Dragon's Head Block

Near the food court at City Creek shopping center, there are family bathrooms. They’re large enough to accommodate wheelchairs. They have self-flushing adult- and child-sized toilets, baby changing tables, and hands-free sinks, all behind the same locked door. This means you can take care of business and wash your hands without touching anything. The best thing about these bathrooms is what they DON’T have: metal stalls. You can go in alone, with your disabled adult daughter, or with your preschool-aged grandson, and you can lock the door behind you, safe and secure. There are bathrooms like these in a few other places, but not as many as there should be. I think of them when I read about states passing laws to allow people who are confused about their sexual identity to use whichever restroom and dressing room they choose. Sexual expression, it seems, has become more important than protection from sexual predators. 

Squire Smith's Choice

“We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each others’ happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery , we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.” – Charlie Chaplin, from The Great Dictator

Nine Double Nine-Patches

Leftover baked potato is wonderful in potato salad, with chopped boiled eggs, chopped onion and celery, homemade mayonnaise and mustard. If you have leftover baked potatoes, fresh greens, boiled eggs, tomatoes, green beans and black olives, you can make a lovely salade niçoise. But salads are so much better in the summertime. When the weather’s cold and damp, I prefer hearty hot soups. Sauté a large chopped onion in a tablespoon of butter until clear. Add a quart of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the coarsely chopped flesh of six baked potatoes, a cup of milk, and half a cup of sour cream. Heat thoroughly, but don’t boil. Serve hot with more sour cream, crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar, hot sauce (we like Cholula) and chopped chives or green onions.

Goober Peas

The day after I’ve served baked potatoes I usually make a big pot of chili. I save what wasn’t eaten, just like I saved the six leftover spuds from the day before. On the third day I slice the potatoes in half, scoop out the flesh and refrigerate it for another day in an airtight container. Arrange the potato halves – skin side down – on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Stick them in the oven at 400F for a few minutes, just long enough to warm them and make them crispy. Reheat the leftover chili and spoon it into skins. Sprinkle shredded cheddar on top and serve with sour cream and fresh cornbread muffins. (In the absence of leftover chili, sauté one chopped onion and a pound of ground beef. Drain and add a can of kidney beans and a jar of mild chunky salsa. Heat through before spooning into potato skins. More on the reserved potato flesh tomorrow . . . 

Four Double Four-Patches

I like meal plans that dovetail. When I serve ham, sometime during the following week I plan for ham/bean soup, chef salad and scrambled eggs with ham to use (disguise) the leftovers. Roast turkey is followed by turkey/rice soup, turkey tacos and turkey-provolone sandwiches. One of my favorite dovetailing tricks involves baked potatoes. On the first day I bake exactly twice as many Idaho russets as my family needs. (That used to mean an even dozen. These days the number is more fluid.) Wash them, pat dry and prick their skins; maybe rub them with olive oil and coarse salt. Place them on oven racks – no pan – and bake at 475F for an hour. (At 4500 feet, it takes a bit longer.) Then serve half of them hot with cheddar, peas, broccoli, sour cream, chives or scallions, ham, and bacon. What do I do with the other six spuds? Stay tuned . . . 

Rocky Mountain Chain

“We live in a troubled world, a world of many challenges. We are here on this earth to deal with our individual challenges to the best of our ability, to learn from them, and to overcome them. Endure to the end we must, for our goal is eternal life in the presence of our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants nothing more than for us to succeed in this goal. He will help us and bless us as we call upon Him in our prayers, as we study His words, and as we obey His commandments. Therein is found safety; therein is found peace. May God bless you, my brothers and sisters. I thank you for your prayers in my behalf and in behalf of all of the General Authorities. We are deeply grateful for you and for all that you do to further the kingdom of God on earth.” – President Thomas S. Monson

Double Four-Patch

Today is National Pie Day, not to be confused with Pi Day March 14, or Pie and Beer Day July 24 (sorry, I couldn’t resist). I could bake a deep dish apple pie to serve hot with a thick slice of sharp cheddar. (Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.) If it wasn’t literally the dead of winter, I’d whip up a fresh strawberry or peach pie and serve it with vanilla ice cream. Maybe I’d make a rhubarb or blueberry or blackberry pie. But I was actually thinking of pie as a main course. I haven’t made shepherd’s pie in a long time, and it's been even longer since a chicken pot pie has graced my table. If today turns out to be too busy for either of those, I could always pop over to Pirate O’s and pick up Morrison Meat Pies to serve with tomato-basil soup. Or go with the old standby: pizza pie!