food powered by spite

I have a family friend who worked at our local Salvation Army headquarters as a a secretary. This particular office took all the Christmas donations for children in need, put them in a warehouse, and on a designated day the staff and their friends picked through them all, taking whatever they wanted. She saw people hauling away bikes donated for specific families. Some local children had hundreds of dollars of gifts donated in their name, and on Christmas they received three cheap things, items likely not even from the person who sponsored them.

My friend quit, and I’ve not given them a dime of my money since then.

I’m a wildfire and disaster logistics specialist.

I deal with a lot of agencies who provide disaster relief.

I used to say the Salvation Army’s disaster services were the one (literally the ONE) good thing they did.

They would come in, set up a canteen trailer, make and pass out hot coffee and donated food in a disaster, usually being one of the first agencies to get there and the last to leave.

Then I found out.

Every time they did this, regardless of if they were actually invited or deployed by the agency in charge (usually FEMA, sometimes others) they would SELF-DEPLOY. Meanjng they would just show up. Ok. That’s not TOO bad, sometimes agencies have to take initiative and get there before the red tape is sorted out. BUT. They, after they left at the end of the incident, they would send FEMA or the host agency a BILL. They used one or two paid employees (usually the driver of the truck and a supervisor); and many VOLUNTEERS, but they would bill for EVERYONE’s Labor at standard federal rates. They would bill for the food they distributed even though it was all donated by another agency or private parties. They would bill for the coffee they made and the supplies. Except they would use electricity from the shelter location, water from donations or from the shelter, and in many cases, they would get the coffee and industrial filters DONATED, but bill for them at retail prices.

Salvation Army reached out to Milknmuffins and asked what shelter she’s at with the promise to address the abuse in it. She…ended up saying where she was. She was thrown out onto the street. It’s also all on Twitter.

They invited her to a personal talk so she could explain the situation in person.

And then they threatened her with a screenshot of a rape-threat made supposedly by her:

And then threw her out into the street while claiming she broke house rules that

Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients

6 russet potatoes, sliced into half circles

1lb sausage (hot italian sausage recommended)

32 oz chicken broth

1 yellow onion, cut however you want

Garlic - think "what's a lot of garlic?" double that amount, minced

1 bunch kale - stem removed, tear it up (can be larger than "bite sized pieces", as they will wilt)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Seasoning - I do not measure these and I never will. Season to taste. (Paprika, Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Bay Leaves, Cayenne, Cumin)

Instructions

In a large soup pot, brown the sausage and break apart/crumble as it cooks. Throw the onion and spices in there, mix that all up and cook till the sausage is cooked thoroughly. Add minced garlic, cook for 1-2 min.

Add chicken stock and potatoes. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. I let it simmer for about 15 min, longer (maybe 25-30?) if you want the potatoes to break down more and create a chowdery texture.

Add the kale. Stir it in until wilted and doesn't seem like too much kale anymore. Maybe 2-3 min.

Turn off the stove. Add heavy cream a little at a time while stirring it in.

I usually substitute half-and-half, instead of heavy cream. (That's how mom made it. I might try the cream next time.) Spinach is a good substitute for the kale.

versions of this have bacon,

but YMMV.

A few years ago, when I was living in the housing co-op and looking for a quick cookie recipe, I came across a blog post for something called “Norwegian Christmas butter squares.” I’d never found anything like it before: it created rich, buttery and chewy cookies, like a vastly superior version of the holiday sugar cookies I’d eaten growing up. About a year ago I went looking for the recipe again, and failed to find it. The blog had been taken down, and it sent me into momentary panic. 

Luckily, I remembered enough to find it on the Wayback Machine, and quickly copied it into a file that I’ve saved ever since. I probably make these cookies about once a month, and they last about five days around my voracious husband - they’re fantastic with a cup of bitter coffee or tea. I’m skeptical that there is something distinctively Norwegian about these cookies, but they do seem like the perfect thing to eat on a cold day. 

Norwegian Christmas Butter Squares

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg 1 cup sugar 2 cups flour 1 tsp vanilla ½ tsp salt Turbinado/ Raw Sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Chill a 9x13″ baking pan in the freezer. Do not grease the pan.

Using a mixer, blend the butter, egg, sugar, and salt together until it is creamy.  Add the flour and vanilla and mix using your hands until the mixture holds together in large clumps. If it seems overly soft, add a little extra flour. 

Using your hands, press the dough out onto the chilled and ungreased baking sheet until it is even and ¼ inch thick.  Dust the top of the cookies evenly with raw sugar.

And it is GREAT.

It basically makes the platonic ideal of commercial sugar cookies, only in bar form. When I give them to people (which I do a lot, because this is one of those simple recipes where the results seem very impressive), I just tell them they’re sugar cookie bars.

Found this Drunken Chicken recipe inspired by j Gumbo’s dish at 4 You With Love.

SERVES 8  |  ACTIVE TIME 30 Min |  TOTAL TIME 6 Hours 30 Min

Ingredients:

2 ½ lb. boneless and skinless chicken thighs

¾ cup olive oil

½ cup flour

Two 15-oz. cans of diced tomatoes

One 12-oz. bottle of beer

2 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon thyme

1 tablespoon molasses

½ tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 - 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon file powder (optional)

1 teaspoon paprika

4 - 5 bay leaves

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil and flour in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.  Stir continuously until the roux is the color of peanut butter. 2. Add all the ingredients except the chicken.  Stir to combine well.  

3. Place chicken into crockpot and pour spice mixture over it.  

4. Cook in crock pot on high for 1 hour and then turn down to low for 5 hours.

5. After the 6 hours in crock pot, remove the bay leaves and shred the chicken.  Serve over rice, tortilla chips, or on a bun.