Thank-you Devin Nunes

Our local representative to Congress voted NO on the bailout plan (McCain and Obama both called for it's passage...snakes). I want to say a HUGE thank-you to Mr. Nunes for having the guts to stop this insanity. He said in his dissent, "Taxpayers should not be liable for Wall Street risk-taking" and that in passing the bill we would have taken "a dangerous step toward socialism by nationalizing the bad debt of Wall Street. The very foundation of a free market rests upon government not doing exactly this."


Finally, someone I can actually vote for that speaks the truth.

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

Alexis de Tocqueville

At Least They're Cute

We have 11 cats (count 'em .....11) enjoying a rather fine standard of living here in the Garver house. We feed them expensive cat food, take them to the vet when they are sick, occasionally even get them fixed (ok, in that area we have been a bit remiss). They have been allowed to remain here even after we catch them red-handed doing their business somewhere other than the litter box. Almost weekly I threaten several of them with being carted off to the pound but I almost never follow thru....honest.

For the last few weeks a rather pesky and voracious little mouse has taken up residence in one of our pantry cupboards. The kids are often startled while searching for a snack when the little creature darts off in an effort to escape. Last week, after having to tell my husband why he couldn't find the craisens (I'm sure the mouse found them quite tasty) I removed everything I thought was edible except food in jars and cans (mice eat candles...did you know that?).

I find it a bit odd that in a house with so many cats, one small mouse can manage to avoid detection and death. Yesterday, I got an inkling of why that is so. Wilson had opened the door to the pantry and yelled at me that the mouse was up there again....then he quickly grabbed Mr. Woods (our male tiger cat) and set him on the shelf. Being the amiable cat that he is, Tiger settled in to his new surroundings without a blink and looked to be about to take a nap, ala Garfield. I pushed him aside and began rummaging around the back of the shelf (it's a 24" deep cupboard) and after moving a small box in the corner, the mouse jumped out and ran past Mr. Woods, who basically watched as the free meal leapt to the floor and scurried under the desk. At this point Mr. Woods sister kitty, Chicle, ran under the desk after mighty mouse. This desk has a clearance of less than 3inches so just getting under there was no mean feat and Wils and I were giggling as she tried frantically to capture the mouse...her hind legs remaining out from under cover.... spread eagled and violently twitching. Tho she did come away empty handed, she will hereafter be granted immunity for accidents involving missed litter boxes.....and tomorrow, I'm buying a mouse trap.

A Pox on All their Houses

"I dont know why you were told that, but it's not true".

That sentence, that one sentence (or variations of same) has been uttered in virtually EVERY single conversation I have ever had with Verizon.

I don't know why that wasn't explained correctly to you...

I don't understand why the other gal didn't tell you that......

I don't know why my fellow employees are complete idiots (ok, that one's mine, but it does have a nice ring to it :)


...I'd like to send them all to an island somewhere wrapped in heavy chains.....

Humility....

..... I'm gonna get me some of that! Editor called, we had a great chat about writing, re-writing and not liking it when someone makes changes to your stories (she hates it too). I feel SO much better about continuing to write for the paper. We worked out a more efficient system of getting my work in earlier and working together on anything that needs to be changed (the sentence she added was because they needed a final score in the opening paragraph...oops!)

So I come, hat in hand, to make a public apology to my editor, the newspaper, and especially to my dear, sweet, patient, kind, patient, wonderful husband (did I mention patient?) who every day has to listen to my rants about the infinite unfairness of life in general.....poor guy :)

My first Football story

...and quite possibly my last. I was asked to write and shoot pics again for the local paper here in town...the 'once a week only parents read paper'....and yesterday my very first football story was printed. The editor praised my efforts,

I just read your story and it’s fantastic!

The Exeter readers are going to love this. It’s much better than any football article I have ever written for the Monarchs.

Great job!

and then promptly changed the opening paragraph.....UGH!!! And when I say changed, she added just one sentence (just one), but it was a crummy sentence and frankly it ruined the opening. I was tempted to curse out loud (instead I just did it subconsciously....but loudly!!!)

So here on my blog, I will post the story I wrote, my story my way. For the record, I don't think of myself as a great writer; I'm not sure I'm even a good writer. But I'm competent and I get the point across. I can occasionally even be entertaining....but whether my stories are good, bad, or ugly....I want them to be mine (ever the egotistical arteest). If I write crap, I will take the heat for said crap. I do not want someone else's crap under my name. No matter how nice a person I think they are (and she is a very nice person). Whew....

Exeter Slays Mighty Taft 31-7

It may have been that the only people in Monarch Stadium Friday night that thought Exeter could beat the Wildcats from Taft were the ones wearing the blue and gold down on the field. Before the game comments like, “I heard Taft had to bring two buses, they needed a separate one just for the defensive line” indicated that though the crowd came hoping to see a good game, they seemed more concerned with being able to leave at the end of the night without being embarrassed. On the first play from scrimmage, Taft running back Cody Sherriff ran 73 yards before being brought down by Austin Albison at the Exeter seven yard line. Two plays later Daniel Watts scored from the five to put Taft on the scoreboard. One minute into the game and the fears of many seemed about to be realized. The sense of impending doom settled even further when Exeter fumbled the ball on their own 46 yard line and Taft recovered. It looked like it was going to be a very long night.

But then the Monarchs did what only the Monarchs knew they could do. They showed the crowd, the reporters on the sidelines, and most importantly, the boys from Taft what they were made of. They dug in their heels and they held the line, stopping the Wildcats on fourth and three at the Exeter 29. From that play on, the game was all Exeter.

The scoring started slowly, after trading possessions of the ball and with 29 seconds left in the first quarter, junior Jaycee Totty made a leaping interception of a Wildcat pass. The Monarchs took the ball from their 48 yard line and marched down the field on a combination of Cameron Loeffler runs and a 17 yard Andrew Anderson pass to Heath Grim before being stopped on the 15 yard line. At 10:26 in the second period, Osmar Macias kicked a 32 yard field goal to put the Monarchs on the scoreboard.

On the next Wildcat procession, the Monarch defense stopped Taft once again and Exeter started marching down the field. With 1:45 on the clock and facing fourth down and seven, Grim caught another Anderson pass to give the Monarchs a first down and the ball on the Taft 15 yard line. Two plays later Loeffler crossed the goal line and Exeter took the lead. On the ensuing kickoff Taft's Watts returned the ball 41 yards to midfield and on each of the next two plays Watts broke away for fifteen yard gains, taking Taft into Exeter territory and down to the 36 yard line. Again the Monarch defense stiffened, this time forcing a fumble which Larry Turner recovered and returned for seven yards. Exeter ran out the remaining 35 seconds and went into the locker room at halftime with the score 10-7. Despite the lead, Exeter fans seemed hesitant to celebrate too early, the sense of ‘too good to be true’ was pervasive; there was still a lot of game to be played.

Questions remained as the team took the field in the third quarter. Would the Wildcats be recharged? Could the Monarchs hold the slim lead? Three points isn't much of a spread with the entire second half looming in front of them and thoughts of taking the field against a team coming off a Division IV Valley Championship season can be daunting. Exeter found itself in a David and Goliath situation, but apparently the hometown boys were familiar with the ending of that story. David doesn't lose.

And so the team of Davids, the team that many thought would be lucky to get out of the game with their health, began the onslaught. The Monarch offensive line took the ball in the opening series and moved up the field 80 yards in a drive that ate close to six minutes of game time and left no doubt in the stadium as to who was in control of this game. Loeffler scored the second of four touchdowns on a carry of six yards, adding to a total that would eventually climb to 270 yards for the night.

After the Exeter defense stopped Taft yet again, the Wildcats punted and the Monarchs promptly scored on a Loeffler run. The remainder of the third quarter and the rest of the game proceeded in like manner. The Exeter defense stopping the Wildcat run game and the Exeter offense controlling the ball, the clock and ultimately the game. Though the MEN in blue and gold scored only once in the fourth quarter, at that point the doubters in the stadium had been quieted and the reality of a win against a powerhouse was all but guaranteed.

Statistics for the night confirmed the unimaginable, the game that most had conceded to Taft before the night began, had been thoroughly controlled by Exeter. The Monarchs had 58 plays on offense and held the ball 26:37 compared to Taft's 45 plays and 21:23 time of possession. Quarterback Andrew Anderson was six of 14 for 53 yards and running back Cameron Loeffler added passing to his repertoire with one of one for 36 yards . Tyler Edwards caught four passes for 54yds. and Grim caught two for 27 yards. Taft completed only two passes for 18 yards and one interception. The Monarch defense was led by Colton Pacheco with seven tackles, Tyler Houk with six and Totty with five and the interception.

"We were outsized, but not outplayed," Coach White commented after the game. Loeffler was characteristically humble in his assessment, praising the offensive line and adding, "The defense played great. We didn't give up after the first touchdown. We couldn't let it get into our heads; we still had to play our game."

And play their game they did.

Relay for Life

My Mom was on the front page of the Newspaper !!!


(caption)
Betty Derr, right, and Joanne Rossetti of the St. Mary's Women's Guild at their booth at the Relay for Life at Mt. Whitney High School track. The event celebrates those who have survived cancer, and remember those lost to cancer with a relay. Teams walk and run around the track for 24 hours and take part in fun activities off the track. Funds raised at Relay For Life help the American Cancer Society to support local services and resources for cancer patients and their families. Funds also go towards cancer research and community education programs designed to teach people how to reduce their risk of developing cancer. This year's fundraising goal is $500,000.


-----------------------

Betty (aka Mom) has been doing the Relay for Life for over 10 years now, as well as working (volunteering) at the Cancer Society Discovery shop. She is amazing in her efforts and the amount of hard work that goes into the Relay is heroic. My dad died of cancer 17 years ago, Steve's mom died of cancer 7 years ago...... we miss them.

A Great Big Pat on the Back

In a perfect world, everything we put into our mouths would be organically grown, whole grain and produced locally...all meat would be hormone free, free-range and humanely treated. I try my best to shop according to these criteria and over the years our eating habits have changed for the better. Tho it is not always possible to make healthy choices and kids do make the effort a bit more challenging (organic mac and cheese does not significantly lesson my aversion to white noodles and powdered cheese) we do our best. Because of our concerns over fuel use, my jaunts to Whole Foods are now relegated to side trips when we travel to Fresno for some other reason but we are still able to find a lot of organic and locally grown produce here in Central California and we take advantage of that fact.




So, I am tickled that some of my propensity for healthy, nutritious and chemical free foods has rubbed off on our oldest son. Living alone for the first time in his life, Brad is having to do all his own shopping and cooking. He doesn't go the fast food route, not much into sodas, and likes to shop at the college farmers market. When he was here this weekend (a quick overnight visit -can't leave his cat for more than one night) he even asked me where Whole Foods was located, thought he might stop on his way home. Beaming with pride (they actually listen) I gave him directions from his apt. to the store. How pleased we are to relate that he even writes about his experience at Americas premier organic supermarket on his blog. He describes himself as a kid in the candy store....parenting gone right? No, just a 21 year-old standing in front of the organic BEER aisle......we are so proud.

Peppers

Years ago when the kids were small, I canned quite a bit... mostly peaches, tomato sauce and salsa. I would buy culls from the local packing houses and spend days putting up fruit for the winter. Fruits and tomatoes are apparently all highly acidic and so require only a water bath to insure a safe storage life. Today I canned peppers...Anaheim peppers...that I use in salsa and enchiladas (as well as this really yummy chili cheese appetizer that my Mom discovered:) The garden is continuing to wind down and every day I try to dig up and amend another area for future winter garden usage. Today it was some of the peppers, the mildly hot ones....we leave the sweet bells in the dirt as long as possible because we want to eat every last one of them.



Ok, so it turns out that because peppers are not highly acidic they require a pressure canning process to insure the higher temperature that is needed to kill the botulism bacteria. I have never used a pressure cooker before...in my life. Tho my Mom did, quite often. I remember many an evening coming home to the sizzle and rocking of the weight on top of the cooker letting out steam. But I never quite got it, and frankly these contraptions have always frightened me. I see the bomb potential in misusing them and tho I finally do get it (when you increase pressure while keeping volume constant the temperature goes up) I remain wary....it just seems to be a perfect
I Love Lucy episode...another misadventure in the kitchen.


BUT... I am determined to master this fear and learn to preserve more of our garden bounty. Our little freezer simply can't handle any more stuff but we have plenty of pantry space.
So this post is less a recipe for home canning than a glimpse into what might be a future ptomaine poison outbreak in the Garver house. Time will tell.


I blackened peppers under the broiler for about 5 minutes each side. Then I stuck them in a paper bag for about 15 minutes to make the peeling easier....peeled and de-seeded.



While the peppers were steaming in the bag, I realized that the pint jars I had bought at the grocery store were much too big for the amount of peppers I had and for the recipes I would be preparing in the future. So I walked down to the local hardware store and bought a dozen half pint jars.




I layered the peppers into the 4 jars (after sterilizing) and then filled with boiling water up to 1" from top. I thought the whole head space issue wouldn't leave much room for peppers but they seemed to pack in there pretty well and they are such adorable little jars.

I placed these in the pressure cooker that I borrowed from my Mom. Tho not the same one I grew up with (I think she actually wore that one out :) it was new...and safe.....I'm sure of it (China has the highest safety standards....correct?)






Here's a shot of my gerry-rigged rack system (hey, the rack kit sells for $29....eek!). I made it from a pie crust protector and one of those beer-can-up-a-chicken cooker thingies (don't ask) that I cut in half.




After closing the lid, turning up the heat to high and letting the steam escape for 10 minutes, I closed the valve, turned down the heat, and let it go (and prayed that I wouldn't be scraping pepper pieces off my ceiling). 35 minutes later....kitchen intact, I turned off the heat and waited. No way was I going near that pot until it is completely cooled off...what a whus.


So, here are my 4 cute little jars of roasted peppers. I am strangely proud of myself right about now; 6 months from now when we are all retching in the ER after an enchilada supper, I may feel differently. Today, I am smiling.

Pesto!

With fall coming soon (at least that's what they keep telling us) it was time to pull out the basil and make one more batch of pesto for the winter.



I use a combination of two recipes for my Pesto, one that blanches and one that uses the basil fresh. I divide the leaves into 2 bowls....the lighter, smaller, more tender leaves go into one, and the bigger, tougher leaves (to be blanched) go into the other. Not sure it makes that much of a difference, but I think blanching helps to soften the bigger leaves and the un-blanched (is that a word?) give the Pesto a greener more intense color. For this recipe, I have about 6 cups of each...12 total.



After washing (and dividing) I quickly dip (in and out) the big leaves in boiling water...this cool strainer tool is a huge help scooping the leaves out.






A quick dip in the ice bath, and then onto a white t-shirt to pat dry.










At this point the basil looks identical to cooked spinach, it also serves to shrink the 6 cups of leaves down to about 1/2 cup of green glob (sounds yummy...no?)





In food processor, grind together.....1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan,
1 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts, 5 cloves minced garlic. Add Basil and 3/4 cup olive oil and process. You can add salt and pepper to taste but usually the Parmesan is enuf to do the trick.







Ready to go into the freezer....along with the batch I made earlier in the summer, this should get us thru the winter! (I actually made 2 batches this day...5 bags plus a container that went into the fridge)



Can't make fresh pesto and not use it! For lunch we had whole wheat pasta, sauted onion and peppers (still pulling these guys out of the garden:) and tomatoes. Mix hot pasta with several tablespoons of pesto and a touch of olive oil...add veggies....Yum!

I think I hate them

Got our Verizon bill yesterday....$819. That's the final bill plus 3 early termination fees of $175...each! When I called to explain that I didn't terminate early, I was ending my acquaintance (servitude) with Verizon on the contract end date, the confused little man at the other end of the phone (and on the other side of the world) had to put me on hold....5 times...(count'em 5) to finally credit my account. But "you will have to pay the $69 that we had subtracted for the Sept. bill" (of course I will). I foolishly asked if he could give me the final bill amount and was put on hold again...this time I do believe he went on his dinner break because after about 10minutes (I'm not kidding) I finally just hung up. But hey, it wasn't a complete waste of time....I read 2 chapters of my book while I was waiting :)

Cabernet Grape Juice?

Someday, we would love to try making our own wine (actually tried it once with different grapes and got vinegar...sigh). We planted these 2 vines about 4 years ago, got them from my brother and sister-in-law, and they are quite productive. Rather than just let the grapes rot on the vine and because they were pretty tasty, we decided to make juice.


Wash thoroughly, if only to get rid of spiders so kids will continue helping (wimps).





We actually do a bit more cleaning than is necessary...the juicer will take the fruit stems and all but then it has to be cleaned out much more often, so we get rid of as much stem as possible.

After washing we pour grapes into Juicer (bought on ebay...love it!)





This is a view of the insides of the machine....

















I also strain the juice, you can see how much pulp makes it thru the juicer.








And the final stage of juicing ...dumping the pulp on the compost pile....nothing is wasted in the process....yea!


Seems like a lot of work for just 4 bottles of juice, but it feels better to not let the grapes go unused...and the juice is delicious. My favorite way to drink it is with sparkling water added ...what we call fuzzy water in the Garver house. I think it was Sam who coined the phrase when he was around 5....that's how it tasted to him...and the name stuck.

You gotta see this :)

Thanks to my brother John for sending it!

Broccoli soup

Kind of strange to be making soup when it's 90 degrees outside but hey, I had leftovers. This is another of those quick lunches for us (I love that DH rides his bike to school and that it's close enuf so that he can come home for lunch). Our oldest son likes this soup so much that whenever we have broccoli with dinner (which is alot) he wants me to make extra so he can have soup the next day.

Ingredient portions are kind of iffy because it depends on how much broccoli I have sitting around. This day it was just a small amount, probably a single crown, cooked. So I sauteed about a half inch slice of onion, diced, in butter and olive oil....added 2 tablespoons of flour to make a roux. Just as it was starting to color, I added about a cup of chicken broth and stirred to thicken. Meanwhile, I used another 1/2 cup of broth to mush up (technical term) the broccoli in the food processor. Add to onion broth along with a bit of grated Parmesan and about a half cup of cream....optional, but why?

Even in the heat, this was a good meal. We had it with whole grain bread ...and butter....but no wine. Steve had to get back to torturing the youth of America and needed to be sober :)

Steve and the Beanstalk

I have no idea what the hand signals mean that my wonderful husband is making while standing in the garden (but don't you love the German tourist thing he's got goin'....black socks and all :) I just wanted to show the scale of the pole beans in the background that are threatening to overtake the playhouse (aka storage)....Steve is 6'2"...these are some big-ass plants. Too bad I didn't save the pkg. from the seeds....if only to avoid buying them next year. Oh, I don't mind the size, it's actually a wonderful way of hiding a rather unsightly storage area for junk. It's just that for all their glory these vines put out only a minimal amount of beans, about enuf to provide a side dish for one meal....sigh. The bush beans were so incredibly prolific, and pole beans are usually more so. I figured we'd be freezing enuf green beans to get us thru the winter....bummer. I did save the pkg. from the bush beans....Classic Slenderette...those I will be buying again...in bulk!

Choices

About 5 years ago on a Sunday morning, just an hour or so after attending an uplifting service at the Visalia EV Free church, the Garver family walked out of our local Wal-Mart.... drained. I remarked to Steven that Wal-Mart just sucked the church right out of you; it left you feeling depressed and discouraged. That was it...no more Wal-Mart...and we haven't looked back. Around that same time we also decided to forgo eating at McDonalds....after watching Super-Size Me, the mere thought of McDonalds made us ill.
Even my kids got on the bandwagon (tho Wils still has a penchant for junk food and neither of the young teens in our house can grasp that energy drink is a euphemism for SODA) Tho we do think that both of these commitments is important, neither of them is exactly a hardship as there is always a Target or In-and-Out Burger nearby to satisfy the craving for salt, fat, and cheap blenders. So lately we have been chatting about possible new resolutions beyond not shopping at the local mega-store. We are considering various bans on buying clothes and country of origin...

....we'll keep you posted.