I haven't written down a recipe for awhile so here goes...
This is a recipe for Original Lebanese Humus from a friend of mine who is originally from Beirut.
Combine the following in a blender -
Two cans of garbanzo beans (drain one and leave the liquid in the other)
Some lemon juice (it's up to you...I'd try 2 to 4 lemons depending on the size/juiciness of the lemon)
A lot of garlic. I used a flower of garlic last time and it was garlicky...good. Smash the garlic with the edge of a knife and then chop it so you don't get big pieces of raw garlic in the humus.
A cup or so of Tahini (use the non-roasted white kind). You can get Tahini at health food stores or some bigger grocery stores.
Olive oil (maybe a half cup or so)
This is a good workout for a blender, sometimes I can smell the motor. Anyway blend it up and eat with pita bread pieces or whatever you like for dipping. It's nice to drizzle a little olive oil on the top after you put your humus in the serving bowl.
It's good and good for you.
The guy who gave me this recipe is a good person. He has one leg. Funny, good attitude, plays soccer, rides a bike, skis. I try to think about his attitude when I start whining sometimes. I know another funny, good guy with a great attitude, who doesn't have any legs.
It's all about your perspective some times.
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I heard Click and Clack, on Car Talk, use the phrase "Unencumbered by the Thought Process". I found a link where they provide the Latin - "Non Impediti Ratione Cogitatonis."
Take time to have fun, Click and Clack urge grads
Those guys are smart.
Speaking of being unencumbered by the thought process, there's an article in the May 10th issue of Time Magazine. "Secrets of the Teen Brain - Research is revolutionizing our view of the adolescent mind - and explaining it's mystifying ways."
According to the article, the brain doesn't fully mature until a person is 25. Hmmmmmm. I suppose having a mature brain doesn't always make for a mature person. I liked this quote "The last area of the brain to mature is the part capable of deciding, I'll finish my homework, take out the garbage and then I'll Instant Message my friends."
I don't mean to put down teenagers. It is helpful for me sometimes to think the reason my teenagers act the way they do is because some of their behaviour is a fact of nature rather than anything either they or I have a whole lot of control over.
I recalled an incident from my pre-teen years that made me think how differently our brains react as we mature. I think this happened when I was about 10. We were living in town at the time and a friend of mine and I were shooting baskets at a hoop in his driveway. It was across the street and a few doors down from the back door of our house (our back door was in plain view from where we were). Anyway we are playing and I noticed my mom and then my step dad kind of scurrying around in and out of the back door. I can't remember now but I think I may have noticed smoke coming out of the back of the house as well (it turned out there was smoke coming from the dryer in the utility room). I had a decision to make "should I keep playing basketball or go home?". My young brain thought, or didn't think, that I should keep playing basketball. I have to laugh thinking about talking to my step dad about it later. He said, "next time you think the house is on fire it might be a good idea to come home and check to see what's going on"...or words to that effect.
I have to keep that kind of thing in mind so I won't be too hard on my kids.
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I've finally gotten around to reading a book on Lewis and Clark my sister in law gave me about seven years ago;
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West
I just finished a part of the book where some teenagers helped the expedition by guiding them over the Bitterroots.
Lewis and Clark are on their way back East in June of 1806, having spent the winter at Fort Clatsop on the mouth of the Columbia River. They have made it as far as the West side of the Bitterroot Mountains. There is still a lot of snow in the mountains and they have already made one unsucessfully attempt to cross Lolo Pass.
As they gained elevation the snow covered the trail and the grass, which was making it hard on them and their horses. They turned around and went back down to the mountain to wait for better weather, allow their horses to feed and to wait for some Indian guides to lead them over the pass.
Two teenage Nez Perce Indian boys came along and told them they were going over the mountains to visit some friends on the other side. At about the same time three more teenage Indian boys show up, having been sent by their Chief (Twisted Nose), to guide Lewis and Clark. With the help of these teenagers Lewis and Clark made it across the mountains.
Here's a quote from that part of the book,
"Just before sunset the party rode into Traveler's Rest. They had covered 156 miles in six days. The previous fall, the expedition had been slowed by Old Toby's losing the way and by the fallen timber, and it had taken eleven days to cover the distance.
On this crossing the horses had grass every day but one. To Lewis's delight, they had stood the journey suprisingly well. Most of them were in "fine order" "and only want a few days rest to restore them perfectly."
This was thanks to the skill of the guides. Their sense of distance and timing, not to mention their sense of direction and ability to follow a trail buried under ten feet of snow, was a superb feat of woodmanship. Most of the trail was in dense forest, and the guides were young men, not yet twenty years of age.
The expedition had been as lucky in its guides as Lewis had been in his fall from the horse, as Lewis knew. When he wrote that not even Drouillard could find his way in thee mountains, he was giving his guides and extraordinary compliment."
Teenagers, they help keep us young, while giving us gray hair, and make us glad we are getting old. It's a lot of work being young. Even though on the surface it may appear a young person has a lot of discretionary time they don't necessarily see it that way. It's really hard as I age to remember that. I need to lighten up sometimes with my kids...still a challenge.
There's a Hank Hill episode where his niece sees him filling the ice cube tray and says "thank God we'll have ice around here again."
It's kind of like that.
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I got tickets to a Norah Jones concert at the Key Arena this September. The first time in a long time that I wanted to buy an album after I heard a song on the radio was the first time I heard her song "Come Away With Me". There's a sample of it here Norah Jones: Music.
Speaking of good concerts and a good venue; last year I went with my daughters and some of their friends to a Dave Matthews concert at the Gorge in Eastern Washington. It was great. A beautiful outdoor setting, mellow crowd and good music. I see they are playing at the Gorge over this Labor Day Weekend. They did a version of Long Black Veil that was really good. It's one of those things I think you should do at least once...go see them, or someone, at the Gorge at George once if you have a chance. If for no other reason than to see the sun setting on the Columbia River valley...very pretty.
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May you have a peaceful relaxing and refreshing weekend. Take a break, you deserve it...be good to yourself.
