Peruvian Kebabs: Anticuchos

Peru, located in western South America, is a former colony of Spain that gained independence in 1821. Most Peruvians speak Spanish, but there are also minorities of the population that use various Amerindian languages as their primary forms of speech. One of those Amerindian languages is "Quechua," pronounced as if, "ketch-oo-wah" (others say, "ketch-wah"). It is a language family in South America, best known as the language of the Incas. Another prominent Amerindian language family is "Aymara" (pronounced like "eye-mahrah"), which is spoken in parts of Peru and in some neighboring countries.

If you've never had beef heart, please don't be intimidated by it. It is delicious! If you are too skittish, you can substitute some steak, like chuck steak. Aji panca (pronounced like, "ah-hee pahncah") is a paste (sauce) made from a type of red chili pepper. It is not terribly hot, but rather it gives a little kick to foods. It is deep red in color. Aji amarillo is another paste, but it is made from a yellow chili pepper with a bit more heat. Aji panca is often in supermarkets or Latino grocers, and you may find aji amarillo also, but it is not as common. For the aji panca, you could substitute some ancho chili powder, some paprika, a little water and a pinch of cayenne pepper or a few drops of chili pepper sauce mixed together to form a paste, but if you can find aji panca (definitely available online), you'll be rewarded by the wonderful flavor, and a little heat. These Peruvian kebabs are called "anticuchos" (also, "anticuchos de curazon") in Spanish and they are very common in Peru, with street vendors selling them too.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds of beef heart
1/2 cup aji panca paste (or substitute mentioned above) 
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
skewers for cooking

Trim the heart of fat and vessels, then cut the heart into about 1 to 2 inch pieces, and about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness. Mix together the chili paste, red wine vinegar, garlic, dried oregano, cumin and salt. Add the pieces of beef heart to the mixture, cover, refrigerate and let marinate for a minimum of 2 or 3 hours, but up to 12 hours is better. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water first. You can grill the anticuchos on a charcoal or gas grill, turning them often, and cooking them for anywhere from about 5 to 8 minutes, depending upon desired doneness, or you can broil the anticuchos. Arrange the anticuchos on a baking sheet and broil about 5 to 6 inches from the heat. Turn the anticuchos once or twice during broiling. Broil for "about" 5 to 10 minutes, depending upon desired doneness. Serve with aji amarillo paste (sauce), chopped green onions, boiled potato slices, boiled or grilled corn on the cob pieces.

Boiled potato pieces and small pieces of corn are commonly served with Anticuchos, as well as some sauces, like aji amarillo and some green onions.

I enjoy both of these wonderful chili pastes/sauces, which are not only different in color, but also in heat and flavor. There are other brand names of both.

WORD HISTORY:
Mere-This is the noun, as English has two words of this spelling, but they seem to come from different sources. It is related to "marsh," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and it goes back to Indo European "mori," which meant, "body of water, sea." This gave Old Germanic "mari," meaning, "lake, sea," which then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "mere" (ending "e" then was likely pronounced as "eh/ah"), with the same meanings. The word has remained, especially in place names that were (or still are) located near a body of water, more typically with reference to a lake. The Germanic form is related to forms in Latin, Celtic and some other branches of Indo European and languages spawned by those branches (for instance, Italian has "mare," French has "mer" and Spanish and Portuguese have "mar," all from Latin). The Germanic languages have: German "Meer" (sea), Low German Saxon "Meer" (lake), West Frisian "mar" (lake), Dutch "meer" (lake), Icelandic "mar," now antiquated (sea), Norwegian "marbakke" (seashore slope).  

Beef Heart with Dressing

In times now past, I would make this as "Stuffed Beef Heart," where I put the "dressing" ("stuffing")* inside and then tied it to hold it closed, but because this was a relatively small beef heart, I just decided to cut the heart open, and cook it that way, with the "dressing" on top. It turned out GREAT!

Ingredients:

1 beef heart
2 teaspoons olive or canola oil
2 cups stale bread, cut or torn into bite size pieces
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I use panko)
2/3 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1/3 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 cup beef stock

Trim off the fat from the beef heart and rinse the heart well, then cut the heart open and trim away any vessels. In a pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 1 minute, then add the garlic and mushrooms. After about another minute or two, add the thyme, the fresh sage and the parsley. Add the bread pieces and sprinkle on the rubbed sage. Mix everything together and then gradually add the beef stock, allowing the bread to absorb the liquid as much as possible. When the beef stock has been added, add the bread crumbs a little at a time and mix them into the other ingredients to see how wet the mixture is. You may not need to use all of the bread crumbs, because they are really only used to help sop up excess liquid, but you also don't want the mixture to be too dry. Remember too, you needn't cook the dressing until the onion and other ingredients are totally softened, because it will be subject to more cooking. In a baking dish or a deep sided pan, spread out the open beef heart and spoon on the dressing to form a nice smooth layer. I put just a little water in the bottom of the pan, like about 1/4 cup, but by no means should the water be anywhere near high enough to touch the dressing layer. The steam produced by the small amount of water will keep everything moist. Cover with lid or foil and bake at 325 degrees F for 2 1/2 hours. Let the heart sit for about 5 to 10 minutes after removing it from the oven. You can slice servings off with the dressing right on them (see photo below).  

* In the U.S. it likely depends upon the place where you grew up as to whether you say, "dressing" or "stuffing." In much of the southern US, "dressing" is most often used, while in much of the northern areas, "stuffing" is the preferred word, while many other areas are mixed in their usage. Some requiring more order in their lives, like the Sheldon Cooper character of television's "Big Bang Theory," have tried to apply the logic of, "if it is cooked inside a bird or part of another animal, it is 'stuffing,' but if it is cooked in a pan or dish separate from the meat, it is then called 'dressing.' " The thing is, logic does not always prevail in our regional terminology, and, to be quite honest, that keeps things interesting (see note **, below). Well, when I was a kid, it was called "dressing" in my area, but in the early 1970s a version with dried bread and packets of seasoning in a box was heavily marketed in television ads as, "Stove Top Stuffing," and that term came to at least be recognized nationally, but it didn't stop "dressing" users from the use of their term.

** In my neighborhood when I grew up, the name for a "sweet, flavored fizzy non alcoholic drink" was "pop," a shortening of the term, "soda pop," but as I got older and I met people outside of my own little world, I found some others called it, "soda," another shortening of the same term mentioned above. Now to me, "soda" was a powdered substance that came in a box with a picture of an arm with a hammer in hand on the box. Some powder was mixed with water and drank to help with heartburn or a stomach ache, an idea that these people didn't find very amusing, bringing them to often tell me to "stuff it," a term I never figured out, but which I assumed meant they used "stuffing" instead of "dressing." Hm?


Click on photo to enlarge it... I had the beef heart topped with dressing and some gravy, as well as with some mashed potatoes and gravy and fresh corn, which I had just cut off of the cob.

WORD HISTORY:
Dress-This word traces back to a compound form, with the first part having been a prefix. The main body of the word is related to a number of other words, including Latin-derived "direct," and also to "right," a word from the Germanic roots of English. The original prefix goes back to Indo European "dwhis/dwis," which had the meaning "twice, again, two ways;" thus also, "aside (from), away." This gave Latin "dis," which meant, "apart, in two separate parts, asunder." The main body of the original word goes back to Indo European "reg," which had the idea of "move in a straight line;" thus also, "direct in a proper way." This gave its Latin offspring "regere," which meant "to guide, to direct;" thus, "to rule/govern." Together these forms gave Latin "directus" (straight, direct), the participle form of Latin "dirigere" (to direct, to arrange, to set in order). This produced an "assumed" Latin form "directiare" (to make or set straight). This was passed to Latin-based Old French as "drecier" (straighten, direct, to serve food, to arrange, to prepare;" thus also, "to put on clothing" (to prepare/arrange oneself), and also, "to decorate." This then became "dresser." English borrowed the word in the first part of the 1300s as, "dressen," with essentially the same meanings, which also expanded to "add seasonings to food." The noun was derived from the verb circa 1600 with the general meaning, "clothing," and the more specific meaning, "woman's apparel," came about in the mid 1600s. The noun "dressing" came from the verb in the mid to late 1300s and was applied to "the process of preparing;" thus then to, "putting on clothing," then in the 1500s to, "season food," then in the first half of the 1700s to, "put a bandage onto a wound." The "seasoning process for food" meaning led to, "seasoning elements put inside fowl and animal parts," but also later to, "seasonings or sauces used for salads."        

Voting Is Not A Game, There Can Be Serious Consequences

Competition in sports and other activities can bring us tremendous satisfaction from individual or team accomplishment, but after celebrating victory, life moves on to the next game or to the next part of life. Politics is NOT like a game. Election results can bring real consequences, good or bad, often depending upon point of view, in their aftermath. I've written here before about my father's competitive nature and how it affected his political views. He was long a staunch Republican, and he was against Democrats, not because he disliked them, but because they were on the "other team." One time he was talking with a guy out in the yard. When he came inside, he said the guy's name (I don't recall the name now, but this was about 45 years ago) and said he had gone to school with him. The man was running for a political office, county commissioner, I believe, and my father said all kinds of nice things about the guy. This all prompted me to ask, "So, you're voting for him?" He said, "No, he's a Democrat." If I remember correctly, he didn't even know who the Republican candidate was, but it didn't matter, because whoever it was, was on his team. This is how it worked in my dad's world.

Back then, the Republicans, or at least a part of the Republican Party, generally the more conservative part,* had long seethed over Social Security, a program established in the mid 1930s, during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but with a good deal of Republican support and some Democratic opposition.** Conservative and libertarian Barry Goldwater secured the 1964 Republican nomination for president, and Goldwater was no friend to anyone on Social Security, as he essentially believed it should be voluntary, an idea that could well have led to "Social Insecurity." Well my dad supported Goldwater and tried to play down Goldwater's rough edges, of which there were many. While an outspoken and honest person, Goldwater, in my opinion, hated living in (then) modern times and he would have preferred a more distant time, unless, of course, a time machine dropped him off as a poor person in the 1600s, where "work until you drop (dead)," was largely the way of life for the overwhelming percentage of people not in the nobility. An idea like Social Security would have sounded pretty good to old Barry in those circumstances, and let's forget about that "voluntary" stuff. Anyway, eventually, as with all of us who live long enough, my dad came face to face with the realities of getting older, and the opposition within the Republican Party to Social Security had continued, if not increased. He then saw that politics is not like some sporting event to be won or lost, but that elections could turn your life upside down, and at a time in your life when you had become highly vulnerable, older age. When Republicans took over both houses of Congress in 1994, the situation was much on his mind, as he mentioned how Republicans were too connected to big money interests just greedily rubbing their hands together, hoping to get those hands on Social Security money. How times had changed!  

* I need to point out, that in those times the two major political parties were not as they are today. I think it's safe to say that the most conservative elements in the country were in the Democratic Party, as the South was then known as the "solid South;" that is, it overwhelmingly voted Democratic by tradition dating to before the Civil War. This allegiance to the Democratic Party was HEAVILY reinforced in the post Civil War time, because the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln and an anti slavery party, the party that led the Union in its defeat of the South, as well as in the occupation of the South (Reconstruction). The post World War Two "solid South," however, had been showing the strains of an increasing number of  Democrats moving to advocate for the breakup of segregation and fairer treatment of black Americans, a part of the population then still heavily located in southern states, although some black Americans began to move northward to large industrial cities in hopes of landing good paying jobs. The post World War Two Republican Party still had a fairly potent moderate to progressive wing, eventually led by New Yorker Nelson Rockefeller. Just my opinion, but the venomous part of conservatism was even in evidence back then, as some conservative Republicans absolutely HATED Nelson Rockefeller. That nasty element received lots of reinforcements in the times leading up to today, as the conservatives in the South shifted from the Democrats to the Republicans. Just to be clear, not all conservatives are like this, and wanting checks on spending and government power is not necessarily a bad thing, but rather they are worthy of debate.   

** For more on the establishment of Social Security, here is the link to an earlier article I did:
http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2009/09/yikes-were-already-socialists.html 

WORD HISTORY:
Virus-This word, closely related to "virulent," and more distantly related to "viscous," both words of Latin derivation borrowed by English, goes back to Indo European "weis," with the meaning, "slimy liquid." This gave Latin "virus," meaning, "plant sap, slime, foul smelling liquid, venom." English borrowed the word in the second half of the 1300s from Latin with the meaning, "venom;" thus also, "poison." By the first half of the 1700s, it was applied to "infectious substance," and by the 1970s, the idea of "infectious substance" began to be used for "transmittable computer program for malicious use;" thus, "computer virus."  

What's In A Name: Chloe, Nicholas

Chloe-This female name goes back to transliterated Greek "Khlóē," with the meaning, "plant shoot, young plant, blooming;" thus also, "fertility." In Greek Mythology it was a name used for Demeter, the goddess of grains and vegetation; thus also, of the world's fertility. The name is mentioned in the New Testament's 1st Corinthians in the Bible, "in the household of Chloe," or, "in the house of Chloe," depending upon translation. The name seems to have begun use in England in the aftermath of the Reformation, but it has seen a rise in use in some English speaking countries since about 1990.  

Nicholas-This male name (and sometime family name), come from transliterated Greek "Nikolaos," which meant, "victory of the people." Saint Nicholas, a Christian figure born in the 3rd Century, and revered as a saint by many people in Christianity, is the basis of the more modern figure of Santa Claus. The name began to gain use in English in the 1100s. Five popes have been named Nicholas, with the first being in the 800s and the last being in the 1400s. There are various spellings in other languages: German "Nikolaus," Spanish "Nicolás," Portuguese "Nicolau," and many others. Its abbreviated forms in English are commonly "Nick" and "Nicky." The female form is usually "Nicole" or "Nicola" in English, with "Nicky" also used as an abbreviated form.

 I consulted the following for this article: 1) "A World of Baby Names," by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003.  2) "A Greek-English Lexicon," by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Roderick McKenzie and Eric Arthur Barber, published by Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1940 3) Behindthename.com

WORD HISTORY:
Epithet-This compound word is composed of "epi-" which goes back to Indo European "epi," which meant, "on, upon, at, near." This gave Ancient Greek (transliterated) "epi," used as a word forming part meaning, "upon, near;" thus also, "in addition." The second part, "thet," goes back to Indo European "dhe/dheh," meaning, "to put, to set, to place." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "tithenai," with the same meanings. Together this gave Greek "epitithenai," meaning, "to add on." This produced Greek "epithetos," meaning, "added," which produced the Greek noun, "epitheton," meaning, "something added (as descriptive);" thus also, "an adjective, a descriptive word or phrase." Latin borrowed the word from Greek as "epitheton," which passed into French as "épithète," and English borrowed the word as "epithet" in the second half of the 1500s, with the meaning, "a word or phrase used to describe or characterize a person," but also, "a word or phrase of abuse toward someone or some group" (as in "racial epithets").    

Shrimp with a Malaysian Touch

There are various recipes for shrimp in Malaysian cooking, and this is really my version of a recipe that sort of fits in with Malaysian style shrimp. As I note below, you don't have to go looking for special soy sauce, as you can use regular soy sauce, but just add a little molasses or brown sugar to sweet it up a bit. Further, you also don't need to buy curry leaves, an ingredient common in Malaysian and some other south Asian cooking. Curry leaves have nothing to do with curry powder. The leaves are a bit citrusy in taste, but you can substitute the zest of 1 1/2 limes. I first made this dish with tomato sauce and rice wine vinegar, but I had noticed some similar Malaysian recipes that simply used ketchup, so I tried it, and I found that I liked the ketchup version better. This dish was certainly not spicy hot, but rather the hot chili pepper gave it a little zip and that's what is intended; however, remember, as I've noted here before, hot chilies can vary tremendously in heat. I've actually had habanero chilies that were extremely mild, like a "1" on a scale of 1 to 10. On the other hand, I've had some jalapeño chilies that brought tears to my eyes. Further, cooking often reduces the punch of chilies a bit. Similar dishes in Malaysia are served with bread to help sop up the great sauce. 

Ingredients:

1 pound large shrimp, deveined
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped or grated ginger
2/3 cup mild red chilies (red bell pepper is fine), chopped 
1 hot red chili pepper
12 to 15 curry leaves, or zest of 1 1/2 limes
2 tablespoons soy sauce*
2/3 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 to 4 tablespoons oil

Add oil to skillet and set over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, mild chilies, hot chili and curry leaves. Cook until the ingredients soften, stirring often to prevent sticking or burning. Stir in the soy sauce, the ketchup and the sesame oil, mixing everything well. Add the shrimp and cook until just cooked through. Serve with rice or bread or both.

*  I used "Ketjap Manis," which is Indonesian soy sauce. It is syrupy and sweet. Some supermarkets or Asian markets will likely have "ketjap manis," but the keyword here is, "some." You can substitute regular soy sauce with some molasses, or even brown sugar, cooked together for just a few minutes.

Click on photo to enlarge ...

WORD HISTORY:
Shawl-The history of this word is difficult, but it "may" have originated from the textile town  "Shaliat" in southwestern India, also known as "Chaliyam, Saliyam, Chale." Historically that area of India was influenced by the Persians, Arabs and Portuguese. The idea is, "shawls" were produced in the town, which gave transliterated Persian "sal," seemingly originally with the meaning, "neck scarf." This was borrowed by Hindi and Urdu ^ and English borrowed the word in the mid 1600s with the heavy involvement of the English on the Indian Subcontinent. By the mid 1700s, the meaning had expanded to a "large piece of cloth used by women that is draped over the head that also covered the upper body." German borrowed the word from English as "Schal."  

^ Both Hindi and Urdu are Hindustani languages from the Indo-Aryan part of the Indo Iranian branch of Indo European. They are related to English, but much further down the family tree.

A Little Bit of Malta: White Beans With Garlic & Parsley

Malta is actually a group of islands (archipelago) in the Mediterranean Sea, with the island of Malta being the largest island of this nation, once a colony of Britain. The islands of Gozo and Comino are the other two main islands, but there are smaller islands that are uninhabited. The capital is Valletta, located on the island of Malta. The little island nation has a population of nearly half a million and it lies south of Italy and north of Libya. Maltese is the official language of Malta,* but English is also an official language, and Italian is also widely spoken or understood by more than half of the population. During World War Two, Malta, then a colony of Britain, became a major thorn in the side of the German and Italian forces in North Africa, as British air units and naval forces (particularly submarines) stationed in Malta posed a formidable problem for the Axis Mediterranean supply line from Italy to Libya. The islands were severely bombed by both the German and Italian air forces and a joint Italian and German plan to invade the islands was never carried out. Malta gained independence in the mid 1960s, and became a republic in the mid 1970s.**  

The name of this dish in Maltese is, "Fażola bajda bit-tewm u t-tursin." It is great as an appetizer, side dish or as part of a light lunch. 

Ingredients:

2 cans large white beans (butter beans or cannellini beans, 15 to 16 ounce cans), drained
3 green onions (scallions), chopped, along with some of the green
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2/3 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

For serving:
olives 
Italian or other crusty bread

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, cover it with some plastic wrap and let it sit for about 15 or 20 minutes. Serve with some olives and Italian bread on the side.  

* Maltese is a language from the Semitic languages, with relatives like Arabic and Hebrew. It is the only Semitic language using the Latin alphabet and its vocabulary has been heavily influenced by Italian, English and Sicilian. Sicilian, while perhaps thought of as an Italian dialect by many, is actually classified as a language in its own right. It is spoken on the large Italian island of Sicily and also in parts of the southern Italian mainland. In more modern times Sicilian has certainly been influenced by standard Italian, which is taught in all schools in Italy.

** Initially, the British monarch remained as the head of state, but by the mid 1970s, Malta changed its law and elected its own president to serve as head of state, although Malta still has ties to Britain as a  member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

I had my beans with some Kalamata olives and anchovy stuffed green olives, along with some Italian bread, which I had the bakery slice.

WORD HISTORY:
Extra-This is both a word forming part and a word in its own right, used as an adjective, adverb and even as a noun. Many of the uses began in English in the 1600s as an abbreviation of the word "extraordinary," a word borrowed from Latin "extraordinarius" in the first half of the 1400s, and which meant, "out of regular or usual order." "Extra," in all of its meanings, goes back to Indo European, "eghs/ekhs," which had the notion of, "out from." This gave Latin "ex," with the meanings, "out from, from the inside, out of, from or since a period of time." Its comparative was "exterus," meaning, "outside, outward." "Extra" was derived from its ablative form "extera."

Oysters Kilpatrick/Kirkpatrick

The dish dates from the latter part of the 1800s, "seemingly" acquiring the name "Oysters Kirkpatrick" during the mid 1890s in San Francisco. The general recipe, and variations thereof, spread to Australia as well as to other areas, but often with the altered name, "Oysters Kilpatrick."

Ingredients:

12 large oysters in the shell, shucked, and retain the liquid in the shell
squirt of ketchup per oyster
2 to 3 drops Worcestershire sauce per oyster
4 strips bacon, cut into 3 pieces each
pinch of grated Parmesan per oyster
aluminum foil, crumpled to make places for the oyster half shells
baking sheet

Put the crumpled aluminum foil on a baking sheet (restaurants often use rock salt for this). Nestle the oyster half shells into the crumpled foil to stabilize them and this will prevent them from spilling their liquid and content. Sprinkle 2 or 3 drops of Worcestershire sauce onto each oyster, then put a squeeze of ketchup onto each. Place a piece of the sliced bacon to cover each oyster. Place the baking sheet under the broiler and broil until the bacon starts to crisp. Remove the baking sheet and put a pinch of Parmesan on top of each oyster. Return the sheet to the broiler for about 30 seconds, but be careful not to burn the cheese.   

WORD HISTORY: 
Cargo-This word is closely related to "car" and to "charge," both words borrowed by English from French, which got them from Latin, but derived from Celtic (see below). It goes back to Indo European "kers," which had the notion of "run, move swiftly." This gave its Old Celtic offspring "karros," which meant "chariot, wagon, wheeled vehicle." This gave Gaulish (a Celtic language) "karros," with the same general meaning. This was then borrowed into Latin as "carrus," seemingly with the main original meaning being "chariot," but later also "wagon, cart." This produced the Latin verb "carricare," which meant, "to load (as in, 'load goods onto a wagon,' " but later, "load a weapon"). This passed to Latin-based Spanish as "cargar," meaning, "to load, to add a tax or burden," which produced the Spanish noun, "cargo," meaning, "a load, a burden;" thus also, "freight on a ship." English borrowed the word in the mid 1600s.

Corn Fritters

Corn fritters were the specialty of my maternal grandfather. My grandmother would spread the word that my grandfather would be making corn fritters, because he made just this side of a ton of them, and he would make sure that we got some, along with my aunt and her husband, my aunt's daughter and her husband, and a cousin, who lived upstairs of my grandparents. My grandfather's corn fritters are one of the great memories I have from my childhood.

Ingredients:

2 cups corn, freshly cut from the cob (that's "about" 3 ears of corn), or frozen (thawed and dried) or canned (rinsed and dried)
2 chopped green onions/scallions, with much of the green
1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped chili pepper (jalapeño or your favorite), or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup cornmeal 
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
oil for frying

Over medium heat, heat enough oil to coat the bottom of a skillet (cast iron is good for this, but certainly not required). Mix all ingredients together. The mixture should be pretty thick, but if you feel the batter is too thick, just add some more milk, but add it a little at a time, then mix to see how much it thins the batter before adding more milk (you don't want it runny). Put some batter into the hot skillet, and press down on the batter to flatten out the fritters. I used enough batter to make the fritters about three inches across, at their widest point (I made them sort of oblong), and about 1/2 inch in thickness after I pressed down on them. I got 10 fritters of that size out of this amount of batter. Fry the fritters until nice and brown on both sides, taking care that they don't burn. You should carefully wipe the skillet after each batch, and add fresh oil. You can always adjust the heat and don't be afraid to turn the fritters more than once. 

I had my corn fritters with creme fraiche and some chopped chives. Sour cream would also work well (reduced fat type is fine), but if you'd like creme fraiche, you can easily make your own. Here's the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/07/make-your-own-creme-fraiche.html

WORD HISTORY:
Banquet-This word, related to "bank" (various meanings, including, financial institution and edge of a river or stream) goes back to Old Germanic "bankiz," which meant "bench," but the underlying meaning of which may have been "a geographical slope that forms a shelf;" thus, "a bench," which is a kind of shelf on which to sit. This was borrowed by Latin dialects in northern Italy from Lombardic, a Germanic language, and continued into Italian, which was developing from various Latin dialects. Italian had "banca/banco," which meant "bench." The diminutive form in Italian was "banchetto," literally, "small bench," but it also came to be used for a light lunch that was eaten while sitting on a "small bench." This was then borrowed by French as "banquet," also meaning "small bench," but also, "a feast, a multi-course dinner." English borrowed the word from French in the second half of the 1400s. German also borrowed the word about the same time, as "Bankett," but German got it directly from Italian.

"Some" Republicans Take A Stand Against Trump

This was originally published 9-6-18 and it was updated slightly 10-22-20 and again on 4-27-22

 

Generally, I've seen presidents with whom I've had some serious disagreements, but I still did not feel that the nation was in imminent danger of falling into the hands of anti-democratic (small "d") forces, but that is no longer true. Trump and true Trumpists are fascists, and Trump is so infatuated with himself, he obviously would love to name himself as Führer, accompanied by frenzied crowds of Trumpists shouting "Heil!" Not everyone who voted for Trump is a fascist, but there is a hardcore element within his support that seems to have turned off their minds and to have submitted to Trump as if he HAD been named Führer. Democracy isn't something that we can leave to take care of itself. Democracy needs US to help tend to it and to help keep it strong. 

We hear about how many Republicans in both houses of Congress, and in other positions in government down to the local level, don't like the behavior and the divisiveness of Donald Trump. Barring such reports by the media, we would not be able to tell, since most are silent. Need we remind these individuals that they have looked into the eyes of evil, and they blinked. These men and women in Congress vote to send, or offer their support to send, American military personnel into harm's way, but they themselves cower before the president (now ex-president) of the United States, whom they refuse to scrutinize, a scrutiny that is one of their Constitutional duties. Like deserters from the field of battle, these people are missing in action by their own choice. With such people in positions of responsibility in 1776, the newspapers of those times would have reported, "These 'patriots,' and we use the term VERY loosely, do not like what the government of King George III is doing, but they give aid and comfort to the king's policies with their silence."

There ARE, however, some Republicans who have made their opposition to Donald Trump known. They have chosen to put their country first, not some wannabe Führer, who, like Hitler decades ago, would prefer individuals to swear an oath of loyalty to HIM, not to the country and to the Constitution. I will name a few, and some names you may know, while other names are probably unknown to you. There are many more, I'm sure, and I regret forgetting some names, and not knowing the names of so many more, but it's important that at least some be recognized for their opposition to Trump and that we ALL work to put serious checks on the power of this repulsive and divisive (now former) president before it is too late. These are some of the Republicans who have been outspoken in their opposition to Donald Trump and to complicit Republicans in Congress: Joe Scarborough (now an independent), Steve Schmidt (now a Democrat), Nicolle Wallace, Elise Jordan, George Will (now an independent), Richard Painter (now a Democrat), Charlie Sykes, Richard Haass, David Jolly, Bret Stephens, Bill Kristol, Ana Navarro, George Conway, Al Cardenas, Rick Wilson, Rick Tyler, Tim Miller, Michael Steele, John Kasich, Tom Ridge, Miles Taylor. They are human beings and Americans first, NOT Republicans. I have disagreed with some, if not many, of their political ideas, and my television has had to cover its ears over some of the words I've shouted at many of these people over time, but that's okay; this is the United States, at least for the present, and we have disagreements and I know Democrats don't have all of the answers, and they too have had to bear the brunt of some "words" I've hurled in their direction at times. We need good, and yes, at times, hard nosed discussions, that's part of democracy. But this "fight to the death" over EVERYTHING, and the deliberate efforts to divide the country for the sake of Donald Trump's ego cannot end well for our country.   

I guess we often do many things in our lives without a perspective, then one day, we look back and see things in the rear view mirror and we see where we wish we had done things differently. So I believe it has been with some of these people I've mentioned and some of the decisions they have made in the past. I'm NOT saying they will give up on long held political beliefs, but for a year or more, those mentioned have taken definite stands against Donald Trump and against the complicity and enabling by their fellow Republicans of Trump and his "sickophants"... ah, sycophants. No matter what disagreements I've had with the people I've listed, I am proud of them for speaking out and trying to bring the GOP to its senses. They have, at times, spoken brutally honest words in their assessment of Republican colleagues, but that's what is needed, because this is not a matter to be taken lightly, as the very fiber of American democracy is under attack by this criminal and some of those from his former regime. 

 

This emblem is in the public domain from Wikipedia                                                                                          

WORD HISTORY:
Cringe-This word is closely related to "crinkle," and it goes back to Indo European "ger," which had the notion of, "to turn, to wind (long 'i')." This gave Old Germanic "grenkanan/krenganan," with the meaning, "to bend, to yield, to give way;" thus also figuratively, "to fall in battle." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cringan," with the same meanings. This then became "crengen," then, "crinchen," before the modern version. By the 1500s the meaning had evolved to "bend away in fear, embarrassment or from something unpleasant." There are quite a number of relatives of "cringe" in the other Germanic languages, some of which are: its German relative is now the antiquated "Kring," which means, "ring, circle," from the notion of bending something into a ring shape. It has been replaced in modern times with "Kringel," actually corresponding to English "crinkle," but meaning, "small ring, curl." Low German Saxon has "Kring" (circle, ring) and "Kringel" (ring-shaped baked good, pretzel), Dutch has "kring" (circle, orb), West Frisian has "kringe" (verb, meaning, to pinch, to squeeze, to press; all from the notion of "to bend, to yield), Old Norse had "kringr" (circle, ring).

What's In A Name: Hazel, Travis

Hazel-This female name, which came into popular use in the second half of the 1800s, is from the tree name, see "Word History," below.

Travis-This male name (also a family name) is an occupational name from a toll collector at bridges, along roads or at town gates (cities and towns were usually surrounded by a wall in former times). It comes from Old French "traverser," taken to England by the Normans, which meant, "to pass through, over or across," and also used in reference to "passing through the gate of a town or over a toll bridge." Landowners along waterways used toll bridges to extract money from those wanting to cross. Likewise, similar was done in parts of waterways themselves, often in narrow parts, to extract money from boaters needing passage. As a family name another form is "Travers."

 I consulted the following for this article: "A World of Baby Names," by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003

WORD HISTORY:
Hazel-This word goes back to Indo European "khoseloz," meaning, "hazel (tree)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "hasalaz," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hæsel," also with the same meaning. This then became "hasel," before the modern form. The meaning, "a shade of brown (usually for eye color)," came from Shakespeare's use of that meaning in "Romeo and Juliet," from the color of a ripened hazelnut. Forms in other Germanic languages: German has "Hasel," Low German Saxon has "Hassel" (both German and Low German capitalize nouns), Dutch has "hazelaar," West Frisian has "hazze(nutebeam)" (literally, "hazelnut tree"), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have "hassel," Icelandic "hasl/hesl" (?). 

The Missing Elephant in the Room

On Saturday, September 1, the Washington National Cathedral was the center of a memorial service for Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. In the audience were senators, former senators, congressmen, congresswomen, three former presidents, three former vice presidents, current and former officials of the United States, and of course, members of John McCain's family. I suppose the assemblage totaled some 3000. The elephant in the room was the missing elephant in the room, for no matter how hard you looked among those 3000, someone was missing. Now you've got to admit, an elephant is not easy to overlook, even, or perhaps especially, among 3000 people. But if this particular elephant were with the 3000 people in the cathedral, he would taint the 3000. This is an elephant who doesn't fit in with people who, no matter their shortcomings, believe in some overall decency and rule of law. He is an elephant who believes the United States of America is about him and not about the tens of millions of Americans who have come here from elsewhere for centuries to form a great nation. This elephant chooses to divide people in any way imaginable. This is an elephant who brought the circus to town and stayed. But we all know about the smell a circus brings along too, and the stench brought by this elephant has permeated some of the nation's great institutions. This elephant was not in the Washington National Cathedral because Senator McCain did not want this elephant to foul the air of the memorial service. This elephant was not invited. 

Condolences to the McCain family and may you rest in peace, Senator McCain....

WORD HISTORY:
Eulogy-This compound word goes back to Indo European "hwes," which had the meaning, "good," and Indo European "leg," which had the idea, "to gather, to select, to choose." The first gave transliterated Ancient Greek "eu/eus," which meant, "good." The second gave transliterated Ancient Greek "legein," which meant, "to speak" (from the idea of "select/gather words"). This produced Greek "logia," with the basic meaning, "something said;" thus also, "a subject or theme." Together the parts gave transliterated Greek "eulogia," meaning, "good words;" thus, "praise," and in Christianity, "a blessing." The word was borrowed into English in the 1400s, "perhaps" more from Latin, which had taken on the word more from original New Testament writings (which were in Greek)."   

Two National Icons Pass: Aretha Franklin & John McCain

Within the last couple of weeks, the United States has lost two people who have made their respective impacts on this country, and even on the world.

Aretha Franklin has been a part of the lives of many of us since the 1960s. She has long been one of my heroes and she could stir energy and emotion with her great voice and great music. I cannot type this without tears in my eyes. I'd guess about 2005, there was a guy who turned out to be an outright racist (I didn't know it then), who sang and clapped his hands along with me when Aretha's song "Think" came on the radio one time. Aretha Franklin was one of the balms for our long national wound about race.

Senator John McCain was someone with whom I did not agree on a number of issues, but I respected him. Sometimes we get our feathers ruffled, but we get over it, and such was Senator McCain's relationship with more than a few people. The wife of a cousin of mine, a Republican, called McCain "a traitor to America" to me back when he was running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. The man spent more than five years in captivity in North Vietnam. When I told a friend of mine, also a Democrat, what she had said, his first words were about McCain's time spent as a prisoner of war, and he was puzzled that anyone would say such a thing about John McCain. No matter how John McCain voted on any piece of legislation later when he served in Congress, no one can say he had not sacrificed for his country, and for my cousin's wife to call McCain a "traitor" speaks volumes about her, but nothing about John McCain. The same applies even more so to Donald Trump, a self centered abomination, who is about 5 or 6 inches taller than John McCain in physical height, but who actually remains minuscule in comparison to McCain in both political matters and as a human being.
  
WORD HISTORY:
Hearse-The origin of "hearse" is unknown, and some of its meaning additions/changes are tough to pin down. It goes back to Oscan^ "hirpus," which meant "wolf." This gave Latin "hirpex," meaning, "a type of plow device with a row or rows of teeth (the connection to "wolf"^^) used to tear and cut through roots," a meaning later seemingly expanded to include, "a large type of rake." This later became "hercia" in Latin and passed into Latin-based Old French as "herce." It "apparently" was taken on by the Anglo-Norman speakers in England from French by the second half of the 1200s. Around that time, it also came to be used for a "portcullis;" that is, "a sliding gate, usually of metal bars or framework that could be lowered to stop the entry of enemies" ("presumably" the lowering bars looked like teeth coming down), but this meaning didn't seem to generally make it into English until the early 1400s. It had also developed the meaning in French of, "a chandelier for a church," apparently from the resemblance of a large chandelier to the plowing device? This meaning then led to "a framework for candles over a dead body," a meaning that later transferred to, "a wagon or carriage used to transport a body," as candles were often used on such transports. Of course, in modern times, the name transferred to "a specialized (usually elongated) motor vehicle for transporting a body."    

^ Oscan is a now dead language of the Italic branch of the Indo European languages. Latin is also a part of the Italic branch. Oscan was spoken in fairly large parts of southern Italy, and also somewhat in central Italy, but Latin gradually absorbed it until it was essentially gone by circa 100 A.D.

^^ Just for the sake of comparison, German uses "Fleischwolf" (literally, flesh/meat wolf) as its word for "meat grinder," with the idea of a wolf's sharp teeth lying behind the word's meaning.