The Stew is in the pot

Black eyed peas, boiled with bay leaves, simmered with beef, and seasoned with red pepper flakes, salt, celery seed, fennel seed and black pepper. It smells so good. It also reminds me of the upcoming Mardi Gras season. I love food because each dish delicately reflects on the area that it came from, mixed with each cooks personal attributes. The kitchen is bubbling. I wanted to find something to cook, and I did. Also the slow cooker is filled with onions, potatoes and corned beef. A fitting feast,to begin the season of Irish Culture. Of course, I am making my favorite boiled peanuts, just like they sell in every southern establishment. My personal favorite is seasoned with Tabasco, dill brine and pepper. It has to boil for over four hours for it to reach the right tenderness, of course.
So here is the history and anthropology part...because everything has a history and a future.
Black eyed peas-George Washington Carver was not only the father of the peanut but also a proponent of the black eyed pea. Not the band!!! Did you know he was born at the end of slavery? Yes, and while still enslaved outlaws stole Carver and his mother away , however, Union officials were able to retrieve them and bring them back to Carver's father, Moses. About the peas, they are actually related to cowpeas, and it was the slave trade that brought them to America. See all the history!!! All I had to do was add rice to the dish and it would have become the traditional Hoppin John! During the New Year, it is said that if a person eats Hoppin John, it will bring them good luck all the year through. I did not eat Hoppin John this year...During the Civil War, peas and such were considered fodder for livestock. Thus, it was a slave food.
Corned Beef- Not a traditional dish of Ireland, where they prefer Lamb to the end brisket of beef, it made it's way to Immigrants, because of its cheapness. Many a tenement home wafted the smell of corned beef which has become a staple of Irish -America.
Boiled Peanuts- Southern Style- Most places sell these, and I got addicted to them the first trip my parents took to Virginia. It was a legume flavor, very earth and spicy. I loved it, plus I like the texture, pasty. Most people that I talked to when I lived in Kansas liked them. I used to by Cajun boiled peanuts from Sugarfoot and Peaches down the street from my home. I loved them even more when I was pregnant. The Smithsonian released an article on some displaced southern brothers, who have made a living out of selling boiled peanuts, poke salet, scuppernogs and more. What is Poke Salet? What is a Scuppernog?
Well you will have to stay tuned my hungry feeders.....

Women Radicals

Women are radical, but in the latter half of the nineteenth century the very idea that college like Smith and Wellsley were instructing women to think critically of the bible, incited Thomas M. C. Birmingham of Milford, Nebraska. He was a conservative,evangelical minister who at one point even wrote a pamphlet that if followed promised the government a more cohesive structure through biblical teachings.  He found that women who questioned the literal teachings of the bible were going to become immoral citizens, and thus the higher education units were not doing their jobs.

Birmingham, wanted scripture in schools and colleges. It sounds alot like issues that are still going on today. He wanted to bring theology to the masses.

The Ship wreck of the HMS Investigator

Ice Dams and Snow Falls

The snow has stopped, but there are still large amounts of ice glutting the gutters. I have seen so many icicles this winter, they hang very low. Ice and snow, are always a fun thing about winter in the beginning. My husband recently went to the children's museum and hacked at the foot thick dam that was causing water to back up into the bathrooms. At that time, there were not any roof rakes to be found at any store in a thirty mile radius. Really, so instead we hacked , or rather he did (big he-man) with an axe. It lasted maybe thirty minutes and he was able to remove some of it. But the rest stayed. Everywhere I look people are cleaning off roofs. It seems like a community rose overnight, and yet there are still so many people in the area that are distant from one another and any sense of true community. Enough ranting!
I have some really cool ideas this week.
Today: Sunday February 13th
Kids Craft:
Heart Mobile
You need string, red, purple, white and pink construction paper, glue, scissors, crayons, and a hanger
First, decide what the heart is going to look like, cut the heart out and either poke a hole through it or punch one through (not too hard lol). Then  attach to string, that has been cut into different layers and tied to the hanger. Once you have done this as many times as you want you'll have your Valentines Day heart-mobile.
Ideal craft for ages 2-6.

The Zoo is the place for You

  The zoo/kid fun fair was held at the Eastern States Exposition today. My husband, myself and little ones went in toe excited to see the "heavies" as my little boy calls elephants. I noticed that you could get free tickets to the show from local gas stations. We did that, and those free tickets were great, but we should have been told that you had to pay for parking, plus tickets were 10.00 for adults, and then once arriving that the rides were 1.25 per ticket, that you needed more tickets to get on a ride than just one. The 100lb rat, was a capabara. The sheep were plentiful and my children loved every minute of it. I'm so happy they did. It was a nice weekend event.
  The animals were arranged in a neat little pen. Each one had a name and each pen had some pellet machines that were a quarter for a little handful. We fed  sheep, goats, Zebu's and talked with Macaw's. The noise of the merry-go-round overtook the Better Living Center, and the children ran back and forth to that animal and this one. My son loved the elephant ride. I was worried that one might go rouge. I literally imagined this as I stepped onto the saddle. My son placed in front of me smiling as wide as a watermelon. I on the other hand heard the sound of my heart as I readied myself for a possible rogue escape. I saw the elephant moving slowly, felt his legs shifting mightily and really suddenly wished him  some freedom. Its a crazy conundrum. To be free or not to be? That elephant was quite tired, as the drooping skin over his eyes could tell any on looker. The sound of the merry-go-round continued to tromp through any other conversations. The camel was alone, and according to my husband who worked for a travelling petting zoo at one time, he was not happy. I wouldn't be either if I had little ones bouncing on my back all day long. But, hey everyone needs a job. Right?
  My son learned: that a elephant can be ridden. That sheep have long shaggy fur, that animal pens can be seen with your nose from about ten feet or more. Kangaroo's sleep on their backs with their legs splayed. A capabara is a rodent but is definitely not a rat. That daddy and mommy like animals, and a monkey pen is actually a pen filled with lemur's not monkeys.
I have included some information on lemur's....The best thing we spent the day as a family, looking, shopping and learning together.