16 September 2020
Three days in a row! I might even get fit if this keeps up. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood with lower humidity, puffy white clouds against a blue sky, and tegu lizards and iguanas keeping me company. Paradise in Fort Lauderdale.
I’ve been trying to keep costs down for food lately. My last grocery order via Instacart was September 9th. It seems all that does is make the next grocery bill higher. I think today’s order was around $190. First, the prices charged at the grocery store are higher than they are if you go in. Add to that a shopper fee (waved if you sign up for Instacart – for a price) and a tip, and it can get expensive quickly. It doesn’t help that most fresh vegetables, fruits, and vegan dishes are higher also.
My goal today was to make vegetarian tamales. I admit, I’m a tamale freak. It goes back to the days when Mom and Dad would either go to Jackson to get tamales from a stand below the bridge over the Pearl River as you pulled up next to Dennery’s Restaurant. They were the absolute best and I’ve never had a tamale as good since.
There was also someone who made them in Morton in Keen Inn. Not sure who that was but they were very similar to those made in Jackson. I like them so much that I’ll even eat the canned tamales from grocery stores and you have to be pretty desperate to do that.
A few years ago, I made some pork tamales from a recipe on the web. They were pretty good but not as good as those of my childhood. I even bought a book on tamales but apparently, event though there is a tamale fanaticism in the Mississippi Delta, the only recipe in the book was the same one I got from the web.
Anyway, I decided to try a vegetarian version. To make the masa, I didn’t use lard like I did the first time but used a vegetable oil and instead of beef broth, I used vegetable broth. It worked fine.
There’s something about the preparation of them that is relaxing. I soaked the corn husks in hot water, made the masa, made the filling, and proceeded with an assembly line.
The filling in this case was fresh corn cut off the cob, roasted poblano peppers, roasted jalapeno peppers, onion, and one of two cheeses: manchego and Monterey Jack.
After wrapping the tamales and steaming them for 60 minutes, I added some salsa verde to the top. They really turned out tasty. There’s a lot of prep time and a lot of time spent rolling the tamales and tying them, but it is gratifying and satisfying.
I made 24, ate three and froze the rest. All you do is defrost them, let them come to room temperature and steam. You can also put them in a baking dish in the oven and cover with either a red or green enchilada sauce.
The superintendent of Broward County Schools told the school board today he wants to get back to in-person classes by October 10th. I can’t help but think that’s a bad idea. Both the state new case load and the Broward new case load increased today. It had gone down for two days in a row but now is inching back upward.
There are a lot of things I dislike about the Trump administration. I particularly dislike Trump knowing the severity of Covid-19 and downplaying it, admitting he did and as recently as last night denying he downplayed the virus. Consistency is not his middle name.
However, one thing really irks me more than that and that is his comments about soldiers, walking wounded, prisoners of war and our war dead – they are losers in his eyes.
My Dad was not a loser. He fought in the Pacific theater in WWII and was called back up during the Korean conflict. That he survived both is a miracle, one for which I am grateful. When he found out I was going to be drafted during the Vietnam conflict, it was one of the few times I saw him tear up. He told me that if there was any way he could serve for me instead of me having to go into the military he would do it. I eventually enlisted for four years in the U.S. Coast Guard.
As far as I know, until the day he died, he still had nightmares about both wars. He felt WWII was a duty to his country and since he signed up for the reserve afterwards, felt that was a duty also. This was not a loser but a hero – like so many of that generation who did what their country expected of them without question and without prevarication. Donald could take a few lessons from my Dad.
I wasn’t for the Vietnam conflict but I knew I had to enlist or either be drafted. I felt the Coast Guard a good fit for me and it had a significant influence on my life. I’m in contact with former shipmates and duty station mates to this day. I don’t know that I’m a big supporter of the all volunteer army but I do appreciate these people go into harms way to support the policies of the U. S. – even though I may disagree with some of those policies.
Stay tuned and stay safe!
