But what happens when the credit limit is maxed out? We can then expect the Fed to print money. And printing money creates inflation.

Should we hedge inflation by reallocating investments and retirement savings? Or should we just stock up on toilet paper and other non-perishables before they become luxury items?

Before you empty the Walmart shelves, you might want to consider another scenario. The Wall Street Journal reports in two separate articles this month (August 7, 2010, “How to Beat Deflation” and Aug. 18, 2010, “What Deflation Means for Your Money”) that deflation may be on the horizon. This scenario also makes sense.

Jobless claims hover around 10%. The stock market reacts in a downward spiral, companies spend and invest less, and workers see wages cut. Less spending equals less money in circulation so prices stagnate. Companies lose profits, cut jobs, benefits, and wages. The cycle continues and we have deflation.

Faced with two opposite scenarios, how can we possibly know what to do? Taking any one approach to the extreme would probably be a mistake. We don’t know what will happen. It might not be a bad idea to talk to a financial advisor about reallocating some stocks into more secure markets, or even into proven stocks that produce more necessities than luxury items. But even this is no guarantee. The stock market is always a gamble.

Even in an economy that may be spinning out of control there may be one thing you can do now: Pay down your debt as quickly as possible.

In his article “What Deflation Means for Your Money”, (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 18, 2010) Brett Arends gives a great explanation of deflation and the best way to gain some protection now. While he gives advice regarding bonds and stock purchases, I believe his best recommendation is to pay down your debt now. He points out that increasing income is crucial during deflation.

But how do you increase income when the money just isn’t there? Decrease spending. This puts more money in your pocket, increasing available income. Let’s say you pay $200 a month for a student loan. If you can pay that off now, you’ve added $200 to your pocket, or just given yourself a $200 a month raise.

But what if inflation hits? I still believe paying down debt is a win-win situation – just make sure you are also putting money aside for emergencies. Inflation would likely spike interest rates. You could wind up paying 20% interest on credit card expenses, making it even tougher to make ends meet in a bad economy. Suddenly the outdated Nintendo that you intended to pay for over three months doesn’t seem so appealing.

Whether inflation or deflation occurs, decreasing debt seems to be the wisest move. Cut back on discretionary spending and put it towards any debt payment or savings. For some families, this may seem impossible. In that case, do what you can. Even the smallest step, is a step in the right direction, allowing you to take some control in an uncertain world.

The economy could go into a double-dip recession, we could lose our jobs, or our wages could be cut. But as a whole, Americans are resilient. As parents, we cannot give up hope. But I’m not fatalistic enough to rely on hope. We must carve out our own destiny and that requires action. So do what you can to protect yourself. Decreasing debt load and increasing savings to the best of our abilities, are sensible and responsible actions.

I read it quickly, and not very closely, while drinking my morning coffee and eating breakfast. I’m not a morning person, so I probably read it while still waking up. My first thought was, “What a shame, teachers are also getting a paycut – and cut to the lowest wages in ten years.”

Who among us wants to see that happen? After all, we love our teachers.

But then I took a few more sips of coffee, got up, took the dog out, waking up bit by bit. More alert, I came back inside finished my coffee and read the next paragraph. The next paragraph changed everything.

Teachers aren’t getting their pay cut. No, they are getting raises! Ok, good for them. Most of them probably deserve it. Heck, most of us probably deserve it. I also think I deserve a new car with less than 100,000 miles on it, one where the check engine light isn’t on all the time even though the last two mechanics say nothing is wrong.

But what we want, and yes, sometimes what we deserve, doesn’t always work out. It’s part of reality, and part of being an adult. I try to teach my children this. At times, I’m still learning this. After all, why not replace my car since I feel I deserve it? Why not give these teachers raises which I’m certain most of them deserve?

The increase in compensation packages come with a cost, a cost to you and me.

President Obama just signed an aid package doling out 10 billion dollars to states for teachers. In other words, he and congress appeased the demands made by powerful teachers’ unions by reaching further into empty pockets and giving teachers another annual raise. Do congress and the president need to be reminded of the mounting debt crisis: 13 trillion in debt and a 1.5 trillion federal deficit?

Then there is the all too familiar state and local money paid out to teachers. Guess how that will get funded. Either the states go more into the red or they reach their hands out to to the rest of us. In other words, as taxpayers, we get double-whammied with this financial burden.

So while Wisconsin teachers are whining about a modest 3.75% compensation increase (salary and benefits), I’m wondering how many of you, how many tax payers, received a raise this year? How many of you have had your benefits cut? How many of you had hours cut? And how many are still employed?

From my vantage point, that 3.75% raise looks pretty good during these times. It looks down right generous considering its funded by people who haven’t seen a raise in the past few years.

But 3.75% isn’t good enough for teachers. It was less than last year. Less than the year before, probably less than the year before that. Sounds bad when it’s stated like that, doesn’t it?

How about if I take out the spin and give a more accurate presentation of their compensation packages. Here is my version of their compensation: “As part of their regular annual raise, Wisconsin teachers will receive a 3.75% increase in salary. Wisconsin teachers have received an average of 4.13% since 1993 according to the State Journal article. Due to a down-turned economy, the pay increase is the lower than it has been in the past 10 years.”

If I were a teacher I wouldn’t complain to someone living in Janesville or Milwaukee about a pay increase — a pay increase that is likely funded by someone who is out of work.

Wisconsin, like most states is hurting badly. Our state is in the red. Either we cut spending across the board or we come up with a way to finance what we spend. The next line of attack is to increase local taxes. How much more can you tax people? At some point, the government is going to run out of people to tax as more people lose jobs or just watch their income dwindle and their houses foreclose.

IMPACT’s approach differs from the No Child Left Behind law. In No Child Left Behind teachers are judged by student test scores (Washington Post, Oct. 1 2009). IMPACT evaluates teachers on improvement in test scores. Proponents claim this “value-added” method reflects a correlation between teacher contribution and each student’s learning development.

Fairness of IMPACT
Washington D.C.’s struggling school system is no secret, so a radical approach may be necessary. Teacher, Jonathan F. Keiler, makes no excuses for teachers who don’t do their jobs in his article “Another Silly Education Fad” (American Thinker, Aug. 5, 2010). As a former Jag Officer and former private practice attorney, Keiler knows that second rate performance does not cut it in most real world situations. Yet, this has become acceptable with one of the most important jobs in the world, teaching our children.

Keiler, however, does not agree with the “value-added” methodology. Citing a study by the Department of Education, Keiler said that this model can be wrong as much as 35% in the first year.

I certainly would not want my performance judged by a system that is wrong more than a third of the time. (By the third year, the number reduces to a mere 25%.) Something this flawed should not be an indicator of teacher performance.

IMPACT does integrate in-class evaluation into the process. While this could be an added tool, it runs the risk of becoming too subjective, and even arbitrary. Other issues must also be taken into consideration.

Testing as an Indicator of Student Performance
As a parent, I don’t want my children taught just for testing. I expect them to apply their learning to future academic and real-life endeavors. Children need to learn critical thinking skills and the ability to adapt those skills to the world around them. Test performance does not always evaluate this. Furthermore, some students don’t test well.

Educators can also evaluate student performance by observing how students apply classroom learning. Class projects, writing, speaking, community jobs, and even properly supervised mentoring, add a richer dimension to the learning and evaluation process.

I am not suggesting that testing should be abolished. Testing does have value. It does offer hard concrete data on performance, and there are times in life when all of us have to perform in a test situation. So while testing should be done, it should be one of many factors when evaluating teacher and student performance.

Responsibility of Parents, Community and Administrators
No doubt, the teacher stands on the front line to learning. But as parents, we must also share in this responsibility. The teacher is not a miracle worker. Parents, community, and society at large, leave an imprint on each child. The teacher then deals with each child’s personal experience in the classroom. Sometimes the experience can be good, other times it is not so good.

Finally, when evaluating a teacher, administrators must ensure that she has the resources to succeed in the classroom. Proper training, quality text books, and access to technology can positively impact learning. But classroom size and classroom dynamics plays a bigger role. Small classes are essential for younger and struggling students. In addition, teachers need more classroom support when dealing with students who have discipline problems.

None of these mitigating factors relieve the responsibility of the teacher. If teachers aren’t able to do their jobs, they should be out of the classroom. I don’t believe in tenure. Nobody is entitled to a job for inadequate performance. It makes no difference if they’ve been there for five years or twenty years. Most employees in business who underperform lose their position regardless of time spent at the company. Companies who keep underperforming employees run into serious problems, ranging from inability to compete in the market place to safety hazards. Our education system faces these same risks. High standards have always been a trademark of success in our country. Our children deserve to also live by these standards.

I agree with holding teachers accountable for student growth. Test scores show student development in the clearest way. But they are not the only indicator. They are one piece of information in a sea of data. Use it, but don’t expect the impossible. We all play a role in our children’s performance. Teachers can only do so much. Hold teachers accountable. But also appreciate the majority who do a good job, often under difficult circumstances.

A little planning can make even the simplest family outings more affordable, as well as more enjoyable. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to heed my own advice when we attended the county fair last weekend, a lesson I won’t repeat next year.

In less than three hours, our family of four went through $50 eating meager sandwiches, sharing drinks, and paying for a total of four rides. I grew more exasperated when I learned that we could have eaten better and enjoyed more rides for the same amount of money if I would have planned ahead.

Fortunately, my low threshold for unnecessarily overspending has turned this into a good learning experience. Below is a list of little epiphanies (as well as common sense) that I discovered. Maybe others can benefit from my mistakes.

Tips for Saving Money at the County Fair

1. Look in the paper AND online for admission costs, discounts, or free days. County or fair ground officials are likely to have a website with information. We missed out on the free admission day for kids.
2. If admission prices aren’t listed, call the fair office. A number should be available through the county. The website for our fair didn’t list admission costs.
3. Get a fair schedule with events and prices listed. Events may be discounted at certain times of the day. Often the best prices are earlier in the day. If the fair schedule isn’t available through the paper or online, contact the fair office.
4. If the fair does not list discounts or deals, call the fair office and ask about any specials available. Also check with local organizations that have food booths. For example, the Knights of Columbus might sell two for one ice cream on a particular day. This is a good way to support an organization while saving money.
5. Look for free or discounted ride days. Rides eat up a lot of the budget, especially if you have more than one child. After paying $3 a ride, I learned about the “10 rides for $10” special that ran earlier that week.
6. Avoid the big vender concessions if you want to hold on to your cash. We wanted to give money locally as much as possible so we did this, but we also found it was much cheaper to do so.
7. Search all the food tents, or as many as possible, before choosing a vendor. Check out some of the buildings or tents off to the side that may sell concessions. This was a big mistake for us. The 4-H groups sold food for a fraction of the costs of any of the other concessions. We stumbled upon this after we had already eaten. Later, however, we came back and got ice cream cones for $1.25 each.
8. Find out parking costs and alternative parking arrangements ahead of time. This was not an issue for us since parking was free. Busy, high-traffic areas, however, are likely to charge for parking. Don’t underestimate the cost of this.
9. If no free/discounted ride day is available, plan for expensive rides, and prepare your children accordingly. It’s just a fact of life: Thirty second rides cost more than they are worth. Let kids know ahead of time there is a limit to the number of rides they can go on.
10. Choose rides or activities that are more interactive. Not only do these tend to last longer, my children seemed to get more out of these activities than the passive whirly-rides that spin them around in circles for ninety seconds. My kids enjoyed the maze of mirrors better than any of the rides, and it lasted three times as long.
11. Bring a backpack with bottled water. It’s likely to get hot and everyone needs to stay hydrated. You can still patronize local clubs and businesses for the typical fair treats like lemon shake-ups. But there is no reason to spend $3 for a bottle of water. (I’d also recommend bringing wipes/hand sanitizer. Fairs aren’t the cleanest place. It’s also helpful after petting the animals.)
12. Spend time petting the animals and looking at the exhibits. This shouldn’t cost anything. Often a 4-H or FFA group will have an interactive exhibit about farm life that even very young kids can participate in. My kids loved petting the goats and sheep. Also, many of the 4-H exhibits have really come a long way. There really is something for everyone. My son loved the lego and rocket displays. My daughter was fascinated by all the different art projects.

County fairs can be a great experience for the whole family. Not only is it fun, it’s a great place to learn about animals and farm life. It might even open new doors for your kids. The 4-H clubs hold many opportunities for children to learn and gain leadership skills.

Now time for some more bad news: Net incomes will drop again if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire.

Who will pay?
News surrounding these tax cuts has always focused on the highest earners ($250,000 and above.). In fact, repealing the Bush tax cuts impacts all families with children.

We are facing “the largest tax hikes in the history of America” according to the group, Americans for Tax Reform, The child tax credit would be reduced from $1000 to $500 per child. Middle income earners will pay a 3% increase in taxes. Families’ earning as little as $17,000 per year, would jump from a 10% to 15% tax bracket.

Grandparents also will feel the pinch. Retirees depending on investment income can expect a large drop in their net income. Capital gains taxes increase from 15% to 20%. Dividend taxes will more than double, jumping from 15% to 39.6%.

These aren’t tiny ripples that will go unnoticed. Instead we can expect a series of tidal waves that will wreak havoc on personal income and the overall standard of living.

Find out more
Complete news coverage has been sparse in this area. I’ve heard various sound bites offering vague promises that were short on facts. I’m still waiting to hear coverage of specific, written proposals instead of campaign rhetoric.

Forbes, however, has recently put out a good article summarizing the major parts of the tax cuts as they stand.

For first hand knowledge, The Joint Committee on Taxation, a congressional body involved with tax legislation, has pdf files with updated information. I used this site to verify and research the facts. It’s not the most exciting summer read but it takes you right to the source of some of the most current and likely proposals that will make it to the floor. (Of course, this does not include proposals from members of congress not on the committee.)

A variety of proposals is likely to come to the table, including suggestions from the White House. The Wall Street Journal discusses positions taken by Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Geithner. Many lawmakers and White House officials are taking a partial position that would eliminate tax cuts for higher earners. How this will actually play out remains to be seen.

Can anything be done?
We could speculate over which party will vote to extend the tax cuts, which tax cuts will be extended – if any, and whether or not President Obama will support the extension. But it amounts to nothing but mere speculation.

Before a decision is made, doors will shut, deals will be made. With the impending November elections, our best bet is to urge our senators and representatives to extend the Bush tax cuts.

Then, pray that they listen.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Nebraska’s safe-haven law, here’s a brief update.  Like most states, Nebraska lawmakers wanted to make sure young children aren’t abandoned in unsafe places.  The law was intended to protect the youngest and most vulnerable of our population, newborn infants. Many states allow parents to leave newborns at a hospital without any criminal repercussions.  The laws are designed to ensure a child’s safety; hospitals provide a safe haven for infants when parents find they cannot care for a child.  No doubt, this option could save a child’s life.

But like many well-meaning laws, it has turned into a moral hazard  — the intended good has been counteracted by its misuse.  Because Nebraska didn’t put an age limit on the law, children of all ages are literally being dumped on hospital steps.  As of last count, 34 children have been left at hospitals. And most of these children aren’t infants. As a matter of fact, ages range from 5 to 17.

What goes through an 11 year old child’s mind when his parent leaves him at a public institution with no intention of returning? Does the parent tell the child what is happening? Or is he not told: Is he dropped off with the expectation of someone returning for him in a few hours? And how many times does his heart break when he discovers no one is returning for him? 

Extraordinary circumstances have probably brought parents to this point, but I believe with few exceptions — such as safety issues, there must be other alternatives. For some it could be churches, synagogues, or family. For others it could be social services. Even if it means placing children in new homes, it is better than abandonment. Parents can still play a role in that child’s life, or at the very least, they can stick around long enough to make sure their child finds a good home.

So who is at fault? Parents? Social services? Maybe it’s the Nebraska legislature, who unintentionally uncovered this problem? It speaks volumes that it’s not always parents leaving these children at hospitals, but relatives who have stepped in as caretakers; many of the parents are already out of the picture. According to USA Today, 22 of these children have parents who have been incarcerated at some point. So most of these children come from troubled homes. Abandoning these kids at a hospital is probably not the first time many of them have been pushed aside. This just legitimizes it.

Many people blame the social service system in Nebraska, claiming it is one of the worst in the country. Should social services have done more? Probably. But does that absolve parents of their responsibility? These children are human beings, not objects that you dump when they become too much of a burden. Right now there is a lot of finger pointing. Fingers are pointed at social services, state legislatures, and parents. A post at Type A Mom addresses the issue of social service outreach.

If these parents feel that they have reached the end of their rope and that abandonment is the only solution, then I would suggest that the social services systems have failed them. Nebraska’s dilemna should serve as a wake-up call to all 50 states - there is a need for emergency services to parents of teens. If services are already available (as has been suggested), then their effectiveness should be evaluated. Marketing campaigns should be launched to be sure parents are aware of the services available to them when desperation forces them to consider the unthinkable.

However, the Associated Press (”Neb. senators told safe-haven law exposes problem”, Nate Jenkins)reported today that lawmakers say help is available.

State officials disagreed with child welfare experts, state senators and others who criticized what they said was a lack of access to mental health and other services. Parents, the state officials say, are unnecessarily abandoning their children at hospitals.

Todd Landry, who oversees the state’s children and family services, said there are resources available to parents. “It is not the role of government to intervene in a family’s life” when children are not in danger, Landry said.

So again who is at fault? Or more importantly, how do we solve this problem? It’s not that I don’t feel any sympathy for these parents; I do, but I feel more sympathy for these abandoned children. If you aren’t willing to fight for your child, the very child you brought into this world and parented for the last five, ten, fifteen years, is there anything you would fight for?

Many of these children might be serious problems to their families, or society. Maybe living at home isn’t the best option. But there are other options. They deserve the extra effort to find an appropriate home. It shows them they are still worth it.  And if our children aren’t worth that extra effort, who in this world is?

1. It doesn’t involve a cathode ray nipple. (For those of you born after 1990, that means television.)  I mean seriously, does that fact that the kid would rather sit and read books than watch television or play video games need any further explanation?  DUH!  It’s also a way for me to get the boy out of my hair for a while without feeling guilty that I’ve plopped him in front of the electronic babysitter.
2. His language, vocabulary, and ability to understand things has exploded.  I travel occasionally for my job, and last week when putting the boy to bed I noticed he had tucked between the bed frame and the mattress a thick book I hadn’t seen before.  It was Robinson Crusoe.  I asked him, “What’s this?”  The boy’s response wasn’t the excitement over reading a chapter book I had expected. Instead, it was, “Oh Dad, this story is so cool. He built his own boat!”  He then, in great detail, explained to me the adventure of the first four chapters, and how exactly this boat was built.
3. Imagination.  My Dad, who loves math, still at age 69 is constantly searching for new mathematical concepts to challenge his brain, recently discovered fractals.  Fractals are realitively new concept of the past 10-20 years and only with the advent of the computer could they truly been explored.   That’s because a fractal is a pattern that multiplies itself to infinity.  The boy’s imagination right now is like a fractal, just multiplying on itself every time he reads something new.
4. He truly loves it.   When I was a kid, which was in the 70’s, color television was new, at least for my family, and there hadn’t been any research to warn my mother she might turn me into a spastic, jittery freak.  I can remember getting up in the morning, turning on the television, and never turning it off until it was time to go to school, or in the summer, eat lunch.  Our parents didn’t really think anything of it.  (Thus, I have the attention span of a 3 year old at age 37.)  The boy will choose to read a new book over doing a lot of other things when given the opportunity.  Currently, the only thing that he would rather do that than read a book is watch a new episode of Clone Wars.  Although, the tempation of actually reading a Clone Wars or Star Wars book, might even top that. 
5. It makes his Dad proud.  The boy is smart, but he’s human.  He gets good grades, but he struggles a lot with effort.  If there is an easy way or a shortcut to do something, he will find it.   The boy has worked hard to be able to read.  He has given maximum effort, and that makes me proud.

Madagascar 2

My neighbor and I recently took our kids to see Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Our crew included two seven-year-olds, two four-year-olds, and a couple of over thirty moms (dads opted out of the movie).

Madagascar entertains, but prepare yourself for some disturbing stereotypes, along with a good dose of over-the top-hostility from a cantankerous, old woman. The hostile old lady wields a purse like a javelin, usually targeting poor Alex, the theatrical dancing lion. Throughout the movie she is either throwing punches or on the receiving end of repeated blows. It’s like watching a hybrid of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a dirty street fight. Not only was it way over the top, it went on forever. At one point, I wanted to scream “Enough! I get the point.”

The movie is PG, so parents are given notice. But the PG rating doesn’t excuse poor taste or bad judgment in a children’s movie. Kids shouldn’t be laughing at human punching bags. I felt some relief when the elderly woman’s aggression was directed at a Machiavellian lion, who had used trickery to conquer the peaceful savannah and then cruelly banished Alex.

Thankfully, young children probably won’t pick up on many of the worn stereotypes. Adults are the intended audience here, part entertainment and part message. The message is clear to adults, zebras who all look the same and can’t be recognized one from the other. Disturbing, and maybe not so funny. But like it or not, the filmmakers use stereotyping for a reason.  Children are entertained, while adults look on with that “Aha” recognition of real life stuff. (Even if it’s real life stuff that makes us squirm.)

Once you get past all of this, the movie has some good scenes and a pretty decent cast. Bernie Mac (who sadly died this year) plays Alex’s dad; Ben Stiller, Alex; Jada Pinkett, the hippo who realizes she is more than the sum of her voluptuous parts; Chris Rock, Marty the Zebra; and David Schwimmer, the giraffe who is secretly in love with the hippo. My daughter loved the dancing scenes–nothing like lions performing street dances in Africa. My son laughed a little too much at the kickboxing old lady for my comfort. And for the adults, there were monkeys blackmailing a dictatorial penguin for his tryst with an unknown, female bobble-head. Hmmm…How often has this been the downfall of powerful penguins men?

Then again, maybe my I’m reading too much into this. After all, it is just a kids’ movie, isn’t it?

The WSJ quotes a top GM advisor as saying, “There is no Plan B being discussed beyond a government bailout.”

This is considered a great American company that should be saved?  What could be more un-American than choosing to beg for a handout without any attempt to work it out for yourself?  People are much more likely to give money to a  homeless person who offers to clean their car windows or plays music than they are to a guy holding a can asking for money  There is a reason that guy standing on the street corner has a sign that says, “Will WORK for food.” 

Why should GM be any different?  Why should GM’s survival be entirely dependent on you, me, and us giving them money without any effort to do something themselves, even in part?   It’s not like this is the first time the automakers have failed, nor is it the first time they’ve run to the government for protection.

As if that isn’t aggravating enough, GM has the audacity to turn corporate begging into a government hold up.  They claim that without a government rescue, not only are they going down, others are going down with them.   GM is wagering that  it will have hit the jacktpot if it can shift  responsibility off of them and onto the government for not saving all of GM’s unintended vicitmes.  The golden key to shift blame!

It’s not our fault the big three have continually caved to the unions and drove themselves head-on into a labor cost that is two-thirds higher than competitors.  If you’ve ever been involved with the production of a product you know the cost variable with which the producer has the most control over is labor cost.  In almost all cases if you work more efficient, you can make the product cheaper.  It’s also not our fault they aren’t making many cars people want, and that they are making too many models.  Did you realize that between GM’s Chevrolet and Pontiac brands there 15 different models, not counting trucks, vans, and SUVs?  Don’t forget they own all the Buick, Saturn and Cadillac models too!  It’s not our fault they failed to recognize sooner there wouldn’t be gasoline forever, and have now leveraged their entire future on the hopes of a single car (Chevy Volt). 

To quote Forrest Gump, and this applies to both the big three automakers and the government who continues to rescue them, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

As always, we were running short on time for dinner, so the plan for the tenderloin steaks was a very basic.  The beauty of a tenderloin steak is it doesn’t take much enhancing to get a great flavor.  It’s probably the most naturally flavorful cut of beef.  So I simply sprinkled a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper on each side, and seared it real good, about 3 minutes on each side, in a red hot pan.   The two steaks, in the skillet, were finished off in the oven for about 8 minutes at 375.  The plan was to do a nice reduction of burgundy or Marsala deglaze, but, oops, I forgot! 

For a side we had about 2.5lbs of red potatoes in the pantry, and some green cabbage that if it wasn’t used last night, wasn’t going to get used.  The potatoes were boiled for about 15 minutes, during that time I also diced about 4 cups of cabbage and 3/4 cup of onion, and sauteed them in butter until nice and tender.  When the potatoes were nice and soft, they were drained off, and mashed with 1/2 cup of milk and some salt and pepper.   My riff on Irish potatoes was finished by stirring the buttery cabbage into the mashed potatoes.

We needed a vegetable.  I was going to steam a bag of frozen broccoli, but the boy, already getting wind of the cabbage in the potatoes, was readying his fit for having more green stuff than he could handle.  Since the day had been long enough already,  I succumbed to opening a can of corn, enhancing it with butter, salt, and pepper.

We’re paranoid freaks about the kids choking on their food, and so cuts of meat are usually cut up for the kids into micro-diced pieces.  Tonight though this turned out to be an unnecessary concern as the steaks were so tender the knife easily tore the beef tore apart.  The tenderloin steaks tasted fantastic.  The boy ended up inhaling all his steak, looking for more, but the wife was joining us late and we had to save some for her.  The girl, she ate some of the steak without turning her nose up at it, and then proclaimed, “I’m tired”, after a few bites of corn.  That usually means, I want attention from not eating my meal.   In our house the kids have to try everything, so she was not allowed to leave the table until she tried a spoon of potatoes with cabbage in it.  She was not happy about this, but soon remembered Daddy doesn’t lose.  Already with a pre-disgusted expression, she tasted the cabbage only to verify the expression on her face.  And with that bite of forced nutrition, no matter how insignificant, she was free to go.

As for the potatoes, they were very good.  Judisious amounts of butter, like pork fat, seem to make everything taste good.  (Hmmm…. bacon would have been a good addition to the cabbage potatoes!)  The boy said he really like them, despite protesting, “Dad!  Why did you have to put cabbage in it?”  He did his level best to eat around the cabbage, but his ”green stuff” radar failed to track every piece.  The expression of surprised distain as he chewed the potatoes occassionally crunching down on some cabbage was hilarious.  In the end, the boy managed to somehow eat around most of the cabbage leaving his plate littered in cabbage pieces.

When the wife finally made it to dinner, she proclaimed the steak was just perfect.  She said the potatoes were very good, but I got the impression her Italian blood wasn’t overwhelmed by the subtle (some say bland) flavors  of Ireland.