Good Morning World,
As you all know election day November 2nd is quickly approaching. This is a friendly reminder to get out and vote. We are all aware that our senators and congressmen make our laws. It is extemely important that we exercise our right to vote in this election as we we did in the Presidential election in 2008.
As Frederick Douglas says "THERE IS NO PROGRESS WITHOUT STRUGGLE" recognizing this simple statement to be true Let us all summon the spirit of PROGRESS by fighting for it.
If you live in the University area early voting is taking place at the University Library off W. T Harris. The dates are October 18-30 Oct 24 which is this Sunday from 1pm to 4pm. If you do not live in the university area please go to http://www.blogger.com/www.meckboe.org to find where your early voting location is.
"I'm asking you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I'm asking you
You to believe in yours"
-BARACK OBAMA
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Cooking my Way
Cooking as far as I can remember has been the cornerstone of many family gatherings. It is a cultural pastime that is passed down from generation to generation. There are several techniques to cooking that I have mastered over the years. From my beautiful Grandmother, Mother and many Aunts, I have learned when cooking, timing is everything especially preparing/seasoning, cooking and presentation. Adopting these skills will require attention to detail and practice for most. For some students this transition to perfect my craft will come naturally. The following passage will illustrate how my cooking experience started, evolved and eventually became a hobby through examples and memories that will enlighten your taste buds.
When I was eight years old, the first thing my Mother taught me was how to peel potatoes. At such a young age I thought it was the hardest thing to do. No worries my Mother came equipped with a lot of patience because she was in my place when she herself was eight years old. She explained that after washing the potato holding it firmly will prevent it from slipping because it is still wet. A wet potato she says “helps to soften the hard exterior”. This is called good preparation before boiling or baking. This is my first experience with cooking; looking back today it makes perfect sense. Cooking should be easy, fun and most importantly creative.
Seasoning before it is time to cook is being on time in my cooking world. This is another vital lesson I picked up on my journey to my favorite pass time. Seasoning your food such as Turkey, Chicken or Fish one or two days before cooking, is better because it allows the seasoning to absorb thus making the flavor more delicious. With many different spices like thyme, scallion and scotch bonnet peppers are sure to preserve the poultry before it is time to cook and feast. As an adult after having many dinner parties and events at my home, I am often told the favor of my cooking is unmatched. The presentation is also desired because it is imitated at other events held by other friends and yes some family members too.
Presentation of my cooked meals almost never goes unnoticed. It is sometimes the smallest detail that says it all. Cooking a dish with love is one thing but presenting it is like the icing on a cake that is pleasing to the eye. It has been said that people eat with their eyes first so I always pride myself in presenting my meal so that it is appealing and desirable. After cooking one of my favorite meats Pot Roast, I laid out my sophisticated black and white platter embroidered with leaves. I sliced the roast evenly with an electric knife, poured the thick well seasoned gravy with chopped onions, bell peppers, crushed garlic, scallion, shallots, thyme, tomatoes, scotch bonnet peppers and a dash of ginger. Before laying my Roast on the platter I lined it with fresh clean roman lettuce. I then placed the Roast on top of the lettuce in the platter and lastly garnished it with parsley flakes. Served with seasoned rice and peas with Bok Choy and carrots, it was a delicious meal to remember.
As mentioned beforehand timing is everything in my cooking world. From the early years until now I have come to incorporate modern technology, techniques and time management with my traditional lessons to teach my daughter as well as others how cooking my way is the easiest and the best. As time have changed for me and many other full time working moms I realized that cooking different meals on Sundays and prepping for shorter meals during the week is less time consuming and more feasible. In addition to cooking my way quality is another important ingredient. I can recall cooking for a certain special young man eight years ago not knowing it then the way to a man’s heart is indeed through his stomach. He later became my husband.
When I was eight years old, the first thing my Mother taught me was how to peel potatoes. At such a young age I thought it was the hardest thing to do. No worries my Mother came equipped with a lot of patience because she was in my place when she herself was eight years old. She explained that after washing the potato holding it firmly will prevent it from slipping because it is still wet. A wet potato she says “helps to soften the hard exterior”. This is called good preparation before boiling or baking. This is my first experience with cooking; looking back today it makes perfect sense. Cooking should be easy, fun and most importantly creative.
Seasoning before it is time to cook is being on time in my cooking world. This is another vital lesson I picked up on my journey to my favorite pass time. Seasoning your food such as Turkey, Chicken or Fish one or two days before cooking, is better because it allows the seasoning to absorb thus making the flavor more delicious. With many different spices like thyme, scallion and scotch bonnet peppers are sure to preserve the poultry before it is time to cook and feast. As an adult after having many dinner parties and events at my home, I am often told the favor of my cooking is unmatched. The presentation is also desired because it is imitated at other events held by other friends and yes some family members too.
Presentation of my cooked meals almost never goes unnoticed. It is sometimes the smallest detail that says it all. Cooking a dish with love is one thing but presenting it is like the icing on a cake that is pleasing to the eye. It has been said that people eat with their eyes first so I always pride myself in presenting my meal so that it is appealing and desirable. After cooking one of my favorite meats Pot Roast, I laid out my sophisticated black and white platter embroidered with leaves. I sliced the roast evenly with an electric knife, poured the thick well seasoned gravy with chopped onions, bell peppers, crushed garlic, scallion, shallots, thyme, tomatoes, scotch bonnet peppers and a dash of ginger. Before laying my Roast on the platter I lined it with fresh clean roman lettuce. I then placed the Roast on top of the lettuce in the platter and lastly garnished it with parsley flakes. Served with seasoned rice and peas with Bok Choy and carrots, it was a delicious meal to remember.
As mentioned beforehand timing is everything in my cooking world. From the early years until now I have come to incorporate modern technology, techniques and time management with my traditional lessons to teach my daughter as well as others how cooking my way is the easiest and the best. As time have changed for me and many other full time working moms I realized that cooking different meals on Sundays and prepping for shorter meals during the week is less time consuming and more feasible. In addition to cooking my way quality is another important ingredient. I can recall cooking for a certain special young man eight years ago not knowing it then the way to a man’s heart is indeed through his stomach. He later became my husband.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Fab Favorites
Favorites, often time make us choose more than one, because we like so many things, for so many different reasons.. in fact we like them all- don't we?
Well in this post to choose your favorite you must dig deep to find out why in each category your answer is your favorite. Ask yourself what separates your favorite from your second and third favorite.
My Hope is this exercise will challenge you not just to chose your favorite but why your choice is your favorite.
Tip: Your answers should be as long or as short as it applies to you.
Favorite Movie- The Thorn Birds because... It enlightened me about a lot questions concerning religion vs the world
Favorite Place- My Home because... This is where my heart is. I find refuge here.
Favorite Person- My Mom... because I look forward to her encouragement. She Loves me unconditionally.
Favorite Book- God Don't Like Ugly...because it reminded me that there are consequences when ugly is personified.
Favorite Food- Brown Stew Red Snapper Fish... because it taste the best. It is healthier than most other poultry too.
Favorite Comedy Show on TV- The Game...because it depicts real life events that happens in the sports industry and their private lives.
Favorite Reality show on TV- Real housewives of Atlanta...because I'm addicted to the drama they portray.
Favorite Actress- Halle Berry...because every role she plays, she captures the essence of her character weather real or fiction.
Favorite Piece of Clothing- Jeans...because you can dress it up or down. It looks great on my buttocks. It never goes out of style.
Favorite Person who Inspires me-Oprah...because she is straight forward. I admire her commitment to education and children. I also love her no nonsense attitude. She also shares my zodiac sign Aquarius.
Favorite Color-Is Black because it is sexy, bold, beautiful, mysterious and Universal. Most people associate this color with death, evil, and darkness. I see it as peaceful and confident.
Favorite Device-Can Opener...because it saved me many nights when, I get home late from work and no time to cook big meals. hooray! to that inventor.
Last but certainly not least,
Favorite Sexual Position-On top please...because I have more control.
Now, give me your favorites if you dare?
Well in this post to choose your favorite you must dig deep to find out why in each category your answer is your favorite. Ask yourself what separates your favorite from your second and third favorite.
My Hope is this exercise will challenge you not just to chose your favorite but why your choice is your favorite.
Tip: Your answers should be as long or as short as it applies to you.
Favorite Movie- The Thorn Birds because... It enlightened me about a lot questions concerning religion vs the world
Favorite Place- My Home because... This is where my heart is. I find refuge here.
Favorite Person- My Mom... because I look forward to her encouragement. She Loves me unconditionally.
Favorite Book- God Don't Like Ugly...because it reminded me that there are consequences when ugly is personified.
Favorite Food- Brown Stew Red Snapper Fish... because it taste the best. It is healthier than most other poultry too.
Favorite Comedy Show on TV- The Game...because it depicts real life events that happens in the sports industry and their private lives.
Favorite Reality show on TV- Real housewives of Atlanta...because I'm addicted to the drama they portray.
Favorite Actress- Halle Berry...because every role she plays, she captures the essence of her character weather real or fiction.
Favorite Piece of Clothing- Jeans...because you can dress it up or down. It looks great on my buttocks. It never goes out of style.
Favorite Person who Inspires me-Oprah...because she is straight forward. I admire her commitment to education and children. I also love her no nonsense attitude. She also shares my zodiac sign Aquarius.
Favorite Color-Is Black because it is sexy, bold, beautiful, mysterious and Universal. Most people associate this color with death, evil, and darkness. I see it as peaceful and confident.
Favorite Device-Can Opener...because it saved me many nights when, I get home late from work and no time to cook big meals. hooray! to that inventor.
Last but certainly not least,
Favorite Sexual Position-On top please...because I have more control.
Now, give me your favorites if you dare?
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
"We are the Author...
I recieved this email and I simply had to share. For those of you who recently watched President Obama's Speech on Education. I think this email is a reenforcement of the importance of education, and not just parenting but, good parenting. With the exception of the spiritual realm. I believe we are the author of our future, our destiny and in some cases our purpose.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson almost never gets upstaged and I had never seen the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson cry in public until last month. Jackson invited Bill Cosby to the annual Rainbow/PUSH conference for a conversation about the controversial remarks the entertainer offered on May 17 at an NAACP dinner in Washington , D.C. When America 's Jell-O Man shook things up by arguing that African Americans were betraying the legacy of civil rights victories.
Cosby said 'the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for their kids. $500 sneakers for what? But they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics!'Bill Cosby came to town and upstaged the reverend by going on the offense instead of defending his earlier remarks. Thursday morning, Cosby showed no signs of repenting as he strode across the stage at the Sheraton Hotel ballroom before a standing room only crowd.
Sporting a natty gold sports coat and dark glasses, he proceeded to unload a Laundry list of black America 's self-imposed ills. The iconic actor and comedian kidded that he couldn't compete with the oratory of the Reverend but he preached circles around Jackson in their nearly hour-long conversation, delivering brutally frank one-liners and the toughest of love.
The enemy, he argues, is us: "There is a time, ladies and gentlemen, when we have to turn the mirror around." Cosby acknowledged he wasn't critiquing all blacks, just the 50 percent of African Americans in the lower economic neighborhood who drop out of school. The alarming proportions of black men in prison and black teenage mothers. The mostly black crowd seconded him with choruses of Amens. To the critics who pose, it's unproductive to air our dirty laundry in public, he responds. "Your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day." It's cursing on the way home, on the bus, train, in the candy store. They are cursing and grabbing each other and going nowhere.
The book bag is very, very thin because there's nothing in it. Don't worry about the white man, he added. I could care less about what white people think about me. . . Let them talk. What are they saying that is so different from what their grandfathers said and did to us? What is different is what we are doing to ourselves. For those who say Cosby is just an elitist who's "got his" but doesn't understand the plight of the black poor, he reminds us that, "We're going to turn that mirror around. It's not just the poor-everybody's guilty. Cosby and Jackson lamented that in the 50th years of Brown vs. Board of Education, our failings betray our legacy. Jackson dabbed away tears as he recalled the financial struggles at Fisk University, a historically black college and Jackson 's Alma mater.
When Cosby was done, the 1,000 people in the room all jumped to their feet in ovation. We have shed tears too many times, at too many watershed moments before, while the hopes they inspired have fallen by the wayside. Not this time!...Cosby's plea to parents:"Before you get to the point where you say.
I can't do nothing with them , do something with them." Teach our children to speak English. There's no such thing as "talking white". When the teacher calls, show up at the school. When the idiot box starts spewing profane rap videos; turn it off. Refrain from cursing around the kids. Teach our boys that women should be cherished, not raped and demeaned. Tell them that education is a prize we won with blood and tears, not a dishonor. Stop making excuses for the agents and abettors of black on black crime. It costs us nothing to do these things. But if we don't, it will cost us infinitely more tears.
We all send thousands of jokes through e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages regarding life choices, people think twice about sharing. The crude, vulgar, and sometimes the obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of decency is too often suppressed in the schools and workplaces.
Let the Church say Amen!
The Reverend Jesse Jackson almost never gets upstaged and I had never seen the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson cry in public until last month. Jackson invited Bill Cosby to the annual Rainbow/PUSH conference for a conversation about the controversial remarks the entertainer offered on May 17 at an NAACP dinner in Washington , D.C. When America 's Jell-O Man shook things up by arguing that African Americans were betraying the legacy of civil rights victories.
Cosby said 'the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for their kids. $500 sneakers for what? But they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics!'Bill Cosby came to town and upstaged the reverend by going on the offense instead of defending his earlier remarks. Thursday morning, Cosby showed no signs of repenting as he strode across the stage at the Sheraton Hotel ballroom before a standing room only crowd.
Sporting a natty gold sports coat and dark glasses, he proceeded to unload a Laundry list of black America 's self-imposed ills. The iconic actor and comedian kidded that he couldn't compete with the oratory of the Reverend but he preached circles around Jackson in their nearly hour-long conversation, delivering brutally frank one-liners and the toughest of love.
The enemy, he argues, is us: "There is a time, ladies and gentlemen, when we have to turn the mirror around." Cosby acknowledged he wasn't critiquing all blacks, just the 50 percent of African Americans in the lower economic neighborhood who drop out of school. The alarming proportions of black men in prison and black teenage mothers. The mostly black crowd seconded him with choruses of Amens. To the critics who pose, it's unproductive to air our dirty laundry in public, he responds. "Your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day." It's cursing on the way home, on the bus, train, in the candy store. They are cursing and grabbing each other and going nowhere.
The book bag is very, very thin because there's nothing in it. Don't worry about the white man, he added. I could care less about what white people think about me. . . Let them talk. What are they saying that is so different from what their grandfathers said and did to us? What is different is what we are doing to ourselves. For those who say Cosby is just an elitist who's "got his" but doesn't understand the plight of the black poor, he reminds us that, "We're going to turn that mirror around. It's not just the poor-everybody's guilty. Cosby and Jackson lamented that in the 50th years of Brown vs. Board of Education, our failings betray our legacy. Jackson dabbed away tears as he recalled the financial struggles at Fisk University, a historically black college and Jackson 's Alma mater.
When Cosby was done, the 1,000 people in the room all jumped to their feet in ovation. We have shed tears too many times, at too many watershed moments before, while the hopes they inspired have fallen by the wayside. Not this time!...Cosby's plea to parents:"Before you get to the point where you say.
I can't do nothing with them , do something with them." Teach our children to speak English. There's no such thing as "talking white". When the teacher calls, show up at the school. When the idiot box starts spewing profane rap videos; turn it off. Refrain from cursing around the kids. Teach our boys that women should be cherished, not raped and demeaned. Tell them that education is a prize we won with blood and tears, not a dishonor. Stop making excuses for the agents and abettors of black on black crime. It costs us nothing to do these things. But if we don't, it will cost us infinitely more tears.
We all send thousands of jokes through e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages regarding life choices, people think twice about sharing. The crude, vulgar, and sometimes the obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of decency is too often suppressed in the schools and workplaces.
Let the Church say Amen!
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