Halt the planting of Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa & sugar beets!

[Nainoa]

Not to go even deeper off the philosophical deep end here... But I've done a lot of things in my life that a lot of people told me would be impossible... They looked at teh lowly place I was in and the lofty goal I set in the distance and said it was just too far to go.

I've learned that dreams aren't about having something... They're about working towards something and paying attention to the opportunities that arise along the way. And some times the only measure we have in our choices, is to look at the distance between us and those dreams beyond reach and if the choice brings us an inch closer, then we know it's better than the choice that moves us an inch further away.

In my personal philosophy a "Dream" is a thing you actively pursue... Anything else is just a "Fantasy" and I'm too dang busy with my dreams to waste time Fantasizing.

So if it is truly your dream... Move towards, even if in baby steps, and accept that Nainoa-ism #11 "Blood, sweat and tears are the baptismal waters of a good life."

[upnorthvoice]

I understand and agree. My dreams may have turned into a fantasy due to the recent economy and may morph into a goal when things pickup.

Many years of "blood , sweat and tears" got me real close to fulfilling the dream, however I'm losing confidence that the chance will return while I am at the age to take advantage of it.

I don't mean to complain, "life's been good to me so far" ..

...

[Nainoa]

I look at the pursuit of dreams not by the "Ultimate End Goal" but by in the small steps you need to get there.

Because it's each of those steps that teach you the skills you need to get there.

It's no different than learning a Martial Art... You don't walk into the Dojo and say I want to be a Black Belt... So you just start trying to perform double roundhouse phoenix flip - heart punch combos until you're good at it.

Instead you learn how to kick, how to punch, how to stretch, how to jump, how to move and keep your balance... And then when you think you've got that down, you test it... Then you move on to the next skill set, rinse and repeat... Until 10 years later you are more accomplishes, experienced and wise enough to accomplish your goal.

The fact that we live in a world where if you just happen to come by and have enough money that you can buy anything, comes with it the illusion that all you need to do is OWN something to UNDERSTAND it.

There are a lot of people, who wait till they find the money, then they buy a boat, or a cabin or a hobby farm and THEN they bother to take the time to invest in the experience, writing more and more checks to catch up the learning curve, everytime they crash the boat into the dock, or forget to drain the water lines after deer camp in the fall, or plant before the last frost.

When they would be much wiser, Volunteering to help your buddy with his boat, or shutting down his cabin, or going to the local farm exchange, or signing on with a CSA.

When you think about your "Dream" with the notion of "Pursuing an experience" and not simply "Owning something for the sake of the experience that comes from owning that thing." You'll find that opportunities to move closer to that dream will appear all around you!

[upnorthvoice]

How true! The journey can be more fulfilling than the destination.

[Nainoa]

How true! The journey can be more fulfilling than the destination.

I was born into deep poverty... I wore home made clothes for the first 8 years of my life and was told that I would grow up to become nothing.

I scratched and clawed to defy those odds... Educate myself personally... Then educate myself professionally... Started building a life and had it all taken from me...

Mounted a comeback... Got life moving again... Then had it all taken from me...

I'm on my 3rd epic comeback right now and I'm wondering just when the forces of evil are going to get the hint that they can't keep me down.

Now in the course of all those "Slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" I've learned a couple of principles truths... The one's that apply most to the topic at hand.

Nainoa-ism #11 "Blood, sweat and tears are the baptismal waters of a good life."

Nainoa-ism #1 "Personal accountability is the high water mark of a man, don't spend your life making low tide excuses."

Nainoa-ism #10 "The world can take just about everything from you... But things like Character, Integrity, Dignity... Those are things that only you can choose to give away."

In the course of my life I've met people who measured themselves only by what they own, what they can buy, what they can sell... And I've watched them in the last 5 minutes of their lives as they die horrible, pathetically desperate deaths, clutching onto the bed rail and begging God for a second chance.

But the guys who define themselves by the way they live, the content of their character and good they bring into the lives around them, they spend those last five minutes with warm tender smiles painted on their faces, surrounded by loved ones.

There's a practical side to the life worth living, close to the ground, lead by a compassionate heart. The meek don't inherit the Earth because it's a reward for the put-upon of living as a "Have Not." The Meek inherit the Earth, because the meek make the good journey, and learn the good lessons that let them live a good life.

We don't do as much good complaining about Monsanto, or the crazy cost of "Buying your dream" as we do living it every day and trying to make the little changes in our lives that make the little changes we want to see in the world.

[upnorthvoice]

Excuse me if I read your post different than what you intended. It appears there are very few forces that can keep you down, seemingly the only way you could go is up even from a very young life and conquering two major challenges and starting the comeback on the third. I went to the school of “hard knocks” too, and thru experience worked my way to where we are at.

I have been fortunate and most of my challenges were only material things. The biggest challenge other than normal life situations has been and still is keeping my grandsons on track from the effects of a split family among other things.

Interesting Nainoa-ism’s and can’t say I would disagree with any of the three.

..

[Nainoa]

Well... I think we all learn the same lessons in this life... They just come to us through different experiences. And each experience is like the fingerprints of identity. We all learn humility, we all learn compassion, we all learn the value of honesty.

Sure we all learn them in different ways and at different times, and we all suffer the dire straits of not knowing them until we do. It took me until I was in my mid 20's and ripped my knee before I learned "Humility" My friend understood the value of humility as a small boy. It just happens that my experiences have taught me how to "Dream" on a practical level.

[Nainoa]

Now on the topic of eating and sourcing locally...

I've recently scored some minor victories with local butchers. Every Friday I go on what I call a "Butcher Adventure" where I go to some new butcher shop (Or shops) and I try to find and find the best deals on old school cuts of meat.

A lot of times I run into the phrase "Well we used to carry that, but not a lot of people bought it, so we don't anymore." And then the good ones bend over backwards to get me one/some of the cut I asked for.

Recently I'm kind of returning to the same "Best of the Best" butchers... And wouldn't you know it... They carry "A little" of that unique thing I was looking for. It's not like they radically altered their business plan. But they tweaked their status quo because old school cuts of meat are coming back into the collective consciousness.

For a lot of decades our eating habits have been a basic "Retail" experience. You show up to the grocery store and you buy whatever they sell. If they change their selection, you're SOL.

What you eat is what they offer... And eventually this has come to be the way we think we have to eat and buy and live. And so other businesses tweak to what in marketing speak is called "Inside out" marketing.

But I believe that everything that happens comes with an opportunity... And this "Times are tough" recession has more and more businesses thinking "Outside In" on what they're offering. We just have to have the guts to really ask for what we want.

[Steve Foss]

Nainoa, help me understand the old school cuts you are getting, where anatomically they originate on the cow/pig/sheep, and which modern cuts most closely resemble them.

It all sounds pretty interesting, and I think I'm about to learn a bit.

[Nainoa]

Well my biggest find as far as Pleasure factor is a local butcher who will cure and smoke whole pork bellys and then sell me the full SLAB of bacon!

But while unique in Portion size, it's not really an "Endangered" cut of meat.

Some of my more recent highlights:

-Bone Marrow... I do my own take on Fergus Henderson's Bone Marrow Salad. Except he oven roasts it... I put it on the smoker of my grill.

Basically heat 4 inch sections of cow femur... Roast them standing up on an old pie tin... When the marrow begins to render enough that you can stir it with a skewer, cut some baguette, and toast it on the grill fire...

Prep some fresh parsley (From the 4 tiered herb garden that grows behind my grill) Chop the parsley a squirt of real lemon juice, and a little chopped scallion (Which grows at the base of my steps)

Spread a little marrow onto the toasted slices of baguette, top with the Parsley, scallion and lemon juice. (Fergus Henderson replaces scallion with capers, and doesn't smoke it.)

You lips will feel like you have chapstick on, and your cholesterol will be around 780. But it is "Make you weak in the knees delicous!"

My local butcher used to smoke and cure all the steer femurs... Now he cuts and freezes a couple of sections since I started making this a grilled appetizer at some of my dinner parties. Now little old ladies have begun coming to his shop more and more to get the bones and make home made stock for their beef stews.

Another one I've been having fun with recently is Pork Shank... I've been making a tradition German Schweinhaxe... Braised in a flavorful broth. Then instead of crisping it in the roaster of the oven I grill it with hickory and home made lump charcoal... Then I boil cubed red potatoes and cabbage in the aromatic broth... Reduce the broth until it becomes it's own sauce... making a side to go with the Schewinhaxe when the come off the grill.

And then of course... Fajitas made from inside skirt steak (As they are authentically done in the beef parts of Mexico) I grill it nuclear hot on teh grill, while doing the vegetables on my cast iron griddle.

Then rest it in a pouch of tinfoil for 5 mins (So it won't bleed it's juices when I cut it) I prep the rest of everything while it rests... Then I cut it so thin you can almost read a newspaper through it. (Cut against the grain of the meat to improve the tenderness.)

These ^^^^ are all things that the butchers around me used to not carry, or I'd have to special order... Now they are kept in small supply for me at X, Y and Z butcher shops.

I gave them business on cuts that would normally just be "Tossed into the grinder" or "Sold for dog food" and they responded...

Meanwhile I get to put modern spins on the dishes our grandfathers loved.

(All of which to be featured in the cookbook I'm writing.)

[upnorthvoice]

The "best old school cuts" of meat I can remember where the arm ( or chuck) roast Mom would make on Sundays. She would cook the tough out of that cut for hours and throw in the potatoes, onions,carrots and cabbage for the last hour. We all thought we were eating like the rich folks and actually it was one of the cheapest cuts of beef.

That and pressure cooked chicken!!!

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