Take today, fer instance: I went out for a walk, and it’s a beautiful sunny day – but that just filled me with dread and grumpiness. Because it’s FUCKING FEBRUARY in Wisconsin and it’s not supposed to be 50°.
Or Friday: After reading friends and friends of friends facebook posts about how they’re dealing with the current political regime by going on long runs and watching the sunset and meditating and doing community service …. I baked a gooey dessert in lieu of dinner, and finished a carton of ice cream while waiting for it to bake, along with a few graham crackers and Nutella. And then still enjoyed my serving of said gooey dessert. Well, it was only that tiny corner of the carton of ice cream. And only two graham crackers.
Blueberry pudding cake, or slump – a Friday night dessert to eat in front of Sherlock on PBS
My sour political thoughts of this morning’s walk, brought on by reading this, from Huffpo, about how the Democratic party needs to get more left, and this, from Bernie, a little more measured on how the Democratic party needs to change: Despite H.A. Goodman’s assertion, I don’t think any woman, aside from Michele Obama, can win the 2020 presidential election. Goodman thinks only Bernie, Nina Turner, or Tulsi Gabbard can defeat the mangled orange squash man. I think our entrenched sexism is even more entrenched than our racism, and no woman, except maybe Michele Obama, can win at the top of the ticket. Especially not a middle aged, policy wonk kind of woman. Elizabeth Warren is already getting lampooned on SNL, and Kate McKinnon played her with the same kind of open-mouthed emphasis in between statements as Alec Baldwin uses for the orange one. Of course McKinnon also played Jeff Sessions and Kellyanne Conway in the same episode …
Bernie’s just too dam old.
I made muffins for Sunday brunch, rhubarb-filled, streusel-topped. But they seem a little tough to me. I did a demo at the Garden Expo yesterday that left me with a lot of rhubarb puree, although the batch I made at the demo, using “safe” in terms of the health department, frozen Canadian rhubarb purchased at Brennan’s, is not as good as the batch I got out of my own freezer, made with rhubarb from the Dane County Farmer’s Market. Which means its fate will be rhubarb bars, or crisp, or pie – less healthy, more fattening.
Rhubarb-filled, streusel-topped muffins
What about the rest of the week? Trying to recall any cooking triumphs, synopsis below …
I think we had pea soup and leftover kosher dogs in dough on Monday, super bowl vegetarian chili with guacamole and chips on Tuesday, and kale-cheese pie on Wednesday, baked in the Polish ceramic dish that Al & Emma gave me for Christmas. That I have just cut into small piece to take to the photography discussion book club tonight – Mark will never eat it. Thursday we went out to Costco to buy Mark a new TV – and ate ham and rice pilaf and coleslaw when we go home. The pilaf was good – it was a bit Spanish rice-y, a little tomato paste, veggie broth, a cup or so of the extra pink beans that I didn’t put into the chili on Sunday. Lots of parsley and cilantro. But now it’s leftover and I think I have to make it into stuffed peppers. I bought some of Willy Street’s house made chorizo to add, and 3 big red bell peppers to stuff it all into.
Guess that means it’s time to go finish grading that assignment for my grad students. Happy Sunday.
