And Justice For All...

Tonight I am posting because I'm feeling all sorts of things and not sure how to process, so this is one outlet. By now much of the world knows that Osama Bin Laden is dead at the hands of United States forces. Listening to President Obama's speech tonight and watching some of the coverage filled me with emotions I forgot I was capable of feeling. Obama painted the picture of what happened on 9/11, and the memories so vividly came roaring back. On that fateful say in 2001 I was an eighth grader at Edgewood Middle School. I want to say I was wearing an orange t-shirt though I'm not quite positive, but I am sure I was wearing shorts. I think I first heard whispers of something happening as I traveled the school hallways, but I specifically remember being in an art class when it was confirmed what was happening. First one tower, then two, then the pentagon, then Pennsylvania, the details kept trickling out. It wasn't until homeroom that my teacher turned the TV on and many of my classmates and I saw for the first time the images of black smoke billowing out of the World Trade Center. I think I felt so many different things, but fear overall, when seeing those images that I didn't know how to process them, so I was quiet. I don't remember the rest of that day until the end. Some off hand comment was made by someone passing in the hallway, and I remember having a profound realization at the age of 13 years old; the United States was at war. At this time the terms "terrorism", "Osama Bin Laden", "Al Qaeda", and "middle-East" were unknown to me, and Al Qaeda had not even taken responsibility yet, but I remember the screaming sense of fear that I was in a generation heading to war, and that my life may be dramatically changing.
In the days following I remember being so terrified and so sad that I just wanted regular TV back. I wanted regular life back. Eventually it got to the point that I couldn't even look at the images of the Towers burning without tearing up, and so I stopped looking. But I also remember the feelings of inspiration and pride of how our nation, especially the citizens, police, and firefighters in New York, came together to present such a feeling of national unity. As a frightened boy, I think these feelings and images helped me to take a step back, breathe, and realize that somehow, one day, we would be ok.

Tonight, I felt many of these same feelings again. To this day it is difficult for me to look at images of the towers burning and collapsing, but I don't tear up like I used to. Obama's speech brought me back to my homeroom where I first was able to truly grasp what was happening. And then it brought me the hope and pride I felt when I saw the stories of national unity. I do find it a bit interesting that the entire country is celebrating death, but I think that's a whole case study on its own. What I do know is that when CNN broadcasting citizens in Washington D.C. tonight running to the north gate of the White House, and standing and joyously singing the Star Spangled Banner, I don't know that I've ever been so proud to be an American. After everything our country has gone through in the last ten years, and the insane happenings in politics in the past few years, I didn't know if I would ever have that feeling again. I only hope that these positive feelings can inject a bit of sanity back into American politics. Even if not, I am incredibly satisified and happy here now in this moment, in this time. I remember where I was when I first hear that Osama Bin Laden was responsible for 9/11. Now I'll always remember where I was when I heard he had been brought to justice. God bless the United States of America.

PS, I was going to type other updates on my life here as well, but as this post is already long, I'll save that for another.

Oooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I'm on a cooking fix, deal with it. This is second time I've made these chocolate chip cookies, but this time they turned out awesome. It's a recipe from allrecipes.com, and I didn't really make any changes. For the longest time I had a problem with my cookies turning out to flat and flaky and I realized I needed to make sure I had enough flour in the cookies. These do. I'm also learning that when a recipe calls for "softened" butter it does mean "melted", and how there is a difference in how whatever is being cooked/baked turns out. Anywho, these are delicious, enjoy!

"Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" by Dora on allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, I don't like nuts in my cookies)



Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

PS, yay for me for posting 4 days in a row!

 

Sirloin Steak with Red Wine Sauce...mmmmmmm

Tonight I made some sirloin steak with a Red Wine sauce. I had never tried this before, but this was amazing so I thought I'd share the recipe. My notes are in Blue.

Steak with Wine Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 pounds beef steak, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, cut into 4 steaks, or 4 - 8 ounce steaks (I had a Sirloin Steak, I recommend using this on a tender steak like a sirloin, t-bone, rib eye, strip, tenderloin, etc)
1/2 cup beef bouillon or dry red wine (I used a Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon, don't know how dry it is but it was great on the steak!)
2 tablespoons softened butter
salt and pepper (I used some Sea Salt I had and that added a great flavor as well)

Put the first amount of butter and the oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. When the butter has foamed and the foam then begins to subside, you are ready to cook the steak.

Fry the steaks on one side for 3- 4 minutes. Turn them and brown on the other side for 3 to 4 minutes, depending on desired degree of done-ness. Remove the steaks to a hot platter and season them with salt and pepper. Keep them warm while you make the sauce. (I had preheated my oven to 275 and kept the steaks warm in a 8x8 glass pan because that's all I had available).

Pour the fat from the skillet. Add the dry red wine (or beef bouillon) and cook over high heat. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan and boil until the liquid is reduced almost to a syrup. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until it has melted. Pour the sauce over the steak to serve.

This is what it looks like just done (it would have looked nicer on a white plate, but this red one is currently the only platter I have)...

This is after I cut it up. The red in the middle wasn't actually that red, I just took it on my phone's camera that doesn't always accurately reproduce colors.

Faith Slightly Restored, For Now

I'll start this off by just stating that yes, I love The Daily Show, and it has become a main source of US news for me. I think Jon Stewart is pretty brilliant, and if I wasn't afraid of the political system killing him, I would love for him to run for office. The reason I'm starting off this way is because this is another post inspired by The Daily Show.

This one is more of a happy note. Tonight New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was on. She has been in the Senate for 2 years and has already done more work than some Senators who have been there years and years. She has been instrumental working on the 9/11 Health Care Bill, Repealing DADT, and several others. This made me realize that despite all the attention paid to idiots in office, we do have some genuinely good people working there, and I really hope they can continue to make a difference, especially in the next two years. I was proud when Gillibrand mentioned Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar as one of the people working on Fillibuster reform, and I know there are some other people in office as well. So, I'm sure sooner rather than later I'll blog about how something in the legislature infuriates me, but for now, here's hoping to more sanity, good work, and progress.

Debate Time - Happy Meal Style!

Hello Anyone who reads my blog! I hope your Holidays were wonderful and that if you are back to work or school that your break was great! I spent two and half weeks back at home in Minnesota. It was a good time, and I had the chance to just de-stress for awhile which is always appreciated. I'm glad to be back in my own space, but home is always a welcome break!

Now for my latest blog topic. I was watching The Daily Show tonight and there was a segment on the "Happy Meal Ban" that is going into effect in San Fransisco. I had heard of this but hadn't looked much into it. Essentially the city is banning fast food companies and/or restaurants from giving a toy with a meal that does not meet the city's new dietary standards for such meal. Now the show of course had their own spin on this, but the main message was that by doing this the city is messing in private businesses. This got me thinking. I am not at all educated enough on the business and labor practices side of politics to have strong opinions either way, I just take each scenario as it comes. With this particular issue I can see where the city is coming from, and I can admire that. But I also have some red flags raised about the city mandating these requirements, especially for businesses that are already there, and I kind of think the new law is unjust.

But...now that I'm sitting here writing this I'm realizing how similar this issue is to other recent laws affecting food businesses like no smoking indoors, banning trans fats, etc. I had been in favor of those two laws, especially the smoking one because I can't stand smoke and hate going places where smoking is allowed. But now I'm wondering if laws like this violate our right to operate a private business. And I honestly don't know where I stand. I can say that at River Falls there was a movement to make the entire campus smoke free, as has been done other places, but I was actually against this. As long as people were outside and obeyed the 25-foot from a door rule I was ok. Annoying as it is to walk behind someone who is smoking, whatever, they were outside and I can move. This however was a public government owned property, so different laws apply. Still, now laws like this have me wondering to what extent does the government have the right to get involved in private businesses. When do potential health concerns overrule these limits?

I feel like this is an issue I need more education on. This could be a problem though, to find an unbiased place to look. If I'm correct conservative politics want as little regulation and involvement as possible, and liberals want more regulation. Generally I find myself to lean liberal, I don't hide this. But on this issue...hmm. What do you think? To what extent does the government have the right to step in and dictate rules, at least when it comes to health concerns? I'd love to hear some opinions...

Here's the link to video of the segment on The Daily Show, for some reason I can't embed it here: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-3-2011/san-francisco-s-happy-meal-ban