Fog to Ink

Anti-Virtue Project

2011-09-21T04:09:00.000-05:00

As a creative challenge, I've decided to use the blog to compile a list of anti-virtues. As vices seem to be things that are fun but may eventually lead to your demise, I'm avoiding these as best as possible.

The creativity will come in determining the list, presentation of each one, melding others comments into the work, and the hardest: finalizing it.

So, be it known in these fading days of summer, Pandora's Box is now open.

Putting the Looking Glass on an Anti-Virtue: Doubt

2011-09-15T06:12:00.001-05:00

DOUBT. That is one of those things, like fear, that we tend to only want to see, if at all, from the corner of our eyes. I learned long ago that if you look at fear directly, as opposed to "looking at it" from the corner of your eye, it is seen as what it is: smoke and mirrors in our minds. I've wondered if DOUBT has its own swirling mists and distorted reflections. So, I turn slowly. I force my eyes open wider. I see something shocking...

It was Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane that was filled to the brim with doubt before doing what Christendom considers his greatest act. Are you sure this is what You want me to do?

When you listen to the ubiquitous political drivel, it is designed to plant those cliched seeds.

Is doubt healthy from its limiting power? The caveman Gronk should have listened to his doubts instead of trying to calf-rope the mastodon. The cave colony is still trying to remove the impaled Gronk from the tusk.

Is it the failings of "The Invincibility of Youth" from which doubt begins to sink its tendrils into our soul?

I'm thinking that it is a survival skill, at some deep level. Nevertheless, it is obvious that people become paralyzed with too much of it.

My concern, when you begin to focus on it, is realizing how many people walk around as zombies, to pervert a movie title: Day of the Dead-Living. I'm sure the doubts are walls as restrictive as rolls of concertina.

How refreshing it is to see someone move ahead without doubt. When someone (other than a politician) says "Yes we can."

Observe doubt in the life of others. Let's catch it in the corner of our eye, hold on to it, and turn to meet it. It is time that I, WE, US, OUR community, OUR nation stops letting doubt control us and begin to ignore and reject those that manipulatively use it for that purpose.

Bucatini with Tomatoes, Bacon, and Onions

2009-12-30T15:50:00.000-06:00

Bucatini with Onion, Bacon, and Tomato
from Lydia’s Italy, p. 228
Ingredients
• pasta: bucatini, perciatelli, (spaghetti tolerable) - 1 lb.
• 1 - 28 oz. can Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
• 1/2 tsp. coarse salt, + 1 tbs. for pasta pot
• 4 cups onion slices, 1/3 in. thick (~3/4 lb)
• 4 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• 4 cloves of garlic, plump, peeled, & crushed
• 6 oz. bacon, guanciale, or pancetta, cut in 1/2 in. pieces
• 1/2 tsp peperoncino flakes (red pepper flakes)
• 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for passing
Directions
1. Drain the canned tomatoes; save all the juices. Cut each tomato in quarters, lengthwise; slice the quarters into strips, 1/2 in. wide.
2. Start heating 6 quarts of water with 1 tbs. salt in a large pot to cook bucatini (or other noodles).
3. Put 1/2 cup of water in wide skillet, set over medium-high heat. Dump in the sliced onions; spread them out and turn them over in the pan as the water starts to boil. Cook the onions, turning occasionally, for several minutes, until they’re softened and the water is nearly evaporated.
4. Pour the olive oil over the onions, toss in the crushed garlic cloves, and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt. Stir well to coat all the onion slices with oil; cook for a couple of minutes or more, until onion and garlic are sizzling.
5. If using bacon, fry separately until in a soft, brown state, drain oil. Add. (my change to remove fat from meal).
6. Sprinkle pepper flakes in the pan, stir, and let everything cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the onion and pork are caramelized and golden--adjust the heat so nothing burns.
7. Pour the tomatoes and juices into the skillet and stir well. Lightly season with salt (undersalt a little, as the cheese will add saltiness). Bring sauce to a boil, stirring frequently, then lower to a simmer. Let the sauce cook for about 20 minutes.
8. When sauce begins to simmer, begin cooking pasta. With water at a rolling boil, add pasta and cook partially covered. Check for doneness frequently. Cook to al dente (a slight resistance in center when bitten) and slightly underdone. Drain and add to simmering sauce. Toss together continuously over moderate heat for a couple of minutes. When the pasta is perfectly cooked, turn off heat.
9. Add grated cheese, drizzle over a final flourish of olive oil, and serve (either directly from skillet or warm serving bowl).

King Cake Recipe for 3 Kings Day

2009-12-29T12:30:00.000-06:00

KING CAKE

Dough:
5-6 cups all purpose flour
2 packages of yeast
2/3 cup warm water (105-115 F)
1 cup warm milk (105-115 F)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
cooking oil

Filling and Glaze:
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine (melted)
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Scald milk, remove from heat and put butter in milk to soften and cool. Sprinkle yeast over warm water to which a tablespoon of sugar has been added. Rinse a large mixing bowl under very warm water and dry. When yeast mixture is bubbling, pour into large bowl and add milk testing that it has cooled and is slightly warm to skin of the arm. Add 2 eggs and whisk until frothy. Add one or two cups of flour [strange directions] , sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat well until all ingredients are blended and elastic. Add another cup of flour and beat. When mixture becomes thick and leaves the side of the bowl, turn out onto floured board or counter top. Knead dough and remaining flour spinkling onto surface used for kneading. Knead until smooth - approximately 10 minutes. Grease another large bowl with cooking oil. Put dough into bowl then turn over dough so oiled surface is up. Cover with damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Place in warm place until double in size -- about 1 to 2 hours.

When risen, punch down, divide dough in half or into fourths. Roll dough into rectangles. Sprinkle rectangles with fillling. Roll up like jelly roll beginning at wide side. Seal ends well. Form into ovals on greased 4 x 9 inch cake pans or two large cookie sheets. With scissors, make cuts 1/3 of the way through the ring at 1 inch intervals. Let rise. Bake 30 minutes at 375 F.

Frost while warm with 1 cup confectioners' sugar blended with 1 or 2 tablespoons of water. For filling, mix all dry ingredients except confectioners' sugar. Pour melted butter over this and mix until crumbly. Decorate with sugar dyed (with food coloring) purple, green, and gold or just decorate cakes with pecans and cherries.

A plastic doll or three dried beans may be put into the filling before rolling up or they may be pushed into dough from the bottom after baking. The person getting the doll has the next King Cake party [and the same doll] or the children getting the three beans are the Three Wise Men.

Mr. President's Fruitcake

2009-12-29T12:24:00.000-06:00

PRESIDENT'S FRUITCAKE

My mother said this fruitcake recipe was FDR's
favorite and was a war-time recipe (note the absence of milk and eggs.)

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
1½ cups apple sauce
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon each - ground cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt
½ cup shortening - melted (do not substitute cooking oil, etc.)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
3. Coat raisins and pecans with part of flour (keeps from settling to the bottom)
4. Mix in one bowl the apple sauce, sugar, and melted shortening.
5. In a different bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients.
6. Add dry ingredients (3) and wet ingredients (2).
7. Add raisins and pecans.
8. Pour into the bundt pan and bake at 275 for 1 to 1½ hours. Test with toothpick.