I don’t know if the apples are sweeter because of the ‘anticipation’… or, if it was because of the unusually sharp cold snap earlier this year? Fortunately for family unity , the crop looks magnificent and the perennial battle between making apple sauce and apple pies is muted under the avalanche of apples!
So after a couple of huge batches of apple sauce sitting in one of our three freezers, Laura has graciously consented to stand back while I make, strudels, apple flaps, cobblers and… yes… apple pies!
PS. a little drama is over, after several months of looking , Laura found my favorite pair of prescription glasses in the lost & found drawer at HOME DEPOT. They’re fairly unusual in type and prescription… so, Laura is my hero. 🙂
I think it is only right to expect transparency from our public institutions. The fact that so many appear to be fighting disclosure only causes me to wonder what they don’t want us to see. At the forefront of concerns appears to be the many and varied ‘foundations’ associated with the California State University system that seem to have very little external control and virtually no public disclosure of their activities.
Here are two relevant articles that question how well our administrators are using the funds derived from the backs of students, parents, faculty and staff :
At a time of state budget cuts, student tuition hikes, canceled classes, faculty hiring freezes and layoffs, CSU’s lobbyists have been paid to defeat bills designed to shed more light on CSU executive salaries and perks as well as public records. In 2006, The Chronicle reported that millions of dollars in extra compensation was quietly handed out to campus presidents and other top executives as they left their posts.
Trent Hager, chief of staff for Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), said CSU paid the two lobbying firms in 2007 to derail his boss’ bill aimed at full disclosure of CSU salaries. “They got it sidetracked and killed,” he said.
But nearly $400,000 of those funds were paid to the two lobbying firms during months of the year when the firms performed no services for the CSU system regarding administrative or legislative actions, state records show.
A shocking betrayal of the public trust was revealed today by The Santa Rosa Press Democrat in an investigative report about the Sonoma State University Academic Foundation using donated funds to provide huge personal loans to cronies of foundation board members, some of which may never be recovered.
And what about Cal Poly?
Although the ‘giant black hole’ known as the Cal Poly Foundation has no observable event horizon, it is only one of four foundations on campus:
Associated Students, Incorporated of California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo
California Polytechnic State University Foundation
Cal Poly Corporation
Cal Poly Housing Corporation
The question I have is a simple one: should public institutions be lobbying to PREVENT full disclosure of how they do business? Should scarce educational resources in the hundreds of thousands and in the millions pass through the system to benefit a few without full disclosure?
Well, it’s not a beer from Troy and although the Greeks brought the walls down with their horse, we’ve got the horse now! So, when my wife and daughters came back from a conference in Athens, they couldn’t help but tell me of the wonders… which I will now enjoy myself! Fortunately, I was able to procure a sample or two from our local BEVMO.
However, it is corned beef curing time… so this time the beer of choice will be Greek! Yes, I don’t use water in my brine mixture… only beer!
Laura selects three beautiful artichokes for Sunday's midday meal
In California, if you spend any time here, you will experience some of the wonderful agricultural bounty of our state. Even though California is known for grapes, citrus, broccoli, strawberries, pistachios, truck farming and more illegal cash crops than most want to talk about … we all share a love of Artichokes . My best and fondest memory of California and home revolve around a meal of artichokes. As a boy, I remember going to Half moon bay to fish and stopping on the way back to buy a few wondrous artichokes for dinner… and this habit continues to this day. Only now, we walk to our local farmer’s market in San Luis Obispo to buy strawberries, white onions, pistachios ( yes, I must have my Baklava) and artichokes!
If you are really a fan, there is even an ‘Artichoke festival’ when the season is near and you can buy artichoke wine, artichoke flavored olive oil and every type of artichoke meal that you might imagine! It’s a lot of fun.
Personally, I love the largest of the artichokes with the biggest ‘hearts’. The preparation requires a couple of hours boiling in sea salt and lemon juice but well worth the effort.
So our midday meal on Sunday consists of artichokes, garlic butter, bread sticks, Marinara and local wine.
