Pork 'N Beans 'R Back

 We're all trying to cope with cloud breaker costs these days. I often, just for kicks,  use a can of P and B to make my fave chili, adding hamburger meat, onions etc to the mix.  Today I bought a case of my favorite pork, molasses and beans that were going for around three dollars each tin. Instead of using it on "kick" days, I decided to make it one of my standbys in view of affording what I glean from the shelves in this time. While many turn up their posh noses at pork and beans, it's a whole lot wiser nutritionally than those boxes of fake cheese and miniature noodles. You know the ones that kids love. Yuk. Try your kids on pork and beans with some pineapple chunks and weiners. There won't be much left on the plate. You will also pat yourself on the back that you haven't loaded them up on sheer carbs. Beans are one of the replacements in part for protein, being protein in themselves. When you make a casserole out of your new standby PNB, you can have fun adding some cooked lentils and shredded veggies that love to play hide and sneak with the yummy gravy of the beans. Your kids who hate broccoli won't notice much, the greenery. Nor will they shrink away from PNB with added fried onion and bacon playing tag. Putting in other beans such as kidney beans or corn kernels will eventually become partners. The secret is not to overload your additions and always keep the mix sweet. Who doesn't love sweet? My mom was known as a great cook. Her secret was a bit of sugar.  Use a small amount of honey if you have sugarphobia.Taking away sweet from everything isn't going to take away no-eat  frowns. If you are a no-sugar person, brush your teeth after eating. That will do a lot more for you than cutting out all sweets that you know you either worry about constantly or binge on when no one is looking. There are lots of ways to shrink down  your shopping list. Quit the prepped junk and take a bit of time to use fresh. Eat less but better food on the plate. Shuck bulk in the bowl and go for nutrition. Watch for quality over price. Learn where your buck hides best and go hunt. 

Living In Words

 Writing is something almost everyone does. When I had an English class of thirty-five Grade Eight boys and three girls who didn't want to be there, this little old middle aged English teacher had a big job ahead. In the day, we didn't have much assistance for "different" children and these kids came from all walks of life in an up Westcoast setting. Teachers don't sit behind a desk and give orders to kids from nine to three. They have to consider what their classes need to learn to "pass". The job of educators is to educate in a way that allows for ALL to learn.  Apart from the nine to three with young faces before them, teachers spend countless personal hours thinking about and planning what it will take for them to teach thirty-five different kids of different families with different backgrounds. It's not easy, and pay isn't the first thought. The work needs doing and pay isn't the primary goal. These are minds, not papers.  For the class I faced the first day, we looked each other in the eye and instinctively felt what would be happening in the room over the next ten months. This group had only three girls and the rest were all boys. The girls weren't happy to be in the class loaded with young chaps. That was the first challenge. Many of the boys didn't like schooling when they could be out fishing and berry picking and hiking in the beautiful woods or riding out on the sea. The government manual dictating what must be learned during the term, left the "how" to the teacher and I was the teacher. We did get through the year somehow and it was one I'll never forget. First, we made up our own in-class rules so that everyone could learn. What we all had to do, we put on the chart on the wall. Anyone could merely point to it if needed. You could be in the classroom if you abided by the standards we wrote there. The year wasn't all smooth but we made it. We did simple films,  built sets,  we wrote poetry and we found out what makes a fine writer and what is a hack. There are hundreds of examples, not long dull ones but short pieces from the masters: those writings of great beauty and lasting image. Many came from writers where we lived and that made it very palatable. The boys saw that writing was not for sissies. The girls were respected and respected back, as we worked together on our projects that included our own people of the woods around us. It remains a best memory. 

Math Score Myth

 There is some concern on behalf of those who believe in putting a number to everything and feeding it into a computer to come up with some statistics. The statistics in our country say that students in public schools don't have the scores they think they ought. The folks who do this for a living have blind folders on. Ask the majority of people, if you want to use stats, how useful trigonometry and calculus were in their lives and you will come up with the lowest score there is. When I taught little ones during a spate in Primary School, the new fad was Algebra. Hey, we are teaching kids algebra! How smart is that? After thirty years in Education, I came up with some thoughts and one of them is that the Math journey in schools is nonsense. The reason I say that, is most people can't deal with a budget, their mortgage or doing income tax let alone Geometry. Educators ought to take a look at the broad picture and dicount the Academic lane. Students need to learn about life as it is, not at a scale Educators want it to be.  Man is among the most stupid of creatures. Regard other fauna, ones that have four legs, wings, crawl and creep. They have no clothes, create their own homes, search food daily to survive and deal with whatever elements appear. Man can climb the political and religious and health and industrial and entertainment ladders to the very top, and still remain the weakest, most helpless and destructive creatures that abound. They struggle to survive what Nature puts before them. Animals have instinct and learn from each other and yes, fight for their territory but not with a science using the elements other than those that are basic and natural. Animals, feel and react; they spend no time dealing with emotion. They get on with what they need and do it now. One day, when we aren't ranting at kids for their Math marks or other lack of achievements according to what computers tell us is important, we might look at teaching them the most important aspects of surviving every day life without a pill.  We humans have learned nothing as close to what any animal out there or in there, knows naturally, We shall end and they will survive. 

Brat Rearing

 Not all kids are brats but some are reared as such. Nothing they want is denied no matter how the parents struggle with their own household costs. The other day, sitting amongst a group of very fine ladies, the topic was Christmas gifts to give grandchildren. Most of us remembered getting one major present under the tree, usually a doll. I received one doll that I loved until I could babysit and love the real kind.  Her name was Belinda and today Belinda, dressed in her red check gingham dress sits in my memory cupboard, still smiling her bisque sweet look. Her hard body wasn't plastic because during WWII, plastic wasn't allowed. She had jointed head, arms and legs. We held our dolls like  mothers. Bel's eyes opened and shut and I adored her and spoke to her. She knew all of my most precious secrets and wishes. She is silent now because I think she knows far too much about how it all turned out. During this group chat, we women were faced with the cost of what children not only want, but expect to find under the tree. The latest thing one of us said, was "polaroid cameras" and we were delighted because we remembered having them and all the fun that ensued.  Well, no, said the lady, they cost three hundred dollars and I don't think I can manage that what with me barely being able to pay my condo fees.  insurances and taxes. Oh dear, said she, I hate to disappoint my dear grandchildren. There was silence. None of us had money to throw away and none of us worked or had husbands. We were on our own, pushing or being over, eighty. Still, we had to keep up with the "times". One person told us that instead of giving her three teen grandkids, two hundred dollars each this year, she reduced it to one hundred, due to the large levy we had to pay for condo heating boilers that would last far longer than any of us. The talk turned to how demanding kids are now, and that there would be frowns and yelling and tears if the kids didn't get what they wanted. Oh my, is that called a brat? 

Scissor Cut

Scissors haven't changed much since they were invented by the Mesopotamians a few thousand years ago. They were cleverly crafted then, too. One long piece of metal with two ends sharpened in opposite ways, were bent in the middle so that each of the ends met sharply and closely:  snippety snip. The Chinese still produce them from the same company when they began their scissor-making some time later. One particularly cute pair of scissors done in ancient times was decorated in the Egyptian manner, with one blade, a dog and the other a cat. Appropriate. My most used tool in the kitchen, is a pair of scissors and I don't mean the ones that kitchen suppliers sell. Nope. Mine are sewing scissors. Why? When I want to cut something up, I want sharp, not bone cutters but scissors so sharp, not pointed, but dangerously sharp of blade so that when I want carrots thinly sliced the long way, a knife won't do it. Also knives are scary in the kitchen. Scissors are more accurate for some jobs while a knife might take part of you away if you slip up. But they are more safely sharp. I trim beans and peas with them. I trim my lettuce bits that are somewhat worn but only just before serving. I cut lemon and lime peel just the way I like it. I  zest peel using them.  So far I have not had to buy a new pair of scissors because I rinse them off and wait for them to dry thoroughly before putting them back in their drawer. Getting your green onion and herb bits sliced just the size you want, is  best done with scissors, and not the kind for herbs. Your own variety.  Sewing scissors are easy to use and easy on  old fingers as well. Snipping the dough of your bread products just the way you want the slits to work, pays off with scissors. The other day, I used them to get into the stew and cut up the cooked meat just the way I like it. Snip, and there was the perfect chunk. Trimming fat, snipping off fowl skin to even it and so many other ways of using scissors rather than knives, is worth a try if you haven't done it previously.  But don't tell anyone who thinks he or she is a chef. Shhh. Snip.