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animal cruelty
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perceived intelligence and how that impacts a creature’s worth
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gender dominance
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social order
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racism
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nuclear arms
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war and peace
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authority and revolt
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violence
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worship and idolatry
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cultural preservation
Seared Tuna Salad in Florida
But my biggest reason to love vacation eating is that while out of town I tend to be more adventurous, ordering things I might not order at home, trying to focus on local fare and customs and capitalizing on the spirit of adventure that my alone time with Handsome tends to inspire.
And tuna steak. The cold, crisp salad was practically genuflecting beneath a slab of meat about the size of two decks of cards and just a little thicker. It was, as promised, seared till almost blackened then drizzled with a zig zag stripe of their special mayonnaise-based dressing. Really garlicky and wonderful.
I am a tuna steak convert! I have seen the freshness light and will forever now have trouble purchasing those flat little cans of the shredded precooked stuff. Which means, at upwards of ten bucks per pound and landlocked in Oklahoma against ocean freshness, I might not be having tuna very often. But that’s okay, this food is worth the wait.
Back to the salad. It was delicious. Filled with texture changes and saltiness and creaminess and firmness. Hot and cold, crunchy then succulent… The tuna itself was as firm as a rib eye beef steak but tender enough to cut with the bossy edge of my fork. It was juicy and flaky at the same time. It had zero fishy taste, all protein and lusciousness. I started weeping at one point from Salad Bliss, and Handsome had to explain to concerned onlookers that it was our anniversary and I was feeling really sentimental.
The funny thing about this lovely entree was that it just kept getting better. Every time I subtracted a bite from the poppy-red platter and stirred the remaining contents with my fork, the new combination of colors and textures was even more appealing than before. And when I requested additional dressing, the waiter brought me something different from what I expected but it was even more delicious! Then I added freshly cracked black pepper and ground up some sea salt on top of it all… W-O-W.
My goodness, the grittiness and flavorfulness of those two fresh seasonings will not soon be forgotten. I might be the last adult woman in North America to purchase her own salt and pepper mills, but it will be happening. Soon.
I was physically and emotionally spent. Unable to consume the entire salad but completely satisfied, I snapped a few photos of the platter (can you hear Handsome groaning in disbelief across the table?) then pushed it away from my full belly.
My body was replenished of all the calories and nutrients I had spent at the beach earlier in the day, and my mind was brimming with inspiration from this artistic expression of food. It was a good meal, one of the all time best, vacation or otherwise! Thank you, Destin Harbour, for the yummy memories.
Pinterest, Where Have You Been All of My Life?
Chicken Lover Praises Shredded Paper
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The edges of the paper strips are roughly textured, so it all sticks to itself really well. It is very grabby. This allows the soiled Shred to be lifted out in large, unmessy, almost weightless clumps. I just hooked it with the tine of a small garden fork and Voila! Clean. The paper absorbs all of the droppings and even broken yolks, so you have virtually no extra clean up to do before refilling the boxes with more Shred. AWE-some.
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The Shred definitely seems to attract and retain fewer bugs, too. Even in this crazy heat! HUGE bonus.
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The glaring white of Shred is visually cooling in the concrete hen house. I realize this may benefit only me and not the chickens, but I could have SWORN I heard Red talking to Lucy Loo about the new decor and how sexy it makes her feel. And even if it only SORT OF feels cooler in there on a 108 degree afternoon, then I am a believer.
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While handling the mountains of gifted Shred, I noticed that a handful could expand into twice or thrice the volume it appeared to possess. This makes it not only economical (on top of being free) but also REALLY fun. It is like playing with dry snow in the middle of an Oklahoma heat wave-slash-drought.
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The dirty Shred is 100% biodegradable of course and so can still be composted right along with your kitchen scraps, other dry manures, etc. In fact, it is arguably BETTER for your compost pile becuase it contains no weeds. Especially if you have clay you’d like to bust up, I think the paper would be a good start.
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Do you have allergies? I bet you’re less allergic to paper than you are to hay.
Naked at the Dentist
What was I thinking when I scheduled a dentist appointment just a couple of days after vacation and quite early in the morning? There is no excuse for it. I should know myself and my tendencies better than this by now. This combination of circumstances always leads to personal disaster.
I did at least remember the appointment, thanks in part to a friendly office call ahead of time, but that is about where the good news stops.
A wonderfully romantic evening the night before led to Handsome and me crashing downstairs then sleeping a bit late, so there you have strike one. By the time I had scrambled to send him off with food and smooches for his day of toil at the office, I was already way behind my self imposed schedule.
The day before, I had planned to rise before dawn to do all of my normal outside chores PLUS about seven other good, worthwhile things and at least one load of laundry. Then I wanted to drink some hot, perfect coffee while blogging, maybe grab a quick workout, and take a shower.
Not just any shower, the full blown, head-to-toe kind. Some people call this the Hollywood shower; I call it remodeling. It takes longer than ninety seconds.
What actually happened is this: I worriedly kissed my good lookin’ guy in the face then dashed around drinking only half a mug of now lukewarm coffee. I did NOT start a load of laundry but instead silently cursed myself, knowing that I would be returning home too late to run these electricity-consuming monsters before Peak Time, which that day started at 2 p.m.
I threw on Handsome’s cast off gray t-shirt from last night, stabbed my feet into some mismatched flip flops, and bolted outside to do the Feed & Water circuit as quickly as humanly possible.
The gray t-shirt was just long enough. Just. But we live in the country and passersby are usually moving at a pretty good clip, so I take liberty now and then in the interest of either time or laziness.
Here is what happened next.
It got so, so much worse.
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