Thanksgiving in the Time of COVID-19
If you missed Rachel Maddow returning to her show from quarantine to talk about her partner’s fight with COVID-19, here it is.
This will be a very different Thanksgiving than usual for hopefully more of us than otherwise, though I wonder. It’s not an easy decision for some people and we are all getting antsy. My sister and I have been going to a local restaurant for Thanksgiving for the past several years. But things are different and even take-out is hard to be sure of, since we don’t know if the county or city is going to close things. I mean, the Tucson Gem Show in February is a huge international event — and it has been cancelled for 2021. So I am going to her place and we are doing rotisserie chicken and I haven’t decided whether I’m cooking side(s) and dessert or buying them. We both are sheltering in place except for very few things.
Another profile in courage, this from the frontlines — this South Dakota nurse, Jodi Doering, posted a series of tweets that went viral.
This recipe was posted by a group member, but the link didn’t work, nor did googling “Rutabaga Ginsburg.” In any case, I’m posting the recipe (which looks like it would work with any root vegetable or combination) and if there’s a copywrite violation, I’ll gladly take it out. Certainly RBG’s life is something to be thankful for every day.
Rutabaga Ginsburg
(Serves 6)
Like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself, this dish is a reliable, no-nonsense side that will always have your back. The simple preparation lets the root veggie’s true taste shine, giving it equal justice under the laws of flavor, something the Notorious RBG would surely support.
Ingredients:
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
6 rutabagas (about 3 to 4 lbs), peeled and cut into ¾" pieces
2 tsp. kosher salt, more to taste
Fresh-ground black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
Zest of one lemon
½ bunch of parsley, chopped
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet or microwave. Toss rutabaga with melted butter, salt, and black pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet and roast until tender and golden, about 20 to 30 minutes.
While the rutabagas are roasting, make brown butter by melting the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally to make sure butter cooks evenly. When the butter starts to foam—it turns a dark golden color, and gives off a nutty aroma, after about 10 minutes—remove from heat and set aside.
Caramelize the onions using a heavy-bottomed sauté pan coated with olive oil. Cook onions over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until golden and translucent. Reduce heat to low and keep stirring for about 30 minutes, or until the onions are a deep caramel color. If you notice the onions drying out, add a little bit of water to the pan.
Toss the rutabagas with browned butter, then add the caramelized onions, lemon zest, and chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.
The Bad News
When is diversity not enough? We may find out if Michele Flournoy becomes head of the Pentagon. I’m reading Isabel Wilkinson’s book Caste and this article made me think of the chapter where she describes how members of the lower caste (in this case women) may be admitted into upper caste roles, thus making sure the upper caste doesn’t have to deal with the issue at all, while the lower caste people involved take on as many characteristics of the upper caste as they can. Maybe. I do recommend the book.
www.theguardian.com/…
Women are seen as caregivers, which is one reason that 91% of nurses are women, though the number of men in the field is growing. In a recent survey.
Eleven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the United States experiencing record new daily cases, basic infection control and prevention measures are still lacking in US hospitals, including an inadequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), according to a survey by National Nurses United (NNU).
"More than 240 registered nurses have died from COVID-19. Enough is enough. Nurses need PPE now to do their jobs safely," NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, said in a statement.
"Hospitals are continuing to fail when it comes to preparation for COVID-19, even as flu season begins. They have had nearly a year to get their act together. We should not still be operating under crisis standards of care,” she said.
www.medscape.com/…
This is a long and harrowing article, and deserves a diary of its own. It raises issues of colonialism by corporations, reporting on the abuse women face in the palm oil plantations of Indonesia and Malaysia. Read it, look at the photos. And yet, palm oil is ubiquitous and hard to eliminate from one’s life. But this is the new colonialism and women are often most exploited, and we need to figure out what to do about it — it will require massive restructuring of our society, and we are moving every day in the wrong direction.
apnews.com/…
News to Be Thankful For
Dolly Parton gave a million dollars towards Moderna’s research into developing a vaccine for COVID-19. Many thanks — hopefully their vaccine will continue to look good.
www.theguardian.com/…
NPR did a great interview with Sydney Barber, the first black woman Brigade Commander at the US Naval Academy.
www.npr.org/…
There is promising research that may develop a treatment for a very serious form of endometriosis.
www.clinicalomics.com/…
There will be 51 women of color in the 2021 Congress, the most ever. Still not enough, but hopeful. And as in 2018, many are coming out of activism rather than climbing the rungs of state party structures.
It’s also a historic year for women in general, with at least 141 women winning seats this election, surpassing the previous record of 127 set in 2019, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Races in Georgia and Louisiana haven’t been called yet, so these numbers may increase.
www.latimes.com/…
And wouldn’t it be awesome if Deb Haaland became the first Native American woman in the Cabinet? And to head Interior, the department that oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs!
www.dailykos.com/…
*******
As always, thanks to the WoW crew. This week’s contributors include Angmar, elenacarlena, mettle fatigue, SandraLLAP.