EXTREME Liberty Tree Tending

 You know, like Extreme Home Makeover or Extreme Motor Cross.

  I took on a pretty big project just one week ago. I said yes to a request to organize the Tax Day TEA Party here in Twin Falls. Not sure what I was thinking at the moment, but it was questionable if there would have been one without an organizer, so I said yes. Yes, with much trepidation. Three days! I had only three days to pull something together.

  First I needed to figure out what an organizer of such an event had to do. Good thing I had read Rules for Radicals (Alinsky) and Civil Disobedience (Thoreau) just weeks before. Oh, wait. That was Community Organizing! Just the opposite! This event would be all about exercising our rights and not giving them up to someone who says they can get us what we want - for the price of our soul. And this would be about speaking our minds and giving one another support. We would be watering the LIBERTY TREE, not pruning it down to the ground!

  So, I spent the following three days on the phone, checking emails by the minute, scribbling notes, trying to fit in school for the kids (helping their Mom put a Patriotic Program together counts as school, doesn’t it) checking more emails, tracking down mystery speakers, visiting the printer and generally out of my mind with stress. I went to bed with a huge head ache every night and felt like I was spinning endlessly during the day!

 

  I had decided that I wanted the theme to be not one of complaining, but one of encouragement for individuals to get out and do their part, to emphasize the responsibilities that go along with our rights. Last year folks were newly angry and recently frightened about the sudden (or not really so sudden) change in direction our country seemed to be taking. Maybe it was the ‘last straw’ kind of thing, but there was a bit of ranting and raving last year at the T.P. here in Twin and around the country. I was going for a calmer, more constructive air this time. 
   That called for some positive speakers on our beloved Constitution and our responsibilities as citizens and some 10th Amendment thrown in for good measure. Coming up with speakers turned out to be a bit difficult. I mean, asking someone to speak in the middle of the day, on a weekday and with three (or two or one) days notice should not be that hard, right? I was happy to find three diverse speakers who covered their assignments well.

  I also wanted to include children, as that is my main job right now – educating children. I had Cub and Boy Scouts present a flag ceremony, a children’s choir singing The Star Spangled Banner and a children’s trio who sang the first 10 Articles of the Constitution. Very nice! They all came out with signs and their educated opinions about the things that were (and are) going on. I am so proud of the children I know; they understand the issue at hand. They have a love of their freedom and understand where it comes from and that it is our duty to protect it and not allow it to be taken. It must be taken, you know. It is ours, given by God. If we do not stop it from being taken, then we are offering it up to whoever will take it. Staying free requires action.

   There you have it. My spin in the lime-light. It was an amazing amount of mental work to be done in a short time, but it came off pretty well and with only a couple of minor hitches. (Like the four trips I had to make back home after leaving the house that morning and the angry Veteran who took issue with my gold fringed flag. But those are stories for another time.)

   This must be my longest blog post, I hope that you were not too bored. Check back later for the saga of the Jenks Family Egg Hunt. I promised you that and I will provide it.

'Fich' Tacos

I made the yummiest fish tacos last week and I had to make them again already. Writing down recipes is not something I invest much time in. This used to be a tricky problem back in the days of our restaurant, Double Decker. I was always whipping something up for catering jobs and then someone would ask for me to repeat it sometime later. I don’t really know what all the fuss was about, seems like I could have just made them something else yummy and they would have been happy, but that was not always the case. Those who worked with me soon learned to follow me around with a notebook to jot down what I was putting into the concoctions. Fortunately now, my closest friends have learned that if they really like something that I make, they had better call the next day and get the recipe out of my head or they may never see (or eat) it again. I have even been known to call one of them to get my own recipe back.



Anyway, I thought that I might share this idea for fish tacos and therefore preserve the recipe in a more permanent state. I used tilapia filets, but I suppose any fish that you enjoy would work. Halibut types may be a bit too sturdy, but you could try it. I fried the fish in olive oil after a good coating of salt. I have trouble with over cooking my fish, so I was very careful to not do that. I let them cook on one side until they were white (cooked) about a half inch in on the sides. Then one flip for just a few minutes more and they are done. I use one filet per person.


While the fish is cooking, I chop cabbage, cilantro and green onion quite fine. Tiny, tiny, tiny. I used about 4 cabbage to 1 cilantro to 1 green onion. Hope that makes sense. I just chop up what I think I need for the 12 tacos that we eat. I then mix a sauce of 1 part mayo, 1 part sour cream (maybe 1/3 cup of each, see what I mean about a real recipe?) seasoned with cumin (2 tsp?) and a dash of cayenne. Red pepper flakes would be great too, unless you are a wimp like me. I roll a first-rate lime around on the counter until it is nice and squishy and then squeeze out about half of its juice into the sauce. Stir this all up. When the fish is done, you are ready. I just put the fish on everyone’s plate, give them some hard taco shells and they make up their own tacos. Put the chopped veggies/herbs in the bottom, ladle on the sauce and top with chunks of the fish.  I add a bit of fresh chopped salsa to mine with a squeeze of lime. Sj and Heavy D like theirs with shredded cheese. Cj doesn’t like them at all. No one really cares about that, all the more for the rest of us!


So there you have it – my first blog recipe. If my kids only knew how lucky they are to have me and my recipes for a Mom!  When I come up with something else great, I will be sure to share.

Too Much Fun For the Guys I Go Out With !

We cleaned our entire back yard last Saturday. That was quite the job; as you will know if you have seen it lately. We aren’t big on cleaning up in the fall. My philosophy is that all of those dead leaves will keep my perennials warmer during the winter. That must not be true, because they don’t very often come up a second year at my house. I did not inherit my Mother’s green thumb I am sad to say. Or maybe it is the effort – mine will never be equal to hers when it comes to the yard. Anyway, there was a lot of raking and blowing and sweeping and clipping and cutting and hauling of bags and branches and other ascendery trash. I am sure that the garbage guys were thrilled on Tuesday! I do have two things that I am proud of in my yard. My two bleeding hearts are well on their way to another stunning year and every one of the tulip and daffodil bulbs we planted last fall are coming up! I am so impressed with myself. (The true test will be if they come up again next spring.)

We got finished just in time because the weather then turned cold. It made me feel disheartened; I was all set for spring to be here. I am not a big fan of summer, truth be known, but I am impatiently waiting for winter to be concluded. After all of that work, my back was in trouble. So I spent a few hours at the chiropractor this week. That is a bit frustrating; I always feel I should be making better use of my time. I did manage to solve a couple of my ‘disconcerting dilemmas’ while I was lying there, face down, getting electrocuted by little patches. One of the issues that has been bugging me is the school room. It is crammed with all kinds of learning tools and if it is not pristinely clean, it is similar to navigating some kind of maze with booby traps on the floor. Needless to say, it is never pristinely clean! Two boys are its most frequent occupants. To shorten this story, as I was lying there, my face in the . . .the . . .the whatever that thing you put your face in is called, I came up with a way to multiply the free space! WhoaLaaa! So after spending half of the week at the chiropractor, I went home and with the help of Cj deep cleaned this room including moving all of the furniture! Just don’t tell the doctor!
After all of this fun, I am ready for a non-work weekend. Happily, we are going to Boise for two nights. Looking forward to that! A book and a comfy bed; I am hoping to get in a few hours of reading. There is the Jenks Family Egg Hunt, a 70 something year tradition, to be attended. All I will say about that right now is this, if you haven’t attended the Jenks Family Egg Hunt (one and all are invited, everyone is family to a Jenks) you have not truly lived, to borrow a phrase. So, that is all for now. I will try and report on the Egg Hunt next week. Perhaps I will even have photos!