb Crumble

Screw the entre, lets move straight to dessert!What happened today? Got all the mulch spread, started to weed out veggie garden, planted paste tomatoes and 8 ball zukes, mulched peas and potatoes. Tom was a huge help, and Nick chipped in when he got home from school. Other than the bickering, all went pretty good. Oh, but Nick was driving Tom in the wagon on the back of the tractor, and he pulled the pin holding the wagon flat and dumped Tom on the ground. Poor little guy had a bruised bum from that, and Nick almost did too! Unfortunately, smacking bums is not something I have ever done and I don't plan to start now. SO we made rhubarb crumble for dessert and Tom felt much better. He loves his food, that one.

I have been thinking about cycles. Not motercycles, but those cycles you get into with people you are around for a long time. You feed off each other, one thing starts it, then the chain of behavior just plays out, the same each time. It is like a dance, as my friend R says. How do you break it? Does it matter who starts it? I have certain cycles with my mother, and I try very hard to break them. I try to come up with responses which break the cycle, make her think and invite dialog, or at least get her to stop!

SO with my own son, am I the one holding the cycles? I feel like if he would just stop harping on his brother the cycle could be broken, I wouldn't have to step in, but he is 14. Is there something I can do to stop it even though I am not the one starting it? Or am I starting it by stepping in, and if I could ignore it that alone would break the cycle.Will it hurt the younger one for me to stay out of it and not defend him?

Why is it that kids make you choose? Why can't you just love both of them and have them happy with that? Why is it the one who is the most insecure pushes you away the most?

Where is my manual!?

Green Salad with the extras

Ok, I guess this is what the blog is for, to just write what is going on. I just had several clients leave, a golden and yellow lab puppies, and a Brittany. Typical me, the golden puppy is the perfect dog, obeys, is calm, gentle, and restrained, but boring. I love the lab, a little pistol! I tried to talk her into flyball, but I don't think the owners are sports people. And the Brittany is coming out of her shell, she is starting to offer behaviors which two weeks ago she was scared to try. It is very rewarding seeing the dogs blossom.

Dave is off at school, so I am bored! I suppose I should train my dogs, the little rips, but I am tired now and just want to veg.

I started rereading Who Stole Feminism by Christina Hoff-Sommers. She questions the idea of a patriarchy, that men are out there just to hold women down. She notes that the women who claim to be as oppressed as slaves, as bound as arab women, and as abused by the system as rape victims, are all white, upper class, college educated, tenured professors at prominant universities. Pretty much the safest, most pampered, successful women in the country. Yet they are sent into waves of panic by a whistle on the street. I would have to ask, as a woman who has every choice, every option I wish to take, what am I supposed to be afraid of? Who is oppressing me? And I also have to ask, if I as a masculist feel safe and secure, happy, proud of who I am and what I stand for, and undeterred by criticism, but as a feminist I would feel oppressed, scared and victimized, why on earth would I pick the latter? I think it is all a matter of how you veiw life. If women today choose to see the world through feminist eyes, they will remain scared victims. If they choose to look at reality, they will see that they have life however they choose to have it.

The reason many do choose to be feminist is that there is a lot of power to be had in victimhood. Sisterhood, solidarity, political or emotional pep rallies are all social benifits. Guilting the men and society in general into getting more and more perks are another benefit. When is the last time you saw a pep rally for men to thump their chests and yell "three cheers for the patriarchy! Hip Hip Horray!" Yet every day there are take back the night rallies, or patriarchy slams, or monologues, or public forums, or women's studies classes. Everyday women are banding together getting emotional highs from being victims. As much as feminists claim there is a patriarchy, I have yet to hear of a meeting. More and more any chance of men meeting alone is even more improbable, as women seem highly offended at the thought of men having men only space.

As much power as victimhood brings, I cannot do what is wrong just to get perks. I do not believe in relative morality. We are not more special, or more natural, or better than men. It is time we stop trying to be, and just start being women, the opposite sex of men, no better or worse.

The Appetizer

Well, here it is, the Biscuit Blog. Any bloggers who complain I have invaded your space with my debating, (overopinionated.com, Trish Wilson, etc) please feel free to come here and invade mine. The rules are basic for debate-no personal attacks, stay on topic, and keep the swearing down to a dull roar. Other than that, I love good debate.

I am Jen, aka The Biscuit Queen. I have an awesome husband, Dave, an electrical engineer, and two really great kids. Tom, 9 is into into pre-gunpowder battles, Greek and Roman history, weapons, etc and Nick 14, is into machines, cars, trucks, slamming, rims, you get the drift . I stay home with Tom homeschooling, and also run a dog training business. Usually I compete in agility, but due to a bad sprain on my way to dog camp I am out of commission this season. I have 3 dogs (a dal/whippet, beagle/lab, and a bull terrier), 2 cats (siamese and barn cat), two fish tanks, a 125 gal terrarium (2 frogs, 2 newts, fish, a turtle and a foot long millipede) and 5 chickens (3 polish and two banties.) We have killed out tv for one year mothers day, the best decision we ever made!

Things of interest to me in no particular order-dogs (training, sports, BSL), chickens, gaming (Ars Magica and Shadowrun) Half Life 2, cooking, gardening, kids, music, bird watching, insects, hiking with hubby, mushrooms (the non-psychidellic varieties,) 1st gen muscle cars(69 Camaro is my next car) and I am sure I will come up with more. I am an insatiably curious person.

My favorite topic of debate, which I separate from above because it is more than a hobby or interest to me is men's activism. Topics like family court, education, the wage gap myth, and others are interesting to debate. I will probably post a couple of starter threads in the next few days.I have never run a blog before. I guess it is sort of like a linked daily journal? I don't know. If you have a blog I might be interested in or you would like to link to please post it. I will figure out how to get it.

A big howdy to anyone from Stand your Ground who stops on by.