Sunday, August 12, 2012

Satisfied curiosity

The first new potatoes tasted well today,
and so did the beans.

28 comments:

  1. Hmmmmm. How did you eat them? Cooked? Steamed? Fried? With butter? Oil?

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  2. Steamed, Bertus.
    Und dazu gab es frische Knoblauchbohnen und Mettbällchen in Pfeffersoße. Delicious.

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  3. How I love your garden! This photo just gave me the right push to go to the Market and get fresh potatoes from a farmer. If you could translate your comment to Berus, I might cook them à votre façon!

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  4. Knoblauchbohnen?

    How nice to be able to have vegetables you, yourself, have helped to grow.

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  5. Uff, Claude, were my "kitchen-English" better, I had not written in German.
    20 minutes later: Intended to offer you the full recipe, but gave up. Just lack of the proper vocabulary.
    And with the steamed potatoes we had garlic-beans and meatballs in a pepper sauce.

    Ashley,
    'Knoblauchbohnen', means the beans, when refined [?] are being tossed [?] in onion and garlic that have been sweated in a whack of margarine or butter, and finally spiced with black pepper.

    Uff. I shall definitely not try to write a cookbook.

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  6. Thanks you, both.
    I understand, Sean. I cannot translate Tourtière et Chausson aux pommes to my satisfaction.:)

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  7. Haha, Claude, it reads and sounds mouthwatering, anyway. :)

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  8. So does you own culinary masterpiece! :)

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  9. 'Tossed' sounds right. 'Refined'. Hmm, 'blanched' maybe. Quickly dunked in boiling water? That's 'blanched'. It sounds delicious. But not the meatballs because I'm a vegetarian. :)

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  10. Claude,
    :)

    Ashley,
    before freezing we'd blanch beans for about three minutes. The 'Knoblauchbohnen', thought, got boiled / simmered for about 20/25 minutes.
    Does telling the meat we eat once a week would not come from factory farming earn me a Brownie point? :)
    Well, once a week we'd have fish. Today's hake was delicious, by the way. The other five days I am a vegetarian, myself. Almost. :)

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  11. I stopped eating meat about 30 years ago and it is no loss for me. I don't digest meat very well; it used to make me feel heavy and sluggish so I stopped for my own benefit. Some people need it, I believe, and some people do not. I do think if people had to kill the animals themselves that there would be fewer meat eaters though. When I pass the meat section in the supermarket it just looks like dead creatures to me. Simple carnage.
    I don't like the way most animals are raised, so cruel. So good for you for eating ones that had a better quality of life. :)

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  12. Sean: The way S.E feels, in front of the "dead creatures" at the market, might be similar to the way I felt when (as a young nurse of 21) I saw an aborted child in a bedpan. I probably felt worse because I believed that the fetus was a human being with a soul.

    I bet you if more feminists would see a few dead babies in a row, they would not fight so hard for the right of women to kill them.

    Although it's true that a baby not wanted might be as badly treated as most of the animals we eat. That would justify getting rid of them, wouldn't it?

    I've been wanting to say this on a blog for years. Forgive this old lady, dear Sean. :-)

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  13. Humans are animals. I believe all animals have souls.

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  14. Really, S.E.? I wouldn't know...

    But try to say that to an Inuit when he is feeding his kids frozen raw seal liver. BTW, that's the only chance his kids have to get Vitamin C. Not much sun and citrus fruits on Baffin Island!

    One thing the Inuits never do is to abort a child, even if it's the tenth one. Or even if the child has no known daddy. An Inuit truly believes in his ancestor's spirit which is reborn in children and inspires him in his hunt for food.

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  15. Ashley,,
    right you are. Had I to kill a cow, a sow, a rabbit, a chicken, a sheep, there would perhaps – never does one know – not land meat on my table, very often.
    Were people willing – and able! – to sometimes pay more for the meat of 'properly' raised animals, there would be less incentives for 'factory farming'.

    Ah, as often, it's a complex matter. As we are at it: I am not sure that all primates calling themselves humans do have a soul.
    :) Actually, I don't know, if any animal has a soul.
    What I (think I) know is that each animal does appreciate when being treated kindly.

    Claude,
    you do, of course, know that your thoughts, feelings, convictions are always welcome, don't you? Thus, there is nothing to forgive, eh?! :)

    Everything you write I do agree to!
    At the same time I am aware of that within my lifetime the world population has more than quadrupled. Which is why I consider female rats more intelligent than human animals: A rat would not become pregnant, when there is not enough food.

    Finally, knowing that you know what is going to come:
    Truly, I do not believe in any ancestors spirit. It's my life. Except for the first years, no one else is responsible for what during the past four decades I did, and did not.
    I do feel inspired to learn, reflect and form my opinion.

    Yep! Before talking about complex matters it would be of no disadvantage to improve my English. :)

    How good to know I am understood, anyway. :)

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  16. Then according to you both I am a murderer.

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  17. So many millions of words abound about "soul" and what it may or may not be and who many or may not have it, when all we really need to say, altogether now, is:

    "We just don't know."

    So many are so afraid to admit their ignorance, especially to themselves.

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  18. Of course I meant "...who may or may not have it..." not "who many".

    One thing we do all have is the ability to make silly mistakes

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  19. Uff!
    At least, according to me, Ashley you are not. I thought I made that clear ...

    Don QuiScottie,
    are so many? I am not afraid.
    Thought I made that clear ... :)

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  20. Murderer is a strong word. I wonder why it was pronounced. Did I accuse a specific person of any crime here? I did not start the discussion. One philosophy was expressed. And I expressed mine. (now to my regret).

    I live my life according to what I believe. (As the Inuits do). I don't impose my credo on other people. And, frankly, I don't care what people think about what I believe and do. (As the Inuits would.) Anyone who has different ideas and acts differently should have the same attitude and not care about what I might think.

    I'm quite a nice person, and I'm fascinated by the animal kingdom. But I'm going to enjoy my steak, chicken and fish with no guilt whatsoever.

    And the people of the world (with or without soul) can do as they wish, in public or in their own personal life.

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  21. To your good health! À votre santé!

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  22. Claude,
    1. Thank you.
    2. No need to excuse anything.

    3. Is there an error in reasoning?

    See: Anyone who has different ideas and acts differently should [have the same attitude and] not care about what I might think.
    I am convinced, living together could become much easier when, for a beginning, everyone would care about what her/his neighbour thinks.
    Hm. Or am I wrong?



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  23. People who have a different philosophy should not live together, Sean. By saying not to care I meant if one is truly convinced that one's action is right, one should not be upset by other people's different opinion.

    This episode confirms me how right I have been never to have started a blog. By expressing my philosophy, someone thinks I have judge her to be a murderer, and another one thinks I should say we don't know if we have a soul or not.

    Well I know what I know what I know...And I'm not including myself with people who don't know...I will not change my mind about aborting a fetus...I think it's right to eat some animal's flesh...And I believe I have a soul...

    I also believe (with the Inuits) that genetically I have inherited some of my ancestors'skills and whether it's through their spirit or not, I'm often led and inspired by their past life.

    I could say a lot more about this. Time is lacking...

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  24. As for me it is not impossible that my philosophy/conviction might get proved wrong.

    Would I be polite not mentioning that to my knowledge no one so far thought you should say we don't know if we have a soul or not.
    Anyway, fact is we do not know, Claude. Or do you have further information?

    If not, you are tergivasating yourself.
    Oh. I see. 'Time is lacking'. Obviously you have more interesting things to do than telling us more, whatever more might be.
    Enjoy. Carpe diem. Et noctem. :)




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  25. Don't be sarcastic with me, Sean. You'll get nowhere...

    Time is lacking because it's 8.30 pm. And I did not have my supper yet.

    To my knowledge, I have a soul. Your non belief does not affect my belief.

    Have a good night!

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  26. Perhaps a bit short it was, but I had quite a good night. Thank you, Claude.
    Hope you enjoyed your supper. :)

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  27. Ah... this all leaves me truly convinced, again, that Claude should write a blog, which is, of course, a mere opinion of, perhaps, a fool, not an instruction or a demand. And, thus truly convinced, I hunker down under my noble helmet, strengthened by the guidance that "if one is truly convinced that one's action is right, one should not be upset by other people's different opinion".

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  28. I wrote a long comment, then thought, "what's the point?", so I then deleted the long comment. So to my mystification about souls I must add my lack of understanding of what the point is. I am indeed, an ignorant fellow. Which is a statement of fact, I believe (or I opine?) not a statement of sarcasm. And if ignorance is bliss, as some do say, then bliss is not what I had thought it was. An interesting string of comments grown from a few humble potatoes...

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