It’s Ann here today. Andy is over in OurLittleCorner going on about dogs…and cats.
Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, turns 78 today, and I for one would like to wish her the happiest of birthdays! She’s my role model – even if she is younger than I am. I understand very little about economics, her specialty, so it’s not that ability that makes her special to me (though her achievements seem pretty incredible). Instead, it’s her appreciation of food. And her haircut.
It all started innocently enough. I casually mentioned to my (very grown) children that I’d like my hair to look like Janet Yellen’s. I wasn’t trying to be funny – but my comment drew only laughter. And I was confused. Don’t you think her hair looks pretty nice for a 78-year-old woman? I guess I was supposed to want hair like Martha Stewart – or maybe The Pioneer Woman – or SF’s Dominique Crenn.
The NYTimes recently ran an article about Yellen. The subtitle reads, “The Treasury secretary views food as a way to connect, and her dining decisions have become the subject of global intrigue.” The article asserts that “as Treasury secretary she has been unleashing her inner Guy Fieri (she’s a fan of his show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”). But beyond that, food adventures have become a way to connect with other officials, and her staff, while gaining a better understanding of local economies.”
We here at BigLittleMeals agree wholeheartedly that food adventures are a good way to connect.
And as far as her hair, there’s even a rap song about her – and in it her “power bob” is mentioned. I too intend to “rock a POWER BOB!” Go ahead and laugh, kiddos! And who knows… a rapper may even write a song about me and title it “Who’s Cookin’Now!”
Doves on the left Hawks on the right Crosstalk in the flock tryna fight mid-flight But here comes Yellen with that inside voice Never mind the mild manner, policies make noise She’s five foot nothing, but hand to god She can pop a collar, she can rock a power bob Bay Ridge represent! Brooklyn’s in the cabinet! Damn, Janet, go and get it Fifth in line for president! She knows the kinda stimulus it takes to pass a buck I heard she called the housing crisis She’s qualified as ffff— It only took a couple centuries The first female secretary of the treasury.
Though I’m not ready to share a recipe for jian shou qing, which Janet ate in Beijing, I would like to suggest you try a version of In-N-Out Burger’s secret spread. We’ve been making it long before we realized that Janet was also an In-N-Out Burger fan (politics aside).
It’s Ann here today. Andy is in OurLittleCorner blogging about pinball and a pirate
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about elections and about how you get folks to turn out to vote – and vote intelligently. I’ve been thinking about how a country creates socially-responsible citizens, and I’ve been thinking about the teaching of civics.
Most of us took Civics or American Government in high school, right? According to the Nat’l Education Association (NEA) almost all states require at least a semester of government. Yet it’s obvious to one and all that that course isn’t doing what is needed. According to Pew Research about 44% of the voting-eligible U.S. population didn’t turn out to vote in the enormously-important 2020 Presidential election. Also, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, in 2021 a bare majority of Americans (56 percent) were able to identify the three branches of government and nearly one in five (20 percent) were unable to identify any.
An alarming statistic
Sandra Day O’Connor in 2009 – when she first retired from the Supreme Court – was concerned that civic education was disappearing from the curricula and when it was taught it was boring. So O’Connor helped start a program called iCivics with the goal of transforming civic education for every student in America with innovative, truly engaging games and resources (according to the iCivics website). In 2018 iCivics formed a coalition called CivXNow, a ” a fast-growing movement of 150+ influential members calling for a civic education revival in America.”
With a little googling I found this 2023 video, “The Functions of Government” sponsored by iCivics. It’s intended for 6 to 11 year olds. I’d love to know your reaction to it.
Using cartoons to teach about government isn’t new. Our son says that Schoolhouse Rock songs were a memorable part of Saturday mornings for all Gen X kids (born between 1965 and 1980) . These short cartoons covered civics, history, economics, math, science, and grammar. While “Conjunction Junction” is a favorite, “I’m Just a Bill” might be the most famous of them.
With a little more googling, searching into ways to teach young people about our government, I came up with a 1950 talk John Kennedy gave to a convention of Massachusetts high school student council members. Kennedy, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, would be elected President 10 years later. I’ve posted a couple of his more relevant comments below.
Representative John Kennedy in 1950
“…public schools are expected to develop leaders for a democratic society. Certainly, all of you must recognize an obligation of the most pressing sort to participate in, and to contribute to the life of your country.
I do not mean by that that you should all embark on careers in the executive or legislative branch of our government. But I do mean that you are obligated to participate in, to contribute to the national life at all levels (the underline is mine, not Kennedy’s).
Aye there’s the rub. In 2018 Judy Woodruff from NPR interviewed a group of high school students about the voting problem, and one student suggested that we should all be required to vote. Can you even imagine what our country would be like if voters – with absolutely no idea of the issues or the candidates -legally had to cast a vote?
A few states require students to pass the same test that immigrants must pass to become U.S. citizens. Take a look at the questions from the test here. I actually think it’s an awful test…just rote memorization. Applicants are given 100 questions (with the correct answers) to study – with the caveat that there may be other correct answers but test-takers should use one of the suggested responses. At test time they are given 10 of those 100 pre-determined questions and required to correctly answer six (6!) of them.
So if neither a requirement to pass the immigration test nor requiring voting would seem to insure engaged citizens, what can we do? More funding for the social sciences, perhaps?
In 2022 The American Bar Association posted an informative article, “Momentum Grows for Stronger Civic Education Across States.” That article provides an astounding revelation about school funding: “Civic education has been chronically underfunded, both federally and locally, the federal government invests a mere 5 cents per K–12 student compared to $54 per student for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).”
“STEM will get us to Mars. Humanities will help us get along with one another here on earth.”
And with more funding would come the means to create more innovative curricula and better-trained teachers.
According to civxnow.org, “civic education, when done well, produces young people who are more likely to vote; work on community issues; become socially responsible; and feel confident speaking publicly and interacting with elected officials.”I vote that we do everything we can to support equitable, non-partisan civics education!
Now that I’ve got the serious stuff off my mind, I’m thinking about adding more to those trivia-type Citizenship Test questions. One could be “What U.S. president served for 4,422 days (that’s over 12 years)? And who was that President’s 3rd Vice President? And what was the name of that Vice President’s wife? And what year did that Vice President become President?
And the answers are FDR, HARRY S TRUMAN, BESS, and 1945. And here’s a recipe from Bess Truman (who apparently never publicly discussed politics. Did she not have a good high school civics class?).
Bess Truman’s recipe as it appears in the 1948 Congressional Club Cook Book. My grandmother’s notes indicate that there are two additional, identical recipes published in the cookbook – but with different names. The recipe was clearly popular.
…
As you’ve undoubtedly guessed by now, Ann is the creative force in our household, especially when it comes to landscaping, cooking, and entertaining. Hence, it should be no surprise that she has managed to transform a Catholic Italian-American Christmas Eve dining ritual into a Glen Ellen mid-summer non-denominational dinner party.
It all started when our friend Lynne invited us to a New Year’s dinner party that included folks we didn’t know. Always on the lookout for reasons to throw a dinner party of our own, Ann’s ears perked up when one of our new acquaintances at the table was describing her Italian family’s Christmas Eve tradition of serving seven different fish dishes. It was called the Feast of the Seven Fishes.
Photo from the NY Times “Seven Fishes (Not Seven Dishes) for Christmas Eve“
According to Wikipedia, the tradition originated in Southern Italy as La Vigilia , referring to the vigil before the midnight birth of Jesus. The “fishes” part has its roots in the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat during the vigil. Interestingly, specifying that it should be seven fishes is unique to Italian-Americans. Why seven fishes? No one seems to know for sure. It could be the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, the seven hills of Rome, or the seven days of the week.
This all sounded like a fun idea to Ann, but with Christmas Eve being so far away she suggested we do the feast at mid-year and call it a Feast of Three-and-a-Half Fishes. And so it came to pass that on the 13th day of July in the year 2024, the tradition of the Feast of Three-and-a-Half Fishes was launched right here in Glen Ellen. You’ve got to admit that it’s gutsy for a non-Italian, non-Catholic, Colorado-bred girl to tinker with a sacred holiday rite.
Editor’s note: Everyone prepared and brought a dish to the dinner. The three-and-a-half fish dishes were:
#1 Trout – Smoked Trout Dip with Crackers and Veggies.
#2 Shrimp – Shrimp and Corn Fritters.
#3 Halibut – Ottolenghi’s Sweet and Sour Fish (main dish)
#1/2 – Anchovy (Charred Green Beans with Anchovy Dressing and Dukkah)
My usual contribution to dinner parties (other than being a pretty face and a witty host) is to be the cleanup and dishwashing wallah. But for this occasion Ann thought it would be a nice touch to have a trivia contest when the dessert was served. I was pleased when she asked if I would take charge of finding trivia questions and organizing the competition.
Rather than merely telling you about it, I’m going to go the extra mile and let you try your hand at an abbreviated trivia contest right here. Let’s see how many of the following questions, each dealing in one way or another with fish, can you answer correctly? I’m including only 10 of the 45 questions used for our party.
Place cards used for our “Feast.” Under each place card are five fish trivia cards used in the after-dinner competition (see below). FrontBackFor the after-dinner game I printed each question on a card (sporting a Three-and-a-Half Fishes logo) with the answer on the back.
Without further ado, then, here are the 10 questions (click on the question to reveal the correct answer). Keep track of the number you get correct and interpret your score using the NIH Proficiency Scale provided at the end of the questions. Good luck!
1. Jonathan Swift back in the early 1700’s famously penned, “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.” What is wrong with that statement?
Answer: Archaeological evidence suggests it was a woman who ate the first oyster (although there is no conclusive evidence that she was bold).
2. Jamie Oliver has a recipe for Pouting Fish Fingers. What is a “pouting fish”? a. A teenage shad b. A member of the cod family c. An annoyed herring d. A grumpy tuna
Answer: b. A member of the cod family.
3. If you encounter a “pinnotheres pisum” while enjoying your raw oysters, what did you encounter? a. A piece of kelp. b. A type of sea worm that preys on oysters. c. A tiny crab that lives as a parasite in oysters. d. An unformed pearl.
Answer: c. A tiny crab that that lives as a parasite in oysters.
4. What North American mammal was declared to be a fish by the Catholic Church in 1760 so it could be eaten during lent?
Answer: The beaver. (This was largely for the benefit of French trappers in Northern America at the time – beaver pelts were in high demand for making top hats).
5. In 2013 This American Life broadcast a story about an urban myth that claims that “fake calamari” is made from _____________. a. Compressed chicken gizzards. b. Dehydrated beef gristle. c. Deep-fried potatoes. d. Pig rectums.
Answer: d. Pig rectums. (Even though it’s an urban myth, it makes you think twice before ordering calamari!)
6. What does a 35.2 oz pack of “Plaza Osetra Caviar” go for at Costco? a. $1,999.99 b. $999.99 c. $99.99 d. $9.99
Answer: a. $1,999.99 (and you get free shipping!)
7. What should you do when your fly-fishing guide tells you to mend your line? a. Lift and flip the line upstream or downstream. b. Reel in any excess line floating in the water. c. Apply Super Glue where the break is. d. Tell the guide to bug off.
Answer: a. Lift and flip the line upstream or downstream (and never tell a guide to bug off!)
8. A baby seahorse is called a a. Colt. b. Wimp. c. Fry. d. Pup.
Answer: c. Fry.
9. What percent of Americans who fly-fish are women? a. 6%. b. 11%. c. 21%. d. 31%.
Answer: d. 31%.
10. Why did the whale eat two ships full of potatoes?
Answer: The whale ate two ships full of potatoes because no on can eat just one potato ship. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!)
Adapted from the NIH Proficiency Scale (which has nothing to do with fish scales or trivia, but lends an air of empirical rigor to the blog).
I hope you’re satisfied with your score. Happy fishing (and feasting)!
The three-and-a-half-foot stuffed fish, Wanda, that Timothy (from Maine) brought as a gift to our Feast of the Three-and-a-Half Fish .
