Bowl Scrapin’ Chicken Dumpling Soup

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  • Cut up Chicken fryer
  • minced ginger
  • 2 lemons
  • 3 parsnips
  • 1 turnip
  • 3 carrots
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 1 huge onion
  • 8 c chicken broth
  • 2 c Bisquick
  • 2/3 c Milk
  • salt
  • pepper
  • vegetable oil
  • butter

Heat up oil in a really big pot. Brown the chicken, skin sides down. Remove chicken. Melt about 4 T butter. Brown the vegetables and roast for about 10 min on lower flame. Add chicken broth, salt and pepper to taste. Add about 2 T ginger. Roll lemons and squeeze into soup. Add chicken. Cook about 1/2 hour. Remove chicken from pot and debone. Yes your fingers will get burnt. Add chicken back in. Mix bisquick and milk and drop by tablespoon onto top of soup. Put the lid on and cook another 10 min. Watch your kids scrape the bowl to get every last drop.

Leftover Turkey Salad

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  • 1 lb leftover turkey breast (or chicken)
  • red leaf lettuce
  • green apple
  • grapes
  • walnuts
  • 1/2 c walnut oil
  • 1/4 c ish champagne or red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 t or more salt
  • 1/4 t pepper
  • 1 T dijon mustard
  • 1/4 c or 1/2 c mayonaisse

Cut up turkey breast, apple, grapes, walnuts. Chop lettuce. In a Tupperware shaker combine dressing ingredients, estimate until it tastes good. Poor some on salad and toss.

Mashed Potato Pie So Good You Have to Beat Your Kids Outta the Pan with Your Wood Spoon

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  • Cooked salted ground beef
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 onion chopped small
  • 2 carrots chopped small
  • 1 stalk celery chopped small
  • 1 red pepper chopped small
  • 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
  • pinch tarragon
  • pinch coriander
  • lots of salt and pepper
  • flour
  • Better than Bouillon beef flavor
  • 6 cups mashed potatoes (from scratch if I’m being nice, otherwise instant)
  • parmesan
  • garlic salt
  • French’s onions

Melt half a stick of butter in cast iron chicken fryer. Let it get very hot. Add chopped veggies and brown them. Then turn heat down and let them roast for at least 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add salt and pepper to flavor. Add enough flour by the tablespoon until it looks like a thick gooey mess. Add enough beef broth until it forms a thick delicious gravy with the vegetables, about 3 cups. Add enough ground beef so there is more ground beef than veggies, maybe 1.5 lb (totally eyeballed it). Beat your kids off with a wood spoon as they try to eat it right out of the pan at this point. Make the mashed potatoes with the other half stick of butter. If I’m making them from scratch, I use bacon fat rather than butter, and sour cream and half and half. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt to the mashed potatoes. Add the mashed potatoes on top of the meat mixture. Top with French’s onions and parmesan. Cook for about 15 min at 400º.

The Toddler and Pascal’s Wager

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It was a smug, jerk response. I know now that in my heart.

An atheist, Buddhist-leaning friend bemoaned the fact that after leaving his small child with a sitter, the sitter asked him to tell stories about God. It was obvious that the sitter had indoctrinated his child.

My response: it seems your son has taken Pascal’s wager.

Please let this be my public apology to that parent stripped of his personal religious rights. You are quite right to feel violated.

The sitter clearly did overstep bounds by evangelizing your son with her moral values. As you said, you were not prepared to have that conversation with your son.

I agree. It does feel like a violation to leave your child in the care of someone and have them assume that your moral values are incorrect or that you are some sort of failure as a parent because you do not teach your child what should, in the caregiver’s mind, be culturally accepted norms and moral teachings.

Can we agree then, that no morality should be taught by caregivers at all? No judgement placed on the values taught by parents?

No more caregivers telling kids “it’s ok, let us know if your parents have weapons in the home”. No more “regardless of the teachings of your personal beliefs, this lifestyle is to be accepted and even encouraged.”

Can we all agree then, that caregivers should be restricted to the feeding, safety, and in the case of schools, education of academic subjects?

If it is wrong for a caregiver to impose a teaching of one particular morality, is it not then also wrong for all caregivers to impose a teaching of any morality?

It is time for a frank, public discourse on the topic. A discourse free of judgement of individual beliefs. A discourse merely on the appropriateness of the moral indoctrination of our youth outside the home. I welcome your comments below.

Of Death and Hot Dogs

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We never discussed it. Never thought about it. I recall one funeral growing up, but other than that, death wasn’t ever discussed.

It wasn’t taboo. It was simply like it didn’t exist.

Raised by two people who were ambivalent about the existence of God, discussion of the afterlife didn’t occur.

Women’s rights, nuclear proliferation, Reagan’s audacity on political issues… these were hotly debated. Actually, not debated. The home was an echo chamber of leftist thought. Most homes are echo chambers of parental views until teens discover their own ability to defend arguments, so it’s not surprising that my communist and socialist parents held court over a leftist regime.

But, as a mom, I now wonder why death wasn’t a topic? You cannot avoid it forever. People do die in unjustifiably awful ways. Or unfair ways. Or too early or too late.

As my mom is now coming to terms with the fact that she will need ongoing treatment for an illness, we had a discussion about the unfair nature of it.

I asked the crass question “Well, we’re all going to die eventually. How exactly did you think it was going to happen? Not saying you’re going to die of this, but you are going to die eventually. What makes this unfair?”

She didn’t have a vision for death. Didn’t think about it. But whatever it was, it didn’t include this. And about it being unfair, it still had nothing to do with death in her mind. It had to do with treatments and incapacity.

Still no conversation about death. She doesn’t want to think about it.

I don’t get it.

Maybe it’s because I’m Catholic. I love the teachings about death and suffering.

I talk about death all the time with my kids. Not talking about death is what causes people to cling to this life in unnatural ways. As if all we have to live for is life itself.

I’ll admit, the Catholic view of suffering was very foreign to me, having been raised as a Jew. Yet, I am goal oriented. I look not on this life as a test; God is not a giant quizmaster. I look on this life as preparation for the next. Catholicism is pretty darn clear on the goals of life and death.

I think George Lucas got it right in Episode IV. Obi Wan was able to do more good and affect more people when he became one with the force. His life continued in a new way – a New Hope.

So, my kids and I do discuss death frequently. They can tell you exactly what I want at my funeral. I want a parade with trombones. I want a party. I want a celebration of my life. I want people to share funny stories. I want laughter. Even if I’m young when I die. Ok, too late for that. Even if I’m middle aged when I die.

And I want hot dogs served.

I got gipped out of hot dogs when my daughter was born. I had bought frozen meals ahead so my husband wouldn’t have to cook after the home birth. After a few hours of labor, I popped out this gorgeous redhead and he made frozen pigs in a blanket for the toddler boys while I was upstairs nursing the baby.

And they ate them all. Every little pig. Gone.

No hot dogs for momma. The momma who had just birthed a 9lb 4oz redhead. No hot dogs for her. This story has lived on in my family for years. So, I want pigs in a blanket served at my funeral.

Death is a celebration of life and continuation of what is to come. We will forever live in the memories of those in the next generation. If we’re lucky, a generation or two after that.

But our thoughts, our lessons, and our deeds will carry on far longer. It isn’t our “legacy”; it is our ever-living essence.

Suffering and death simply help shape who our person, what our essence, is at the time of our death.

My essence will be generations of redheads who love pigs in a blanket.

The Unholy Church of America

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It holds all the tradition of any church.

  • Members who donate money generously – both individuals and corporations
  • Volunteers who zealously donate their time
  • The sacrament of confession
  • Theologians who clarify the beliefs for the faithful
  • A figurehead who teaches the faithful through televised talks and news appearances
  • Learned experts who perform their rituals

It is the Church of Planned Parenthood. And like any good church in America, they hold 501c3 tax-exempt status. And believe it or not, as a pro-life person, I support this tax status.

Members who donate money generously – both individuals and corporations

The rallies and local events, such as the Nasty Woman art festival are fantastic ways for members to both get involved in the community and donate their money. A local event was so successful that they raised over $30,000 in 5 hours.

Many corporations and charities also fund the Church of Planned Parenthood.

Volunteers who zealously donate their time

Each week, as they attend “committees and events”, volunteers assist with the Church’s mission – to escort women in to fulfill their declared right – to end the inconvenient truth in their womb. Never mind that to many of these women it may not be an inconvenient truth.

Never mind that it may be a child to be adored under any other circumstance. Never mind that the women may not be aware of the help available to them at this vulnerable time when they may feel betrayed by those they love most – the father of their child, and their family.

No. While the women may be sadly entering the Church, the volunteers are there to take up the battle cry and demand the rights of these women who may be too sad or weak to do so. Resigned to a fate which imposes an emotional burden they may not be later able to handle, they are led into Church in the sure hands of the true believers.

The Sacrament of Confession

Much like Catholic confession, anything disclosed to a clinic volunteer or worker need not be reported to police. Note, not the doctor, but the volunteer.

For instance, if a 40 year old man brings his 15 year old girlfriend in for a rite of the Church, demanding that the living evidence be removed, the workers need not call the police.

It has been said this is to protect the privacy of the patients- that they would be less likely to attend Church safely and speak honestly with their caregiver if they were to fear publication of their conversation.

Theologians who clarify the beliefs for the faithful

You needn’t look far to find the works of learned theologians clarifying the beliefs of the Church. At any women event, be it in entrepreneurship or tech, the assumption is made that all present are members of the Church.

The organizers of such events are quick to assume that as an ovary-endowed-American (OEA), you are automatically an enthusiastic member of the Church. As such, any events whose proceeds monetarily benefit the Church, may be promoted at all OEA events, even if they are not related to Church.

At January’s women’s march, it was assumed that women were members of the Church. As such, women celebrating life were told not to attend the march, as that was a blatant display of blasphemy and not protected by free speech.

“Good” women, “real” women are dutiful members of Church. They donate freely and support the faith. The services provided by the Church must be monetarily supported by non-believers and any talk to the contrary is hate speech against women.

A figurehead who teaches the faithful through televised talks and news appearances

Cecile Richards is a beautiful, well-spoken leader for the Church. Featured on morning talk shows, she expounds on the rites and rights of the Church. The members are entitled to pre-natal care and mammograms. Without these rites of the Church, the members would go without care. The only problem is that most chapels of the Church no longer offer these services.

But no matter, Pope Richards will defend the rights of the members to these services. And I have to agree with her. OEAs do have a right to these services. Where she falls short, is that the services are not and need not be provided by the Church. Plenty of other caregivers offer mammograms and prenatal care, also covered by medicaid, most within a couple of miles of a PP chapel.

Learned experts who perform their rituals

The sacrifices performed in the sacred rituals of the Church of PP, do require advanced learning. Unfortunately, they do not require the generally accepted federal medical oversight. There is safety protocol for the procedures performed in the sanctuary and at the altar of the Church; yet the Church seems to have received a religious exemption. Unlike even an elementary school’s nurse office, the sanctum of the Church is exempt from routine safety inspections.

Full Church privileges

For the reasons listed above, Planned Parenthood should receive an absolute right to continue their 501c3 tax-exempt status. As a non-profit, while they do generate much revenue from their rites and rituals, the money has rightfully been reinvested in the staggeringly high salaries of their leadership. The PPP (Planned Parenthood Pope) makes nearly $1,000,000/year, while the chapel leaders receive an average of $238,000/year.

And, in keeping with the time honored tradition of separation of church and state – their Church should receive not one penny of government money.

Some may point out that the government does give much funding to Catholic Charities for contracted services, similar to the Church of Planned Parenthood. Catholic Charities, however, is greatly restricted and receives tremendous oversight.

In fact, the religious restrictions placed on Catholic Charities in their adoption procedures forced the closing of their services in several states. The result? Kids were placed back in the system and given to already overburdened case workers.

If Planned Parenthood wishes to continue to receive government funding then, like Catholic Charities, they should need to:

  1. Receive regular medical inspections
  2. Meet the same medical standards as any care facility performing outpatient surgeries which is not on the grounds of a hospital.
  3. Receive payment for specific procedures and stop performing others – or have the medicaid funding go to facilities which do not perform those other procedures.

Video Tutorial: How to Teach a Kid with Dyslexia

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Clara wasn’t ready for kindergarten. We homeschool, so I didn’t make her do it. We just started with first grade the following year, but she wasn’t quite ready for that either.

By the end of first grade, I realized something else was going on. It took 2 whole years to get the IEP for her brother’s speech therapy, so I wasn’t going to go that route again.

I decided to rely on other homeschooling parents, and google. The more I read about dyslexia – or dilexika as she called it – the more I realized that was my girl.

It affects far more than reading. It’s not just individual characters. It’s sentence structure, grammar, math, it’s how she views the world and how she figures it out. It’s different.

That’s the honor of homeschooling. You have the privilege of learning how each one of your kids learns about the world. Unfortunately for teachers, they are given too many kids and not enough time. Every one of my kids learned to read in a different way.

My eldest hated phonics so much that he faked being unable to read. They had told me when he was 3 that he was special ed, so I believed that he couldn’t read. The gig was up when I realized he had perfect spelling, and he was a sight reader. When I started letting him pick the books, comics, his reading progressed to the point that he read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in 5th grade.

The next one hated both sight reading and phonics. He decided to just memorize the english language. He was able to do it. His spelling is atrocious though.

My third kid was a dream and let me actually teach her using the teaching materials. She was reading by November of kindergarten.

The fourth one brought some spelling cubes to me at the age of 4.5 and asked me to teach him, so I did.

Clara came in at number 5 and had zero interest in anything other than playing and sports. Every attempt at teaching reading was met with tears. She couldn’t get past sound blends by the end of first grade. She was trying to memorize the english language, but didn’t have her older brother’s talent.

She was doing fine with math, but learning it in a different way than her older siblings. I realized that she was teaching herself in her head to do the manipulations in a unique way. We use Right Start for math, which values teaching kids strategies and encourages them to solve problems in the way that makes the most sense to them.

I don’t recall why I first started thinking it could be dyslexia, but I’m glad I started asking in homeschooling Facebook groups. Someone had recommended the Blast Off to Reading series and it was an incredible relief. It teaches the complex rules of the english language in an easy format and does rely heavily on pictures for word association. They also incorporate spelling right into the reading lessons.

No more tears at reading time. She can do sound blends. Most importantly, she’s progressing every day. She’s not reading paragraphs from the Bible, but she likes reading and likes learning every day and that’s good enough for me.

It has also taught my other kids to be compassionate. They were a huge help when her older brother was denied speech therapy for two years. His older siblings helped do the speech exercises with him, so that by the time he was finally approved for therapy, they said he didn’t really need it any more.

With Clara, the kids were not as compassionate. They could see that Luke had a physical impairment, but thought she was lazy or just misbehaving or worse, dumb.

I explained that we, all of us, see things differently. Clara assembles both words and numbers in her head in a very different lego pattern than what they are used to. She has taught herself in her own way, and makes her own associations. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Each morning since my mom was diagnosed with an illness, I’ve been having Clara facetime with her while she’s doing her reading. Clara loves the attention, and my mom loves being involved.

This morning, she couldn’t get my mom on the phone, so I stepped out of the room for a minute. When I came back in, I found her filming herself reading and talking through her thoughts. I thought it was fantastic and could possibly help other kids and parents. Enjoy, other than the motion sickness in the first minute. The video does a great job of showing how she sees the words and letters.

The Real Reason We Pray at Abortion Clinics

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I gave some more thought to the woman who was marching her daughter in to the clinic to “remove” her grandchild. She screamed at us that she didn’t want her daughter on welfare.

I know many progressive, enlightened people who would agree with her. “We” don’t want more people on welfare, so this is the best solution. The authors of Freakonomics even credited the declining crime rate to increased abortions – making the conclusion that the criminals got killed off before they could commit the crimes. Not sure how they explain present day Chicago.

“We” don’t want to pay for more poor folk, so let’s just get rid of them before they can become a drain on the system.

Never mind compassion for the mom who may have made a mistake, or the dad who may have just been laid off from work.

Never mind the irony that we call this free choice, when most of these people feel like they have no choices.

Let’s kill the offspring of the drain on our system, so we don’t have to pay for them.

These enlightened folk are the same people who demand the right to health care, and the right for illegal immigrants to get free college education. But don’t let those illegal immigrants have a surprise pregnancy. We wouldn’t want to pay for their kids. No, better to “take care of it” by asserting their “right” to kill their young.

How about we give all people real, educated choices? How about we show real compassion for people in whatever situation they find themselves? Let’s actually get out there and help, rather than pointing fingers.

If this were truly about compassion, then the first thing a clinic worker would say is “I’m so sorry this is so hard for you. Let’s look at how we can help your family best succeed. Here is all the aid available to you – both public and private. Do you need emotional support? It’s available at [insert the name of a charitable organization].

Why must this be about numbers? Both about abortions performed and babies saved. It’s about neither. It’s about family health.

The family that makes the decision to kill their young to save finances, will tear itself apart. The mother that feels forced into that decision by her boyfriend, spouse or parents will live with unbearable grief for years.

Rather than cling to “rights”, let’s see about helping her feel whole. Let’s get her all the support she needs. And for goodness sake, let’s remove the guilt of putting another child on welfare.

THAT’S WHY WELFARE IS AVAILABLE.

If you know someone who needs love and compassion and real help, here are some resources. Please leave comments below with more resources and I’ll add them in.

And to be fair – here is the official “unbiased” help Planned Parenthood offers when someone finds themselves in an unplanned pregnancy. Note the descriptions given of Crisis Pregnancy centers and the scary word at the end of the option on adoption. Yes, that one is true, but the inclusion of that word at that particular moment could be rather terrifying to someone in that situation.

There are no resources offered regarding how to get help if a woman decides to raise her child. Also, despite the fact that a minor may not take tylenol without parental permission, read the last line of their article.

Please leave a comment and explain to me how Planned Parenthood’s official advice is unbiased.

Goyim Hamentashen

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goyim hamentasen

I was raised Jewish, and cherish the rich history. My kids know well, the family background and my love for some Jewish traditions.

Growing up, Purim was the tribe form of Halloween. We got to dress up and go trick or treating in the Temple (I was reform, so it was not called synagogue).

Of course, every girl wanted to dress up as Esther.

A few weeks ago, I decided to teach my little goyim how to made yummy hamentashen. As usual, I was missing a key ingredient – apricot preserves. We substituted with whatever jam was handy.

We tried to use Duff Goldman’s recipe, but were also missing the plain brandy and poppy seed filling ingredients. I used apricot brandy and decided I now love apricot brandy.

This was a wonderful opportunity to discuss religious persecution and its hidden benefits.

As a reform Jew in New York, my whole religious identity was bound to the holocaust, not so much worshipping God. Sunday school did teach about Jewish culture and some prayers, for which I’m forever grateful. I can still recite the Sh’ma.

Personally, my great-Aunt was part of the resistance in Poland, along with her husband. Both they and their toddler son were killed when the Nazis discovered that their pharmacy was aiding the resistance.

In 1930s Poland, much of the Jewish population was assimilated. Many were more Zionist than religiously Jewish. That was my family.

As you can see in the photo above, my daughter has red hair. It’s from my grandma. It seems to be a dominant gene in my family. 3 of our 7 kids have red hair, which is not a semitic trait. At some point my family must have assimilated with some red haired slavs.

The religious persecution against Jews in Europe, prior to the Holocaust, while traumatic and unfair, did have one big benefit. It kept them Jewish for the most part, whether they worshipped God or not. It kept the little tribe from a backwater Roman province alive and well for over 2000 years.

Every time persecution went away, assimilation quickly followed. Assimilation is the quickest possible way to kill a community. Ask the Babylonians. They wanted to destroy the Jewish identity of those northern 10 tribes of the Jewish people. They didn’t kill the people. They just treated them decently, but made them intermarry and settle elsewhere. Pretty soon, they were known as the Samaritans and no real Jewish identity.

Basing religious identity on terrible events 50 years prior, does not fill the need for God in every child’s heart. As St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

Almost every Jewish teen I knew, who was raised reform, grew up and married a Catholic or became Catholic. Some became nothing. Some became unitarian. But those seeking God mostly found their way to Catholicism, in my anecdotal experience.

Why? Because the liturgy is the same. It’s familiar.

There’s a tabernacle.

There’s a cantor.

There’s readings from the Old Testament.

There’s an ever burning candle.

Even the prayers are identical…. Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh… Holy, Holy, Holy… same prayer.

There’s some Jesus dude. So that was a bit of a hurdle for me. Ok, almost a job stopper.

But there’s also something else that Judaism was lacking for me. One true authority. I’ll continue that in another post some day.

Getting back to persecution…

I was raised to easily recognize persecution and call it out. So here’s where it gets just plain weird. I never experienced religious persecution as a Jew. Maybe because I grew up in a land where I thought all people were Jewish or Catholic (New York). I didn’t know there was any other religion until I was 12.

But here I am, Catholic, and I experience it all the time. Even from other Catholics. But just like historical religious persecution, aside from the Holocaust, forced Jews to decide if they were going to assimilate or truly worship God as their ancestors did, today’s publicly-accepted Catholic bashing forces us to choose.

We can hide our religious belief behind political correctness. We can avoid topics that involve things such as absolute truth. We can be silent while our Facebook friends rail against everything we can hold dear. Or we can sacrifice our reputation for the sake of the Truth. We will soon likely be forced to choose.

I was raised by a Communist and a Socialist and taught to fight publicly accepted doctrine. I was taught to fight authority and challenge propaganda.

I stand before you, to the horror of my parents, putting their lessons in action.

I CHOOSE GOD.