In a Pickle

I'm in a pickle. Literally. My husband, always looking for the best value for his money, bought nearly a gallon of pickles. At the same time he bought about a gallon of sauerkraut. What in the world are two people going to do with that level of condiments in the fridge? The simple solution here is to poll friends and family for recipes involving pickles or sauerkraut. I can't image a recipe involving pickles and kraut. I could always troll the web for ideas of what to do...right? One would think.
Well, I did. I keep coming up with some of the finest pork and sausage recipes that Germany has to offer alongside kraut. OK, kraut problem solved. Kind of...enough to diversify a dinner party...I guess...
But what about pickles? Are they only good for topping off that burger? Do we only envision pickles alongside slices of deli meat? If there's more to a pickle than using it as a verb - as in to pickle cucumbers (which I don't like) or even eggs--which brings back memories of that never ending jar of pickled eggs on the counter at the corner store back home--then I welcome the feedback...

On Loss

I'm having a sad day. A friend of a friend lost her daughter to the child's father. He shot and killed his nine-year old daughter, after arguing on the phone with the child's mother. The man also shot the babysitter. An innocent bystander.
My friend is grieving over the loss of this child and keeps running scenarios about the number of times she babysat the girl. My friend recalls how easily she could have been the babysitter. My friend is grieving for her friend who will not see her child agonize over what to wear to her school dance. There will be no high school graduation and no first day of college.
Instead, she will live with the loss of her child. And the father will sit in prison for the rest of his life. I'm not sure leaving this man alive at the expense of New York's taxpaying citizens is fair. The father had no remorse when he pulled the trigger and a firing squad won't either.

Talking in a Recession

An recent newspaper article points out that for some reason homicides were down in Wilmington last year. Partially that's comforting news. I always like it when murderers take a break from killing for a while.
But the part that's troubling is the why? Why are homicide rates down? The story ponders the concept of good police work and better police tactics. That's a possibility. Maybe it's because citizens are taking back their streets. Or maybe the economy is taking its toll on the illegal drug business. Another option is that we're taking more responsibility for our children, and becoming better, more attentive parents.
I'd like to think that if there's one good thing that's come out of this recession it's that people are tightening their family budgets and finding more creative ways to do things together with limited resources. Our teens aren't spending as much time away from home and we as the primary influencers in their lives are taking the time to dig deeper about what they are thinking and doing.
So when we talk about why homicide rates have dropped, don't leave out the possibility that maybe we're raising smarter children, who are making better decisions about life.