Expand. Embrace. Empower.

  

Expand. Embrace. Empower.

If this country were to need a new watchword, and it does, this is it.

I know that we all feel that there is strength in shared experiences, outlooks, and core beliefs, in identifying with our tribe. But it is less strength, and more comfort. Comfort is necessary, of course, but it can also be limiting. Stagnating. The risk of missing out.

I wrote a post a couple of days ago called What the Immigrants Knew, if you didn't read it, I hope you will. It's a personal story about a lesson from my great grandparents. In many ways, I'm making the same point again today, but through my own, online and blogging experiences.

Shortly after I started blogging, I made my first real online, never met in person friend. We had a connection right from the start, she had a great sense of humor and was supportive of everything I wrote. 

I am skeptical by nature, and even more so online. I'm well aware that people can say they are whoever they want to online. And there are scammers everywhere, but this woman was the real deal.

So when my first friend was thinking of giving up blogging, I convinced her to continue by coming up with a writing challenge, the Secret Subject Swap, and talked a bunch of other bloggers to join in. Although it was meant to be a one time deal, it blew up. Bloggers asked to join in. At one point I had 30 bloggers participating and was running 8 different challenges.

The challenges were open to all, but when someone asked to join, I always checked them out, looked at their blog and social media.

At one point, Stephanie asked to join. Her social media was full of Christian proclamations. She was, of course, welcome to join, but clearly would never be a part of my personal inner circle.

But I got to know her, this woman who ended every sentence with two exclamation marks!! She is a kind, positive, fun, and funny friend, always up to join in on anything I came up with. I saw her strength when she finally got up the nerve to leave her abusive husband with nothing but a beat up car and her kids. 

Reyna is someone else who joined the challenges with whom I had nothing in common. It was difficult to read her posts, she was not a deep thinker, and clearly did not have a grasp of sentence structure or punctuation, something that makes me crazy.

But, I came to see, she was an empath, a warm and comfortable person, and a fiercely supportive friend. 

Some of these people, with whom I had little in common, supported me in ways and at times when I needed it the most.

I could have comfortably lived in my own "tribal" bubble but oh, how I would have missed out. Expanding my little writing world, embracing what others had to offer, taking the time to look beneath the surface, has been empowering.

There is black, there is white, and then there is all of that vibrant color in between. We should be looking for it.

I acknowledge the nurturing strength of like-mindedness and shared purpose. The truth is though, that there is an added layer of power in diversity. Growth lies in the acceptance of, the embracing of, diversity.

Tribalism is comfortable, yes, but it can also be counterproductive. Inclusion based on exclusion is a recipe for societal atrophy.

Heterogeneity, all it can bring us, and all it can teach us, provides balance. Depth of flavor.

Cream Cheese Nutella Cinnamon Rolls 

I was talking recently with Sage, someone who I got to know through my Baking In A Tornado FB page. Her children are on the autism spectrum and are gender diverse. She and her husband are currently estranged from her in-laws who are not accepting of their own grandchildren. 

Sage has had difficult times, including a challenging childhood and the loss of her twin. She deals with physical challenges and has had multiple surgeries. People are often distant with her, uncomfortable with the burdens she carries, often see her as damaged, not even willing to get to know her past what they (think they) see.

Are we really that shallow?

Yes. Yes, we are.

Shallow, closed minded enough to embrace: listless over vibrancy, constrained over dynamic, stagnation over progress, blnded over enlightened, immobility over growth.

The divisiveness of tribalism has become dangerous.

An open mind is a healthy mind. And it is only an open society that is poised for a healthy future.

Cream Cheese Nutella Cinnamon Rolls        

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1# loaf frozen bread dough

2 - 3 TBSP flour

4 oz cream cheese

2 TBSP Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

6 TBSP powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp milk

Directions:

*NOTE: to make these ahead, bake the day before, cover and refrigerate, then just warm up and frost the next day.

*Wrap the bread dough in greased plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Spread the flour onto the counter, unwrap the defrosted dough and place on the flour. Allow to sit for 30 minutes.

*Grease a 9 X 13 baking pan.

*In a bowl, mash together the cream cheese, Nutella, brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon using the back of a spoon.

*Roll out the dough to about 20 inches in length by about 12 inches in width. Spread with the cream cheese mixture to about 1/4 of an inch of each edge. Fold the short sides in, just 1/4 of an inch.

*Using the long end, roll up to about a 20 inch long tube. Cut into 16 slices and place them, open side down, into the prepared pan. Cover with a plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 4 hours.
*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the rolls for 25 minutes. 

*Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, remaining cinnamon, and the milk until smooth. Drizzle over warm rolls.

Words Without Letters

I wrote a blog post recently called Games Without Words. If I were writing a song, this would be the second verse, Words Without Letters.

 

It all started with a trip. No, not the vacation kind, the kind where you're walking out of a room, trip (over absolutely nothing, but we'll skip over that part), and smack the laptop you're holding in your hand into the door jam. Talented, I know.

 

I was fine, not even embarrassed because nobody saw, and everyone knows if no one witnesses you doing something embarrassing, it's the same as it never having happened. Well, unless you admit it publicly . . . like on your blog.

Anyway . . .

I did see a couple of cracks in the bottom and on the side of the keyboard (superglue doesn't work on laptops, FYI), but the laptop was working fine, so I went on my merry way.

Until a few weeks later. 

I was siin on he couch, ypin away, poaly wokin on a lo pos and makin los o poess. I don' look a wha I'm ypin when I ype, los in my own wold o houh, u I suppose you can imaine my supise when I looked up and saw, well, oledyook.

Ummm . . . seems some of my keys were not working. 

So I started banging on them. Because everyone knows that banging is always the solution when something doesn't work.

And it worked. I could bang on the keys when they didn't work and abracadabra.

Sadly, abracadabra solutions are, apparently, temporary.

Once it was clear that banging wasn't going to work forever, superglue had already failed, and the clip I'd attached to the broken side of the keyboard kept popping off and smacking me in the head, I knew I was in trouble.

And then I posted a recipe pic to my blog, not realizing that one of the letters not working had been left out of the recipe name. It said "ceam cheese." Ugh, had to delete the pic from my blog and all social media, fix it, and repost it everywhere. I was not amused.

As I looked into getting the keyboard fixed, I was both writing blog posts and responding to posts on my Baking In A Tornado FB page by typing what I wanted to say, going to a document where I'd stored the alphabet to copy the letters I needed, one by one, and pasting them into the sentences.

So, using just the short example from above, this is the amount of copying and pasting I had to do:

I was sitting on the couch, typing away, probably working on a blog post and making lots of progress. I don't look at what I'm typing when I type, lost in my own world of thought, but I suppose you can imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw, well, gobbledygook.

Let me tell you, that is an exhausting way to communicate. Do you have any idea how often you use "r," "t," "f," "g," "b," and "v"? 

 

I do.

I could temporarily do some of my writing on my cell and on my tablet, but those weren't going to be long term solutions. I needed my laptop for longer pieces, and was getting nowhere in finding a way to get it fixed.

But the straw that broke the blogger's back? I'd worked out a recipe for a post and could not figure out what some of it said.

No bueno. BIG no bueno.

 

Mini Heart Cakes

 

 

Fast forward a long week of copying and pasting letters, partially writing blog posts in 3 different places, and one afternoon I was sitting on the couch, banging on the letter "t," and possibly muttering some not very nice words.

Hubs and my son asked what in the world I was doing. I explained.

"Be back in a minute," they said, walked out the door, came back about 1/2 hour later with a wireless keyboard.

Let me tell you, folks, Pat Sajak has been ripping people off for years. Wheel of Fortune charges $250 to buy a vowel? I got the whole damn alphabet. 

For 20 bucks.

Mini Heart Cakes         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 box (15.25 oz) white cake mix

1/2 cup oil

1 1/4 cups milk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 egg

3 egg whites

1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips, choppd

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

OPT: decorations of choice: colord sanding sugar, multicolored sprinkles or nonpareils, heart shaped candies, red hots

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a jellyroll baking pan.

*Mix together the cake mix, oil, milk, sour cream, egg, and egg whites. Once incorporated, beat for 2 minutes.

*Spread into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the center springs back to the touch. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 10 minutes.

*Crush the white chocolate chips in a food processor or a clean coffee grinder. Place them with the heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Mix well. Continue to microwave at 10 second intervals until completely smooth.

*Whisk in the powdered sugar. Immediately pour over the cake and quickly spread evenly. Sprinkle with decorative topping of choice and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

*Using a medium sized heart shaped cookie cutter, cut hearts out of the cake. Use a spatula to move to a serving dish.

*Note: form the remaining cake in the pan into 1 inch balls and freeze to coat and make cake balls later.

For Each Voice a Space: Secret Subject Swap

 

 

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This month 5 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: How did you start blogging in the first place?
It was submitted by: Rena of The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver.

 

Because I used to mow the lawn.

Well, that and peer pressure.

My very first blog post, back in the dark ages, was called Can I Blog? Click on that link to go back and read it. I didn't really know what blogging was at the time. Writing, right? Putting thoughts or feelings or frustrations into words and, instead of eating the paper when I'd gotten it all out to be sure no one saw it, I was going to do the opposite, put it on the internet so anyone and everyone could find it. That's OK, after all, who would be interested in what I had to say? Apparently about 700 people. Yikes.

My 6th blog post, I Used to Mow the Lawn, goes into more of why I actually went through with starting a blog. Not so much the "can I?" but the "should I?".  Mowing (or not) the lawn played a part, as did peer pressure. But ultimately, would it serve a purpose for me, replace one outlet with another?

You know that saying "you don't know what you don't know"? Well, I sure didn't know a hell of a lot. Like that I'd still be at it 10 years (and 3 months, but who's counting?) later.

Since I've already explained, through the above mentioned posts (and you can read them if you choose) why I started blogging, I'm going to tweak this prompt a bit (forgive me, Rena), to ask why I'm still blogging.

 

 

 

And, it seems, that's a really hard question.

 

I mean, the kids are grown and (mostly) out of the house, I could always go back to mowing the lawn. Although the rumored coyote in the woods behind our house (and a suspicious absence of rabbits), along my being over a foot smaller than Hubs could be a deterrent.

 

And the sharing of my recipes isn't what fulfills the need to be creative, relieve stress, and occupy my mind with creating new dishes. After all, I'll still be cooking. Because we'll still be eating.

 

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

 

I could say I keep blogging for the friendships, for the community, and there was a time when that was true. Now, though, I've built up enough of those connections on social media that I don't really need this blog for that. I know I'll keep PMing with friends I met through blogging on FB, just as I do now, whether I continue to write here or not.

 

But things change, needs change, opportunities to meet those needs change. 

Right now, really since the first Covid social distancing came into play, this blog fills a few needs. Both as I aged, and as I became more isolated (brought on by living in a covid denying, fend for yourself state), exercising my brain started to become a priority. I look at my recent writing and it scares me. My memory isn't what it once had been, my vocabulary has decreased, and I catch myself in organizational mistakes I never would have made in the past. 

So I play word games, and number games, I read, I take and edit pictures, I work on the wording of my recipes, the organization of how I explain the steps. I not only write, but I wait a day then go back and edit, pinpoint where I've replaced explanations with assumptions, could use a more descriptive word, need to expound on the thought (or edit it down). And it helps. I think it helps. I hope it helps.

I wrote a recent post called Politicized Education and the Fate of Knowledge. It made me realize that this blog has evolved with me. Yes, I still amuse myself with silly humor as I did from the start, but with an evolving sense of need, I feel compelled to not just work through my thoughts, but to release them. Especially now, at this pivotal moment in history, my voice needs a place amid the turmoil. Opinionated? Hell yeah. Relevant too? I hope. 

And as long as I feel that my voice still needs a space, Baking In A Tornado will still be my home.

 

 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver 

Climaxed

What TF Sarah  

Part-time Working Hockey Mom

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chicken broth

1 can coconut milk

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp minced ginger

2 TBSP curry powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 small onion, chopped

10 oz grape tomatoes, quartered

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into matchsticks

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 TBSP cornstarch

2 tsp lime juice

Directions:
*Grease the slow cooker, turn on to high.

*In the slow cooker, whisk together the chicken broth, coconut milk, garlic, ginger, curry powder, cayenne, paprika, cumin, chili powder and onion. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

*Mix in the tomatoes, carrot, and chicken. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 6 hours, mixing now and then.

*Whisk the cornstarch with 1 TBSP water until smooth. Whisk into the slow cooker, mix well, cover, and raise heat to high. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Shut off the slow cooker, mix in the lime juice and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

 

Plan B: Word Counters

 

 Counting my words again. 

Today my fellow Word Counters and I are sharing our monthly group post. Each month one group member picks  a number between 12 and 50. All participating bloggers are then challenged to write something (or a few somethings, as the case may be) using that exact number of words. Today we all share what we came up with.  

 

This month's number is 50. It was chosen by Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings. 

 

As I've been doing in these Word Counters posts, I've chosen a theme and am using my word count multiple times in keeping with the theme.

~ I've chosen the theme Plan B. Actually, it chose me, because Plan B is . . . plan B. I'll explain. First I want to say that for this post, I'm counting "B" as a word. It is a word (be, bee), so choosing between counting it and ignoring it, I'm counting it.

 

~ I was going to write a fictional story with the challenge of allowing the topic to be randomly chosen from a book on my Kindle. I'd open a book and the name of a random chapter would be my topic. Fun, right? Random chapter title: Titty Trap. Ummm . . . plan B.

~ So I moved on to another chapter in the book. It's my favorite genre, a mystery (this one a legal thriller), so I'll just find another chapter, more appropriate, they can't all be like that. Second random chapter title: Spitting and Pissing. Challenge aborted. plan B needs a plan B!

~ Right about at then, Hubs informed me that he'd be running the sprinklers (it had been broiling hot), and then would mow the lawn in the morning and go into work in the afternoon. Sprinklers ran. It poured all night. No mowing the lake lawn in the morning. Plan B.

~ Truth is, one thing that life in general, and recipe development specifically, has taught me, it's that in pretty much every situation, we have to be prepared for plan B. We may not have a specific plan B in mind, but more often than not, things change on the fly.

 

 

Grilled Hoisin Chicken

~ Our lives, most of us, have been, in the recent past, a constant succession of plan B after plan B. Covid has taught us resilience. The way we shop, the way we travel, the people we see, even the food we eat, has all been dictated by plan B choices.

 

~ I'm here to say, that's not a bad thing. To be humbled making choices that wouldn't be our first, to be forced to edit our priorities, to be innovative in reaching our goals, all productive in a country where narcissism reigns. Much can be learned from a forced plan B.

 

~ And yet . . . if that lawn doesn't get mowed soon, it'll take a search party, complete with a St. Bernard (don't forget the barrel of brandy around his neck) to find me if I dare to venture out our back door. Plan B: get me that dog and I'll go voluntarily.

Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:

On the Border 

Messymimi’s Meanderings 

 

Grilled Hoisin Chicken

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 TBSP orange juice

1/2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp ginger paste

1 clove garlic, minced

1 green onion, chopped

Directions:

*Trim the chicken and cut each into 2 - 3 pieces, trying to keep the thickness fairly uniform.

*Whisk together the hoisin, soy sauce, orange juice, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger paste, minced garlic and chopped green onion to make the marinade. Pour into a gallon sized bag with the chicken pieces. Seal and refrigerate, turning the bag now and then for at least 4 hours, to overnight.

*Remove the chicken from the marinade. Preheat the grill to about 400 degrees. Once the chicken is on the grill, cover the grill and lower the heat to about 350.

*Grill the chicken pieces for about 8 minutes, turning each piece slightly to the side half way through. Turn the pieces over and grill for another about 4 - 6 minutes.
*NOTE: grill times are approximate as times are affected by the thickness of the meat and how your grill heats. Be sure the chicken is completely cooked through.

Still Me

 

 

I've decided not to change my name. 

Honestly, it isn't really anything I would have just arbitrarily considered on my own, but it came up. Well, in a roundabout sort of way, but I did give the possibility its due diligence.

It started with FB {{sigh}}. I have a FB page called BIAT by Karen B. I didn't want it, I don't need it, I already have a Baking In A Tornado page that I use, but FB forced me to create it, claiming that I use my personal page as a business and I could start this one or they would. Absurd, but whatever. We all know you can't argue with toddlers or with FB. 

I recently received a friend request on FB. It happens often, friends of friends might see an interesting conversation on one of my personal posts and send me an invite. I check them out (a little covert sleuthing being the prudent course of action on these occasions) and accept. A short time later, she sent me a PM: "I see you have a page called BIAT by Karen B. Can I ask what BIAT stands for?" 

Baking In A Tornado has always been my answer, of course. It's been my blog's name since day one, when my first choice for a name turned out to already be taken and PurDude helped choose this one. But should it be? Maybe, before I answer her, I should consider it, an identity do over.

It would have to work with BIAT by Karen B because, I'm not going through another name change on that page. The last time, when they insisted I change it from whatever they did when they forcibly created it, it required my providing everything but a clean bill of health from a proctologist. I'm not sure how that missed that requirement, but I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't added it by now.

 

 

 

So, with no current intent to visit a proctologist, we're working with the BIAT acronym. I'm sure I can come up with plenty of options to consider.

Like BIAT:

 

Bitchy, Intentional, Acidic, Tactless

 ~ too honest?

 

Bodacious, Intriguing, And Transparent

 ~ too dishonest?

 

Bewildered, Imagining Alternative Truths

 ~ too desperate?

 

Blogger: Iffy And Taboo

 ~ too confusing.

 

Braless Is Actually Transcendental

 ~ TMI?

 

Banal, Idly Awaiting Transformation

 ~ at least I'm hopeful.

 

Babbling, Intending A Thought

 ~ if the shoe fits . . .

 

Bungling Into All Tasks

 ~ too obvious.

 

Butter Is Arguably Theraputic

 ~ wonder how many page views that would gain me.

 

Burnt Is A Technique

 ~ wonder how many page views that would lose me. 

 

 

Raspberry Cocoa Cookies

 

 

Bizarre, Illogical, Although Trying

 ~ at least I'm trying.

 

Banned, Illicit, And Tawdry

 ~ and not even trying? 

Busted In Another Tirade

 ~ I can just hear my boys saying this one is on point.

Basking In Alternate Temperaments

 ~ too openly delusional?

Best Intentions Are Trouble

 ~ forget a blog, I could write a book.

Berserk Is A Talent

 ~ at least I could factually claim to be talented . . .

All things considered (well, 16 things anyway), I think maybe I'd best stick to Baking In A Tornado. It fits.

 

Unless you've got another suggestion . . .

Raspberry Cocoa Cookies   

                                                        ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp raspberry extract

1 packet (1.25 oz) Raspberry Dark Chocolate Cocoa

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/4 cup flour

1 TBSP baking cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

 

1/2 cup canned marshmallow frosting

2 TBSP raspberry or black raspberry jam

24 Hershey's Hot Cocoa Kisses, unwrapped

Directions:
*Cream the butter and raspberry extract, then beat in the raspberry cocoa. Mix in the powdered sugar, flour, baking cocoa, and salt until it forms a dough.

*Roll into a log, about 12 inches long, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour.

 *Whisk together the marshmallow frosting and the raspberry jam. Refrigerate.

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper.

*Remove cookie dough from fridge and cut into about 1/2 inch slices. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely (about 25 minutes).

*Place a dollop of the frosting onto the center of each cookie and top each with a Hot Cocoa Kiss, then immediately refrigerate to set.