The "Domesticated Sunday" blog...

I have to say that I like Sundays to myself.  Not just because it's my ONLY day off but that I can have a full day to putt around the house doing cleaning, cooking or craft projects.  This Sunday being no different.  I have to say that I really do enjoy having domesticated days to myself where I can just do what ever needs to be done around the house uninterrupted by phone calls.  Today's big chore was detailing my glass lamps and little spaces and items through out the house that I normally don't get to as regularly as I would like.  It's a pretty satisfying feeling knowing that stuff is tidy and where they should be in one's home.  My home may be crowded but everything has it's place.  It's also nice to have stuff cooking on the stove or in the oven to give the house a wonderful scent while going about cleaning.

I normally like to cook a big meal on Sundays to last me a couple days since I work two doubles in a row on Mondays and Tuesdays.  So I cook a nice dinner to split up for those days to enjoy when I get the chance.  If I'm lucky it lasts me til Wednesday where I can cook another big meal to stretch until Friday.
Tonight on the stove was my Beef Stew with Blue Cheese drop Biscuits.  This is a spin off of Chicken n'Dumplings (which I love making) and it's basically the same thing but with beef and blue cheese....and with beer or red wine. 

I decided to make them after I opened a bottle of Cabernet to discover the bottle had turned.  So I put it to the side and let it do it's thing for about a week.  At the same time I had some bananas that decided to ripen faster than normal and my weekend meal was decided. My Beef stew with blue cheese drop biscuits and a nice loaf of banana bread!

I don't have a set recipe for the beef stew but it might go something like this:
*1 lb of beef
*onions and garlic to taste (I like lots of fresh garlic and onions)
*bell peppers (frozen or fresh-sometimes I use the Trader Joe's frozen grilled onions and peppers-1/2 bag)
*low sodium stock (what ever is handy)
*a bottle of red wine OR a couple bottles of dark beer ( each gives a distinctive taste so it's a matter of  which you might be in the mood for).
*bag of frozen veggies of your choice to round out the stew.
*Season to taste

While this is simmering prepare the biscuits by making your favorite biscuit recipe and adding blue cheese.  Stick in the fridge to keep chilled until the stew has simmered long enough.

When the soup is ready-drop the raw biscuit mix into the gently boiling stew with a spoon evenly across the pot.  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and let complete simmering for about half an hour.

Uncover and let cool for a bit before enjoying.

Now the banana bread was a modification from a recipe I already had but I tweaked it a bit because I don't really care for things that are overly sweet or greasy.  The recipe is super simple and it took no time at all to make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9X5 inch pan (grease with butter if not nonstick).

1/2 brown sugar

1 stick of butter-normally I would cut the stick of butter and substitute the other half with a quarter cup of applesauce....but I didn't have any.

1/2 cup honey

3 bananas-really really ripe bananas preferably.

1 lemon

1/4 milk

2 eggs

a generous teaspoon of vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

nutmeg and cinnamon to taste

Cream the butter and the sugar until will blended.  Then add the honey, bananas-blend.  Add the lemon and the milk-blend.  Add the eggs until just mixed. Then add the dry ingredients until JUST moist.  Pour in a prepared pan and pop in the oven for about an hour.  Check to make sure it's cooked in the middle and if it is-treat it like you normally would any other loaf of bread.

I have to say this little experiment turned out much better than I had anticipated.  Enough for me to take notes on how it was done!  Now I have some delicious food to last me throughout part of the week and save some money :-).



In an instant...

I haven't had much free time to journal anything lately with work.  It kind of sucks but that is how it is.  I find myself composing things in my head while I'm driving of things that have happened or of things that I ponder.  Busy mind, I suppose....just as long as I pay attention to the road on occasion and don't rear end anyone then I'm doing okay.

My boss must believe that I am omnipotent because I seem to be blamed for all the things that go wrong in the office that other people do.  His only words are: "You should have caught that."   I'm flattered that he believes I have the all seeing powers of a deity, however he is sadly mistaken.  Seriously, he's delusional.  Eventually he will figure out that although I can divine what other's do on occasion by deduction-I am not able to tell what is going to go wrong ALL the time.  If I was able to tell the future I would have bought a lottery ticket A LONG time ago, WON MILLIONS and quit this job to pursue my interests in animal rescue and rehabilitation.

That's another story....or dream.

Onto something that is real
Last weekend after Saturday clinic I decided to walk around a bit and take pictures of the beautiful graffiti that decorates some of the businesses.  I managed to get a few nice pictures of plants and walls when the peace was interrupted by a loud voice.  A loud voice screaming hateful racist profanities.
I looked up and witnessed what I assume is an African-American man trying to walk his pudgy terrier dog on what was supposed to be a peaceful warm Saturday afternoon.  I was shocked to see the assailant was some skinny raggedy looking white man riding a motorized chair.  This scrawny s.o.b. was circling the poor man and his dog like a freak'n mosquito.
I was appalled.
The man simply ignored the A**hole and kept on walking his little dog so I decided that I would continue on my quest to find nice things to photograph.
I wandered down the block about five minutes after the man walking his dog and the A**hole in the motorized chair had gone down the road.  I take a couple pictures of an interesting wall then I hear that Jerks voice.  I turn and look and I see the same poor man and his dog determinately walking down the street while this persistent A**hole keeps on screaming and yelling these terribly hateful ignorant things at him.
I saw the poor man's shoulders sloped and his head down a little bit.  It seems the A**hole's determination to hurt this random man has worked.  The poor guy just kept walking with his head down and shoulder's slumped.  That old F***er was breaking him down.
This really pissed me off.   I was freak'n outraged.
Who the hell did this SOB think he was?!  How freak'n dare he submit someone with his hate and ignorance!  I didn't have my phone with me so I headed back to the car and promptly called Oakland police department.
What a freak'n joke.
It took me almost 12 minutes to get through the stupid ass phone tree just to report the incident.  By the time the operator got on the phone and asked me the questions, chances are the poor man had escaped to his home suffering the residuals and negativity of the F*tard that was verbally abusing him on the street.  What I wanted was for the poor man to see that the said F*tard would be accosted by the OPD and that there was justice that would silence his hate-if just for a little while but that people did care and that type of behaviour exhibited was not acceptable in any situation and any freak'n time.  Period.
I was pissed and frustrated by the time I finished the call.
It felt like an exercise in futility.  So I decided to look for the A*hole while I was leaving the parking lot at work.  I didn't see him and I was very very disappointed.  Two thoughts crossed my mind: Running the SOB over or getting out of the car and pushing him into traffic to silence his mouth. 
I'm still a bit pissed about it.  Rest assured if I see the F*er again.....he will get a tastes of his own medicine from me.  He better have his hearing aids on, that's all I have to say about that.

On to this week on the streets of Oakland....
On Thursday exiting the off ramp that I take for work, there is sometimes homeless people standing on the corners facing the on ramps panhandling for money or food.
This particular morning I noticed a homeless man that I had seen before.  He always had his shopping cart with him with the same plastic bags, but I had never seen him panhandle before. I was stopped at the red light at the four way intersection.  He was facing the people that would cross the intersection to head onto the freeway. 
He stood there holding his sign asking for food or money.  He had just a little hope in his eyes as he tried to make eye contact with the people heading to the on ramp.  Everyone avoided his eyes and kept on going. 
My light turned green but I kept on watching him.  He folded up his sign and as he did it I watched all the hope leave him.  He turned and walked to his cart that he hid behind the bushes and put his head down and started crying.  I was at an angle to witness this.  To witness a man trying to survive and have his hope crushed.  It broke my freak'n heart and I almost started crying with him.  To witness the whole thing.  I can't explain how much it pains me.  If I had the power to help him I would.  To give him back his hope and dignity.  I didn't even have any money or fruit to give him.  All I could do is pray that he got someone to help him, he obviously was looking for it.
The lesson here people is that not all people that are begging are just doing to pull one over on us.  For some of those people, it is simply a matter of survival.  Of life or death. 
Please think about it.