The Saturday Morning Post: 50 States in 52 Weeks: Alabama

 

I saw a calendar / diary in a bookstore that had a page for each week of the year with questions about the users experience with the 50 United States, and adding in Washington DC, and Puerto Rico to round out the 52 weeks of the year.  What a wonderful idea for a theme day on a blog. 

So here I begin. 

Alabama

Alabama is in the deep south of the United States. 

The first time I was there was in the late 1970's. I drove my grandmother from Florida to Michigan one spring and she wanted to go west across the panhandle of Florida, stop at Bellingrath Gardens in southern Alabama, then north across Alabama and Mississippi to St Louis on the way.  

My second time was in the early 1980's I drove from Orlando to New Orleans for the World's Fair, stopping to see Bellingrath for a second time.  I was driving a nearly new Renault LeCar, a fun little car with a canvass sunroof, a great radio, and air conditioning so cold ice would form on the vents. 

I have been back once, in the early 2000s to present a training in I think Birmingham. That one was in late summer, I had been at a Kentucky Statewide Legal Services Conference, drove from that conference directly to the airport.  I was dressed casually from the KY conference that was better known as the drunken party in the woods. Delta lost my bag on the way to Alabama. I showed up for dinner that evening with the state attorney general is shorts and a yellow polo shirt. The bag arrived at the hotel late that night. Normally the trainings were 40-50 people, there were nearly 200 in Alabama.  I switched up a few small group exercises to work for large audiences and the show went on.  I have fond memories of the program. 

And no real desire to return to Alabama. 

The photo, is not from Alabama, those visits were before my digital archive. The bright colorful flowers, very much remind me of Bellingrath Gardens. 

Something Beautiful Happened While I Was In The Shower this Afternoon

 A quick snow squall moved through and we went from dry to this in less than 10 minutes, followed by thundersnow for about half an hour. Leaving a dusting of snow. The first of the season, maybe the first in a year.  

Foodie Friday: Parmesan Crisps

Just before Christmas Magnon  posted about his dear wife making parmesan biscuits.*  We were attending a gathering of a dozen neighbors a few nights later and I thought I would give them a try.  Mine look a little different, they were light and kind of fluffy.  This is essentially a savory pastry.  Being a world recipe the quantities are in weight.  If you love to bake, and you don't have a kitchen scale, buy one.  I have a digital one, that will measure as little as a gram, and as much as about 10 pounds (about 5 kilos.) It easily switches back and forth between ounces and grams, and easily tare weights - resets to zero after an empty bowl is placed on it. It comes in handy for weighing mail and small packages. 

Equal Amounts by weight of 

• Flour
• Butter
• Grated Parmesan (use the real stuff not the crap out of a can.) 

One egg yolk, for every 100 grams (about half a cup) of flour

Seasoning - Mrs. Magnon uses cayenne pepper. 

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C or about 395F.

Put the flour, butter and spices in a food processor, and pulse until it forms a fine meal, add the parmesan and egg yolk(s) and process until well blended.  Cover and chill for a few minutes.  

Roll the pastry out to about 1/4 of an inch thick, and cut into rounds at about the size you want the finished crisps.  Put on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Space about 1/2 an inch apart (they will spread slightly when making.) Bake 10-12 minutes until light gold. Cool and enjoy.  

I made twice the quantity as the recipe Magnon posted. Next time I will add more spice, probably minced chives.  

* Biscuit has an entirely different meaning in the United States, and Crisp has an entirely different meaning in the UK, call them whatever you want. 
 

Thursday Ramble: Annual Evaluation

Different from my year end reading list, and my annual goals review is my annual performance evaluation.  Some of the jobs I had over the years had formal annual reviews, some sporadic reviews. I don't know which is more helpful.  It always bothered me that the review process was one way, from the top down, and never from the bottom up. The last couple of years I worked when I was responsible for reviews, I did invite input from my colleagues. There was no form for this, no place that it was recorded in systems.  It was not always easy to hear, but little that I was told was a surprise. I was probably a harsher critic of my work, than those that I worked for, or that worked for me.  

So now that I work for me, almost a full year now (the anniversary of my last day in the office is the subject of an upcoming post) it is time to look at how am I doing? 

I did a good job this year at communicating.  I have emailed and exchanged text messages with more people. I send email letters to others - probably annoyingly so.  I have been faithful to the blog.  Even with a month planned away from home last spring, I kept posts up every day, and as the trip progressed and WiFi became available I edited or replaced planned posts.  I have largely dropped FaceBook, I look at it, but seldom post, most of my feed is filled with junk forwarded by others. But there are posts, a dear friend is on a holiday cruise, it is nice to see his posts.  I am not a good phone conversationalist, made worse by a job where I logged over 12,000 phone calls in a little over 9 years, that started with me saying "thank you for calling, tell me what is wrong in your life?"   I should work on being comfortable on the phone again. 

On my job description for retirement was to become more involved in my community.  I have started to do a few things with the arts group, and I think made it to about half of the first Saturday community coffees.  I used the outdoor pool over the summer, and have become a regular at the indoor pool over the past month.  I have attended one educational program, and one party.  This is solid progress, and I am encouraged to continue to make the most of this. 

On my job description was to do some writing.  I published several book reviews and short articles.  I am nearly finished with writing a book chapter on identity theft. I have a couple of chapters written on end of life.  This effort would benefit from discipline of writing for an hour every day. 

I have continued my education this year.  I read a wider variety of topics and formats this year.  Exploring issues of racism and poverty - delving into a little fiction.  I have taken more than the required number of hours of continuing legal education, including topics unrelated to any work I have ever done.  I should do more of this. It is time for me to look at returning to attending an in-person educational event. I need to go take a studio art class, I have a list of place that teach pottery.  

On my office evaluations the past few years, were customer service and teamwork.  I think I have done okay at supporting my sweet bear, my only team member, while still allowing independence.  I am my own customer, I have had few complaints.  I can do better at relaxing and spending time doing nothing.  I want to embrace silence, and avoid the 101 distractions around us.  I can do better at planning not just where we are going, but what we might do or see when we get there.  

Again, I am probably my harshest critic.  But that is okay. Stopping to think about how am I doing at this, and how can I do better or at least maintain quality, is an important exercise.  Until someday it will not be.   

My World of Wonders aka The Wednesday Ws: Happy 2025 Edition

My Big Wish this Week, 

A Happy and Healthy New Year to All of You. 

It is hard to believe it is 2025 

Where do I start? The world lost a great man this week, with the death of Jimmy Carter.  Almost his entire was spent making the world a better place, as a Naval Officer, Governor, President and as without question the most successful former President of my lifetime. His ongoing public service in retirement is a model for all to aspire to.  His election was the first election I voted in. 

Where Have I Been This Week?  Home, the gym, the pool, the library, the grocery store. I took the subway into the city for a long walk, and photos for a couple of upcoming Travel Tuesdays.   

Who have a traded messages with this week? Lots of people, bloggers, friends and family members. 

Who have we seen? Susan and Anna came by friday evening for drinks and home made pizza. 

What sadness crept in this week? One of my Senior Lawyers colleagues died. Jim had been sick on and off for a couple of years, he was in the hospital for several weeks last fall. He knew he was dying, he was angry about it, and kept working to the end.  His obituary does not show his age, I believe he was in his early 70s. 

What About New Years? A quiet evening at home.  A small bottle of champaign, caviar, and fruit cake. For dinner on New Year's Day, ham, and baked beans. 

What did I receive for Christmas? Three new books, three special pieces of art, a pizza stone, chocolates,  a bad joke of the day calendar, and penguin ornament. 

HoW am I feeling?  Christmas was fun and relaxing, and I am glad it is past.  I am trying to keep the earworm holiday music out of my head. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen?  For Christmas dinner I made Yorkshires, roast beef, roast veggies - carrots-parsnips-sprouts, and a cranberry and orange compote. Last Friday I made pizza. My grandmother's mac&cheese, a cheese spread, and a smoked salmon spread. 

What am I listening to?  Winter jazz on YouTube. 

What should you take a look at?  My sweet bear has decided to restart blogging, get a look at what I have been living with for 32 wonderful years.  Please leave him comments, it will encourage him to keep it up this time. 

When will the dining room chairs be 100 years old? This summer.  The chairs are from a dining room set that was an engagement gift for my grandparents, a year before they married in 1926. 

What was the milestone of the week?  I have posted 365 times to the selfie blog. 

What are my thoughts on the New Year?  There are many things we have little or no control over.  What I can control is how I react or respond.  Life is not about what happens in the world, but about what I make of it. I can cower and be sad, or I can build resolve to fight for what is just and right.  Someone once said, living well is the best revenge, 2025 (and 2026-2027-2028) may offer a lot of opportunities for revenge. Let's live, love and laugh very well.