Corn and Economics

There's an interesting conversation on the Becker-Posner blog (they are 2 economists from the U of C) about ethanol subsidies, the rise of food costs, its possible impact on developing countries, and the politics of agricultural subsidies in the US. It is a little long, but I thought it was informative. One interesting thing I hadn't realized: the fact that the state of Iowa plays such a large role in the primaries affects how politicians support subsidies. According to Posner, Iowa caucuses extract pledges from possible presidential candidates to preserve and expand the home-grown ethanol industry, making the issue of ethanol subsidies bi-partisan and unlikely to generate a lot of critique.

More Recipes!

By request from a dear sister in the People of Praise, here are the recipes from my birthday dinner.

Date and Apricot Chutney from Cooking Light

1/2 cup dried apricots, halved
1 cup chopped, pitted dates (about 1 lb)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro

1. Place apricots in a medium bowl. Cover with boiling water, and let stand 1 hour. Drain.

2. Combine apricots, dates, and next 7 ingredients in a medium heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 25 min or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro

3. Pack chutney in clean jars. Cover and cool chutney completely; chill. Yield: 2 1/4 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup)

Note: You can store chutney in refrigerator for up to 6 weeks. It is good with roasted meats, in the morning on toast, or on ham sandwiches.


Butternut Squash with Sage

Mixed Greens with Fennel, Pears and Walnuts

Praise God for Birthdays!

Margaret and Anne made a wonderful birthday dinner for me last night. It was the first Lord's Day that we have had here in Chicago this school year; the last 4 weeks or so there have been many wonderful occasions for which to travel and celebrate with brothers and sisters in the POP!

Anne and Margaret both like taking cool pictures, so I asked them to print off some of their artsy photos and frame them for me so that we could hang them up in our apartment.

I love squash, so we had butternut squash with sage, lamb chops with apricot, date chutney and mixed greens with pears. It was a very autumnal dinner despite the 70 degree weather! Dessert was a peppermint chocolate torte. Scrumptious!

Back porch!

For the past four weeks we have not been allowed to go out our back door because this porch was rebuilt. (This has meant much loud noises during working hours, and really long round-about trips to the laundry room and to the trash...) It's done today, and looks awesome! The above pic shows our back door on the left, and the pic below is taken from right outside our back door looking to the right...

more BA work...

This is my desk... I'm working on writing my annotated bibliography for my BA research on Scottish neo-nationalism...

BA researching...

...on a chilly fall day...