Hope

Well, I voted early, so now the results are out of my hands. It’s hard not to look at election day with a lot of trepidation, not to mention fear of the violence that seems likely to accompany it, but in the end God’s plan, whatever it might be, will prevail. As a Christian I’m pessimistic about the short term but optimistic about the long term.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

Recipe

I thought I’d do something different and post a recipe. This is a recipe for Salisbury Steak that I’ve altered and tweaked to suit my tastes. Maybe you’ll like it too

Real Mushroom Salisbury Steak

1 Small to medium yellow onion
8 oz. fresh mushrooms
1 or 2 cloves garlic
½ cup water
½ cup heavy whipping cream
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. basil leaves
1 egg
1 to 1½ lb. ground beef

Cut top off onion, then cut in half from top to root. Remove the dry skin layers and cut off the root. Place cut-side down in a small baking dish. Remove stems from mushrooms and cut buttons into approx. ¼ inch cubes and place in baking dish. Use a garlic press to mince the garlic and add to dish. Add about a tablespoon of water and bake in oven at 350°F for an hour and fifteen minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Just before mincing garlic.

Set aside about a quarter cup of the mushroom pieces.

Roasted mushroom pieces

Put the rest of the mushroom pieces and the onion and garlic in a blender. Rinse out the baking pan with the ½ cup of water and add to the blender, along with the salt, basil leaves, and ½ cup heavy whipping cream. Blend until thoroughly liquified.

About to add whipping cream.

In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Add about ¼ cup of the mushroom mixture and half the reserved mushroom pieces and mix thoroughly. Then add the ground beef and mix with the fork until uniform. Divide into six portions and form into patties.

About to make patties.

Coat a large pan with olive oil and warm to medium heat on the stove. Place half the patties in the pan, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme leaves, and cook for about two minutes; just until bottom is browned. Turn over and repeat. Place the patties on a paper-towel covered plate and brown the other three patties, then remove them as well.

Second set of patties is browning.

Now drain any excess grease from the pan and pour in the remaining mushroom mixture and mushroom pieces. Rinse out the blender with about a cup of water and add to the pan. Turn up the heat to high, and stir constantly until boiling and for one or two minutes more. Then turn down the heat to low and keep stirring until the mixture is only simmering. Return all the patties to the pan, turning over once to coat them with the mixture, and spoon additional mixture on top so they’re fully covered. Put a lid on it and let simmer for 30–40 minutes.

Simmering.

What I usually do at this point is make rice for a side dish; the amount of time the rice takes to cook is about the right amount of time for it to simmer.

Rice

½ cup uncooked white rice
1 cup beef broth
salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and rosemary leaves to taste.

Put the rice in a small pot. Put the broth in a large drinking glass and add the salt and spices. Stir the broth, then add all at once to the rice. Do not stir the rice. Heat the rice on high until at a heavy boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

Serving

Be sure to put plenty of the mushroom mixture on your patties and rice.

Ready to eat!

True fairy tales

Sarah Hoyt: The Glass Shoe

Also: The Magical Realm

Don’t fail to read these; they’re very good. But keep a handkerchief handy.

(Also, from the comments on the first, Sarah says, “when I have ten or so of these, I’ll do a collection (and remove them from here, so Amazon doesn’t have kitten fits.)” So if you’re seeing this months or years later, the links may not work.)

Why I will vote for Donald Trump

In 2016 I didn’t vote for Donald Trump. (I didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton either.) I thought he was just saying what he thought people wanted to hear, and would be about as faithful to his voters as he had been to his wives. I was wrong: to a remarkable degree (by politician standards) he’s tried to fulfil his campaign promises.

His accomplishments include:

• Nominating over 200 federal judges who are committed to interpreting the law, not making it.
• Exceeding his campaign promise to repeal two regulations for every new one.
• Getting other NATO countries to increase their contributions to that organization.
• Negotiating peace agreements between Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and Israel and Bahrain.

I could list more, but that’s enough to make the point.

On the other hand, Joe Biden was part of an administration that politicized the IRS and the “intelligence community” for partisan political purposes. He represents a party that has given tacit support to riots, arson, and looting. Again, I could go on.

As far as criticisms of Trump go, he is a bully (but not much worse than a lot of other politicians) and says—and especially tweets—lots of stupid things. In the end, I think his policies outweigh that, especially in light of the alternatives.

He is often accused of racism, but the main evidence for that seems to be his being a Republican president. He never seems to have been accused of racism before declaring his candidacy.

As far as his handling of the pandemic goes, I don’t really know what he might have done differently. Under our federal system, health issues like this are mostly state matters, not to mention the fact that governments don’t have the power to magically stop the spread of diseases.

I will be voting for Donald Trump this year, and now you know why.