Zack, The Man From The Shack

As I was driving to work this morning, a little story popped into my head, it's a little Seuss-y, a little Silverstein-ish, and a lot of whimsy Lauren.


Zack

Zack, Zack, the man from the shack
Gathered all his things and put them in his pack
Said he was going to the moon and never coming back

He travelled down in the valleys
Wandered down back roads and slunk through many alleys

His dream was never far from his sight
It was always nestled among the stars at night

He crossed to distant lands
Met many different people and shook a thousand hands

One day he ran into a wise old monkey
Who asked "if you could be anywhere, where would you be?"
To that he replied "I'd be on the moon, you silly baboon!"

The monkey was worried, "Don't you know up there the air is too thin?
What will you do without oxygen?"
Zack told the monkey "I will hold my breath, as long as it takes
Keep my mouth closed so no air escapes"
The monkey was upset, "that's no way to live, no food, no drink
Please think this plan through, think think!"

But Zack could not be persuaded
Through deserts he walked, and oceans he waded
Mountains were climbed until his clothes were old and faded

Days turned to months, and months stretched to years
But he never gave up even faced with his biggest fears
Would he ever find the way?
Would be be able to get there and stay?

One evening he looked to the sky
With tears flowing down his face he screamed "WHY??"
"Why can't I find you? Why are you so far?"
The Moon smiled down and said "Oh there you are
Don't you know? The only way to get here is by flying car!"
So the Moon sent down her Moon-mobile, it was sparkly blue
Zack climbed in and off into the atmosphere he flew
After all his hard work, his wish came true
But as the earth grew smaller, he wasn't sure what he should do

What if the money was right?
What if the air grew thin and his throat grew tight?
How can a man live on the moon?
Was he really as crazy as they said? Loony as a loon?
The more he thought, the more he fret
Until his shirt was soaked through with sweat

The moon noticed his distress
"Friend there is no need to feel such duress,
Look in the glove box, you'll see a crank
Spin it hard and out will come an oxygen tank!"
He spun and spun, until the crank and sprung
And to his surprise out popped an iron lung.

He found the mouth piece and took a deep breath
"Oh Moon, you just saved me from the brink of death!"

The tank turned out to be endless
and Zack was never found breathless

Zack, Zack, man from the shack
Moved to the moon and never came back.

Here's the thing about heroes....

They come in all shapes and sizes, all colors, all walks of life, they wear different colored capes, and some don't wear capes at all.

Someone may think that Derek Jeter is their hero, while another person thinks that professional athletes are overpaid children playing games for money.  It doesn't make one person's view of Jeter more or less valid, it's just highly subjective.

That's why people getting mad at Caitlyn Jenner being honored as a hero instead of someone else who is "more deserving" irks me.  Is Caitlyn my personal hero? Eh... I think that her decision to transition late in life is brave and scary and that she can be a role model to so many people who just want to be themselves instead of pretending to be what society wants them to be, but I won't be dedicating a shrine to her in my living room... that space is reserved for Kelly Slater... I kid, I kid.

I think you can have multiple heroes, and they can range from someone who lives down the hall to someone on the moon.  If someone inspires you to be a better person, if someone has done great works, if someone has beat all odds and succeeded when everyone thought they would fail... I have no problem calling them a hero.

I don't think that it's fair or reasonable to think that because you don't think someone has reached "hero status" that they can't be someone that other people look up to, or that heroes are mutually exclusive.  Like I can't think that an EMT is a hero because firefighters are the real heroes... that just seems silly.... or another example I can't think that both soldiers and pacifists can both be champions.  Soldiers fight to keep us safe and free, they put their lives in the line of fire so that people like me don't have to, and I love them for that, at the same time I wish that we didn't have to use fists or guns and could instead use our words to get to a more peaceful place in this world.

Maybe my hero is a recovered alcoholic... someone who had demons, fought them, and won, but still feels weak sometimes.  Maybe your hero is your 8 year old niece who can still laugh and smile even though she has cancer.  Perhaps your neighbor's hero is that nice lady who has outlived her entire family and still manages to not be bitter.  There is even the possibility that YOU could be someone else's hero.  Not everyone is strong all the time, and they shouldn't be expected to, even the bravest person occasionally needs a hug and a night light.

Strawberry Pie... or why I like baking cakes

This year for the 4th of July I went to on of my FAVORITE tasting rooms.  Bedford Winery in Los Alamos is really the place to be, from the first time I walked through the doors there almost a year ago, I felt like family.  They host a ton of special events throughout the year, and offer a great selection of wines to sample in their tasting room.  If you love dogs, books, and wine (like me) this place will feel like home.  

The event for Independence Day was BYOPFP (Bake Your Own Pie For Prizes), and of course I had to participate (even if there may have been a slight conflict of interest with my BF being one of the judges).  I started thinking of all the pies I love, what I thought I could make, and what would stand out in a crowd.  I immediately thought of my Aunt Josephine's Strawberry Pie, but was a little intimidated because I've never baked a pie before (and I would learn for good reasons).  I took that inspiration and started thinking about what I wanted to make.  BF and I brainstormed a little and we cobbled together a pretty kick ass pie.  It wasn't one of the winners, there were some kinks to work out, but for a first attempt, I'd call it a success... with a teensy bit of side-eye.

The pie story really begins on the 3rd of July, when I went shopping for ingredients. I picked up a pretty pie plate at Target, along with a few other essentials (some clothes, some house hold items... you know, all the stuff you can't live without)... and by dawdling there I missed getting the the berry stand before they closed. BY FOUR FREAKING MINUTES. I knew they would open again in the morning, but I wouldn't have time to let the berries set up if I waited, that meant I would have to buy them at the grocery store. Now for most people, grocery store strawberries are the only option (and I feel really sorry for you), but I live in the strawberry capitol of California, and store bought ones only get purchased out of sheer desperation. So I go to the Albertson's near my house, buy two clamshells of berries and the rest of the ingredients I needed and headed home.  

While prepping the berries the night before (I quarted the regular sized ones, chopped the larger ones into pieces that were close to the others.... roughly 4 cups of strawberries) I realized that it was a stroke of genius to buy double what I thought I needed.... mostly because half of the berries were bruised and rotten. Way to go Albertsons, way to suck. I could have taken them back and complained, but I really didn't have time or the inclination.

that's not a giant bug, it's a mint leaf, I swear! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self rising flour
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4+ cups of strawberries
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Mint Leaves
• Basil Leaves
• Unflavored Gelatin
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips--Melted
• Cooking spray
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Vanilla
• Powdered Sugar

Berries:

• Quarter roughly 4 cups of berries, they will shrink overnight, you'll need about 3 cups to fill the pie.
• Mix in a generous splash of your favorite balsamic vinegar, a few mint leaves, and a few basil leaves.
• Let sit overnight to get the juices flowing.
• After the berries have set overnight and created a juice  strain the berries.  Boil a small amount of the juice with the unflavored gelatin until it has thoroughly mixed.
• Mix the gelatin mix back into the berries and put into the fridge while the crust is getting ready.

Trisha Yearwood, you're a godsend,
this is the BEST pie crust I've ever had. 

For the crust I doubled Trisha Yearwood's Shortbread recipe (because 1, it's super easy to make, and 2. who doesn't LOVE shortbread? It's a clear winner).

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix flour, butter, brown and granulated sugars in an electric mixer until thoroughly combined.  (I mixed the last bit by hand because the mixer wasn't getting the butter just right)
• Spray the pie plate with your favorite cooking spray (mine is Trader Joe's coconut oil spray)
• Bake for 25 minutes
• Don't panic if the crust falls/flattens, you can press it back into place with a wooden spoon or use your Pampered Chef Mini-Tart Shaper like I did (seriously, that little gadget kept me from crying and/or burning my fingers).
• Allow to cool completely before spreading chocolate shell/ganache.

Tollhouse Semi Sweet morsels 

The next step was getting my double-boiler action on.  I tossed about 3/4 of a 16 ounce bag of semi sweet Nestle Tollhouse morsels, but you can use whatever your favorite chocolate is to create the shell.  I wanted to make sure that the berries didn't make the cookie crust soggy, but I didn't really think about how creating a chocolate shell layer would make the pie hard to cut into slices.  The baker at my BF's work suggested making a chocolate ganache, so that you'll still get the chocolate flavor, a barrier between the cookie and berries, AND you'll be able to cut the pie without too much difficulty.




This is how the pie looked before I put the strawberries in, I waited for the chocolate to harden into a complete shell, dumped the berry mixture in, and made some whipped cream according to the directions on the heavy whipping cream carton.

There ended up being roughly 27 contestants at the event, I placed somewhere in the middle, but I think given more practice I could totally knock this recipe out of the park.... if I ever decide to make a pie again, it was so much harder than I had anticipated.