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.

Strawberry-Melon Salad with Habanero Lime Lemongrass Syrup and Stigma

With the end of summer, start of school frenzy that has been the past few weeks, I have sadly neglected to document some of the non-frenzied things that have come out of my kitchen. Instead of trying to catch up on the past 3 weeks all at once, I'll start with the past week and hopefully work backwards as time allows.



After a frantic schedule reorganization at the beginning of the semester, I found my way into a class called "Practice with At-Risk Youth". The professor and syllabus seem interesting and engaging, taking a social work perspective to the exploration of the issue of juvenile justice and other "at-risk youth" (I hope to unpack this term later). The first book that we were assigned for this class was the classic "Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity" by Erving Goffman.

The book presents a fascinating investigation of personal and social identity, and the influence of stigma and stigmatization on various forms of identity and relationships. Published in 1963, the book occasionally reveals its age by dated word choice (or the absence of discussion of modern issues such as AIDS), but ultimately presents a completely relevant commentary on various forms of stigma and complicated identity politics.

Goffman utilizes examples such as individuals with physical disabilities, mental patients, deaf and blind individuals, and racial and religious minorities to demonstrate the complicated process of managing stigmatized identities in society. While Goffman only briefly mentions "criminal" as a stigmatized social classification, the observations of the book are easily applied to individuals who have been through both the juvenile and criminal justice systems. After system involvement, people are often physically and emotionally marked by the experience of incarceration. One of the most devastating effects of the stigmatization related to incarceration is the resultant difficulty in obtaining employment. All of the formerly incarcerated youth who I worked with last year identified employment as the key factor in successful reintegration or reentry into their home communities. They also asserted that due to the stigma of incarceration, gaining lawful employment was the major obstacle that they faced. Once labeled criminal, it is extraordinarily difficult to erase this label (and sometimes consequently, it is difficult to act as anything but).

One of the most interesting points that Goffman presents later in the volume concerns the fact that we often navigate between many identities, both personal and social, and that many people play the role of both stigmatized and normal. He elucidates:

"The normal and the stigmatized are not persons but rather perspectives. These are generated in social situations during mixed contacts by virtue of the unrealized norms that are likely to play upon the encounter. The lifelong attributes of a particular individual may cause him to be type-cast; he may have to play the stigmatized role in almost all of his social situations, making it natural to refer to him, as I have done, as a stigmatized person whose life-situation places him in opposition to the normals. However, his particular stigmatizing attributes do not determine the nature of the two roles, normal and stigmatized, merely the frequency of his playing a particular one of them" (Goffman, 1963).

It's interesting to consider the social situations that produce stigma, the repercussions of this stigma, and the various identities that we all navigate throughout different social situations. Overall, I'm excited to learn more from this class and read more authors that will hopefully help inform my perspective.

In celebration of the first week of classes, a few other social workers in my program decided to take some time away from our books and have a potluck. I was a little pressed for time (because I'd been reading this book...) and had leftover lemongrass from the Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken I made a few nights ago (I'll detail my triumph over meat cooking soon), so I decided to make a simple fruit salad with a fancy, spicy-sweet syrup dressing.


Strawberry-Melon Salad with Habanero Lime Lemongrass Syrup


Ingredients

1 quart strawberries, hulled, quartered
1 honeydew melon, chopped into 1" cubes
4 lemongrass stalks, bruised and chopped
2 habanero peppers, quartered, seeded
Zest and juice of 1 lime
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Handful of fresh mint

Method

For the salad: Cut fruit, slice mint, place in bowl and set aside (I told you it was simple).

For the syrup: I should have believed the man who sold me the habaneros who said they were really spicy. He wasn't exaggerating. I actually ended up doubling the rest of the recipe to make up for the unexpected heat.



Get out some aggression and bruise the lemongrass before chopping it up. It's fun, especially if you've been reading all day. Place chopped lemongrass, peppers, lime zest and juice, extra mint leaves, sugar, and water in a saucepan and boil until sugar is dissolved.


Reduce heat and simmer until syrup thickens, approx 8 minutes (I think I got through 2 songs on my iTunes). Remove from heat and pour into a bowl (if you're feeling extra-fancy: set in a bigger bowl filled with ice to cool). Pour the cooled syrup through a strainer, and when you are ready to serve, drizzle over fruit.

Getting to Yes and Peach-Ginger-Mustard Potatoes with Fresh Basil and Romaine Peach Salad with Goat Cheese

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury



A head start on my reading for the year lead me to spend the last two days downing "Getting to Yes", a book that details a method of negotiation developed by the Harvard Negotiation Project.

The major points of the method:
1. Separate the people from the problem
2. Focus on interests, not positions
3. Invent options for mutual gain
4. Insist on using objective criteria

The book clearly outlines a rational approach to negotiation, and provides a variety of examples of different venues in which negotiation is necessary. Useful and interesting, especially considering how positional negotiation involves the ego in a way that is especially harmful for relationships.

With all respect to the Harvard Negotiation Project, I'm pretty sure this recipe might be an equally successful approach to negotiations.

Yes Potatoes (Peach Ginger Mustard Potatoes with Fresh Basil)



Loosely based on the Dijon-roasted potato recipe that was such a hit with my mom (as evident here)

Ingredients
5 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed, skin on
2 tbsp peach-ginger butter (made for my french toast extravaganza, recipe here)
2 tbsp dijon mustard
a drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper
1 small bunch fresh basil, sliced thin

Method
Preheat oven to 425. Wash and cut potatoes, and place in a small bowl. Add butter, mustard, oil, salt and pepper, and basil-- mix. Lay tin foil on a a baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Lay potatoes in a thin layer on foil, and bake until golden brown and delicious, about 25-30 minutes.

Romaine Peach Salad

Romaine lettuce, 2 leaves
1/2 peach, chopped
Goat cheese with honey
Fresh basil, sliced
Balsamic vinegar

A delightful mix of creamy goat cheese, sweet and juicy peaches, crunchy lettuce, and fresh basil on top. Lovely compliment to the potatoes. Add Trader Joe's chicken sausage, and you have a complete and nutritious meal! I even stuck the sausage into the oven for the last 10 minutes of baking with the potatoes. Sneaky, I know.

Persuasiveness is an art. I think peaches and goat cheese usually help.

Peaches and Cream French Toast with Blueberries and Ginger-Peach Butter, Breakfast Potatoes, and "A Death in Solitary"

Saturday mornings usually mean two things: Newspaper and brunch.

First, newspaper:

A very interesting City Paper cover story on prisoner abuse can be read here. The article raises important questions about the treatment of prisoners in solitary confinement, and especially about the high rate of mental illness that is found in jails and prisons nationwide. While not specifically addressed, it also raises concerns about the practice of holding juveniles in adult facilities.

And to the more pleasant of the two: Brunch.

Peaches and Cream French Toast with Blueberries and Ginger-Peach Butter and Breakfast Potatoes

Because my old friends/new neighbors were coming over for brunch, I decided to explore the Reading Terminal Market for inspiration. What did I find? Peaches and a dollar bag of potatoes. And since I'd been wanting to try Ian's french toast recipe for myself...



Ginger-Peach Butter

Don't let fancy names fool you.

1/2 c. peach preserves
1 stick butter
3 tbsp. minced crystallized ginger

Soften the butter, and mix in peach and ginger. Whip. Refrigerate. Impress.

Breakfast Potatoes

Ingredients
Red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 small onion, sliced
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Thyme
Paprika
Red chile flakes
Cherry tomatoes, halved

Method
These potatoes are amazingly forgiving. I make them a little differently each time, but basically: Preheat oven to 400. Lay potatoes, tomatoes and onions in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, and coat with spices (read: anything that's in your cabinet). After about 20 minutes, flip and re-spice (but easy on the red chile flakes). Bake until browned. Serve with ketchup.

Peaches and Cream French Toast
Adapted from the Joy of Cooking, via Ian

While Ian's version usually went by the Rum French Toast name, I decided to try to incorporate peaches into the batter itself for extra sweet-and-summery-ness.



Ingredients
2/3 c. half and half or milk
4 eggs
1 tbsp. peach preserves
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. Meyers dark rum
1/4 tsp. salt
Stale bread (I used a baguette-gone-hard from Garces Trading Company that has been sitting in the freezer feeling neglected for the past month)
Peaches, sliced
Blueberries

Method
Combine all ingredients except bread and whisk until uniform. Soak bread in egg mixture, then cook on medium-high heat. Secret to delicious-golden-brownness: don't skimp on the butter. Serve with generous amounts of peach butter, sliced peaches and blueberries, topped with sifted confectioners sugar.

Code of the Street and Tollhouse Plays Dress Up Cookies

For my last month of summer, I decided to start some light-hearted reading that I've been meaning to get to for a while: Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner City by Elijah Anderson.

While I've never read any of Professor Anderson's work before, I had heard his name because a number of his publications use Philadelphia as an example of inner-city violence and social codes. While I'm only a few chapters in, the book takes a creative and unique approach to addressing the issue of inner-city violence, especially by youth, and the influence of poverty, hopelessness, and drugs on the social organization of inner cities. The opening segment of his book traces the changing demographics and social codes along Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia-- a place that I have always felt perfectly exemplified Philadelphia's block-by-block differential in safety and diversity. Anderson's work is informed by years of field work in inner cities, and his research incorporates not only academic perspectives but also the words and lives of the people he studies. I'm excited to learn more from him.

After a few chapters of Code of the Street, I decided I would try to do something actually uplifting. It happens to be my coworker's birthday, and she mentioned that she hated cake... so I thought I would try to make her something a little more creative.

Tollhouse Plays Dress Up (Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Rum) Cookies

This is actually just the classic Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, with a few minute adaptations: more brown sugar (and less granulated), bittersweet chocolate instead of semi-sweet morsels, and dark rum for a sweet little kick.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. Meyer's dark rum
2 eggs
1 package Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate baking chips (60% cacao)

Method:
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Sift and set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy. This gave me the chance to use the electric mixer I picked up at a yard sale in Woodstock, NY for the first time--

Add eggs one at a time-- and look at it swirl!

Add vanilla and rum to taste. My grandpa always told me his secret to baking was to double the vanilla in everything. And this evening Ian and I were discussing his glorious rum french toast recipe (to follow shortly, hopefully after Saturday brunch). He told me that his recipe actually calls for either vanilla or rum-- so I thought I'd combine the suggestions and try both.
Add chocolate chips, and drop by rounded spoonfuls (what does this mean? I don't know. I did blobs, and they look perfect. Because they're cookies, and they will look perfect no matter what) onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes, cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack.
Tollhouse really knows what it's doing. But even cookies deserve to play dress up once in a while.

A House Judiciary Committee Hearing and Peach Mango Tomatillo Salsa

Today the House Judiciary Committee held a meeting at City Hall in Philadelphia to debate Rep Johnson's proposed HB 1999. The bill would amend the law so that young people sentenced to life without parole before their 18th birthdays would become eligible for a parole hearing at age 31, and every 3 years after that (provided that they had served at least 15 years of their sentences).

Full text of the proposed bill can be found here.

More comments on the content of the hearing to follow in the next few days...

In the mean time....

A few old and new friends came over for dinner tonight, and I wanted to try something new to spice up the regular corn-bean-onion quesadillas. I also wanted an excuse to try out the tiny blender that was recently gifted to me from my lovely neighbor. And so when there were tomatillos on sale....



Peach Mango Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients
5 large tomatillos, husked and halved
3 cloves garlic
1 green jalepeño pepper, halved and diced with seeds removed
1 small onion
1 mango, cubed
1 peach, cubed
Sriracha hot sauce
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice

Method
Lay tomatillo halves and unpeeled garlic cloves on a cookie tin lined with foil. Drizzle with a tiiiny bit of oil, and roast at 450 for 20-30 minutes (depending on when the smoke alarm goes off. Thanks teeny tiny oven).

Coarsely chop onion and jalepeño and blend until finely minced (blenders are amazing!!! and so much faster than hand-mincing! the wonders of technology abound. Watch out for the first time I try out my new electric egg beaters). Set aside.

Skin and chop tomatillos (I left some skin on and seem to have survived) and blend with garlic, salt, and pepper until liquefied. Add peach and mango cubes and blend. Empty into a larger bowl, add onion/pepper mixture, sriracha, fresh lemon juice, and more salt/pepper to taste.

Beet, goat cheese and arugula tart with spiced walnuts

For the crust:

Ingredients
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 c. sour cream
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. ice water

Method
In a blender, combine flour, salt, and butter until crumbs form. In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, lemon juice, and water. Make a well in flour mixture, add liquid, and combine. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Roll out and place in pie tin, prick with fork and bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes until brown and flaky.

This dough is awesome for any number of creations-- including the Bourbon Peach Hand Pies (stolen from http://smittenkitchen.com/) that I made a few weeks ago. You can get creative with this one-- top or fill with anything!


For the filling:

Ingredients
1 small onion, sliced
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
Beets, roasted
Goat cheese with honey
Arugula
Spiced walnuts: I added walnuts to a saucepan with a bunch of brown sugar, a sprinkle of water, cinnamon, paprika, and a pinch of red chili pepper flakes.

Method:
Melt butter and add onion. Caramelize over low heat for 15-20 minutes until translucent, slightly brown and sweet. Add garlic for last few minutes.

Roast beets in an oven at 400 degrees for approx 35 minutes. We trimmed off the tops and ends and put in a covered pan with 1/4" water, but I think that roasting on a cookie tin lined with aluminum foil and drizzled with a little oil would work just as well.

After the crust baked, I layered in the onions/garlic, arugula, beets, cheese, and topped with spiced walnuts.



Brian brought a few lovely accompaniments:

And for dessert? Frozen grapes. Thank you, summer. Please never end.

Thai Basil Caprese

Simple. Hard to mess up, especially with Jersey tomatoes (see that Jersey shout out?)
To incorporate my grocery shopping alternately at the Italian market and the Vietnamese supermarket:

Thai Basil Caprese with Sweet Olive Oil Tortillas


Ingredients:
Fresh Thai basil
Jersey tomatoes, sliced
Fresh mozzarella, sliced
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Method: Slice. Layer. Drizzle. Enjoy.

JLWOP and Something like Pad See Ew

Juvenile Life Without Parole
In May of this year, the United States Supreme Court came out with a ruling that severely limited the practice of incarceration without the possibility of parole for juvenile offenders. Specifically, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional to convict a young person to life without parole for any crime except homicide.

Now many inmates who were convicted as juveniles are filing for relief, even if they are incarcerated for murder charges, due to language in the ruling that points to the slow and continuing development of the youthful brain. Some folks are getting upset that convicted murderers are filing for relief, years after their convictions, due to some unspecific language about neurological development.

Seems reasonable.

But check out the short profiles of a few of the inmates filing for relief in Pennsylvania.
My two favorites:

"Tamika Bell. Bell was 16 when she and a friend robbed three people in a car parked at Penn's Landing in September 1995. Her friend shot the driver, Max Broyko, to death, and then both girls fled."

which is topped only by:

"Aaron Phillips. Phillips was 17 when he and two adult friends robbed a man in 1986... Phillips, now 41, and his accomplices were unarmed, but one of the robbers pushed the victim to the ground during the robbery. The victim died 18 days later from heart disease, but a coroner blamed the stress of the robbery as a contributing cause of death, prompting Phillips' arrest for murder."

For the full article, check out: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20100717_May_ruling_gives_hope_to_5_pa__kid-lifers.html




In other news, on my walk home from facilitating a bike safety workshop for some of the immigrant families in South Philadelphia, I stopped at the Vietnamese supermarket. I was so excited by the cheap, interesting food options, that I ended up grocery shopping without much strategy.

So by the time I got home, I had to think of something to do with the random ingredients I had just purchased, as well as some of the produce I had picked up for a dollar a bag at the Italian market a few days earlier.

The result:

Something Like Pad See Ew


Ingredients
1 package Banh Cuon square tapioca noodles
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 bunch green beans
olive oil
hot chili oil
soy sauce
brown sugar
sriracha hot sauce
1 block tofu
Thai basil

Method:
Heat oils, add onions and garlic
Add tofu, top with sriracha, add a little soy sauce, and cook until browned on both sides
Chop greenbeans into 1" bites and add to pan, cooking until tender
Meanwhile, boil water and cook noodles (about 3 minutes, could probably have gone for less)
Turn down heat, add more soy sauce and a few pinches of brown sugar, and simmer until soy sauce cooks down
Add cooked noodles, toss until coated
Chop basil into small slivers and add

Tomatoes two ways with fussili linguini

It's summer, which since I moved back to the east coast, means fresh fruits and vegetables abound in a way that I'd almost forgotten. While in California you can buy beautiful peaches and enormous avocados every day of every month, in Philadelphia one is forced to have a slightly heightened awareness of the season's shifting.

I have begun walking to work in South Philadelphia through the Italian market, a small strip of stands and shops along 9th street that bustles, and where you can hear Italian, Vietnamese, and Spanish more often than English. In the summer months, it's also alive with color. On my way home from running a family health education class at a local church, a man selling baskets of vegetables caught my eye. When he told me that the entire basket of about 15 gorgeous, deep red tomatoes would cost $1.50, I couldn't resist.

And then I got home and had to figure out what do with 15 gorgeous deep red tomatoes.

Tomatoes Two Ways With Fussilli Linguini

Ingredients
Sliced tomatoes
Olive oil
Whole garlic cloves
Salt & pepper
Fresh herbs
Butter
Pasta

Oven-dried tomatoes
Heat oven to 250. Lay sliced tomatoes on a baking sheet with garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and any fresh herbs (I used some leftover rosemary). Bake for 1-2 hours.


Butter-seared tomatoes
Meanwhile, in a saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add chopped tomatoes, garlic, and thyme-- saute until soft.



Pasta
Cook pasta according to packaging--the fresh pasta I bought from the Claudio's last week was definitely worth the extra money and time.


Serve with Parmesan or other Italian cheese

Sweet things

there are a few sweet things in life: flowers. sunshine. baked goods.
sometimes the simplest pleasures can be the sweetest.