It’s right there!

Look! Over there!

You didn’t see it? Hmm…. Must just be me then.

Let’s associate!

Today’s word is: bacon

When we say Avenue Q on Sunday, I realized I’d heard one of the songs before: Schadenfreude.

I actually like the song quite a bit–nice and upbeat and extremely funny.

But later I started thinking about the song. And realized that although I enjoy the song, I don’t quite get schadenfreude as a concept. Yes, I know what the word means, and I understand the idea intellectually, but I don’t really feel the concept.

All those teen movies where horrible things happen to the characters for comedy? I cringe. Those YouTube videos of people falling down the stairs or off ladders taking a nasty tumble? I can’t watch them.

Anything along those lines horrifies me. I have to look away and feel almost ashamed at having seen someone’s suffering.

Let me make it clear, I’m not saying I’m a better person because of this. I’m most certainly not a saint, and I will admit to feeling a certain satisfaction when I hear something bad has happened to someone who was cruel to me in the past. But I don’t like to hear about anyone suffering a physical trauma, no matter what they’ve done. And I know entirely too well what it’s like to be laughed at, and it’s a feeling I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

I know there have to be other people who have the same reactions I do. But a whole lot more people seem to get it.

Maybe it’s the fact that (to the best of my knowledge) I don’t have any German heritage.

Since I have this new stove to try out, I need to make lots of different thing. Just to test it out of course. Since Grandmom can eat oatmeal cookies, I decided to riff on one of the recipes I’ve used before.

I’m not sure how I feel about the spices. I might drop the cloves next time, since they’re a very strong flavor.

Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
6 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp half & half
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups coconut
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Cream butter and shortening. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and spices, salt and baking soda and beat until well incorporated.

Add egg, corn syrup, and milk.

Add oats and flour, mixing well. Incorporate coconut and chocolate chips.

Spoon onto greased cookie sheets (or silicone sheets).

Bake 11 minutes.

Cool. Eat.

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Just got back from seeing Avenue Q.

It was good, although prude that I am, the puppet fornication made my blush.

Happy Birthday Grandmom!

You have to wish that you could relax as well and as frequently as cats do.

Thank you Anne! You ROCK!

This weeks game of word association was postponed due to my Veterans’ Day post. But I couldn’t let a week pass without a game, so here we are, better late than never.

Today’s word: Duck

I recently read a fabulous supernatural fantasy called Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler.

Just go ahead over to my book blog and read what I had to say about it there.

91 years ago today The Great War, the War to End All Wars, official ended.

Twenty one years later, the second World War started, and horrors even greater were seen and experienced by soldiers and civilians alike.

On May 26, 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed Armistice Day–a day to honor those who fought in WWI–to Veterans Day, to honor all veterans.

Five years later, the Vietnam War would begin, and the American view of military service would change profoundly.

Of all the war memorials in the US (not including Arlington Memorial Cemetery) I believe that the Vietnam War Memorial is the most profoundly affecting.

The men and women who served during Vietnam were, for the most part, not the brave volunteers of the Greatest Generation, going off to defend our country from an unprovoked attack. Instead, many were drafted, often against their will, and sent to fight a war that was not supported by the American people.

Those who returned home were treated shamefully. Although I was only five when the war ended, I do not remember a time when I was unaware of this embarrassment (lest you think me a prodigal, wise beyond my years, my mother comes from a military family, and her father, who joined to fight in WWII, retired towards the end of the Vietnam War.)

It is because the war was so controversial, and because so many veterans were treated shamefully upon their return home, that I find The Wall so affecting.

It is if, as a country, we suddenly woke up to the wrongness of our actions. To me, the Wall, and the listing of the names of those who died, is in part an apology to each soldier listed there, it makes them individuals remembered for their service that was so unappreciated at the time.

Of course for the current wars, we have digital memorials that are updated daily, remembering those who have died with more than just names. And these memorials are deeply affecting. But nothing compares to standing at the wall and seeing name after name listed. The sheer magnitude of the loss is almost overwhelming.

So on Veterans’ Day, we should remember the individuals who have served, but in remembering the individual losses, we should not lose sight of the vast number who have given their lives in their service. We should remember not just those individuals who served and the sacrifices they made, but also the loss to the country of so many of our sons and daughters.

American Military Service from the Civil War to the First Gulf War
U.S. Military Service During War 41,891,368
Battle Deaths 651,030
Other Deaths (In Theater) 308,800
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 230,279
Non-mortal Woundings 1,431,290

To those who serve, past and present, thank you for your sacrifices so that we may remain free.

Inter Arma Silent Leges
-Cicero

If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.
– Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

It is well that war is so terrible; else we would grow too fond of it
– Robert E. Lee

A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
– George William Curtis

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
– Thomas Jefferson

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
-Abraham Lincoln

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
– Benjamin Franklin

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.
– William Faulkner

The first time I made this recipe I screwed it up. I didn’t allow the toasted coconut and pecans to cool before adding them to the batter. The chocolate chunks ended up melting into the batter so I had more of a chocolate cookie than a chocolate chunk cookie.

This time I made sure to allow the toasted items time to cool. But I think I actually liked the cookie a little better the other way.

On the other hand, my office mate loved them, as did Michael’s co-workers. So it could just be that I’ve never been a huge fan of chocolate chips, and I’d always rather have chocolate, instead.

Chocolate Chunk Coconut Pecan Chews
2 1/2 cups sweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
3 tbsp melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour + 2 tbs flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 oz bittersweet chocolate chunks (I measured out 3 ounces, and then just dumped in the rest)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Toast the coconut and the pecans for 9 to 12 minutes (recipe says 9 minutes, but mine needed 12), stirring frequently.

Set aside toasted coconut and pecans to cool.

In mixer bowl, stir together milk, sugar, butter, egg, salt, egg, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.

Add the flour mixture to the batter.

Remove 1 cup of the toasted coconut and pecan mixture.

Mix in coconut pecan mixture and chocolate. The recipe said to refrigerate the mixture for ten minutes, but the batter was not at all thin, so I moved right along.

Scoop 1 tbsp of dough onto parchment paper covered baking sheets. (You can substitute foil.)

Sprinkle remaining coconut and pecan mixture over the cookies.

Bake, one sheet at a time, 12 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe is from
The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett, which is one of my favorite cookbooks.