Day Eighty-Four

I don't know what's next. Like a lot of people, I've spent the past week or so listening and learning, repeatedly feeling horrified, sad, and angry about all of the things that I knew to be true, but clearly I didn't know the depths of the truth. I undoubtedly knew that racism was built into the core of who we are as a country, and I knew people were willing to fight to keep it that way, but ... it's so much worse than that. I have a lot of opinions and thoughts, but I don't know what's next. I need to do more, but I haven't figured out what more looks like just yet.

I'm working on it. For now, I'm focused on amplifying Black voices on Twitter. I'm also working on coming up with ways to address racist comments when I see them. It's not enough to hide or mute the people in my life who make those comments. All that does is assure my own comfort. Ignoring that which is wrong is how we got here, and I won't do it anymore. So if I call you out on social media? You had it coming. That's not a threat, it's a promise to myself and to all of the Black Americans who have watched me and people like me ignore hurtful language.

I will stop ignoring the trash. While in the past I've taken the stance that some trash isn't worth acknowledging, I now realize I was wrong. While I still can't fix that trash, I can signal to others that I do not find it to be acceptable. I can help to create an environment where it's not comfortable to say racist things.

But there needs to be more.

We all need to do more.

Day Eighty-Three

I know this whole lockdown thing is supposed to be the worst ever, buy my kid is apparently using it to turn herself into a chef? As in, Alexis has said the words, "I want to start a food blog," out loud as she was making Banana Walnut Pancakes that were AMAZING.

Her skills are escalating. We're way past boxed mac-n-cheese. THIS COULD TURN OUT TO BE THE BEST.

While she hones her skills and makes decisions about how long she's going to make me wait for this food blog (apparently until she's in college ...), I'm just going to go ahead and post her successes.

Up first, Veggie Empanadas. This recipe was inspired by a similar version I used to get when I actually went to an office for work. Alexis made some tweaks to the spices while I suggested we buy puff pastry instead of making it from scratch. It worked out REALLY well.

Veggie Empanadas

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup frozen diced potatoes
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped white mushrooms
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
3/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
3 tablespoons milk
Salsa

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.

2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large non-stick skillet. Add potatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, and spices. Cook and stir every few minutes until you're happy with how soft the potatoes are. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

3. Flour a surface. Unroll the puff pastry sheets. Flour a rolling pin and roll out the sheets until they make a 12-inch square. Cut each square into four smaller squares.

4. Place about 1/3 cup of filling into the corner of each square. Sprinkle with cheese.

5. Brush a little milk on edges of pastry squares. Fold opposite corners together until they meet then press edges with a fork. Cut a small slit in the top of each triangle.

6. Place triangles on baking sheets. Brush the tops with a little more milk. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve with salsa.

Day Eighty-Two