learning from past Archives - Respect Food Roles

Some Modern-Day Versions of Ma

May 4, 2020April 8, 2020 by Debi Simons

Martha Goertzen, my dad’s sister, who lived from 1924-2019. Image retrieved from the website of LaCanne Family Funeral Services, Windom, MN.

Later today or tomorrow I’m planning to put up a brief exercise video, something you can put to use on your living-room floor, and then I’ll be posting much less frequently on this blog as I concentrate on my other site, Behind the Music. That material is much more heavily trafficked, and I have quite a bit of material on sale there, with more being added periodically. If you’re a subscriber to this blog but not to that one, please take a moment to sign up if you have any interest at all in choral music. I write posts about the music we sing in my lovely, lovely choir, The Cherry Creek Chorale, and I also have several books on major choral works. So take a look! All materials except for the books are free, just to be clear.

I did want to finish up a few ideas about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her estimable mother Caroline. As I mentioned in the last post, Laura and her daughter Rose shaped the narrative as they wrote the Little House books. They re-arranged and sometimes left out events, also giving the impression

How Not to Fall into the “Let’s Make Lots of Cookies During the Lockdown” Trap

March 31, 2020March 31, 2020 by Debi Simons

Have you been encountering articles online about how it’s a great idea to get into cooking and baking during the coronavirus shutdown? Make bread! Make cookies with your kids! Etc. And while I’m all for positive family activities to hold everyone together during these long days, I’d sound my usual note of caution about discretionary eating. It’s all too easy to binge/gorge on food as well as Netflix. Neither choice is going to have a good end result.

Homemade Salad Dressings and Croutons–plus Costco Thoughts

March 24, 2020March 24, 2020 by Debi Simons

This image is copyrighted, but hey! I’m pushing people to go there!

Jim and I made our way to Costco yesterday morning, the first big shopping trip since everything started shutting down. It was my first venture out for maybe two weeks. I had made the prediction that either the parking lot would be empty or that there would be a line out the door waiting for this magnificent place to open at 10:00, and, as usual, neither of my predictions was accurate. Instead, the whole experience was perfectly normal, with the exception of limits on certain items, the fact that a smiling woman was handing out packs of toilet paper, and that other items were missing entirely, notably chicken parts and regular pasta. (I was tickled to see quite a bit of gluten-free pasta on the shelves. Since this snarky comment is in parentheses, please feel free to ignore it.) The lines were no longer than usual; everyone was friendly and efficient, and we were in and out in under an hour. They had even opened early. I came home encouraged that the great engine of American capitalism is probably not going to grind to a halt any time soon, even as many are suffering from its slowing. We’re going to get through this, folks!

A Book to Make You Think, “Hey, It Ain’t So Bad!”

May 8, 2020March 18, 2020 by Debi Simons

I was irresistibly reminded of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter as the cascading news reports have been coming about the coronavirus. It’s so interesting to see the different sources that people are drawn to in responding to bad news. Some want to distance themselves, reading, watching and listening to material as far removed as possible from the real world.

And then there are people like me, who always find it consoling to say, “Well, other people have had it worse.” For some reason, I’m especially drawn to the last days of the Roman Empire. Hey, the Goths haven’t poured into the city, looting and burning! So we don’t have anything to complain about!! And, in concert with about 95 million other people, Jim and I re-watched the movie Contagion this past weekend. I must say, I have some serious issues about the plot, especially on a third watching. Society almost immediately descends into chaos and looting, but then, suddenly, as soon as there’s a vaccine, everyone is lining up perfectly to snort the stuff. (I have no plans to watch it a fourth time; that honor is reserved for Inception.)

Some random health and fitness thoughts

February 10, 2020 by Debi Simons

Last week I needed to get keep a doctor’s appointment in order to refill an expired prescription, so even though it was pretty snowy I got myself out the door and to the office. (My husband did yeoman duty shoveling the driveway multiple times over the course of the storm.) Since it had been over six months since my last A1C test at their office I had them do that, too, and it was:

6.0

Breakfast For a Crowd—Lessons Learned and a New Recipe

September 9, 2019 by Debi Simons

This previous Saturday the Cherry Creek Chorale held the first of four special Saturday-morning rehearsals as we prepare for our October concert. To add a note of conviviality—and to encourage attendance—breakfast is traditionally served at 8:30 before we get to work at 9:00. It’s always hard to know how many attendees to plan for, as it seems to be the case that since Saturday counts as somewhat of a “makeup” rehearsal that can replace a regular one (and we’re supposed to miss no more than two regular rehearsals for any given concert), some people

Party Post-Mortem

October 8, 2019September 1, 2019 by Debi Simons

Saturday night we had the annual Cherry Creek Chorale picnic. I’ve been in charge of this event now for six or seven years and every one has been a learning experience. This year, as for every one except the first three, we’ve had the event at someone’s house and those people did the setup and drinks. Whew! The first picnic I did was pretty traumatic, back six or seven years ago, as it was held at a park. The amount of schlepping we did was a sight to behold. I said, “No more of this!” So for the next two years we had it at our house, which cut down on the schlepping but meant that we had to do the setup. We borrowed tables and chairs from our church and I made most of the

Plans for the Par-Tay

August 23, 2019 by Debi Simons

Tomorrow is the annual member picnic for the Cherry Creek Chorale, with about 75 people attending. I went to Costco this morning to pick up the food for the items I’m making, and I had the same experience that I’ve had many times before: going ahead and getting started on the preparations gave me a shot of adrenaline. I’d been going around in a state of low-level anxiety about this event, but now that the fridge is loaded up with the food and I have a plan for tomorrow I’m looking forward to it.

The Place of Food In Our Lives

July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 by Debi Simons

We are helping to host a group of international students/interns as they attend a two-week seminar on leadership and get some good American cultural experiences. My husband is doing yeoman duty as the van driver, thus freeing up the actual leader to do more interacting with the group, and I’ve been lending a hand here and there. One issue that has come up several times is that some people in the group don’t eat pork. At our first group meal we had various dishes that were contributed. One was a big hunk of meat, wrapped in foil

Sometimes It’s Better to Abandon a Project

June 21, 2019 by Debi Simons

I made valances for our patio door and office window back a year ago, with the window valance still needing to be installed. These added (or will add) a nice finished look to the space. But I had way overbought the material for the valances and had several yards left over. (I don’t think it was very expensive.) So I planned to make throw pillows from the remaining fabric and bought some coordinating stuff to use for trim. I’d come up with a complicated method for making the pillow covers, with mitered, contrasting flanges. One pillow hadn’t come out very well, which was discouraging, but then I decided that