Starting again

Dearly beloved,
It's been almost 6 years since my last entry on "Fork the System", and I think that means it's time to revisit the idea of putting my culinary and intellectual pursuits together in an easily digestible format.  While not necessarily a commitment to dive back into the blogosphere whole-heartedly, I'd like to explore resurrecting the avenue to share thoughts and recipes as time and inspiration allow.

A quick personal update: I graduated with my Masters in Social Work in 2011, and soon after accepted a position working with city government coordinating a massive juvenile detention reform effort.  I stayed in this position for over 4 years, learned an immense amount about the inner workings of various child-serving agencies, implemented some incredible juvenile justice initiatives, and effectively burned myself out in near-record time. In a 17 month span I got married, had a baby, bought a house, reduced my job to part-time hours (and full-time work), and became pregnant with a second child.  Exhausted, I officially left my position; worked part-time as a consultant on a detention facility assessment, did some grant writing and reviewing, and concentrated on my growing family. 

After being home for nearly a year, I started to feel anxious.  My world was feeling very small, and I began to miss feeling connected to larger ideas and people who spoke in complete sentences. So I started putting on my business casual attire, dropping my babies off for lunch dates with their dad or grandma, and making the rounds; visits to old bosses, colleagues and contacts who were doing work I found interesting and important.  I applied for a lot of jobs from the internet, too, even did a few phone interviews, but had no real leads panned out until an old colleague met me for breakfast to tell me about a position opening up in her university-based psychology lab, managing the evaluation of a school-based police diversion program I helped conceptualize and implement back in 2014.  It could actually be part-time, she assured me, and I'd be able to dip my toes back into the world I was drowning in a few years earlier. 

I started my new job at the end of May, and although it's full of learning curves, I'm getting back into a space where I feel I can contribute meaningfully and efficiently, and also continue learning and expanding my skill sets (I'm looking at you, data analysis!).

While the transition back to work has been relatively easy for me on a completely personal level, my little boys (now 1 and 2.5) have had less of a smooth adjustment. It's now necessary to find new time to prepare food that is not only relatively healthy, but that both of my newly sensitive kids (one of whom only eats about 4 foods on any given week and the other of whom doesn't tolerate dairy) will eat and enjoy.  When a new mom-friend from the playground shared the recipe for these Raspberry Oat Bars, I knew I could modify them to be dairy-free and it might be a small way to be with my kids throughout the day even when I am at the office learning how to write syntax in SPSS or figuring out the most efficient way to de-identify thousands of paper files from social service providers.  I'm still playing around with this one, but the base is pretty solid, and my older guy loves helping make them. It's a fun project to bake on days when I'm home, and even better to have them ready to grab for the mornings I have to be out the door to catch the train by 7:20am.  My older son calls them "Mama Bars", and in my most optimistic moments I like to think he understands that even when I'm not physically with him all the time, I've put some real care into these super-portable breakfasts/lunches/snacks. 




"Mama Bars"

Ingredients:
1/3 c. soy milk
6 dates (pitted)
2 bananas
2 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 c. fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Line a baking dish with parchment paper.
Add soy milk, dates, bananas, tahini and vanilla to food processor, and let a gleeful toddler finally push the button until smooth.
Add flour, baking powder, oats, and cinnamon, and let said toddler PUSH IT AGAIN.
Pour batter into the baking dish, and add berries on top, pushing fruit lightly into batter.
Bake 25 - 30 minutes, remove from oven and cool, and then cut into squares. 
Enjoy within a few days (they keep best in the fridge), and sprinkle with a little extra love before you leave for work.  Whoever you make them for will notice.

The State of America's Children & Salted Whiskey Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm already falling behind on my promise to keep this up and running. However, I started this post a week ago when I read the "State of America's Children" article by Marian Wright Edelman recently featured on the huffington post.

Ms. Edelman, head of the Children's Defense Fund, conveys some disturbing numbers regarding the state of poverty affecting America's youth. Sometimes quoted as "Kill Me Now Statistics", does it matter much if you say "One in five children is poor" or "Children are our nation’s poorest age group" or even "Every 32 seconds another child is born poor"? No matter your advocacy strategy or your approach to pulling on readers heartstrings, the fact is that youth in America are suffering. Additionally, many of the budget cut items directly affect youth-- and youth keep growing up. I highly recommend reading both the article and the full report.

If that doesn't make you want to combine whiskey and cookies, I'm not sure what would. Except maybe the pure desire for something truly delicious...



Salted Whiskey Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbsp Bourbon
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 bag dark chocolate chips
Sea salt for sprinkling over cookies


Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy (you know, when it starts looking a little like cartoon clouds). Beat in egg, vanilla and Bourbon. Add dry ingredients, then fold in oats and chocolate chips. Roll into cookie-sized balls (approx. 2 tbsp), drop onto parchment-paper-lined cookie sheets, and flatten to 1/4" thickness. Bake at 350 for 13-16 minutes.

Return!

This blog has lain dormant for a long time, and for that I apologize. I had intended to follow up my first Geoffrey Canada post with a more nuanced interpretation of some of the problematic aspects of his approach, responding to some of the criticisms of the model and addressing the cultural imperialism implications, etc. I had intended to follow that post with a number of others: discussing the 11 year old boy I saw escorted out of Truancy Court in handcuffs; the final results of my research study about the effect that knowledge of a youth's abuse history has upon juvenile probation officer decisions; and some thoughts raised by the provocative memoir collection "Soul on Ice" by Eldridge Cleaver.



I also wanted to show off the Butternut Squash and Caramelized Gallete I made for Friendsgiving (recipe available here), "mince-ish pies" my sister and I made for Christmas Eve, and host of other delicious creations that came out of my kitchen this winter, spring and summer.



That didn't exactly happen as planned, but here are some images of what came along with my master's degree:



Orriocheta with Peas, Spinach, and Asparagus:


Thai Green Eggplant (Brinjals)


Multi-Colored Breakfast Potatoes:


Ginger Apple Pumpkin Bread:


Chocolate Hazelnut Holiday Cake:


Tarragon Dijon Mashed Potatoes:

And the newly introduced first course to every dinner party, nearly perfected art of the cheese plate:


More recipes, photographs and thoughts on juvenile justice & child welfare to follow!

Geoffrey Canada (Part I), & Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Apples, Lime and Sriracha

So: I have some catching up to do. The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity, frustration, and wonder, but after living under my graduate school rock for the entire duration of autumn and well into the ever-hated winter, I've decided it's time to emerge; or at the very least start writing about what comes out of my tiny tangerine kitchen again.

Over the past few weeks of winter break, I had some time to catch my breath and refocus for my last semester of social work study. Part of that refocusing involved re-reading Geoffrey Canada's "Fist Stick Knife Gun", a phenomenal first hand account of the Harlem Children Zone's founder's childhood in the South Bronx and a series of his reflections on youth violence and poverty.Canada is inspirational in his ability to realistically convey issues of systemic oppression and extraordinary violence while maintaining a deeply humanizing focus of his analysis. Take, for instance, this excerpt from the end of his book.

"I want people to understand the crisis of our children and I want people to act."

I will continue my gushing about Geoffrey Canada when I talk about the last book I finished, Paul Tough's "Whatever it Takes", but suffice it to say that he has become one of my personal inspirations over the past few months (even prior to his feature in the popular education documentary Waiting for Superman); his writing gives me hope; and his work gives me motivation to continue mine.

Many things and people, like the youth with whom Canada works in Harlem, have a terrible reputation but similarly deserve a fighting chance at demonstrating their inherent worth and brilliance. Some of those sorely under-appreciated and often written-off things are brussel sprouts.


So it's not really much of a recipe, but hey, I'm trying to get back in the swing:

1/2 lb. brussle sprouts
1 apple, thinly sliced
1 fresh lime
Sriracha hot sauce
Olive oil
Salt/pepper


Halve the brussel sprouts and remove any stray outer leaves. Lay on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper. Roast at 400 for about 10 minutes until the sprouts start to brown.

Meanwhile, slice apples and add to a saucepan with a little oil. Add roasted sprouts, lime juice and sriracha. Stir until mixed, and adjust seasonings to taste

Serve with roasted root vegetables, sausage, and/or sweet potato.

Pomegranate Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon dark Meyers rum
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup pomegranate seeds

Method

Preheat oven to 375, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a big bowl, cream the softened butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, and then add vanilla and rum.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/eggs. (Here's where I messed up and over-stirred it. When you over-stir cookies, they get a little puffy and not as maximally delicious as they could be. That's what you get for stress-baking, I suppose).

Add chocolate chips and pomegranate seeds, form into chocolate chip cookie-shapes (by rounded spoonful or otherwise), and bake for 11-13 minutes. Notice the inverse relationship between golden brown crunchy chewy cookies and stressful feelings.

Teas and Love as Courage

"To live takes an incredible amount of courage because it requires an ability to admit and to be honest that in all of us is potentially a Hitler and in all of us is potentially a Mother Theresa. And it is only if you learn what love is that you can continue to live, that you have the courage to do things for your fellow man without praise and without expectations." --Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.

Lemongrass Mint Tea

♫

Lavender Earl Grey Tea

The Missing Piece of the Conversation and Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Behind the Rise and Fall of Philadelphia’s Prison Population: A Conversation

Last semester, I attended the original panel discussion hosted at the Penn Law School concerning the Philadelphia Research Initiative report on "Philadelphia's Crowded, Costly Jails: The Search for Safe Solutions" (video of the conversation can be found here, link to a PDF of the full report can be found here). The report itself is a very clear and comprehensive picture of the Philadelphia jail population (though for a reason I still don't understand, the county jails in Philly are referred to as "prisons"). Specifically, the report focuses on the recent decline in jail populations, factors that contributed to the decline, and ways in which this decline can be continued. While much of the decline can be attributed to legislative changes that transferred inmates from county jail to state prison, other factors have contributed to the changing Philadelphia jail population. The panel answered a few questions at the event, but recently also responded to questions that were emailed in that could not be responded to at the event (the extended Q&A can be read here).

My question is why, in this discussion of crime and incarceration, the issue of juvenile incarceration was never mentioned. Seth Williams, in most of his public appearances, is sure to include a statement about how the one factor that most jail and prison inmates have in common is lack of education. However, the conversation falls short of addressing how to keep kids in school and out of juvenile detention before they become involved in the adult system. Most adults who are arrested have juvenile records-- either indicating that they are incorrigible, career criminals, or that they have already been failed by one system which effectively deposited them in another. In Philadelphia, the juvenile justice system is within the jurisdiction of the Department of Human Services (what most people here associate only with child welfare). This may allow criminal justice experts to ignore it as a "human services" issue. However, a comprehensive discussion about causes and consequences of crime and incarceration in Philadelphia must (and usually doesn't) include a conversation about juvenile justice. I hope to explore the unique position of juvenile justice within DHS more in the coming weeks at my internship.

After this first week of work at the Field Center for Children's Policy, Practice & Research, I remembered how balancing an academic understanding of issues and deep appreciation of the humanity of the subjects of research is often difficult and taxing. In my emotional exhaustion, I made cookies.

Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) butter, softened

2/3 c. white sugar

1/4 c. sifted confectioners sugar

2 1/2 tbsp. fresh lavender, chopped

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

Method

Cream together butter and sugars (another excuse to use the ever-amazing electric beaters, and the recently-acquired sifter).

Mix in lavender and lemon.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch and salt, and mix.

Add flour mixture to butter until dough forms. Make two balls of dough, cover in plastic wrap, flatten and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325.

Remove dough from refrigerator, form small balls and flatten between your palms.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on how toasty-brown you want the edges.