Step back, Spring - Country Cousin

As press time approached on Wednesday morning gentle snow was falling on TIMESLand, and everyone was preparing for a less than gentle snow predicted to start toward evening and continue well into Thursday, with as over two feet expected to blow in with blizzard conditions.

The Wednesday snow arrived right on schedule as predicted, starting shortly after mi-dnight and still falling in the morning, with about three inches on the ground.

This storm probably makes snowmobilers happy, but it comes as something of a shock to many of us, who were all excited about prospects for an early Spring.
We can cheer up, though. Winter can’t last much longer. The official first day of Spring is coming on March 20, less than a month away.

LENT HAS STARTED
Today - Wednesday, Feb. 22 - is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the season we Christians should spend preparing our souls - and our homes - for the coming of Easter, which is just six weeks off.
Many of us give up something for Lent, or do something special, like offering extra prayers or giving more to charity.
As with most things in life, the more effort we put into getting ready for it, the more enjoyable Easter is likely to be.

SPECIAL DAYS    
In addition to being birthdays for some much loved members of my family, Tuesday, Feb. 21 was very busy this year. It was Shrove Tuesday, which is the formal name for the last day before the start of Lent, and therefore also Mardi Gras day in New Orleans.
Feb. 21 was also the day after President’s Day, on which we Americans are supposed to honor all our past presidents, good and bad. Back when, Feb. 22 would have been a holiday in honor of our nation’s first and greatest president, George Washington. In today’s world, the man we honored as the father of our country gets no better treatment than the worst of the presidents who came after him.

ON THE SOAP BOX
COMMUNIST MANIFESTO
This year, and every year, Feb. 21 is also the anniversary of the date in 1848 that Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto”was published in London by the Communist League. This year marks the 175th anniversary of that document, which eventually led to the Communist revolution in Russia, and formed the foundation of Communist governments that flourish around the globe in today’s world, including Communist China and North Korea. To give credit where credit - or dis-credit - is due, Marx wrote the manifesto with the assistance of Friedrich Engels.

It is hailed by many as the most influential document in today’s world. and contains the idealistic goal of a form of government in which everything is owned and operated by a marvelous government that takes from each according to their means, and gives to everyone according to their needs.

The problem, as it turns out, is that in the upper echelons of that marvelous Communist form of government, someone decides who needs a Rolls Royce and a 50-room mansion, and who needs a wheel barrow and a 1-room apartment that houses a family of 10.

The basic Communist idea, where everyone works to the best of their abilities and takes according to their needs, was attempted by many of the convert communities in the early days of Christianity. It didn’t work, even in a society where participants were sincerely trying to practice Godly lives. Some of those early Christians decided if they weren’t going to be rewarded for working, or punished for not working, they would prefer not to work. Their needs would be taken care of anyway.
It’s the same in today’s welfare society.

Human nature is like that. It hasn’t changed in many millennia, and it isn’t likely to change until after the final Judgement Day, when we’re told that everyone left on this old Earth will in fact be a saint.  In a world filled with only true saints, Communism could work.

There are some elements in America today trying to push our wonderful, workable capitalist system toward the Communist model. Maybe they should check out history as it was back in the days leading up to the Berlin Wall. Unlike the wall many of us want completed at the USA southern border, Communist Russia had built that wall to keep people in who wanted desperately to get out, and many of them died trying.

We were told back then that Joseph Stalin and his henchmen, and then the dictators who followed them, lived very well indeed, while the working class suffered extreme poverty and deprivation. The Communist dictatorship resolved issues of their unhappy (and hungry) proletariat (that means working folks like you and me) with some pretty harsh penalties, including deportation to prisons, work camps in Siberia, and sometimes even execution.

Yep! Let’s celebrate the publication of that Communist Manifesto! Sure did make the world a better place!
P.S.: Some of this information on the wonders of Communism did not come to me from scholarly papers. It came directly from friends in East Germany who had lived under the Communist dictators from Russia, and hated them mightily.

STILL ON THE SOAP BOX
WORD POLICE
On a completely different subject, but still about dictators of a sort, the Word Police are at it again. Those seeking to become thought regulators in today’s world are trying to change the way we think by changing the words we use to explain our thoughts.
More and more the “intellectual elite” of the English speaking world are playing with semantics in their efforts to eliminate distinctions between man and woman, male and female.

They tell us on other subjects to “follow the science,” but in terms of sexuality of humans, they refuse to follow it themselves.

The latest, and possibly most ridiculous recommendation out of a pseudo-scientific “woke” think tank called “EEB” is to require birth certificates to identify new-born infants as “egg producing” or “sperm producing” instead of “male” or “female.”  Then, later in life, they want to get rid of the terms “mother” and “father” and “boy” and “girl”. We can’t be “He” or “She” any more. Seems to be okay with them if we all just identify ourselves as “it”.

The new terms for male and female came out of the  EEB (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Language Project, which was founded by a collaboration of scientists in the US and Canada who claim some terminology is not inclusive, and could be harmful.

Well, as a female who is well beyond the egg producing stage, I personally find it highly offensive to have these scientists imply that I and others in my age group are no longer women. And in fact, having lost my egg producing ability due to cancer surgery many, many years ago, in their way of thinking, guess I have not been a woman since then. So what are we to be called, we females who can no longer produce eggs and males who have had surgery and are no longer able to produce sperm?

These brilliant scientists say even one of the most famous scientific concepts of all time,  “survival of the fittest,” should no longer be used because it might make people with disabilities feel bad. Well, isn’t survival of the fittest what the theory of evolution is all about?

Educators are even re-writing long-loved children’s stories to get rid of the terms “boy” and “girl.” Might make somebody feel bad if they haven’t decided yet what they are.

Archaeologists for over a century have been able to identify bones thousands of years old as coming from a male or female of the human species. Changing the name from “male” to “sperm producing” and female to “egg producing” won’t accomplish a thing except perhaps make a male who no longer produces sperm feel like less of a man, or a female who no longer produces eggs feel like less of a woman.

I wonder? IF a hen is beyond egg-laying age still a hen?

This stupid semantics game being played by the intellectual elite has got to stop before they manage to ruin science entirely and destroy the beautiful English language as well.

Or is this perhaps exactly what they want? Are they trying to de-humanize us, get rid of family traditions and parental love, and force us  to become gender-neutral entities with no personalities of our own?

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
Wrote this section back in 2009, but things have gone full cycle, and we’re in the same sort of trouble again. The advice offered then is still good today.

It’s always good to observe the old adages, “Waste not, want not,” and “A penny saved is a penny earned,” but never more important than when times are lean. In our country we have had things so good for so long that we tend to forget. Now that grocery prices are high (thanks largely to the high diesel prices of weeks past) and take-home pay for many has been cut, it’s time to pull out some old penny-pinching tricks and add some new ones.

Turn off the lights. Unplug chargers when not in use. Turn off the TV.

Use those last few drops of shampoo and dish soap, those last few dabs of toothpaste. In fact, practice cutting the amount you use in half. You’ll probably find they work every bit as well and it won’t take as long to rinse out either.

Now here’s one that came as a surprise. Experts on these things say to save fuel, keep your car waxed. Actually, you save twice by waxing the car. First, wax helps save the vehicle’s finish, which means the body will last longer and the vehicle will bring a higher price at trade-in time. Second, having a nice, clean, shiny waxed finish cuts wind resistance, which improves fuel efficiency.

Years back, we laughed at my brother-in-law for believing his car ran better when it was washed and waxed. Thought it was just vanity. Turned out he was right. Sorry for doubting, Ken.

Dirt in other places hurts too. They say a dirty air filter can cost a mile per gallon at 50 mph, misfiring spark plugs can waste 25 percent of your fuel, and even cleaning out all the junk you haul around can save significant dollars. An extra 500 pounds costs two to five miles per gallon, depending on your vehicle. Okay! No more passengers! Everybody out! Make two fairly large people and two or three small ones walk and you’ve eliminated that 500 pounds. (People like me could eliminate 500 pounds by just cleaning the car, but most folks aren’t like me.)

Do the math. Admit I’m not that good with numbers. Once I run out of fingers, I’m in trouble, but here goes:
Suppose your vehicle usually gets 20 mpg. Change the bad spark plugs, and you go 25 miles on that same gallon. Wow! Wax it, you’re up to maybe 26 miles mpg. Get those five extra people out and replace the air filter, you can travel maybe 31 or 32 miles on that gallon. See how much farther you can go on the same amount of money?
Of course, depending on who you made get out and walk, you just might have to keep right on going. Is it worth it? Your call!

COOKIN’ TIME
Lent is the perfect time to make sacrifices, including those that will help you shape up for summer. That’s sort of cheating, because if you’re dieting, it’s probably not for any spiritual reasons, but if you manage to get a little bonus by way of lost inches for giving up some self indulgences, that’s a good thing, right? Anyway, here are a couple of recipes that will help, and at least one that will not, but they will certainly make a meatless meal more satisfying.

RUSSIAN MUSHROOM CHOWDER
This hearty chowder is perfect for a meatless meal, provided you aren’t concerned about the chicken broth. If you are, substitute six packets Golden Seasons broth mix and six cups water. You can make it low cal by substituting plain yogurt for the half and half. Makes 12 hearty bowls of chowder.
 5 tablespoons butter, divided
2 leeks, chopped, or 2 cups diced onion
2 large carrots, sliced
6 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 teaspoons salt (if you use the seasoning packets, leave this
out)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup flour
Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Mix in leeks or onions and carrots, and cook 5 minutes. Pour in broth. Season with dill, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Mix in potatoes, cover, and cook 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender but firm. Remove the bay leaf and throw it away. Melt the remaining butter in a skillet over medium heat, and sauté the mushrooms 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Stir into the soup. In a small bowl, mix the half-and-half or yogurt and flour until smooth. Stir into the soup to thicken. For added color, garnish each bowl of soup with dill weed or fresh dill to serve.

ALASKAN SALMON CAKES
These patties are both low cal and low carb. If you use the skinless, boneless salmon, canned or in pouches and make the sauce ahead of time, you can have dinner on the table in 15 minutes. But the traditional canned salmon is cheaper, tastes just as good, and leaves some treats for the cat. Now I’ll spoil everything and advise serving with macaroni and cheese and buttered broccoli. For diet fare, skip the butter, put lemon juice on the broccoli, and nix the mac and cheese.
1 can (14.75 ounces) regular salmon or 2 cans or pouches (6
to 7.1 ounces each) skinless, boneless salmon
1 egg
1/4 cup small-curd nonfat cottage cheese
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
1/4 cup sliced green onions
3 Tablespoons garlic-and-herb bread crumbs
Buttery flavored non-stick cooking spray
Yogurt dill sauce
Drain salmon and discard skin and bones (if any). In a medium bowl, whisk egg lightly. Add cottage cheese, dill, lemon pepper and green onions, and mix well. Crumble in the drained, cleaned salmon, then sprinkle in bread crumbs and mix well. Shape mixture into 4 patties, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick and about 3 inches in diameter. Spray a nonstick skillet with the cooking spray and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add the salmon cakes and fry for about 2-1/2 to 3 minutes per side. Cakes should be crisp and golden on the outside and still moist on the inside. Serve with Yogurt Dill Sauce. (Recipe follows.) If you prefer a crunchy coating, lightly dust the salmon cakes with fine cornmeal before frying.

YOGURT DILL SAUCE
Takes about 5 minutes to make. This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups. Leftover sauce is good with all sorts of other things, too, and it works as a veggie dip.
1 cup nonfat yogurt
3 teaspoons finely minced fresh garlic
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1 cup cucumber, grated and squeezed dry
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything else, then add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

BUTTER CHEESE CAKE
Nothing at all low calorie or low carb about this!
1 package yellow cake mix (pudding in the mix type)
4 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash salt
1 pound powdered sugar
Canned pie filling for serving, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the melted butter with the dry cake mix and stir in one slightly beaten egg. The mixture should have a moist dough consistency. Spray a 13x9x2 pan with non-stick cooking spray and press the cake mixture into it. In a medium large bowl, use electric mixer to beat together the cream cheese, the remaining three eggs, and the salt. Beat until creamy, then beat in the powdered sugar gradually until it is again smooth and creamy. Pour over the cake crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or a bit longer if necessary. The cheese mixture will sink somewhat in the center, leaving a firmer crust around the edges. Cut into squares to serve. Serve plain, or topped with a generous spoon of canned pie filling, preferably cherry, blueberry or cinnamon apple.
        The Country Cousin

Thought for the week: Dear Lord, help me to make this a good Lent. Help me to let go of my vices and open my soul to Your love. Help me do some serious soul cleaning.  Amen.
(This column is written by Shirley Prudhomme of Crivitz. Views expressed are her own and are in no way intended to be an official statement of the opinions of Peshtigo Times editors and publishers. She may be contacted by phone at 715-927-5034 or by e-mail at shirleyprudhommechickadee@yahoo.com.)