Homemade Babaganoush

I love babaganoush, that wonderful eggplant dish you get at Mediterranean restaurants.  When visiting Phoenix last month, Phil and Ellen and I went to their favorite local restaurant, Eden's Garden.  The family run restaurant in Scottsdale has delicious soups, kebobs and babaganoush.  I was lamenting the fact that I loved the dish, but thought it would be difficult to make.  The owner came over, gave me the recipe, and assured me that it was easy.  I went home and made it.  It was, as she said, easy.  Here's the recipe.

                                                               Babaganoush

1 eggplant, halved

4 garlic cloves, minced

juice from one lemon

2 T. tahini

dash of liquid smoke

1/4 cup olive oil

salt to taste

Place the eggplant on a cookie sheet (sprayed to prevent sticking) and cook at 425 degrees for 45-1 hour, until the flesh of the eggplant is soft and the skin is wrinkled.  Remove and cool.  Then, with a spoon, remove all the flesh from the eggplant.

If you like a chunkier babaganoush, do the rest of preparation by hand.  If you like it smooth, use a blender.  Either way, combine the rest of the ingredients and blend.  The liquid smoke is a key ingredient.

In days gone by, eggplant is roasted over coals to give it a smoky taste, but now liquid smoke will do the same.  The amount of lemon, tahini and olive oil are approximate.  It all depends on taste.  

It is best to make this the day before eating, allowing all the flavors to blend.  Put in a serving dish, drizzle a little olive oil over the top, sprinkle with parsley (optional), and serve with pita or crackers.  So good.

Visiting Phoenix

 I drove to Phoenix, 400 miles, to visit some old friends of Ron's.  There are two couples that live there that he went to University of Chicago Lab School for high school with, that were friends of his for 65 years, and friends of mine for about 30  years.  For years we have visited them in Phoenix, and they come here at least once a year.  Ron and I missed our visit last year, usually in February, as Ron was beginning to decline.  I was happy to visit them this year, unfortunately without him, but he was there in spirit.

One highlight was an afternoon at the MIM with Ellen.  The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix is one of my favorite museums in the world, and I've been in a lot of museums.  During this visit, they had a special exhibit of masks from Congo.  It was so informative.  We concentrated on Latin America this time.  The place is so big you can only see part of it on each visit.

We were there on the day the Derek Chauvin jury was deliberating.  At about 1:05pm I got a text from my son that the jury had a verdict.  I was on pins and needles until I got the result.  That came about 45 minutes later.  We were in the hall of the museum, as were dozens of other patrons.  All of a sudden, everyone had their cell phones out and were glued to reading it.  We all got the news at the same time, and everyone was smiling and breathing a sigh of relief.  It was an interesting moment, showing the power of social media to inform.  

We headed over to a beautiful Italian restaurant called Scilian Butcher, for an afternoon snack.  We ordered fried squash blossoms, delicious, and a tray of appetizers, including goat bread spread with goat cheese topped with mushrooms, and bread topped with burrata cheese and tomatoes.  It was a perfect snack, and I would love to try it for dinner.  Next door is Sicilian Baker, selling gelato and Italian baked goods. This restaurant was a great find.

Oh, I played pickleball with my friend Ian and several of his cronies one morning.  They are good players, but I kept up with them.  He told me the Marriott Hotel in Scottsdale had just built a 400 seat stadium and 18 pickleball courts.  They are ready to host a tournament.  

All in all, a great time with Ellen and Phil, Ian and Carol.  It's so much fun to visit with old friends.  Of course there was some sadness, as these were originally Ron's friends.  Since he's not here anymore, I intend to keep up the friendships.

Assessing The Risk of Johnson and Johnson Vaccine

Everything we do in life involves risk.  When we drive to the grocery store we risk an auto accident or worse.  When we take a walk in the neighborhood we risk getting hit by a car and getting killed.  (this just happened to a friend of mine.)  When we get on a plane we risk the possibility of a plane crash.  When we play tennis, pickleball or garden, we risk the injury or fatality.

Why, then, when the risk of a blood clot from the J and J vaccine is one in a million, are we taking such precautions?  I know the answer to that question, but I'm not sure I understand it.  The benefits of getting the vaccine outweigh the risk of getting the shot.  Either get the shot and eliminate almost entirely your chance of dying from Covid-19, or don't get the shot and risk getting Covid-19 and possibly dying.  

Fortunately, Johnson and Johnson is back as one of the several vaccines we can receive.  Honestly, your risk of internal bleeding or a stroke from an aspirin regimen is more likely.  So everybody that hasn't been vaccinated, let's get back to normal.  Get vaccinated!!  Be part of the solution, not the problem.  Everything in life has involves risk.  The risk of a blood clot from the vaccine is so small.  The reward from getting vaccinated is so great. 

Energy Insecurity

 Today was a strange day.  I returned to Los Angeles from Phoenix the night before.  I drove there to visit friends, and decided I would feel more comfortable driving a traditional gas vehicle for 400 miles on my own, so I borrowed my mom's Lexus.  This morning I left her home with Pepper, in my all electric Bolt.  I normally get a full charge at a charging station near her home before I leave, but this time I did not.  I had 145 miles (supposedly) left before I would be out of electricity.  Since it's only 105 miles door to door, from her home to mine, I figured I would be ok.

Well, around the checkpoint near Camp Pendleton I looked at the odometer and noticed I only had about 35 miles left.  I wasn't sure I could make it home, and started to panic.  Luckily I had two apps on my phone which told me where nearby charging stations were.  I decided to go to the Oceanside train station, where I knew there were a number of charging stations.  I got there with about 22 miles left.  (car was on reserve at this point).  Well, you have to have a registered Blink card to activate the charger, and I don't have that.  I only have Chargepoint and Evgo.  So, after walking around the train station for 15 minutes and talking to workers, I knew I was not getting the car charged there.  Luckily, there was another charging station only a mile away on N. Cleveland, in a public parking garage.  I found it easily and plugged in.  I breathed a sigh of relief.

I walked out of the parking garage, and discovered a coffee bistro and bar, called Parlor Donuts.  What a find.  I ordered coffee and a french toast donut.  They had maybe a dozen different delectable flavors, and I can't wait to try another.  I sat outside the busy cafe, met some lovely people from Oceanside and spent 15 minutes talking with them.  Talk about making lemonade out of lemons!  I was panicked about running out of power, and in the process, I found a fabulous new coffee and donut shop, met some new friends, and discovered that I CAN work things out if I have to.  Next time you're near the train station in Oceanside, try Parlor donuts.  They have about 6 locations around the country, including Denver, Nashville, and Evansville, Indiana.  

Butternut Squash, Sage and Butter Spaghetti

My mom is about as independent as someone can be who is almost 98 years old.   She lives in the house I grew up with, and one of her favorite activities is gardening.  She was out cutting and trimming succulents one day, trying to pull out a root, when she lost her balance.  She fell hard on asphalt, injuring her head, both hands, her knee and a few other scratches.  Luckily her housekeeper, Chayo, heard her calling and came and got her up right away.  She went right to UCLA emergency, where after a CAT scan, x-rays, and treatment for her cuts, she was sent home.

Lucky for her there was no brain bleed.  Just a lot of abrasions and swelling.  Lots of swelling.  I have been here for a few days, and she's doing fine.  She'll be good as new in a few weeks, but won't be gardening again soo

We had planned to go to Palmieri for dinner on Saturday night, a day after the fall.  My mom looked so bad she wouldn't go out.  she was afraid she might scare someone.  So instead, I made a delicious Italian dinner at home.  Here's what we ate.

                                                          Butternut Squash, Sage and Butter Spaghetti

1/2 pound butternut squash, cubed

spaghetti for 2

1/2 cup loosely packed sage leaves, roughly chopped

3 T. butter

3 cloves garlic, sliced

parmesean cheese as needed

Roast butter nut squash on a sheet pan after tossing in olive oil for 30 minutes or until tender.  Remove and put aside.  Melt butter, add garlic and cook for a few minutes.  Add sage, and mix.  Then add butternut squash.

Cook pasta to desired doneness, drain and return to pot.  Add squash mixture and lots of parmesean cheese.  Eat and enjoy.

C

The Ratlines: Nazi Escape Routes

 I just finished reading Ratlines, by Philippe Sands.  It's the story of Otto Wachter, a senior lieutenant in Hitler's army, who was Governor of Poland, among other positions, and responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Jews in World War 11.  He died in Rome in 1949, while trying to escape to South America on one of the many ratlines.  After reading this fascinating book, I had to do a little more research about ratlines.  Here's some of what I found.

After World War 11, thousands of Nazis fled to South America along so-called ratlines, often with the help of Catholic clergy and the Red Cross.  The ratlines were operated via a network of Vatican contacts.  The Catholic Church believed this effort would contribute to the "re-Christianization" of Europe.  The church feared the threat to Europe of paganism and communism.  To prevent this, they were quick to forgive Nazi war criminals.  Over 5,000 Nazi leaders managed to escape thanks to this network, with the complicity of the Red Cross.  The Red Cross basically did no checks at all, and Nazi criminals and their collaborators were able to obtain fraudulent documents and make their way to South America.

The ratlines were not a thoroughly structured system, but consisted of many individual components.  90% of Nazi perpetrators who escaped Europe are thought to have fled across the Alps to Italy.  The Nazis who had a letter from the Catholic Church confirming their identity were handed a passport by the International Committee of the Red Cross, a mere formality. 

So there you have it.  Nazis were aided by two of our most trusted institutions:  The Catholic Church and the Red Cross.  I never knew.  Thank you, Philippe Sands for bringing this story to the public.

Do You Like Pickles?

If you like pickles, I've got a fantastic appetizer for you.  It's sour, salty and spicy, and so easy to make.  For your next get together, happy hour or dinner party, try this pickle appetizer.  Your guests will rave.

                                                         Fried Pickle Appetizer

Canned pickle spears

Sliced Havarti chees

Large egg roll wrappers

Wrap each pickle slice in a piece of havarti cheese.  Place in the center of a large egg roll wrapper, put a little egg wash on the edges to help seal the wrapper, and roll like a burrito.  Put about two inches of canola oil in a pan, get it hot, and drop in the wrapped pickles.  Brown on all sides.  Remove and drain.

Make a spicy sauce for dipping by adding ranch dressing and siraccha sauce to taste.  

To serve, cut fried pickle on the diagonal (two pieces per pickle).  Serve with ranch dressing sauce for dipping.  Your guests will rave.  

Get Up And Walk

 Kaiser Permanente put out a short video touting the importance of walking for both our physical and mental health.  The benefits are so voluminous that I will only highlight some of the most important.  

Walking 30 minutes a day, five times a week can improve your health in ways you may not have imagined.  Walking reduces the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes by 50%.  We have an epidemic of diabetes in this country.  40% of the health care dollars of Medicare are spent on diabetes.  Walking also reduces your chance of having a stroke, heart disease, or hypertension.  Women who walk have a 43% less chance of having a stroke.  Also, women who walk have a 20% less chance of getting breast cancer, and a 30% less chance of colon cancer.  Men who walk have a 60% less chance of getting prostate cancer.

Walkers have a greater resistance to disease, and if you do get a cold, your cold symptoms will last about half as long.  Walking also improves brain health in people over 60.  Walking has a positive impact on depression.

What could be easier than taking a 30 minute walk five times a week?  NOTHING.  It's the easiest way to improve your health.  There are many more benefits of walking, but isn't this enough to get you out of that chair?  No single action can do more for you than walking.  Let's all get going.

Concrete: The Material That Could Change The World...For A Third Time

 I love listening to Podcasts.  I listen to one almost every morning when I walk.  Today I listened to a Ted Talk about concrete.  Sounds boring, but it was pretty interesting

 Thousands of years ago, the Romans invented concrete.  Pliny the Elder praised an imposing sea wall made from what we would call concrete.  He said it was as "impregnable to the waves and every day stronger."  He was right.  It still stands.

Today, our roads, sidewalks, bridges and skyscrapers are made of similar, though less durable material concrete.  There are three tons of concrete on earth for every person.  And over the next 40 years, we'll use enough concrete to build the equivalent of the New York City every MONTH!    

Concrete has changed our world, but not always in a good way.  It has played a large role in rising global temperatures.  Concrete, steel, plastic, glass, and aluminum account for 31% of greenhouse gas emissions.  Concrete alone is responsible for 8% of all carbon emissions worldwide.

The problem is cement, one of the four ingredients in concrete.  (gravel, sand and water being the other three).  It's impossible to make cement without generating carbon dioxide.  For every ton of cement we produce we release one ton of carbon dioxide.

If we could find a way to produce concrete by eliminating greenhouse gases we could change the world for a third time.  Right now, there is no 100% clean concrete, but we're getting close.  Many scientists have been looking for ways to continue to use concrete, but make it more environmentally friendly.  Others have been working to uncover and replicate the secrets of Roman concrete.  They found that Pliny's remark is literally true. The Romans used volcanic ash in their cement.  When the ash interacted with seawater it was strengthened by the seawater making the concrete more durable and long lasting than what we have today.  Hopefully, with all this research we can replicate the success of the Romans, and produce a concrete that is both strong, long lasting, eco friendly.

Reviving Dried Figs (or any dried fruit)

 A while ago I bought an expensive bag of dried figs at Sprouts.  Somehow they got stuck in the back of the pantry and I didn't notice them for months.  I found them one day, tried one, and almost threw the whole bag out.  They were terrible.  I thought maybe if I reconstituted them, I could revive them.

It worked.  Here's what I did.  I put them in a pot, covered them with water, and added the following:  a little honey and vanilla.  You could also put slices of lemon and/or orange in the pot.  Cook on simmer for about 10-15 minutes.  I transferred them to the refrigerator when they were cool, waited about 2 days to eat them, giving the syrup time to thicken.  OMG they are delicious.  You can do the same thing with old prunes or apricots, or anything dried.  It's not necessary to let the juice thicken, but they are so much better.  I use plain yogurt  topped with a few figs and some of the syrup, for a delicious lunch.

Don't throw things away.  There's always a way to save old food.  We already waste close to 30% of the food we purchase, if you can believe that.  It's true.  Let's salvage what we can.  

Changes I've Noticed Post Pandemic

 We are in transition right now, moving from lockdown and isolation, to social interaction in a responsible way.  I had my first opportunity to play in person bridge with neighbors recently.  Here's what I noticed.  

I could not fall asleep that night.  It was at least three hours before I finally got to sleep.  I could not calm down my mind.  No, it wasn't the bridge that wound me up.  It was the social interaction with people, after such a long time, that got my mind going.  I had not expected this reaction to being in a social situation again.  I've been out with friends for lunch, walks, golf, pickleball, and afternoon gatherings for quite a while now, but spending 4-5 hours at someone's home, unmasked, playing bridge, eating and drinking and talking, was just different.

After such a long lockdown, hours of talking to people in person is hard.  It is tiring, but it is also exhilarating.  We talked about travel plans, plans to have dinner parties, plans to get back to live bridge at the bridge club.   I came home thinking about it all, and just couldn't get to sleep.

So, even though I felt I had survived the pandemic without feeling isolated, I guess I was wrong.  Talking or texting to friends and family on the phone is NOT the same as in person, intimate conversations.  It is something we all need.  Be aware you too may feel euphoric when you experience an evening in someone's home.  It really is so important, and so necessary for our well being.   Let's stay safe and continue to move toward "normalcy."  It's vital to our mental health. 

Operation Pied Piper

 I am reading "The Secret life of Dorothy Soames."  It's a memoir written by the daughter of Dorothy.  Dorothy was raised in a Foundling Hospital near London during WW11.  The author mentions Operation Pied Piper, which I had never heard of, and of course had to go look it up.  Here's what I found.

After WW1, when British cities were bombed by zeppelins throughout the 1914-1918 conflict, resulting in the death of 1,239 civilians, half of whom were children, there was heightened interest in how to defend the "home front."  A committee on civil-defense, led by Sir John Anderson (whose name was later associated with air-raid shelters), was formed.  Their task was to consider practical responses that could preserved human life during air attacks.  As the threat of war in Europe loomed by the late 1930's, the Anderson Committed published a report on evacuation, which prioritized schoolchildren and mothers with infants.  The plan was to evacuate these people to private homes in safer, reception areas of the country.  

On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany.  Two days earlier, on September 1, the government had initiated Operation Pied Piper, which would see the evacuation of over 1.5 million people from urban target areas, of whom 800,000 were children.  They were loaded on trains and relocated to rural homes for safety.  For many, living in a rural setting was an unparalleled adventure, which was enjoyed and remembered fondly.  They made connections with people that lasted a lifetime.  Others suffered at the hands of cruel or indifferent hosts.  Many children did not remain long in reception (rural) areas.  By January, 1940, around 900,000 evacuees had returned to target areas and back to their families, although the government wanted to leave them in the countryside for a bit longer.  Who knows how many lives Operation Pied Piper saved? 

Foundling Hospitals in Britain

 If you were a young, unmarried pregnant woman in Great Britain during the 19th and early 20 century, you had few options.  You would likely find that giving your child to the Foundling Hospital was your only option.  Here your child would be given a new name and a sanitized past in the hope you would not be stigmatized for the circumstance of his birth.  It sounds archaic, and it was.  The Foundling Hospital was founded in 1741, where children endured a harsh, Dickensian-style childhood well into the 1940's.  In fact Charles Dickens lived near the Foundling Hospital and based many of his characters and themes of his books on what went on there.  He did not approve of what went on there, and we don't really know how much he knew about the treatment of the children, but was able to imagine what it was like.

When a child was given to the Foundling Hospital, everything was taken away from him.  His mother, his name, everything.  Mothers were told that the Foundling Hospital was a wealthy, benevolent organization that would raise her child in fresh country air.  Mothers never realized they would never see their child again.

Most children who were turned over to the Foundling Hospital were placed in foster care for the first 5 years of their lives, after which they were returned to institutional living and the harsh, sometimes sadistic practices they had to endure.  Throwing a child who does not know how to swim into pool, poking the child with a stick to hold him underwater, and locking a child in a dark closet for hours, were just some of the punishments used.  Other sadist punishments included caning and electrocuting the younger boys, by taking lightbulbs out of fittings and forcing the little ones to put their fingers in the socket. 

Because Foundling children were born out of wedlock, British society considered them the lowest class of person, so children were trained to become housemaids, cooks and seamstresses.  They were not well educated, not given any love or nurturing.  It wasn't until the 1940's when the Curtis Report was published, that the Foundling Hospital changed it's ways.  What a horror that so many children had to endure.  Fortunately, both in the U.K. and the U.S. attitudes have changed.  Unwed mothers are no longer forced to give up their children, or in some cases have the child stolen from them.  We are evolving.  Slowly, but we're getting there.