I thought I'd see if I could find one of the fun "50 people try to make..." videos from Epicurious that would Thanksgiving-related. And I did, and it was perfect for a few reasons. And those reasons mean, too, that this will be a bit different than the others we post here. This is for making cranberry sauce. The main reason this is perfect is because making cranberry sauce seems to scare people off and instead they buy it from a can. And making cranberry sauce is SO mind-numbingly easy -- I mean truly brain-dead easy, literally not much more difficult than opening a can, though it takes a little more time -- and it is SO much better than canned that it's almost like eating a different food. In fact, cranberry sauce is even easier to make than the professional Epicurious chef describes it at the end, since he says you should keep stirring it all the time, and I've never done that. I stir it a few times at the beginning and a couple times as it cooks, but I don't stand over the pot stirring. Also, this was perfect because it allows me to present a recipe to show how easy it is. And it's perfect too since it lets me present my own twist on the easy recipe that is almost as easy, and soooooooo much better. I love making cranberry sauce not only because it's so easy and people are impressed that he actually made it, but also because the end result is so much better than people think it will be. First, here's the video. It's a lot of fun, especially when knowing ahead how bizarrely and ridiculously easy it is -- and delicious. Okay, first, here's how actually easy it is to make. Ingredients: I package of cranberries 1 cup of water 1 cup of sugar Yes, that's it. Pour the water and sugar in the pot, stir and bring the mixture to a slow simmer. Then, dump in the bag of cranberries, stir, cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. And that's all. Really. It truly isn't much more difficult than opening a can. And it's delicious, and tastes like a real fruit, because it is. To even think of gelatin cranberries makes me shudder. You could probably eat it hot, but I refrigerate it until its cool. But here's my recipe to make it even better. You can adapt the amounts according to your taste. Ingredients: I package of cranberries 3/4 cup of water 1/4 cup of sherry 3/4 cup of sugar 1 apple In this version, start by cutting the apple into cranberry-sized pieces. Why apple rather than orange peel and orange juice like many recipes suggest (including the Epicurious chef)? A few reasons. First, orange peel is bitter and orange juice is acidic, and since cranberries are bitter to begin with, I think the sweetness of apples are a better complimentary mix. Second, because apples are so sweet, you can use less sugar (which also brings the calories down). Third, apples have natural pectin, so it creates it's own "gelatin." And finally, I think the mixture of cranberries and apples is SO delicious because (to me) it almost tastes like strawberries. And to give full credit, I got this tip as a little kid from my Grandma Rose. Her main focus was on the natural pectin. And to those concerned about the alcohol from the sherry, know that boiling the sherry cooks the alcohol out of it. But if you don't want the sherry, fine, leave it out and just use a cup of water. But I think it adds a rich flavor. You make the dish almost the same way. Bring the water, sherry and sugar to a slow simmer. (Let it boil enough to cook the alcohol out.) Mix in the bag of cranberries and the chopped up apples. Stir, cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. And that's it. Ideally, let it cool. And taste it -- if you feel that the apples didn't sweeten it enough for your taste, just mix in some more sugar until it's how you like it. But that's how easy it is to make cranberry sauce. And to make it even better.
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Yes, Michigan certified it's election. And yes, Trump announced that the transition will now finally, belated take place. And yes, Joe Biden announced a number of new cabinet appointments and members of his team, many of which brought especially high praise.
But instead, today, I just want to address that Dianne Feinstein announced that she would be stepping down as Democratic leader of the Judiciary Committee. This is not unexpected after her debacle following the galling committee hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. That's where she went up to Committee chair Lindsey Graham, gave him a hug (problematic enough during the pandemic) and said, “This has been one of the best Senate hearings I have participated in.” Most Democrats seem to have thought it was one of the worst, especially considering the long-term damage it could cause. Her departure is not mourned on these pages. It's a good day. Living in California, I was able to send a direct note to the Senator on her website which limits that access to residents of the state. What I wrote was polite, but scathing in my criticism of her granting such glowing legitimacy to what was a totally shameful process. And with the hug, no less. A few weeks later, I got a form response from Senator Feinstein. It addressed the hearing and was completely disingenuous in being critical of the process, which 180-degrees contradicted her own words that it was "one of the best Senate hearings" she had participated in. There was some other jibber-jabber on the subject, and some other matters, that just bothered me all over again. I was all set to write another note back to address this -- when I just pulled back instead and figured I'd already made my point and left it at that. While I've never disliked Senator Feinstein's long tenure, since she'd done things over the decades that I thought were good. But I've been too bothered by too much, far too conservative for a Democratic senator from California. I don't expect "Pretty good on a lot of issues, but much too conservative on far too many," I expect a great deal better. I was also very bothered when, at age 86, she decided to run again for senator, which cause hopefuls like Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to put their prospective campaigns on hold for what most people thought would be an open seat, depriving the state of getting a new, vibrant senator who could begin to establish seniority. So, I was at least pleased to see her stepping down from the party's Judiciary Committee leadership. The only thing that disappointed me was that when I heard that Dianne Feinstein was "...stepping down...", I had hope it was from the Senate itself. Alas, no, that's still four years away. But close enough. And this decision is at least a respectable start.
I don't exactly know why I love this video, another gem from the fine folks at The Dodo. But I find it utterly endearing because of the story it tells and the reality of this adorable groundhog that's just a total joy. In part, perhaps because it's not a pet at all, but a wild animal...who just is in love with this family, in particular the woman of the house.
When something gets repeated over and over and over and over and over, people tend to get used to hearing it. Further, when something changes by incremental degrees, the change may be noted, but the result tends not to be all that notable.
For instance, when we hear that the number of deaths in the United States from COVID-19 went up today from 142,356 to 142,941 it registers as a tragic increase, but not something that makes headline news. Similarly, when after eight months that happens every day, and the increase each day reaches around 2,000 deaths, hearing that the number of deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. increased from 214,183 to 216,274, that daily number of 2,000 deaths is what most leaps out, more probably than than the total -- because it's was over 200,000 national deaths the day before. And the day before. And they day and day and day and day before. We all know the number of total deaths is ghoulish. Or at least most of us know that. But after a while, we're not only used to hearing that number, but many people probably create a protective buffer from having to hear such things every freaking single day for eight months after month after month after month. Perspective and memory are important here. Once upon a time, we were told by Trump and other Republicans that the coronavirus is just like the flu. In fact, for many months, Trump and Republicans still kept repeating it as the number kept climbing. They've pretty much stopped saying that, though that not only doesn't wipe out the deadly con they continually did their best (or worst) trying to flim-flam the country, but the number of deaths kept rising anything, regardless of what they said. And for the important sake of perspective, it helps to remember that during a normal flu season, about 30,000 to 40,000 Americans would die of flu every year. On a rare, disastrous occasion that number would soar. One year, decades ago, there were 60,000 deaths. But generally, it's around 30-40,000 deaths from flu each year. That's tragic. But it's important to remember, because then, when hearing that so far 262,696 Americans have died from COVID-19. And "so far" is the operative term. We're now told that -- given the winter wave that scientists have predicted from the beginning and given how Trump has not only surrendered leadership but is pushing for herd immunity -- it's likely that deaths could reach 400,000 by the time Joe Biden takes office. And it's not like the deaths will stop on January 20, 2021. Deaths should slow drastically once the vaccines are (hopefully) approved and distributed. But that's still eight months off or so until most of the country has been vaccinated. So, those are the ghoulish numbers to keep mind mind. That a normal flu season has 30-40,000 deaths and we are already at 262,686 deaths from COVID-19, and it's rising at around 2,000 deaths a day and could reach 400,000. I know that most people grasp the magnitude of it all, but not only does a certain level of acceptance creep in, just so people can go on with their lives, but gallingly far too many people still don't accept even the reality of it. But beyond that perspective, there is another perspective that must be brought into view, and it's that comparing COVID-19 deaths to deaths from the flu was never a valid comparison. Never. During the flu season, the public generally did not wear face masks, people didn't socially distance, people didn't self-isolate at home and only go out for essential services, families didn't reunite to live together for months, businesses didn't have employees work from home as much as possible, people didn't avoid going shopping outside, companies didn't go out of business by the thousands, children didn't stay home from school for weeks at a time -- let alone months, people didn't horde toilet paper, professional sports didn't close down, movie houses didn't close down, stage theaters didn't close down, people shook hands hello, people hugged goodbye, people went on first dates and kissed and on and on and on. Rather, during a normal flu season...life went on as normal. That has to be repeated. During a normal flu, life went on as normal. There is nothing normal about life during the coronavirus pandemic. And so, with people wearing face masks, and social distancing, and self-isolating, and families reuniting to live together, and working from home, and going to school from home, and not going to restaurants and shopping and movies and plays and sports events and all the rest, no shaking hands, hugging and kissing -- with ALL those protections...deaths went from 30,000 to 262,696. So far. This is not like the flu. This was never like the flu. This was a deadly infectious pandemic. It's just that the leaders of the Republican Party chose to make it about the flu and make it political. It was never political. It was a deadly infectious pandemic. It was science. It didn't care what you or anyone or even a malignant narcissist thought. This is not meant to be depressing -- though it certainly is profoundly distressing, and depressing is part of life for the past eight months. Rather, perspective is meant to give a sign post to what we all have been through collectively across the entire world, together, and are still going through so that there can be understanding. If one feels run over by a bulldozer, there's not only a reason for it -- there's a great reason for it. In fact, something would probably be wrong if one didn't feel that way. In fact, taking a step back, tragic and crushing as this has all been, there is a sense of something positive about it, too, at this point -- that we are not only on the verge of been able to survive a pandemic, but also survive the Trump administration aggressive push towards fascism. Though there is work to be done on both fronts so that neither happen again. And with that perspective, it's important to see, too, that there is light coming. Not just on January 20 with a new administration -- since that only directly impacts the U.S., not nations around the world -- but vaccines. And that perspective makes it important too see, too, how we got here. This is not about Trump, we know who he is. This is about the elected Republicans in Congress who have enabled him, continue to enable him, continue to downplay any serious need for face masks and social distancing, continue to have leader after leader of their party test positive, have literal blood on their hands and are complicit in it all. And the perspective makes that more clear than anything.
On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the socially-distanced NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest is Doug Jones, best known for staring in The Shape of Water, as the sea creature. His light-hearted, very amusing and totally self-effacing interview with host Peter Sagal focuses on starring in an Oscar-winning film but having no one recognize him. He admits that his career (which includes many creatures, as in Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth and currently as a regular on Star Trek: Discovery as ‘Saru’) got his start by for some reason going into mime in college.
On this week’s episode of 3rd and Fairfax, the official podcast of the Writers Guild of America, the guest is Writers Guild Award-winning writer Stefani Robinson, whose credits include What We Do in the Shadows, for which she also serves as executive producer, and Atlanta). She talks about moving from being an about her journey from agency assistant to the writers’ room and finally on staff and then in charge, explaining why (at least on TV) “the writer has all the power.”
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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