This recipe comes courtesy of Shaker RachelB who noted that: "this recipe requires either a food processor with a shredder blade or a box grater and mortar and pestle. It should make three servings."
Pesto for banh mi
If you’re using a large food processor, the pesto will mix better if you double the quantities.
1 ½ inch piece ginger, peeled
1 shallot, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large jalapeno (or 2 smaller medium-hot chili peppers); more to taste
cilantro, one generous bunch, including stems, washed and dried as best as possible
a few leaves of basil
a few leaves of spearmint
peanut oil or neutral vegetable oil
juice of ½ lemon (or more to taste)
salt to taste (I undersalt the pesto, using about ¼ tsp. so the boyfriend, who likes fish sauce, can use fish sauce on his sandwich without getting salt overload)
Place the ginger, shallot, and garlic in the food processor or mortar and pulverize. Add chili(s) and pulverize. Add cilantro, basil, and spearmint and pulverize. Pour in, little by little, enough oil to make a paste. Mix in lemon and salt, adjusting to taste.
Banh mi
2 carrots, or 1 carrot and 1 daikon
rice wine vinegar
1 baguette
soy sauce (or fish sauce if you prefer)
pesto (see above)
1 pkg. baked tofu (if you can find something marinated with chili and lemongrass, that’s the way to go)
Shred the carrot and/or daikon using a grater or food processor. Set aside in a bowl and toss with a splash of rice wine vinegar.
Cut baguette into desired portion size. (Basically, I cut a length that will fit in my toaster; if you are using a toaster oven and want a longer piece, go to town.) Then slice the baguette piece in half the long way. Pop in toaster.
While the baguette is toasting, slice the marinated tofu thinly enough so that everyone can have some.
Spread the cut side of the toasted baguette with pesto and dot on some soy sauce if necessary. Place tofu slices on top of one piece, mound on some marinated carrot/daikon shreds, and add the top half.
We usually have pesto and carrot/daikon shreds left over, but we eat up all the tofu. In this case, leftover pesto and carrot/daikon shreds are also good on rice (or good in spring roll wrappers with some crushed peanuts).
If you have a recipe that you'd like to share with the Shaker community, email it to me at: shakergourmet (at) gmail.com -- include a link to your blog, too, if you have one!
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Hi!
This weekend, Iain and I took Dudley to a fundraising event for the rescue who saved him. It was the first time he'd seen his foster dad, Jeff, who's also the president of the organization, since the adoption. Jeff, who will eternally have my respect and trust because he was totally honest with us about Dudley's "problems" (shyness, anxiety, easily spooked, submissive urination), couldn't even believe that the confident, social, affectionate dog who greeted everyone with a happy grin was the same dog he'd left with us not even two months ago. He, and all the other rescue volunteers there who'd known Dudley, were amazed at his transformation from shy little piddler just off the track to the self-assured and happy boy who came striding in at our sides.
Jeff told us that he never expected Dudz to be such a confident and extroverted dog. "He was so spooky," he marveled, shaking his head. Hearing someone who knows greyhounds so well, who has dedicated his life to them, express such surprise at how thoroughly Dudz has come out of his shell, how well-adjusted he is, made me so happy and so proud of our little doggy guy.
I told Jeff he did do some submissive peeing, but he got over it quickly; I told him how I laid quietly on the floor with Dudz a few times a day when he first arrived, matching my breathing to his, just two strangers who weren't so very different, to let him know he could trust me. Jeff shook his head with wonder and delight.
Already, it's difficult for me to recall that shyness. But it all comes back when I look again at the picture of Dudley that was posted on the rescue's website, the first picture we saw of him, taken just after his rescue from the track:
When I look at that picture now, it makes me cry. Because now I know Dudley; now I know what it would take to make him feel that scared and look that small.
He is big and tall, and his personality is expansive. He is joyful and goofy and (almost) fearless. And I want nothing more than to make sure he always has something to smile about for the rest of his days.
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The rescue is currently in need of both foster and adoptive homes for a large group of greys they're rescuing from a closing track kennel in Florida. If you're in the area (I'm in NW Indiana/South Chicagoland) and would like some information on fostering or adopting, please email me.
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Iowa Rep. Steve King (R-Eprobate), who in March was quoted exhorting Tea Partiers to "beat that other side to a pulp," is back with some more fun eliminationist rhetoric:
King said that under only one circumstance does he support amnesty for illegal immigrants: "Every time we give amnesty for an illegal alien, we deport a liberal."
Which, apart from being a "joke" about the sort of thing that underlies civil wars and genocides, doesn't even make any fucking sense, since Latin@s, who comprise the majority of the US's undocumented workers, are an
increasingly liberal voting bloc, in no small part because of bullshit precisely like this.
Just like everything else in his head, Rep. King's math is wrong.
Meanwhile, Digby
notes the irony that the organizer of the event where King made the statement says "the goal of the movement is to unite America the way it was immediately following the 2001 terrorist attacks." (Rep. King is a uniter, not a divider! Unless you're a liberal. Then divide yourself to fuck, lefty trash!) And Atrios has
a lolsobful comment about the nostalgia for that time of national unity.
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See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
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Today's Blogaround is brought to you by Jango Fett in Comme des Garçons:
Image description: a fashion illustration of Star Wars character Jango Fett in casual designer clothing by Comme des Garçons, including a bright multi-colored sweater vest.
(This being the internet, there is of course
an entire collection of Star Wars fashion illustrations, called
He Wears It. Via
The Selfish Seamstress.)
s.e. smith at FWD/Forward:
US Signal Boost: New ADA & section 508 regulations – public comments due today June 21Andy:
150 Protest Marine Gay Bashing, Hate Crimes In Savannah, GAThe Nation's 2010 Student Writing Contest asks,
how has your education been compromised by budget cuts and tuition hikes? . The contest is open to high school and college students, including those receiving degrees in 2010. Entries accepted through June 30.
Details at The Nation website. (H/T
Racialicious)
There is discussion in parts of the science blogosphere lately about how
work-life balance advice is usually offered only to female scientists, and
calling upon male scientists to discuss how work-life balance problems affect them. A couple of men respond, including Prof-Like Substance:
The balance and PalMD:
How did we get here? See also
Zuska's take on calls for bloggers to write about specific subjects.
Writer and Nobelist
José Saramago has died at the age of 87. More from NPR:
Jose Saramago, Nobel-Winning Novelist, Dies At 87Please note that there are both compliments and criticisms to be offered of Saramago, and there is no deliberate intent or will to whitewash his life or work in this mention of his passing. More links and respectful discussion welcome in comments.
Writer/Activist
Carlos Monsiváis has died at age 72. More from
The Latin Americanist and
Professor Zero.
Scott Gavura:
The Science of Dosing ErrorsSamia:
How to choose a PhD project...?Diandra Leslie-Pelecky at Cocktail Party Physics:
things are often not what they seem to be...Sew, Mama, Sew!:
Enter the Make It, Wear It! Challenge! "Submit a photo of clothing you make this month in our Make It, Wear It! Challenge [...] You could win a SINGER sewing machine or a subscription to Ottobre."
Alexander Chee
continues his June fiction serial, "You're Not From Around Here". See also parts
1 and
2.
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...the stupidest fucking thing I've read in a long time.
Seriously, can I get a gig writing "black is white, up is down" bullshit and get paid for it? This bozo's job consists of writing the same "what you think is true is actually the opposite!" column over and over and over, unless he's taking time out to write a "book" with the same theme. My first column will be: "The moon actually is made of green cheese!"
Thanks for those bootstraps, mom!
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[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]
Several people have sent me this article about Rape-aXe (which used to be called Rapex, as those who participated in previous discussions here on the subject will recall), a female condom developed by Dr. Sonnet Ehlers which is lined with "jagged rows of teeth-like hooks" that attach the condom to a man's penis during penetration; rendering it removable only by a doctor. (To be clear: He can pull out; the sheath comes with him.)
The primary objective of the Rape-aXe is a deterrent, the hope being that men who know it exists will be less inclined to rape. And in South Africa—where Dr. Ehlers designed it in response to the country's urgent rape crisis, and where women desperate to protect themselves against rape will insert sponge-wrapped razor blades into their vaginas before venturing outside—some convicted rapists with whom Dr. Ehlers spoke say it may have deterred them.
I'm not particularly inclined to believe that; what I find more compelling is the secondary objective of serving as evidence of sexual assault, as doctors tasked with removing the object will be able to work with law enforcement to connect perpetrators with their crimes. Though, the cynical part of me wonders how long it would be before private removal of the Rape-aXe becomes its own cottage industry.
One of the arguments against the Rape-aXe is that it will lull women into a false sense of security, which I frankly find laughable; there's no sense of security to be had when you're walking around with a proxy vagina dentata in the fervent hope that, if you get raped, maybe the $2 apparatus in your cunt will help convict the asshole who did it.
And on the other end of the spectrum, there is the argument that the Rape-aXe necessarily keeps women in a heightened state of terror.
It's also a form of "enslavement," said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. "The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to."
Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.
"It not only presents the victim with a false sense of security, but psychological trauma," she added. "It also does not help with the psychological problems that manifest after assaults."
Hmm. Well. That doesn't particularly resonate with me, either. I'm certain for some women, that could be true. But for others, it could feel empowering. Insert broken-recordery about how women aren't a monolith and all that.
The criticism which does resonate more strongly with me is that using the Rape-aXe could expose women to retributive violence, particularly since gang rape is prevalent in South Africa. If one guy is debilitated with the Rape-aXe during a gang rape, that leaves several other men to wreak immediate vengeance. And that is worrying.
Still, that concern must be balanced against the potential positives, which also include increased protection against the transmission of HIV/AIDS, another serious concern in South Africa.
Where does that leave me? On the fence.
I don't think the Rape-aXe is something I would personally opt to use, but it is certainly a tool I would support making available to other women.
And, in a broader sense, I wish we weren't having a conversation about an item that tasks women with rape prevention in the first place. Which is not a criticism of Dr. Ehlers, nor the women who might want to use the Rape-aXe, because they are dealing with an immediate reality of daily life. It's just so frustrating that all the discussable proposed solutions to a human rights violation as old as humankind are still so heavily skewed toward the victims of that crime, rather than its perpetrators.
Anyway, discuss.
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Comedic genius and all-around bigot Mike Huckabee wants you to know "The only thing worse than a torrid affair with sweet, sweet Nancy would be a torrid affair with Helen Thomas. If those were my only options, I'd probably be FOR same-sex marriage!" Har har!
He's joking! Of course! Because he is totally not for gay marriage. And why not? The ick factor! Duh!
"We can get into the ick factor, but the fact is two men in a relationship, two women in a relationship, biologically, that doesn't work the same," says Huckabee.
Also: Huckabee = biologically a genius! Because when a man sucks another man's dick, it is totes different, biologically, plus when a woman licks a woman's clit, biologically, it doesn't work the same! Ick!
Or something.
[Cross-posted.]
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Question: Would a male Supreme Court nominee be described as "brassy" in a headline by a major news outlet?
Answer: No. Because "brassy" means impudently, shamelessly, insolently, brazenly bold, and thus it is a gendered term, reserved almost exclusively in its use to describe women.
Men are just bold. Women, on the other hand, are brassy, bold in defiance of the expectation that they will not be.
If it's a compliment, it's a backhanded one.
[H/T to Shaker koach.]
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"My pockets are fat!"—Gwen DeVoe, former athlete and model, current fashion-show producer and event planner, and founder of Full-Figured Fashion Week, who "stepped onto a runway in Manhattan [last] week and made a pitch to retailers for the plus-size woman," noting that "Every curvy girl that has a dollar is willing to spend that dollar."
What I like about this quote is how it underlines so pointedly the depth of entrenched fat hatred in this culture. We are as consumerist, greedy, market-driven a capitalist culture as exists on the planet, in which needs are created just to sell products to serve those conjured needs, and yet the existing, vast, easily identified market of fat fashion remains almost totally untapped, even despite its demographic's pleas for product.
(You can read a good interview with DeVoe here.)
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Just a quick note before I head to the afternoon session, I chose the Food Security path as a number of you suggested, and it's been very interesting. Several speakers from the global South spoke with great intensity and feeling about the difficulties they experience, and what we in the North can do about it.
Anyway, I'm off back to the session now. I've met one Shaker today, someone who's never been able to post for some unknown reason (technical, I mean).
Have a good Saturday (or Sunday if you're there already *waves to Shakers on the other side of the world*)!
Edit: Finished the afternoon session, now for a short visit to the reception, then home to my hosts' for a rest. I should have a good several days' worth of material to write on, much of great interest, I expect.
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See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
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