A Kitchen Witches Corner

I'm determined this year to actually find the time to celebrate some of the festivals this year.  I have a bad habit of forgetting until the last minute, which tends to put a severe crimp on the stuff I get to do.  Sadly, I couldn't get Lughnasad off from work this year, or Samhain, so whilst I can start planning now my activity choices are rather limited.

With this Lughnasad falling on a Monday, I'm going to spend the weekend before preparing.  My boss has given me permission to make some corn dollies and cornucopias and fill them with treats for the guys, since this can be treated as a non-spiritual, general hrvest festival thing.  There isn't, sadly, anywhere nearby that I can purchase wheat stalks, so I'll be using craft straw in bold, Autumnal colours.  I plan on making some mini shortbread bites, shaped into moons and stars and other shapes with my little mini icing cutters, iced gingerbread butterfly biscuits, and candied peel dipped in chocolate, all wrapped up in tissue paper and then stuffed in the cornucopias.

I'm hoping one of the cheaper craft shops around will have plain masks for painting, so that I can make a set of Holly King and Oak King masks, and also some decorative wreaths and candle-holders made from gathered leaves, nuts and dried berries.

The roses out by the front of the house are plump with rosehips, so if they are ripe in time I will harvest and candy those as a sweet treat, and with luck the vegetables in the garden will be ready for picking.  Yellow and black courgette, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and several kinds of pepper, so I should be able to have a fun time making preserves a tasty roasted vegetable selection for the Sunday before.

My recipes for the favours to go in the cornucopias are:

Candied Orange/Lemon/Lime slices
Candied Peel  (I have a plan regarding the fruit peeling method, so that the prepared peel will fall in pretty spirals)
Gingerbread cookies (shaped into butterflies)
Mini Shortbread Bites (shaped into moons and stars and, perhaps, coated in chocolate)

For my neighbours, I plan on making slightly larger cornucopias, with a selection of mini chutney jars, some of the candied peel, slices and rosehips, and with luck some spiced or herbed butter blocks rolled in muslin and tied with decorative raffia, perhaps some freshly baked seed buns.

I'd be interested to know what my fellow Pagans, Wiccans and other harvest celebrators have planned, and how you intend to fit Lughnasad around your working day.

Oh my, yes.

This is something I have to deal with so often, and I the way it is explained here.  But I would also point out that, far from even failing to apologise when men discover that they are trying to lecture me on a subject I already understand, they can actually become quite aggressive and angry if I dare disagree, or assert my own opinion.

A little personal anecdata for you;

In the pub with family, my parents strike up a conversation with a random guy who turns out to be a great lover of popular science.  He starts telling me all about hsi pet theory regarding the pyramids and space aliens and the manner in which they were built, and mentions something that breaks the law of physics.  I try to advise him that one aspect of his theory might not actually be physically possible.

"I really like that idea, but the forces in effect at that sort of velocity would not-"

"And what the fuck would you know about it, any way?"

"It's just that what you're suggesting would break the laws of-"

"You think you fucking know more than me about this?  How the fuck do you figure that?"

"Well, I did study astrophysics."

"Oh."

What amazed me in that conversation was just how aggressive this guy got.  I hadn't done what I was supposed to do.  Women being spoken to, especially about anything involving science or engineering or other "manly" type things are supposed to be quiet.  We are supposed to coo and wow and show awe and respect for the brilliant ideas that the speaking man has.  We aren't supposed to have opinions, or know anything about the subject, and certainly aren't supposed to disagree.  Somehow, this guy didn't see my response as, say, engaging in debate, but as some sort of threat.  At least, that's the only explanation I can think of for the manner in which he started shouting at me, pointing his finger and swearing.

And then when I politely informed him that, actually, I was qualified to discuss a physics-related matter with someone on an equal level, and not be a passive vessel for his brain-seed, he just stopped talking to me, turned away, and started talking to someone else.

Fair enough, maybe he didn't want to debate.  Perhaps this guy was so used to speaking about this sort of thing and getting nothing but "wows" that this was all he was interested in.  If that was the case, then there was still no need for that display of aggression.

I know many, many men who are wonderful people, but all too often even the really great guys prefer to talk at women, rather than with them.  And it is impossible to engage in any sort of reasoned debate, or make any progress in understanding each other, so long as women are expected to shut up and defer to the wisdom of those with testicles.

Observe any group that consists solely of women, and the manner in which they will communicate.  Interruptions yes, but nothing aggressive, and everyone will likely interject wit their own opinions and things to say.  Then observe what happens when a man sits down to join in.  Within a short period, he will be speaking most of the time while the women are silent.  The women don't necesarily shut up automatically, but after they are talked over a few times and their opinions shut out, they tend to just give up.

Also, see here for a great way to possibly help avoid this sort of shit.  A really great post by a male feminist that specifies discussing rape and fear with women, but could easily be extended to any instance where men and women are talking about a subject, and the man assumes he knows more than she does.

The lovely and talented Lesley over at Fatshionista, had a very interesting article up about WLS today.  Go over here for the full post, but I just wanted to draw attention to a particular point...

 

[D]espite the growing popularity of obesity surgery — and the general perception that it’s a shortcut to thinness and good health — it’s no easy path. The American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) in Gainesville, Florida, puts gastric-bypass surgery’s death rate at between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 200. In one AHRQ study, 4 in 10 patients developed complications within the first six months, including vomiting, diarrhea, infections, hernias and respiratory failure. Up to 40 percent of gastric-bypass patients can suffer nutritional deficiency, potentially resulting in anemia and osteoporosis; seizures and paralysis have been reported in extreme cases. Some of these malnourished patients experience bizarre neurological problems, as Wells did. [Emphasis added]

Whoa whoa whoa, hold up there a minute, article! Between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 200? Does that strike anyone else as being kind of a broad freaking range of potentialities? Is that not a pretty horrifying reminder, in fact, that the exact number of casualties from WLS is totally fucking unknown? And is it not likewise horrifying to realize that doctors nationwide are proffering WLS willy-nilly as a cure-all solution for their fat patients who suffer from basically any health condition, weight-related or not?

 
Hmmm... well, gosh, who would've thought that intentionally disrupting a fully functional part of the body could cause it to fuck up?

OH FUCK

Not to sound a little mean or anything, but...

Can someone tell me where I can get good quality eye-bleach to scour out all that I have seen? I'd submit this to PSD, but I don't now where they'd start!

I mean, I could write a whole long piece about the objectification and sexualising of children, and the photoshopping of childhood photos being something that might possibly tell little Suzie she isn't good enough even WITH hours of make-up and hair and careful lighting and posing and training and dieting. But...

I'm just mesmerised.

By those dead, lifeless, creepy little eyes.

When shit likethis is actually being seriously considered by our government?

One can't help but wonder how the value of a human life will be determined.  Will one's value be determined based on the contributions one has made under the NI taxes throughout one's lifetime?  Or the contributions one has made throughout a set period, such as the preceeding 10 years? 

If the first option, then the young, the very poor, people who have been homeless or disabled or otherwise unable to work and pay tax, will be hard hit.  The poor will intrinsically be given a lower value than the rich, having paid less tax overall, and will be denied healthcare that the rich enjoy without problems.

If the latter option, then the elderly and retired, or those who previously worked but have recently hit on hard times, will be the worst affected.  I find it highly unlikely that our "labour" government, so far removed fromt he values upon which the party was founded, will be happy to apply the same upper limit of monetary value to their own lives as to the lives of the general populace, so certainly some inequality will be "justified".

In our failing economy, work is harder to come by.  This is especially true for those who have until now had difficulty finding employment.  My OH was homeless for a few years in his late teens, and only escaped his circumstances when he moved in with me.  He has been looking, without success, for permanent employement of any sort for about 3 years now, and thus far we have simply doen the best we could with lots of temp employment through agencies.  That work is rapidly drying up, and we are already feeling the pinch.  Similarly disadvantaged people, and those worse off than ourselves, will be even less able to cope as work becomes ever harder to obtain.  Meaning overall that the poorer will find their "value" to the government and the NHS reduced even further.

Or would a "moral" basis be put into effect?  Will lifestyle be the clincher for such decisions?  Will smokers be denied cancer treatment?  Will those who drink, even in moderation, be allocated fewer funds for kidney or liver diseases?  Will the overweight be denied medical treatment for... everything... under the current trend to demonise fat as the cause of all ills, against all medical evidence?

How many of us would be that surprised to find exemption clauses included for government officials and NICE employees?

And if this comes into affect, will I be allowed the choice to stop paying NI contributions, saving the money for private medical insurance?  Somehow, I doubt it.

The British government are relying too much on the general complacency and apathy that has infected our populace.  So few of us bother to turn out to vote int he elections, and so few of us bother to speak up against injustice, that they fancy themselves accountable to no one.  It is time that we made it very clear to our leaders that the British people will not stand for this sort of nonsense.  Contact your MP, and his/her rivals in office, pledge your alleigance to the party that pledges to end the slow creep to the right of our government, and make it very clear what your views are, what your opinions are, and that you will vote int he next election, but AGAINST those who have made spin and money-grabbing their career.

How can we have so much money to pour into a failed business like Northern Rock, and the funds to provide massive, multi-course banquets at government talsk regarding the starving poor in third world countries, but cannot afford to treat our own populace?

Right

So.

Could someone who isn't incoherent with rage possibly explain to Sony why this isn't exactly a very sensible marketing strategy? Ans why the image might be considered just a teensy, tiny bit racist?

To be fair, they did pull the ad, and issues an "apology";

 We… recognize that people have a wide variety of perceptions about such imagery and we wish to apologise to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended. In future, we will apply greater sensitivity in our selection of campaign imagery, and will take due account of the increasingly global reach of such local adverts, and their potential impact in other countries.

 
What, I can't help but wonder, was the intended message that Sony had expected people to get from an ad showing an aggresive white model violently grabbing the face of a black model, with lots of overtones of dominance in the poses?

Anyone?

And while I'm at it, does anyone have the contact details for anyone in Sony's marketing department, or their customer relations department?

It can be difficult, being an FA activist when you work and socialise with a group of women that includes two WW dieters, one yo-yo "low fat and calorie reduction" dieter, one woman with an obsession for discussing the content of other people's meals and several people who are not dieting right now, but who see it as a positive thing, and two thin women who have never "needed" to diet in their lives or had to try it, yet still feel able to speak with authority on the matter.

Today, only five of us, including myself, were able to take lunch together.  M, our low-fat dieter, T and J, our WW dieters, and D; a wonderful woman in her sixties who has more sense than any of us put together and whose company I enjoy more than most.

During lunch the conversation turned, as it so often does, to dieting.  As usual, I prepared to spend lunch not talking, and mostly not listening, as these conversations have really been getting old of late.  To my surprise, M made a point of telling T and J not to get "too obsessed" with their diets or take it "too far".  I was able to take part in the conversation by warning them about the obsessive nature of my diets over the years, and noticed a look of slightly concerned recognition on their faces.  They didn't agree with me, and wanted to deny it, but they knew the horror stories I was telling personally.  I didn't get to say as much as I would have liked, which is probably a good thing as I tend to blather, and I would rather they hear my side of things in spits and spats than in some awful rant.  T and J, of course, proceeded to reassure us that they were not obsessed, that they certainly aren't going to become the sort of people that count every point and weight htemselves twice a day; the sort of people who think about nothing but food and always want it, and who starve themselves all day in preparation for a night in a restaurant, spending the whole day week prior telling everyone how excited they are to be about to go and eat barbeque ribs, or whatever.

And then M, who was most vocal and whom they seemed most concerned with convincing, got up to have a smoke.

And then D and I watched.

T: ... That salad was yummy. 
J:  Yeah, really nice.  It didn't even need cheese or meat or anything.
T:  Or bread.  Or dressing, either.
J:  Sometimes all you need is some lettuce and onion and peppers and tomato and cucumber just all on its own.
T:  Yeah.
...
T: ... I... kinda fancy something sweet now, though.
J:  I'll have something sweet if you do!  (Yay!  An excuse to be a naughty girlie!)
T:  Not sure if I should though...
J:  How many points was that salad worth?
T:  Oh god, I forgot to check.  Have you got your WW calculator with you?
J:  Yeah, of course.
T:  So what was it?  Lettuce, onion,
J:  Peppers...
T: Yeah peppers, tomato and cucumber.
J:  Did you have sweetcorn?
T:  No I didn't have that.
J:  Oh good, me neither.
T:  So, lettuce is worth 1 point.  Is that for a whole lettuce or for a serving?
J:  How big is a serving of lettuce?
T:  Let's say a point for that, then.  Peppers are 2 points per pepper.
J:  I'm going to assume I had half a pepper in my salad.  (Note; they had about a tablespoon of peppers each)
T:  Right so, add the onion and tomato, and just in case we got it wrong I'll add another point and that's... 6 points each for the salad.
J:  How many have you had so far today?
T:  Well I can have 20, I had 4 for breakfast, so I've got 10 left.  Plenty!
J:  Great!  Let's get some chocolate!
T:  Oh, actually, I don't know what I want for dinner.  Should I leave some points spare?
J:  Don't they have those sugar-free, fat-free reconstituted cereal bars?  Those are only a point each.
T:  Let's have one of those each, then!
J:  If we split one we could save points for a snack later as well.

And if you were bored out of your skull by halfway through that, you know exactly how I feel.  In case you were wondering, they never did buy their sweet treat.  They spent 10 minutes dithering up by the snack bar, carefully examining the wrappers of all the diet-branded snacks before finally deciding to "be good".

I was very good.  Not once did I grab them by the throat and yell JUST STOP!  JUST STOP DITHERING!  YOU'VE EATEN LESS CALORIES THAN THE W.H.O DAILY RECOMMENDATIONS EVERY DAY FOR THE LAST 3 MONTHS!  IF YOU WANT CHOCOLATE EAT IT!  IF YOU DON'T WANT IT, DON'T HAVE IT FOR THE SAKE OF IT AND JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!

So, yes.  Not obsessed in the slightest.

It's also a little unnerving to eat in front of people on WW and other diets.  T and J do this; they watch you.  They stare at your food.  On the plate, then they watc to see how much you load on the fork, and watch you put it in your mouth.  It's creepy.  D had bought herself a little chocolate bar, but wasn't hungry for it after all so just left it, wrapped, on the table in front of her.  And they kept on looking at it.  All the time, and if anyone dares buy a dessert, they go on and on about how "unfair" it is to eat something "nice" in front of them.  It's like the food they eat on WW has become a form of self-flagellation, and now they can't stop dreaming about the day that it stops.  In this case, I think this desire for something sweet stemmed from D's chocolate bar, since they also spoke at length about how "terrible" it is to leave it out like that. and how they are just so weak, if there is any sweet food in the house they just CRAM it all in!  They just can't help themselves! 

I can't help but wonder if perhaps they would have more self control around food left in the house if they just ate what they wanted, when they wanted, and did their best to get plenty of nourishing, healthful vegetables and fruit and beneficial oils in there.  Isn't that the whole point of WW in the first place?  Eat what you want and lose wieght?