I've come to the conclusion that this world is void of truth. In this case, the world includes parents, business persons, politicians, governments, friends and individuals. It seems we've mastered the art of lying and don't feel the least bit guilty about it. Lying is safe because it ignores the truth which might be hurtful or offensive. Lying is common, because parents teach their children from a very young age that it's ok. Lying is accepted and almost expected in some areas probably because of the latter. Person's who speak the truth are often isolated and punished because of their honesty
Lying has become an epidemic of the worst proportions. Unlike H1N1, there is no vaccine that would inoculate us from this evil device. Unlike Avian Flu or Ebola, we cannot blame wild animals as the originator of this disease and claim that the virus of lying mutated and adapted to human biology and was transferred between species. Just take a look at your dog. Dogs don't lie! They will bark and bait you out in a minute. It's not because they are not smart, but because they have no moral centre that would cause them to reason how they might benefit from lying (ruff!). However, humans do have a moral centre to reason and make the choice to tell the truth, hide the truth or lie.
I can vividly recall working in customer service and seeing how consumers lie about minor things. I told a customer that she could not purchase so many items because the store had imposed a quantity limit to ensure that there was enough merchandise for the whole community. Not only did this customer lie to me, she encouraged her son to lie also. At the end of the discussion I promptly replied "When your child breaks into my house to steal things that are not his and he goes to jail; do not say a word. You taught him this behaviour".
Lying is just the beginning. When we are dishonest for our own personal gain we will often do whatever it takes to have and do what we want without regard for the consequences. If we can lie to have our own way, we display the utmost disregard for our fellowman. Therefore, it's not a difficult jump from lying to stealing. Both of these devices are used for selfish gain.
It is common for students to cheat on exams, lie on their resumes (and in interviews). But the worst is to have a friend who cannot sit you down and provide the honest truth about your actions, no matter how damnable that truth may be. There is zero accountability and often people suffer and live in miserable conditions because of a truth that was not spoken (lying by omission) or a deceitful story that was disseminated to blind others.
Lying hurts. I recall a student who cheated on everyone of his 5th year high school chemistry exams. He never put the time in to study, never did his own assignments and earned a grade that was not reflective of his true capacity. This man was a fraud. If he continued this behaviour throughout his academic life, he may be the one putting lives at risk in his professional discipline.
Regardless of religion, personal belief or cultural influence, there must be someone who will stand for the truth. If you have a friend that needs a good dose of reality, tell them. Risk the relationship. It would be better to tell them they've had too many boyfriends and they need to deal with the issue that makes them so promiscuous than to be a comfort by their bedside when they are dying of AIDS. It's better to tell your children to pay for the candy before they eat it in the store, instead of visiting them in jail for theft or murder. It's better to tell your family member they need to stop disrespecting your spouse before your marriage is divided by their fire filled tongue. It's better to tell your boyfriend that he has to fix that temper before you marry him rather than end up in shelter because your husband beat the crap out of you and left you for dead. It's better to leave that credit alone and do without until you have the money to appropriately allocate to that want, than to file for bankruptcy and lose your house.
It always better to tell the TRUTH!
BARK!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Chicken Stir Fry
I visited an old friend the other day and she served the nicest non-traditional dinner. I commented on how eclectic her creation was and she suggested I try some recipes to assimilate a new repertoire of cooking strategies. At this point she whipped out four new cook books, that still smelled like the printing press with sales tags hanging off the binding.
I wasn't sure which book I should take, so in true bold friend fashion, she chose two books and shoved them into my face. Here begins the drama that almost made me cry, but in the end made me a better person, even if I'm not a better cook.
Last night I went grocery shopping and decided to pick up all the items I needed for one of the 30 Minute Recipes from my new cook book. I was aiming to reproduce the chicken stir fry recipe on page 34, however, there were a few glitches.
The store only had bone in chicken thighs, but the recipe called for stir fry strips. I was too cheap to buy breasts and completely forgot about the dark meat vs white meat cooking time thing. The recipe said to shred the ginger, garlic and spring onions and then saute them in a wok on high heat. I don't have a wok, so I use the sauce pan from my huge pot set which I know will burn the bejeebers out of anything on high heat, so I put the stove on 4. I thought I had a bunch of spring onions, but only found a few dying sprigs, so I substituted some cooking onions which have ZERO flavour. (I need to blame someone else for the fact that the spring onions were gone. I refuse to take responsibility for goofing this part of the recipe.)
The recipe then says to add the chicken which I decided needed some `seasoning up` before cooking. At this point the idea of adding curry exploded in my brain and I got carried away. Well, the curry I have must be some fool`s concoction because it started to clump all over the chicken in the pot, at which point I started freaking because this would have turned out fine if I had a dutchie. Any how, the oil dried out and the chicken stuck to the pot so I added some water and decided to chuck the cookbook and simmer down the `curry chicken`.
About a half of an hour later, the chicken looked as yellow as Big Bird and the gravy tasted very bitter. Mind you, I`ve cooked curry chicken before with no problem. I added some carrots to counter the bitter taste and made an SOS call to my oldest sister. While talking to her I added some ketchup and a spoon of sugar. I was desperate and I could see that everyone else in the house was dying of hunger as I worked my magic in the kitchen.
The SOS call was also a disaster. My sister berated me for adding the ketchup and told me to hide it somewhere where I would forget it and add some garlic instead. In went the garlic and it disappeared into the blazing glory of yellow curry slop that I swear would stain the pan. I needed a plan B very quickly. Luckily I had some pork chops already seasoned (without curry) in the fridge, so I shoved them into the oven and they cooked quickly.
Back to the chicken. I yelled at it some more and put it aside, dashing bleach everywhere before the color of my kitchen changed to match that unknown incessant aroma that streams through the condo hallway at 1:30 in the afternoon. I formally gave up on the chicken and left it on the stove. I even gave the pot one good 'cut eye' as I left the kitchen and hissed my teeth.
That evening, after I fed everyone else and the pork was finished, I was starving and decided to taste the chicken. My ego was still bruised from not being able to lick a simple recipe from the cook book. As I expected, the chicken was pretty good! Only the gravy was bitter. So my culinary expertise told me to remove the chicken from the yellow goo and put it in another pan with some bar-b-que sauce and hammer it under the broiler for 5 minutes and WHALA! We have dinner for another day!
The next time I decide to use a recipe I will remember the following rules:
1) Only substitute ingredients when your oldest sister cooking with you.
2) If the recipe does not mention 'seasoning up' the meat, ignore your island instinct and stick to the recipe.
3) Make sure you have a dutchie. This type of pot is useful for cooking everything and cannot be stained by curry.
Smile
I wasn't sure which book I should take, so in true bold friend fashion, she chose two books and shoved them into my face. Here begins the drama that almost made me cry, but in the end made me a better person, even if I'm not a better cook.
Last night I went grocery shopping and decided to pick up all the items I needed for one of the 30 Minute Recipes from my new cook book. I was aiming to reproduce the chicken stir fry recipe on page 34, however, there were a few glitches.
The store only had bone in chicken thighs, but the recipe called for stir fry strips. I was too cheap to buy breasts and completely forgot about the dark meat vs white meat cooking time thing. The recipe said to shred the ginger, garlic and spring onions and then saute them in a wok on high heat. I don't have a wok, so I use the sauce pan from my huge pot set which I know will burn the bejeebers out of anything on high heat, so I put the stove on 4. I thought I had a bunch of spring onions, but only found a few dying sprigs, so I substituted some cooking onions which have ZERO flavour. (I need to blame someone else for the fact that the spring onions were gone. I refuse to take responsibility for goofing this part of the recipe.)
The recipe then says to add the chicken which I decided needed some `seasoning up` before cooking. At this point the idea of adding curry exploded in my brain and I got carried away. Well, the curry I have must be some fool`s concoction because it started to clump all over the chicken in the pot, at which point I started freaking because this would have turned out fine if I had a dutchie. Any how, the oil dried out and the chicken stuck to the pot so I added some water and decided to chuck the cookbook and simmer down the `curry chicken`.
About a half of an hour later, the chicken looked as yellow as Big Bird and the gravy tasted very bitter. Mind you, I`ve cooked curry chicken before with no problem. I added some carrots to counter the bitter taste and made an SOS call to my oldest sister. While talking to her I added some ketchup and a spoon of sugar. I was desperate and I could see that everyone else in the house was dying of hunger as I worked my magic in the kitchen.
The SOS call was also a disaster. My sister berated me for adding the ketchup and told me to hide it somewhere where I would forget it and add some garlic instead. In went the garlic and it disappeared into the blazing glory of yellow curry slop that I swear would stain the pan. I needed a plan B very quickly. Luckily I had some pork chops already seasoned (without curry) in the fridge, so I shoved them into the oven and they cooked quickly.
Back to the chicken. I yelled at it some more and put it aside, dashing bleach everywhere before the color of my kitchen changed to match that unknown incessant aroma that streams through the condo hallway at 1:30 in the afternoon. I formally gave up on the chicken and left it on the stove. I even gave the pot one good 'cut eye' as I left the kitchen and hissed my teeth.
That evening, after I fed everyone else and the pork was finished, I was starving and decided to taste the chicken. My ego was still bruised from not being able to lick a simple recipe from the cook book. As I expected, the chicken was pretty good! Only the gravy was bitter. So my culinary expertise told me to remove the chicken from the yellow goo and put it in another pan with some bar-b-que sauce and hammer it under the broiler for 5 minutes and WHALA! We have dinner for another day!
The next time I decide to use a recipe I will remember the following rules:
1) Only substitute ingredients when your oldest sister cooking with you.
2) If the recipe does not mention 'seasoning up' the meat, ignore your island instinct and stick to the recipe.
3) Make sure you have a dutchie. This type of pot is useful for cooking everything and cannot be stained by curry.
Smile
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