Thursday, February 12, 2009

Everything We Do

Everything we do is for our first loves
whom we have lost irrevocably
who have married insurance salesmen
and moved to Topeka
and never think of us at all.

We fly planes & design buildings
and write poems
that all say Sally I love you
I'll never love anyone else
Why didn't you know I was going to be a poet?

The walks to school, the kisses in the snow
gather as we dream backwards, sweetness with age:
our legs are young again, our voices
strong and happy, we're not afraid.
We don't know enough to be afraid.

And now
we hold (hidden, hopeless) the hope
that some day
she may fly in our plane
enter our building read our poem

And that night, deep in her dream,
Sally, far in darkness, in Topeka,
with the salesman lying beside her,
will cry out
our unfamiliar name.

by Peter Meinke, from Liquid Paper: New and Selected Poems

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Orange and Cabbage Salad



This vibrantly-colored salad can be served chilled or at room temperature. The salad can be made up to two days ahead; just omit the oranges and basil until the day you are serving the salad.

Serves 6 – 8


INGREDIENTS:
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon whole ground mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 small red cabbage (about 2 pounds), quartered, cored, and thinly sliced
2 navel oranges
1/3 cup freshly chopped basil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the onion slices in a medium bowl of cold water and let soak in the refrigerator for ten minutes. Then, drain the onion and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, oil, sugar, salt, and pepper; stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cabbage and onion ad toss well to coat.
3. Cut away the peel and white pith of the oranges and slice into wedges. Gently fold the oranges into the cabbage. Cover and refrigerate the salad, tossing occasionally, for at least two hours. Before serving, fold in the basil.

***Soaking the onions before adding them to the salad tempers their bite.
** Since blood oranges are in season, you could substitute them for the navel oranges and replace the red cabbage with green cabbage to present a salad with equally beautiful colors.

Recipe by Cristina Paul

Monday, February 9, 2009

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought



An Excrement Weekend

Recently, my boyfriend and I were leaving a party in Koreatown and walking back to my car. After stepping into the vehicle and smelling a god-forsaken stench, we looked at each other with accusatory eyes. Had we indulged in too many crazy food combinations that evening? What kind of vile digestive issues was the other person having? But this stank was far too potent to have been delivered in gas form. I worried that a weekend diet of wine, cheese, dessert and more alcohol had taken its toll on someone's undies. Fortunately for us, neither of us had paid for our dietary indiscretions with a case of the squirts. Unfortunately, my carpet had paid for the neglect of a dog owner who must be feeding his pet some pretty gnarly stuff. Needless, to say I was not thrilled about the smelly ride home or the cleanup to follow. It was raining, so I left the carpet outside, sprayed it with disinfectant and washed the carpet again once the rain had subsided. Then  I left the carpet out to dry. After a day of sun, I figured it'd be good to go.  However, when I next checked on the carpet, there was a tremendous splat of bird shit smack dab in the middle of the carpet. I had to laugh out loud. Now, I am contemplating starting the process over or inventing a foolproof process to avoid all varieties of animal excrement.