Answers to Why and How

A commentary of thoughts and ideas about the why and how certain things come to be.

I’m dumbfounded at how stupid our world has become. Not that I didn’t see it coming, because the signs have been here for a very long time.  I saw two clips on the news this morning that really made me think we could make a million dollars being consultants teaching people common sense.  “Wash your fruit that you buy before cutting into it.”  Seriously, people don’t know this?  What about this one: “How to know when it’s time to put air in your tires?”  They pay people to tell you these things. 

The massacre in Colorado has been taking up most of the news.  All interesting, and facts that are newsworthy of reporting and my heart goes out to the victims.  Sometimes the things the media dwells on is just flabbergasting to me.  Was he faking his actions in court?  Who cares?  Why spend all this money trying to psycho-analyze why he did what he did?  Call me cruel and insensitive, but give him a shot, put him to sleep, and be done with it.  Stop wasting the tax-payers money trying to figure out why something like this happened.  It’s not going to change anything, ever.

Why didn’t someone say anything about the warning signs?  Hello?  We see warning signs in people every day.  Think about it.  That strange man sitting all by himself in the back at McDonalds sipping on his coffee, the kid that takes all the toys off the shelf at Wal-Mart and throws them on the floor, the little girl pulling the head off her Barbie doll, the mother that slaps her toddler because he wants a candy bar.  How many times do you walk up to this person/child and say, “I really think you have a problem and might need some psychiatric help”?  That would go over really well, I’m sure.

Everyone asks why things have gone so wrong and why people are the way they are.  The warning signs have been there for a long time and no one wants to buck up and accept the truth.  Judges 21:25 “…everyone did what was right in his own eyes” and they are still doing it.  Read the book…everything you need to know is there. 

Psychoanalysts will tell you it’s the parents’ fault of how they raised their kids, yet in the next breath they will tell you not to hit your child because that will hurt their self esteem.  To me, it’s all just a whole bunch of academic bullshit and people are trying to make a buck or 20 million. Spare the rod, spoil the child — the first time he talks back a good slap right upside the head will cure it — he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

Once they reach the golden age of 18 the parent is no long accountable for the actions of their child.  It is the child’s responsibility to be held accountable for all they do.  Leave James Holmes’ mother alone.  He is responsible not her.

Lessons learned in childhood will last a lifetime.  Unfortunately in this day and age, the lessons a child learns are few and far between.  People somehow came to the belief that having a child was like fast food.  Have a baby, drop it off at daycare, take it to Disneyworld, buy it stuff, send it to college, watch it get married, and start the cycle all over again.  What did the kid learn?  To get stuff, do things, and it learned nothing about values or morals.

Most elementary school students have their own laptop, cell phone, I-pod, I-pad and whatever other “in” electronic gadget there is.  What do they have to look forward to?  What is their long term goal? 

People ask how something like this could happen.  People want to know why something like this happened.  Young people today are spoiled.  They have everything at their finger tips and they don’t have to work for anything.  Give a hungry young person a cow on the hoof and he would starve before taking action with that cow.  Boredom and nothing to look forward to… those are the answers to the why and how.  The real question is what can we do about it?

© Crackerberries 2012

Grilled BBQ Chicken

Too many times I’ve tried to grill chicken.  I hate having to par-boil and if I don’t par-boil the chicken usually ends up burnt or not done on the inside.  I have found a way to enjoy BBQ chicken without par-boiling and without blackened burnt to a crisp.

Pan
Non-Stick
Chew toothpick
Savoury worn
Scorched on meals never stick
Skillet spiced with more oil adorned
Whole fried chicken thighs and brown gravy's born
Suppers more tasty from a cast iron fry pan
Cooking on woodstoves their aprons were worn
The pan was kind; no cause to mourn
It's number one top pick
Old wives have sworn
Will not stick
Ferric
Pan

1-2 lbs chicken leg pieces, rinsed

2 Tbsp BBQ Grilling Spice

A cast iron skillet

Cooking Spray

A piece of aluminum foil

Place the chicken pieces in the cast iron skillet, generously sprayed with cooking oil.  Sprinkle with a good amount of BBQ seasoning (1 tsp each of the following spices: cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, thyme and ¼ tsp cayenne pepper).  Cover with aluminum foil and place on hot grill 350º-450º.  Let cook 45 minutes to an hour.  Remove aluminum foil carefully because the steam is H-O-T!  Place chicken pieces on grill just to crisp up the outside (about 5 minutes). 

© Crackerberries 2012

Hot Pepper Sausage Corn Cakes

Hot Pepper-Sausage Corn Cakes w/Honey Lemon Butter

These are great for any meal of the day... even just a snack.

¾ cups Jimmy Dean hot breakfast sausage, cooked; reserving grease
1 cup self-rising buttermilk corn meal

½ cup whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 ¹/₃ cups buttermilk (1½ tbsp lemon juice and top off with whole milk)

3 medium eggs, slightly beaten

1 medium onion, diced

2 Chile or jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

1½ cups frozen corn

Cook sausage in cast iron skillet, crumble as it cooks.  Remove sausage; set aside to cool.  Cook onion, peppers and corn in reserved sausage grease until lightly browned (5-7 minutes).  Remove from skillet and cool.

In medium bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, pepper, baking soda, baking powder and cayenne pepper and mix well. 

Combine eggs and buttermilk and pour over dry ingredients.  Stir just to combine and moisten.    Fold in cooled sausage, corn, onions and peppers. 

Grease large skillet and pour ¼ cup portions onto skillet or grill.  Cook cakes until golden brown on edges (2-3 minutes), flip and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.  Serve warm drizzled with honey lemon butter.

Honey Lemon Butter:

½ cup butter

½ cup honey

1½ lemon zest

Melt butter in small pan, whisk in honey and lemon zest; spoon over corncakes.  Store leftovers in fridge and re-heat in microwave.

© Crackerberries 2012

Shoo Fly Pie

Shoo Fly Pie also known as Molasses Pie originates from the Treacle Tart (a British generic name for any syrup made during the refining of sugar cane).

This is the Crackerberries version of the recipe.  Typically the crumbs serve as the crust, but
Tall Cool  ټne likes pie and loves pie crust, so this the alternate version of the Shoo Fly Pie.

1 Pie Crust

Crumb mixture:

1 cup flour

½ cup crushed saltine crackers, seasoned with pepper

¼ tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 tbsp butter

Combine flour, crackers, cinnamon and brown sugar.  Cut in butter until fine crumbly mixture forms.  Spread 2/3 of crumb mixture into pie crust, pressing gently into sides and bottom of crust; set aside.

Syrup mixture:

½ cup molasses

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ cup hot water

½ tsp baking soda

Dissolve baking soda in hot water.  Combine molasses, brown sugar and slightly beaten egg together in bowl and mix well.  Pour hot water over mixture and blend in. 

Pour ½ of syrup over pie crust and swirl around to cover, add remaining syrup.  Sprinkle with remaining crumbs.  Bake at 400º for ten minutes, drizzle with a little molasses and reduce heat to 350º and bake an additional 50 minutes.  Cool completely.

© Crackerberries 2012



Kitties

There is nothing quite like watching babies play.  This wild mamma decided that the shed might be a good place to have her babies.  We can't get near any of them, but they sure are fun to watch.  I have heard that once you feed them, they are yours.  Guess what we have.

Backpacks For Kids

Children at school will lack a snack,

‘Cuz free and reduced lunch sometimes lack

Take home their din-din in a sack

Weekend backpack, weekend backpack

A friend of mine inspired this poem

Her love for kids just flows like foam

Instead of hungry mouths that roam

Send some meals home, send some meals home

Fill a backpack, loaded with food

Get involved with big attitude

Turn it into a giant prelude

To share some food, to share some food

Start your own thing, don’t be intrepid

It could be a new box top lid

Show some love like mini Cupid

Backpacks for a kid, backpacks for a kid

My friend puts backpacks together for some children in the school that are needy.  I think it is so note-worthy that it could become world wide and just be a new way to help.  School will be starting up and what a way to help those less fortunate.  There are lots of organizations that do this… what a great way to get involved and give back to the community.

Cherry Tomatoes & Hot Peppers

When in Rome …

Do you have an over abundance of those leftover garden vegetables?  Believe me, as a native Mainer I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be deep-frying cherry tomatoes, but… as they say, in the South, “it ain’t food unless it’s fried”.  These fry up so tasty and who would have thought anything fried could be good for you? 

1-2 dozen cherry tomatoes

1-2 dozen hot peppers (I used jalapeño and Chile peppers)

1 cup self-rising buttermilk corn meal

½ cup all purpose flour

1 egg

1¼ cup beer

1 tsp Creole seasoning

Oil for deep frying

Wash and dry veggies and let stand at room temperature before cooking.

Combine corn meal, flour and Creole seasoning and mix well.  Beat egg slightly and add to beer, pour over corn meal/flour and mix well. 

Dip veggies in batter to coat.  Be sure to cover all of the tomato before dropping into the oil or they will pop.

Cook in batches a few at a time.  Peppers for two minutes or so and one minute for the tomatoes.  Cool at least 10-15 minutes before eating tomatoes because they are very hot.  Serve with your favorite dipping dressings.  Honey mustard and Ranch works really well.

© Crackerberries 2012