Having worked in museum collections for a while, this is an issue near and dear to me. Because you know what hoarders, or the folks cleaning out their homes, do? Often, they bring boxes and BOXES of stuff to, ahem, museums. I have found, boxed with "donations," such DEFINITELY appropriate items as decomposing partially-eaten food and dead vermin.
Obviously, that is not how anyone wants it to be. Doesn't benefit the museum. Donors feel relieved, but they are in denial if they think that, for instance, boxes of photocopies or a cardboard-and-macaroni model of a structure constitute actual museum collections materials.
My point isn't "don't donate to museums!" My point is twofold: a.) hoarding is a serious issue, and b.) if you are going to donate to a museum, think it through. Museums are not just free storage. Contact the institution ahead of time, and figure out what they need and would keep. Because I, for one, have spent a lot of time throwing out boxes and boxes of junk that no one bothered to sort or assess for any relevance to the museum's mission and that were just dumped. I understand why folks do it: it gives people a way to feel better about getting rid of things. But the thing is, if it's really junk, the museum is not going to keep it, and they ARE going to waste a lot of resources (staff time and trash disposal costs) dealing with it.
This excellent article (The Painful Costs of Elder Hoarding) really lays out a lot of the issues. I, for one, did not know that some companies exist that actually provide a "helping you get rid of stuff" service--for $80 an hour!
I think maybe the most poignant, and apt, part of the whole piece is that, when a place is truly out of control and the hoarder passes, the heirs or executors won't even be able to make enough sense of the clutter to know what were the late person's treasured items. They'll be lost in the flood. And that is a sad thing.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Fish at the dealership!
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| "Have you considered a Subaru?" |
Anyway, it was kind of amazing. I may go back and hang out, just for fun. (Hahaha.) There was free hot cocoa and coffee and a fish tank to sit by and they offered me a carnation on the way out. Fancy-pants.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Women in Innovation Summit: What I Didn't Like
Right, so it was a good summit and all. But you know me: grumpy feminist, never satisfied. Yeah, yeah, whatever.
No, the thing is, here is an actual question from the summit:
And that sounds innocuous. And maybe it is; maybe I'm reading too much into it. But we'll contextualize by saying that one of the panelists then said something to the effect of "when I'm in my masculine mode, I'm getting stuff done; when I'm in my feminine mode, I'm enjoying the ice cream I bought." I find that super problematic. Useful skills are not, by definition, masculine; feminine skills, by definition, are not non-skills and indulgences.
For everyone who knows me, I had that look on my face when this was said.
Similarly, it was floated that "women's" collaborative style wasn't always as appreciated as "men's" competitive style. What now? My college roommate and I had a sheet of paper where we would write down, ahem, unusual or otherwise characteristic statements made by either of us. (I still have this paper, Caitlin....) One of mine was, "You want to make the other person say UMMMMMM." That is, you want to be irrefutable, unanswerable.. You want to push their argument face-first into the mud.
Which is not to say that I'm mean. (OK, that does kind of sound mean, but it's metaphorical! Not the actual person.) I am, however, pretty ambitious and, dare I say it, competitive?
But, like a well-balanced person of any sex, I ALSO know how to work as part of a team. I do value "soft power" and getting everyone on board and all the rest of the collaborative approach. It's important. But is it "feminine?"
It is such a touchy question, though. People always ask "do women have to become 'one of the boys' in order to succeed?" So I guess the tension is between rejecting the idea that any of these behaviors (being competitive, any other work skills) are inherently gendered vs. accepting that women have special skills (and intuition?) and considering them equal to those possessed by men.
It just gets my hackles up to go to an ostensibly-feminist/womanist conference and find myself being told that I'm probably not very competitive, but it's OK, because I have other womanly skills, like "leading with love." What, am I supposed to be leading my team of colleagues in manicure sessions? Hardly.
But, in conclusion, it is REALLY HARD to go three hours without saying something dumb, so maybe these comments came out as less nuanced than they were meant to be.
No, the thing is, here is an actual question from the summit:
"How can we bring femininity to the workplace?"
For everyone who knows me, I had that look on my face when this was said.
Similarly, it was floated that "women's" collaborative style wasn't always as appreciated as "men's" competitive style. What now? My college roommate and I had a sheet of paper where we would write down, ahem, unusual or otherwise characteristic statements made by either of us. (I still have this paper, Caitlin....) One of mine was, "You want to make the other person say UMMMMMM." That is, you want to be irrefutable, unanswerable.. You want to push their argument face-first into the mud.
Which is not to say that I'm mean. (OK, that does kind of sound mean, but it's metaphorical! Not the actual person.) I am, however, pretty ambitious and, dare I say it, competitive?
But, like a well-balanced person of any sex, I ALSO know how to work as part of a team. I do value "soft power" and getting everyone on board and all the rest of the collaborative approach. It's important. But is it "feminine?"
It is such a touchy question, though. People always ask "do women have to become 'one of the boys' in order to succeed?" So I guess the tension is between rejecting the idea that any of these behaviors (being competitive, any other work skills) are inherently gendered vs. accepting that women have special skills (and intuition?) and considering them equal to those possessed by men.
It just gets my hackles up to go to an ostensibly-feminist/womanist conference and find myself being told that I'm probably not very competitive, but it's OK, because I have other womanly skills, like "leading with love." What, am I supposed to be leading my team of colleagues in manicure sessions? Hardly.
But, in conclusion, it is REALLY HARD to go three hours without saying something dumb, so maybe these comments came out as less nuanced than they were meant to be.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Women in Innovation Summit
Today I attended a Women in Innovation Summit in Boulder, hosted by the office of Representative Jared Polis. Not quite sure how I got on the invite list, but I am glad I did. If there was a Venn diagram of the topics (loosely, policy, STEM, and entrepreneurship), I would be in the teeny little portion where they all overlap, because I'm trying to get involved in all three (through City of Arvada advisory committees, programming, and a small cottage food industry business I'm trying to get off the ground).
There were three panels, with a number of good panelists, plus introductory and closing remarks, and a brief statement by Former Rep. Betsy Markey and current Rep. Polis.
Panels included:
Recommended resources include:
Sorry I did not take any pictures; my phone was almost out of juice.
There were three panels, with a number of good panelists, plus introductory and closing remarks, and a brief statement by Former Rep. Betsy Markey and current Rep. Polis.
Panels included:
- "Women Entrepreneurs," with panelists Sue Heilbronner (of MergeLane), Terri Fiez (CU-Boulder Research Administration & Support), and Andrea Guendelman (of BeVisible), with facilitator Kerry Underell (of Colorado Innovation Network [COIN])
- "Women in Science and Engineering," with panelists Mari Tye (of NCAR), Kelly Mahoney (of NOAA), Kathay Rennels (of Food and Agriculture Key Industry Network), and Amber Gell (of Lockheed Martin), with facilitator Rachel Hauser (of UCAR)
- "STEM Education and Innovation Gender Gap," with panelists Lucy Sanders (of the National Center for Women & Information Technology and ATLAS Institute at CU-Boulder), Bev Louie (The BOLD Center at CU, including Women in Engineering Program), and Sandra Laursen (of CU-Boulder's Ethnography & Evaluation Research), with facilitator Sarah Miller (also of the BOLD Center at CU-Boulder)
Big topics included:
- Increasing diversity in STEM not just including women but also other historically-underrepresented groups--and also a critique of how "lily-white" Boulder in particular tends to be
- Better tracking of women (and other historically-underrepresented groups) in meaningful positions in STEM
- Mentorship and leadership: women (and other historically-underrepresented groups) supporting each other and building a culture of inclusion
- Subconsious biases that we all have, and working to be aware of that cognitive scaffolding
- Policy suggestions that would help get more women and historically-underrepresented groups in STEM fields, including better maternity (and paternity) leave policies (and without penalizing women in particular over the long term for taking time off), improving K-12 education in STEM, particularly programming/computer science, and improving access for all kids of all socioeconomic categories to early childhood education
- Advocacy and visibility for STEM fields in general: most college-bound kids can't say what engineers do. (I concur: I couldn't have!) How can they be interested in pursuing that field if it's outside their realm of imagination? Especially true for girls and other historically-represented groups, who may find fewer role models who "look like them" in STEM fields.
- Project Implicit
- Strategies for Effecting Gender Equity and Institutional Change
- US Small Business Administration, including the Office of Women's Business Ownership
Sorry I did not take any pictures; my phone was almost out of juice.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Rats & Badgers
This post is a paean to, um, coincidence?
Actually, it's more of a placeholder while I'm working on a handful of posts with reference to public records in the State of Colorado. (They're more interesting than that makes them sound, I promise!) And I know I'm not, like, legally obligated to post every day, but I don't want to get in the habit of missing days. So this is just a sort of fun interlude.
This past weekend, we had Tonks the Rat as our houseguest. She was delightful and sneezey and personable, and only tried to get in my hat, while I was wearing it, once or twice. Tonks' person is from Wisconsin, and is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. As is Bronson Koenig, of the Badgers.
Which leads us to basketball. Tonight is maybe my favorite match-up of the tournament, because I love both Notre Dame and Wisconsin. Can't they both win???
I mean, my family has that whole Irish descent thing going, and the mascot is kind of wonderful. But the Badger is also a great mascot, it'd be fun to see Koenig and teammates get to go farther, and I think it would make Tonks the Rat happiest. And I sure don't want to make that little rat-a-tat sad!
So, in conclusion: yay, teams!
Actually, it's more of a placeholder while I'm working on a handful of posts with reference to public records in the State of Colorado. (They're more interesting than that makes them sound, I promise!) And I know I'm not, like, legally obligated to post every day, but I don't want to get in the habit of missing days. So this is just a sort of fun interlude.
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| Our houseguest! |
Which leads us to basketball. Tonight is maybe my favorite match-up of the tournament, because I love both Notre Dame and Wisconsin. Can't they both win???
I mean, my family has that whole Irish descent thing going, and the mascot is kind of wonderful. But the Badger is also a great mascot, it'd be fun to see Koenig and teammates get to go farther, and I think it would make Tonks the Rat happiest. And I sure don't want to make that little rat-a-tat sad!
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| Badger vs. Irish: #whycouldn'tthisbethefinalgame |
So, in conclusion: yay, teams!
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Spring in the garden: hahahahahaha
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| Spring has sprung, right? That said, we badly need the moisture, so this is all fine. |
Instead I will be hunkered down, myself, with a cup of red tea and the most recent No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency book (The Woman Who Walked in the Sunshine). I haven't decided if this counts for "Read Around the World," and if so, for which country--for those who don't know, the series is set in Botswana, written by an Anglo guy who spent much of his life in Botswana but now resides in Scotland.
There is also a distinct possibility that some cupcakes, muffins, scones, or similar tasty baked treats will be crafted, and consumed, today. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Spring in the garden: yellow jackets
So the last several posts have been more on the "cardigan" side of things; there have also been lots of "possum-y" projects this week, so let's see some of that!
Project 1: Yellow jackets
Argh, so, it was a very warm winter here in the Denver area. We didn't have much cold, and certainly not much VERY cold. So the yellow jackets are out early. In fact, I am not convinced that it got cold enough to kill them. That's a major bummer. We had a nest under our porch and it's hard to access and it didn't become apparent until late summer (when they're super mean), so we figured, eh, we'll just let winter take them out. Since the almost never re-use nests, we figured we'd be good to go. Then we got this stinking mild winter and I'm right back where I left off 5 months ago.
OK, so, time to take things into my own hands! Internet to the rescue! Lots of googling later (this article from the Colorado State University Extension Office was probably the best resource I found), here's the game plan:
Line of attack:
1.) "If it's a big nest and you can't get to it, just let winter kill 'em for you." OK, right, bummer, next step.
2.) Similarly, "Don't leave a bunch of meat and sodas laying around." OK, we're vegetarians and haven't eaten on the porch since probably last October. Clearly this is not the issue. And also, we live in a neighborhood with a lot of other people who MAY engage in these activities, so we can't control that. No help here.
3.) "Shoot 'em with wasp-killing spray." Would if I could. Nest seems to be under the porch, maybe just behind that trellis? Also, that's a giant rose bush in front of it. (Plan Q is to cut down said rose bush on the next cold day--we have at least 3 more days of snow predicted, so one of those. Cutting down said rose bush might give me better access?)
4.) "Yellow jacket trap with pheromones." Check and check. This is my best hope, but I'm a little disconcerted that I haven't caught anything yet. (Yes, I know I've placed the trap WAY TOO CLOSE, per the manufacturer specifications. But I want them to realize that there is another "nest" RIGHT NEXT to where they have chosen, and move out. Also I have three other traps placed in other locations that are more in line with manufacturer specifications, so if this one won't work because I placed it badly, they have other options.)
4.) "They are very visual creatures; make a fake yellow jacket nest and hang it where they can see it. They will relocate." OK, OK, I know this is super goofy, but I will try pretty much anything at this point. I am really trying to avoid having to find a yellow-jacket-proof suit, ripping off my rabbit fence, pulling apart the deck, cutting back the rose and grape plant along this elevation, and then actually being able to spray the nest.
5.) "They don't like the smell of Dawn dish detergent; spray that, diluted, around places they might want to nest and it will deter them." Well, that's not hard, so I tried it. I even sprayed down the fake nest I made with Dawn, because the last thing I need is for them to decide to move into that nest, too!
So far? Lots of nothing. They are still here. And the traps have been in place since last Wednesday, and I haven't even caught a single yellow jacket. Two--no, make that three--possible explanations: too cold still, not flying around enough (doubt it); they aren't actually yellow jackets (I'm pretty sure, but not 100% sure); none of the proposed solutions actually works.
I still haven't tried scattering cucumber slices around--allegedly they don't like the smell of that? And I haven't made one of those home-made traps out of a soda bottle , but I think the commercial traps should be more effective, especially in the spring (since apparently/allegedly yellow jackets want meat in the spring/summer, and sweet/fruity things in the summr/fall)? I have used the commercial traps with some success in the past, but the lack of success this season has been disconcerting.
Anyone with suggestions, please chime in! And I'll try to let you all know if any of these approaches actually works. Otherwise, I may not be able to finish attaching the rabbit fence until NEXT winter, and that'd be a depressing prospect.
Project 1: Yellow jackets
Argh, so, it was a very warm winter here in the Denver area. We didn't have much cold, and certainly not much VERY cold. So the yellow jackets are out early. In fact, I am not convinced that it got cold enough to kill them. That's a major bummer. We had a nest under our porch and it's hard to access and it didn't become apparent until late summer (when they're super mean), so we figured, eh, we'll just let winter take them out. Since the almost never re-use nests, we figured we'd be good to go. Then we got this stinking mild winter and I'm right back where I left off 5 months ago.
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| Yellow jacket turf. You can see the rabbit wire I was trying to attach when, ahem, the hammering woke up some yellow jackets. Not happy (both me and the yellow jackets). |
Line of attack:
1.) "If it's a big nest and you can't get to it, just let winter kill 'em for you." OK, right, bummer, next step.
2.) Similarly, "Don't leave a bunch of meat and sodas laying around." OK, we're vegetarians and haven't eaten on the porch since probably last October. Clearly this is not the issue. And also, we live in a neighborhood with a lot of other people who MAY engage in these activities, so we can't control that. No help here.
3.) "Shoot 'em with wasp-killing spray." Would if I could. Nest seems to be under the porch, maybe just behind that trellis? Also, that's a giant rose bush in front of it. (Plan Q is to cut down said rose bush on the next cold day--we have at least 3 more days of snow predicted, so one of those. Cutting down said rose bush might give me better access?)
4.) "Yellow jacket trap with pheromones." Check and check. This is my best hope, but I'm a little disconcerted that I haven't caught anything yet. (Yes, I know I've placed the trap WAY TOO CLOSE, per the manufacturer specifications. But I want them to realize that there is another "nest" RIGHT NEXT to where they have chosen, and move out. Also I have three other traps placed in other locations that are more in line with manufacturer specifications, so if this one won't work because I placed it badly, they have other options.)
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| Fake yellow jacket nest? I even drew a little yellow-jacket going in the drawn-on "hole" at the bottom, to try to convince them. |
5.) "They don't like the smell of Dawn dish detergent; spray that, diluted, around places they might want to nest and it will deter them." Well, that's not hard, so I tried it. I even sprayed down the fake nest I made with Dawn, because the last thing I need is for them to decide to move into that nest, too!
So far? Lots of nothing. They are still here. And the traps have been in place since last Wednesday, and I haven't even caught a single yellow jacket. Two--no, make that three--possible explanations: too cold still, not flying around enough (doubt it); they aren't actually yellow jackets (I'm pretty sure, but not 100% sure); none of the proposed solutions actually works.
I still haven't tried scattering cucumber slices around--allegedly they don't like the smell of that? And I haven't made one of those home-made traps out of a soda bottle , but I think the commercial traps should be more effective, especially in the spring (since apparently/allegedly yellow jackets want meat in the spring/summer, and sweet/fruity things in the summr/fall)? I have used the commercial traps with some success in the past, but the lack of success this season has been disconcerting.
Anyone with suggestions, please chime in! And I'll try to let you all know if any of these approaches actually works. Otherwise, I may not be able to finish attaching the rabbit fence until NEXT winter, and that'd be a depressing prospect.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Women's History Month: Female Role Models list on OCLC Worldcat
I can't read all the books I want to. It's categorically impossible. That doesn't stop me from trying, though.
And to that end, I've started developing lists on OCLC WorldCat to both save titles I haven't read (so I remember to get them later) and titles I have read (so I remember what I've read and don't read it again later, accidentally!). Since it's currently Women's History Month, I figured I'd share my Female Role Models list (always under development).
Probably my favorite on this list, to date, is Eleanor's Roosevelt's autobiography.
And to that end, I've started developing lists on OCLC WorldCat to both save titles I haven't read (so I remember to get them later) and titles I have read (so I remember what I've read and don't read it again later, accidentally!). Since it's currently Women's History Month, I figured I'd share my Female Role Models list (always under development).
Probably my favorite on this list, to date, is Eleanor's Roosevelt's autobiography.
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| Books, books, books! |
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Differentiating USA-ian Fiction, Pt. 2
One more caveat: I know someone, and very possibly someone Native, has already done this work. But I don't know of it, and if and when I find it, then I will most definitely link to it from here. But I am also not spending a lot of time looking for that, specifically, because I suspect that there is value in the process. And finding more great books is win/win.
So now, still looking at trying to compile a useful list of literary (and other) works by Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian, and Native American (or other term of your choice). And as in the TED talk linked from Read Around the World, the starting place is, really, establishing a decent list of what groups/nations will be represented. And then we're already in a politicized zone, because the obvious place to start is with the list of federally-recognized tribes. (Slightly easier-to-read list over at Wikipedia, but I'm not sure if it's been updated to reflect any changes in the list promulgated Jan. 2016. Checking that, and updating the Wikipedia list, is on my to-do list.)
H/t to my grad school buddy Lee Allen (Native Women's House of the Rockies), who was interested in studying, among other things, how lists like these become official and who gets disenfranchised by this process.
Point being, for my purposes, I'll be hoping and trying to find representative authors from all (or most, or as many as I can find) of these tribes and nations, but I do so with the knowledge that some tribes and nations are not yet recognized. So I apologize in advance for missing anybody, as I know I'm using an inherently-imperfect tool.
So now, still looking at trying to compile a useful list of literary (and other) works by Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian, and Native American (or other term of your choice). And as in the TED talk linked from Read Around the World, the starting place is, really, establishing a decent list of what groups/nations will be represented. And then we're already in a politicized zone, because the obvious place to start is with the list of federally-recognized tribes. (Slightly easier-to-read list over at Wikipedia, but I'm not sure if it's been updated to reflect any changes in the list promulgated Jan. 2016. Checking that, and updating the Wikipedia list, is on my to-do list.)
H/t to my grad school buddy Lee Allen (Native Women's House of the Rockies), who was interested in studying, among other things, how lists like these become official and who gets disenfranchised by this process.
Point being, for my purposes, I'll be hoping and trying to find representative authors from all (or most, or as many as I can find) of these tribes and nations, but I do so with the knowledge that some tribes and nations are not yet recognized. So I apologize in advance for missing anybody, as I know I'm using an inherently-imperfect tool.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Differentiating USA-ian Fiction
I kind of hate using "American" to refer to "from the USA," because, well, everybody in "the Americas" is "American," so it seems imprecise. So bear with me in re: "USA-ian."
So in the Read Around the World inaugural post, I talk about wanting to read all this literature from and about all these places, but to read different perspectives from different social locations. Seems pretty obvious, then, that I could start by looking at the USA itself. And since I worked in AK, a fun-for-me place to start would be Native Alaska, and by extension, Native America. Because I honestly do not know of many Native writers, and I should. So I hope to start looking for more works by Native American (Native USA-ian?) writers.
I'm ashamed to say it, but right now, today, the only Native American literary authors I can name are:
N. Scott Momaday
Sherman Alexie
Ella Deloria
That is just thinking of fiction in the Anglo tradition, so don't worry, I plan to be more inclusive once I get rolling on this project. Like I would certainly want to include Nora Marks Dauenhauer, but I was thinking more for her history works and narratives; I didn't realize until just now that she also wrote poems and short stories, which is clearly "literary" writing. Which brings me back to "I have a lot to learn"--even the folks I have heard of, I don't know the extent of their writings.
So in the Read Around the World inaugural post, I talk about wanting to read all this literature from and about all these places, but to read different perspectives from different social locations. Seems pretty obvious, then, that I could start by looking at the USA itself. And since I worked in AK, a fun-for-me place to start would be Native Alaska, and by extension, Native America. Because I honestly do not know of many Native writers, and I should. So I hope to start looking for more works by Native American (Native USA-ian?) writers.
I'm ashamed to say it, but right now, today, the only Native American literary authors I can name are:
N. Scott Momaday
Sherman Alexie
Ella Deloria
That is just thinking of fiction in the Anglo tradition, so don't worry, I plan to be more inclusive once I get rolling on this project. Like I would certainly want to include Nora Marks Dauenhauer, but I was thinking more for her history works and narratives; I didn't realize until just now that she also wrote poems and short stories, which is clearly "literary" writing. Which brings me back to "I have a lot to learn"--even the folks I have heard of, I don't know the extent of their writings.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Another Belated Holiday: St. Pat's
Right, so leading off with more excuses AGAIN. Spent most of St. Pat's finishing an application to Ada Developers Academy (which looks like an amazing program, they must get a bazillion applications), cooked colcannon, the subject of today's post, and then got sucked into NCAA basketball.
Did I mention I am from Kentucky? Of course I did. And what's the one thing Kentucky can almost always do well? Basketball. So it's, like, carnival season for Kentuckians, even non-sports-aficionado ones like me. (Obviously that ends by the time people start talking about, say, football. Keeps us humble, I hope.)
So anyway, I should have known better than to plan to do anything once I'd started watching ball. What can I say? Hope springs eternal. So here I am, back to do what I should have done last night.
Vegan Colcannon
I get so tickled by people who think they need to tell me that my St. Patrick's food is not, ahem, "authentic." I mean, clearly. So if you are looking for authentic, travel on, because this is not it. What this is, however, is very yummy and easy and seems Irish-y enough for good holiday fun. And as one of the millions of Americans of Irish descent, that's good enough for me. (Although this article, about what St. Pat might have really eaten, is super interesting.)
I got this recipe from VeganYumYum. Their site appears to have been compromised, and hasn't been updated with new content since 2012, so keep that in mind if you decide to visit. (I don't include the link because I don't want folks to click and then end up on a compromised site, without reading these caveats, but you can easily find it via google if you want to visit them anyway.)
As per usual, the recipe is adapted a bit to how I made it, not verbatim from VeganYumYum.
Colcannon
30-40 minutes, including chopping time and cook time
Did I mention I am from Kentucky? Of course I did. And what's the one thing Kentucky can almost always do well? Basketball. So it's, like, carnival season for Kentuckians, even non-sports-aficionado ones like me. (Obviously that ends by the time people start talking about, say, football. Keeps us humble, I hope.)
So anyway, I should have known better than to plan to do anything once I'd started watching ball. What can I say? Hope springs eternal. So here I am, back to do what I should have done last night.
Vegan Colcannon
I get so tickled by people who think they need to tell me that my St. Patrick's food is not, ahem, "authentic." I mean, clearly. So if you are looking for authentic, travel on, because this is not it. What this is, however, is very yummy and easy and seems Irish-y enough for good holiday fun. And as one of the millions of Americans of Irish descent, that's good enough for me. (Although this article, about what St. Pat might have really eaten, is super interesting.)
I got this recipe from VeganYumYum. Their site appears to have been compromised, and hasn't been updated with new content since 2012, so keep that in mind if you decide to visit. (I don't include the link because I don't want folks to click and then end up on a compromised site, without reading these caveats, but you can easily find it via google if you want to visit them anyway.)
As per usual, the recipe is adapted a bit to how I made it, not verbatim from VeganYumYum.
 |
| My pictures are not as pretty as the originals, sorry |
30-40 minutes, including chopping time and cook time
Four main-dish servings (for us, anyway)
4 Cups Chopped Potatoes, VeganYumYum recommends Yukon Gold, we used Russett
Garlic powder, to taste
3 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
4 Cups Chopped Kale
2 Cups Chopped Seitan
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1-3 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
2-4 Tbs Soy Milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
3 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
4 Cups Chopped Kale
2 Cups Chopped Seitan
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1-3 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
2-4 Tbs Soy Milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
1.) Chop potatoes into app. 1" cubes. You can peel, but VeganYumYum didn't and we didn't. Boil in salted water until mash-able (soft but not waterlogged, in her words), about 30 minutes for us, and we like them on the soft side.
2.) Chop your seitan into bite-size pieces (if you make your own, as we do, or if you bought slices or larger pieces). Go ahead and wash your kale and tear the leaves also into bite-size pieces. Sometimes I am lazy and start the seitan cooking before I do the kale, and then I tear the kale directly into the pot: you can do it, but it doesn't always come out the best.
3.) Once your seitan and your kale are in nice little pieces, melt your butter in a pot large enough to hold your potatoes, kale, and seitan: you're going to put them all together soon. Once the butter is melted, dump in your seitan to brown a bit. Stir frequently, to keep it from sticking and burning. But it's not a big deal if it does a little--you are going to mash the seitan later, so it's not important that it stay in big pieces. It's fine if it falls apart, tears, etc.
4.) As your seitan is browning, sprinkle in the desired garlic powder. VeganYumYum uses 4 cloves, which is 1 tsp powder. Then add your kale and soy sauce and keep stirring periodically. You want the kale to get nice and wilted. Takes about 5 minutes.
5.) By the time the kale/seitan mixture is done, the potatoes should be done, too. (If not, just turn off the kale/seitan, cover, and leave it on the burner to stay warm.) When the potatoes are done enough--test with fork--add them to the kale/seitan mixture. I like to do this with a slotted spoon rather than draining the pot (so I can use the potato water for other things, if needed), but you can do whichever you prefer. Stir together.
6.) Mash the potatoes, kale, and seitan together, adding soymilk or potato water as needed to achieve your desired consistency. Sprinkle on nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to taste.
This is pretty delicious and easy, and is totally appropriate for a weeknight, non-St.-Pat's meal. I am told you can use cabbage in place of kale for a more authentic variation, so do that if you have a half-bag of coleslaw mix in the fridge and no kale.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Belated Pi(e) Day
I truly was going to be punctual and post a Pi(e) Day post on ACTUAL Pi(e) Day, but then the boss got demanding and I got pulled away to deal with other things.
Other things?
I did, however, get it together to make an actual (and vegan) pie. As per usual, I failed to follow an actual recipe, because, you know, I didn't have all the ingredients for a single recipe, but I totally had the ingredients for two half-recipes, so that works. So I present:
It's not as pretty as the ones it's based on, but it's pretty delicious. It is the crust from this Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Pie with the filling and order-of-putting-together of the No-Bake Black-Bottom Peanut Butter Silk Pie from Vegan With a Vengeance.
If you, too, Gentle Reader, want to make this hybridized pie:
* Be forewarned that the crust did not cohere for me. That doesn't bother me: I just spoon the crumbs that don't stay in the crust on top, but if it DOES bother you, well, forewarned is forearmed.
*They really are very similar recipes. The non-VwaV version uses coconut milk and agave nectar instead of the agar, water, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and vegan-milk-or-creamer-of-your-choice. The non-VwaV also uses twice the amount of chocolate, so factor that into your decision-making process.
And if you truly want to make it exactly as I did:
1.) Make your pie crust, described on the link above.
2.) Make your ganache: Put together a makeshift double boiler (small saucepan placed in a larger skillet filled with water) to melt 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips. Recipe says to melt chocolate and then add the soymilk, but honestly, I heated them together and stirred until smooth and melty.
3.) Spoon delicious melty ganache into prepared pie crust, pretty much covering the bottom. Recipe says to reserve a few tablespoons to drizzle over the top; that sounded messy and hard, so I just used it all on the bottom of the pie crust.
4.) Make the filling!
4a.) Blend together until smooth: 12 oz extra-firm silken tofu (vacuum-packed, like Mori-Nu), 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (yes, REALLY), and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. This was challenging for my blender: I kind of blended it as well as I could, but waited until adding the additional liquid, in 4b, to make it truly smooth.
4b.) Boil 1 1/4 cups water; stir in 3 tablespoons agar. Stir constantly until dissolved--takes about 10 minutes. The recipe suggested that your mixture would have reduced to maybe 1/3 cup., and that you should add additional liquid (coconut milk, soy creamer, rice milk, soy milk, etc.) to bring the total additional liquid to 1 cup. I still had just under a cup of liquid, so I just added a tablespoon or so of soy milk. This probably means I should have boiled the agar even longer, but it still turned out OK.
4c.) Add your 1 cup additional liquid to the mixture in the blender, and blend some more, until smooth and incorporated.
5.) Put together your pie! Your ganache in the pie crust has probably firmed up nicely by now, so you just slowly pour your filling in, and smooth with a spatula. If you did as you were told by the original author, you have saved a few tablespoons of ganache, which you can drizzle over the top, and then run a butter knife through to make a pretty pattern. If you're me, you skip that step.
6.) Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge (or freezer). VwaV says to refrigerate for at least 3 hours; the linked recipe above says freeze for at least 30 minutes; I refrigerated for around 2 hours, and it was fine.
7.) Lick all available spoons, spatulas, blender parts, etc. No salmonella here! ;)
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| The boss, Lily (brown lop), with her snuggle-bunn, Marshall :Throws cat-bell toy: "Ahem, WAITER?!?" |
 |
| Garter snakes either, um, hatching or making more garter snakes. Did not actually require any action on my part, just kind of fascinating. Although it did remind me to re-mulch that bed. |
If you, too, Gentle Reader, want to make this hybridized pie:
* Be forewarned that the crust did not cohere for me. That doesn't bother me: I just spoon the crumbs that don't stay in the crust on top, but if it DOES bother you, well, forewarned is forearmed.
*They really are very similar recipes. The non-VwaV version uses coconut milk and agave nectar instead of the agar, water, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and vegan-milk-or-creamer-of-your-choice. The non-VwaV also uses twice the amount of chocolate, so factor that into your decision-making process.
And if you truly want to make it exactly as I did:
1.) Make your pie crust, described on the link above.
2.) Make your ganache: Put together a makeshift double boiler (small saucepan placed in a larger skillet filled with water) to melt 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips. Recipe says to melt chocolate and then add the soymilk, but honestly, I heated them together and stirred until smooth and melty.
3.) Spoon delicious melty ganache into prepared pie crust, pretty much covering the bottom. Recipe says to reserve a few tablespoons to drizzle over the top; that sounded messy and hard, so I just used it all on the bottom of the pie crust.
4.) Make the filling!
4a.) Blend together until smooth: 12 oz extra-firm silken tofu (vacuum-packed, like Mori-Nu), 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (yes, REALLY), and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. This was challenging for my blender: I kind of blended it as well as I could, but waited until adding the additional liquid, in 4b, to make it truly smooth.
4b.) Boil 1 1/4 cups water; stir in 3 tablespoons agar. Stir constantly until dissolved--takes about 10 minutes. The recipe suggested that your mixture would have reduced to maybe 1/3 cup., and that you should add additional liquid (coconut milk, soy creamer, rice milk, soy milk, etc.) to bring the total additional liquid to 1 cup. I still had just under a cup of liquid, so I just added a tablespoon or so of soy milk. This probably means I should have boiled the agar even longer, but it still turned out OK.
4c.) Add your 1 cup additional liquid to the mixture in the blender, and blend some more, until smooth and incorporated.
5.) Put together your pie! Your ganache in the pie crust has probably firmed up nicely by now, so you just slowly pour your filling in, and smooth with a spatula. If you did as you were told by the original author, you have saved a few tablespoons of ganache, which you can drizzle over the top, and then run a butter knife through to make a pretty pattern. If you're me, you skip that step.
6.) Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge (or freezer). VwaV says to refrigerate for at least 3 hours; the linked recipe above says freeze for at least 30 minutes; I refrigerated for around 2 hours, and it was fine.
7.) Lick all available spoons, spatulas, blender parts, etc. No salmonella here! ;)
 |
| Daffodils rescued from the impending snow |
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Read Around the World!
Right, so this was an idea I had a while ago, in my previous bit of gap-time between my last two jobs, and while working 40 hours a week and commuting 15 hours a week and so on, it didn't happen. I got several books in, but I didn't get the blog up, and I didn't plan to do it all in a year. But even if it had, Ann Morgan would have beaten me to it. So credit where due: her TED talk is below; associated recommended works are here.
But the fact that she already did it is not going to stop me. (Which, of course, is not her goal at all!) I'm going to charge ahead, but I plan to do several things differently. First, I have a reading knowledge of Spanish, so I plan to read as much as possible in the original. Her point about the poverty of offerings in non-North American and -European works offered in English translation is well taken, though. It's a good point, how existing power structures and market structures essentially dictate the literature available to us.
A few other points of expansion: I would be inclined to include more territories, rather than necessarily limiting myself to sovereign nations recognized by the UN. This makes it messier, of course, but also more comprehensive, bringing more voices to the table. In the same vein, I'd like to be as inclusive as possible, in terms of divisions within the country. Of course, you can't get total representation, but at least some of the broad lines--indigenous literatures and immigrant literatures will both provide interesting insights. My anthropology studies dealt mostly with Native Alaska, specifically in the Southeast, so--spoiler alert!--expect the Dauenhauers and some missionary literature to both show up here.
Hopefully eventually I'll get a mashup going for this project, but for now, we start with tagged reviews. Don't be too surprised if ethnographies and children's and young adult literature show up, too.
And a point of contraction from Ms. Morgan's project: she clearly got lots of recommendations and assistance from her social network. I'm not doing an appeal like she did, although if anyone out there is reading and has an appropriate recommendation, I'd be excited to hear it! I will certainly end up piggybacking on her suggestions for those countries with few-to-no works available in English. And in this regard, being later to the party may help me, in that more works may have been translated (if applicable) and/or distributed more widely.
And (last paragraph starting with "and," promise) if anyone is reading this and wants to beat me to it, one resource I know I'll use (aside from Wikipedia) is Longitude Books, which has a useful clickable map for recommended reading "about" many countries. Clearly not all are written by people from these countries, so some sifting will have to be done if that was all you were interested in. I have found both good literary works and good natural history works through them, so it's certainly been a good place to start my search.
But the fact that she already did it is not going to stop me. (Which, of course, is not her goal at all!) I'm going to charge ahead, but I plan to do several things differently. First, I have a reading knowledge of Spanish, so I plan to read as much as possible in the original. Her point about the poverty of offerings in non-North American and -European works offered in English translation is well taken, though. It's a good point, how existing power structures and market structures essentially dictate the literature available to us.
A few other points of expansion: I would be inclined to include more territories, rather than necessarily limiting myself to sovereign nations recognized by the UN. This makes it messier, of course, but also more comprehensive, bringing more voices to the table. In the same vein, I'd like to be as inclusive as possible, in terms of divisions within the country. Of course, you can't get total representation, but at least some of the broad lines--indigenous literatures and immigrant literatures will both provide interesting insights. My anthropology studies dealt mostly with Native Alaska, specifically in the Southeast, so--spoiler alert!--expect the Dauenhauers and some missionary literature to both show up here.
Hopefully eventually I'll get a mashup going for this project, but for now, we start with tagged reviews. Don't be too surprised if ethnographies and children's and young adult literature show up, too.
And a point of contraction from Ms. Morgan's project: she clearly got lots of recommendations and assistance from her social network. I'm not doing an appeal like she did, although if anyone out there is reading and has an appropriate recommendation, I'd be excited to hear it! I will certainly end up piggybacking on her suggestions for those countries with few-to-no works available in English. And in this regard, being later to the party may help me, in that more works may have been translated (if applicable) and/or distributed more widely.
And (last paragraph starting with "and," promise) if anyone is reading this and wants to beat me to it, one resource I know I'll use (aside from Wikipedia) is Longitude Books, which has a useful clickable map for recommended reading "about" many countries. Clearly not all are written by people from these countries, so some sifting will have to be done if that was all you were interested in. I have found both good literary works and good natural history works through them, so it's certainly been a good place to start my search.
Friday, March 11, 2016
What's a "cardigan possum"?
First things first, it should really be "cardigan opossum." But that would border on getting uppity, and the motto of any good 'possum is "don't get above your raisin'." (Non ut elevatio supra? Says Google Translate.)
The 'possum thing? It got its start when I was working as an archivist at the Colorado State Archives. See, I grew up in Kentucky, and I also happen to be fairly, ahem, goofy. One thing led to another, as it so often does, and all of a sudden, wham, I'm the official office 'possum, and we're having regularly-scheduled Cardigan Wednesdays so that we "look more like archivists."
Why a 'possum? Well, lots of reasons. First, they're easy to overlook. They're not particularly sexy. They are not the charismatic megafauna of, well, any ecosystem. 'Possums' have an image problem. But then, they do just kind of bumble along, doing the thankless parts of the job, staying in the shadows, eating the cat food if you aren't careful, hissing and playing dead rather than, you know, running lithely across the veld or fighting valiantly. Kind of endearing, really. Once you get past the hissing and the naked tail. They're just plain ol' 'possums, nothing to get worked up about, good or bad.
And for what it's worth, even though I'm no longer with the Colorado State Archives, they do still have an office 'possum (stuffed), Eleanor, who hangs out at the front desk.
And there we have it. The blog name explained, and the first (and scariest) post hammered out, all in one.
Hello, world.
The 'possum thing? It got its start when I was working as an archivist at the Colorado State Archives. See, I grew up in Kentucky, and I also happen to be fairly, ahem, goofy. One thing led to another, as it so often does, and all of a sudden, wham, I'm the official office 'possum, and we're having regularly-scheduled Cardigan Wednesdays so that we "look more like archivists."
Why a 'possum? Well, lots of reasons. First, they're easy to overlook. They're not particularly sexy. They are not the charismatic megafauna of, well, any ecosystem. 'Possums' have an image problem. But then, they do just kind of bumble along, doing the thankless parts of the job, staying in the shadows, eating the cat food if you aren't careful, hissing and playing dead rather than, you know, running lithely across the veld or fighting valiantly. Kind of endearing, really. Once you get past the hissing and the naked tail. They're just plain ol' 'possums, nothing to get worked up about, good or bad.
 |
| Artists' rendering of me as cardigan-clad 'possum. |
And for what it's worth, even though I'm no longer with the Colorado State Archives, they do still have an office 'possum (stuffed), Eleanor, who hangs out at the front desk.
And there we have it. The blog name explained, and the first (and scariest) post hammered out, all in one.
Hello, world.
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