FOLKS

 

GIVE ‘FOLKS’ A BREAK (from your vocabulary)

 

Letter to politicos, pundits and journalists: 

Enough already! with the overuse of the word ‘folks’. It is so affected. Just because Obama and James Carville use ‘folks’ in their everyday language doesn’t mean you and every other Democrat need to do it. If you think it makes you sound cool or hip or like ordinary Joes when you’re not, you are misinformed.

Besides, casual familiarity to YOU might be an insult to someone else. 

I mean, do we all want to be referred to as folks by our leaders? I have zero need to drink a beer with my candidates in order to vote for them, and I don’t need to be referred to as folks to accept them. Our leaders should be smarter and more erudite than most of us.

 

People talk of an ever-evolving living language when it comes to grammar, and apparently, anything goes these days. But a university-educated, law school-trained Senator or Congressperson talking ‘folks’ in hopes of widening his/her base comes off as disingenuous.

 

Try introducing alternatives like ‘people’ or ‘voters’ or ‘Americans’ or ‘individuals’ or ‘families’ or any number of other descriptors, and give FOLKS a rest. 

Thank you.

Oxtail soup concoction

OK, this may seem manic, but I have to share this one-off with those of you who like to cook because it was so unexpectedly delicious and took about ten minutes. This is how it happened. It was all done with waaay leftovers. 

1.     Ox tail bits from the freezer: I had made beef stock from oxtails (one oxtail sawed by the butcher into pieces, a quartered onion, some chunks of celery, some chunks of carrot, a bay leaf, some water—you figure it out, just not too much water—and cook it for two to three hours, strain off the broth to keep, ditch the veggies, freeze the oxtail bits).

2.    Some of the leftover stock, gelatinized in the fridge, about ½ Cup or a little more.

3.    Mashed potatoes from three days ago—equal parts potato and celery root pieces—boil the hell out of them, smash’em, add some butter and cream, salt and pepper.

4.    Reduced tomatoes from, like, five days ago. (Take a can of chopped tomatoes and reduce by 50% in a pan on the stove or in the oven at 350, a little salt, a little thyme, until sort of dry-ish.)

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Thaw out the oxtail pieces enough to take the meat off the bone, or better, heat in a pan until you can take the meat off.

• Heat in a sauce pan with a little butter and light oil (sunflower or veg oil) along with one or two tablespoons of the reduced tomato goop. Stir to prevent sticking/burning.

• When hot, add the old stock/broth

• Add one or two tablespoons of the mashed potatoes and blend into the broth. Don’t thicken too much.

• Warm

• Serve in a shallow bowl

• I also had a few leftover mushroom agnolotti that I refreshed in hot water for a few minutes and added to the mix just before serving.

• A little parmesan and pepper completed the dish.

This concoction was unbelievably delicious. I was even sober. I don’t have a photo. Next time. 

Wine paring: this would be a full bodied red: Australian Shiraz, Zinfandel, Washington state Cabernet Sauvignon.

Love, 

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