As I am without focus, and so goes the blog. But I have a plan; in the next few weeks (my patience permitting), I’m going to reconfigure the site to accommodate four topics of interest to me (and hopefully, you). Here’s the thinking:
- What’s eating me;
- What I’m eating;
- What drives me to drink; and therefore,
- What I’m drinking.
Take for example, yesterday’s stock market rally on news that JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs made reported gigantic profits in the last quarter or that these securities firms-cum-banks are planning to payout $140,000,000,000 (one-four-o-billion-dollars) in bonuses this year. Here’s how I might describe what’s eating me…
The real economy looks a lot like Spam—it’s what’s left of the leg after the ham is removed, dyed pink to look like the real thing, and sugar-coated so you don’t notice that you’re eating shit. The media keeps talking about “spiced ham,” but we know what’s really going on: nearly 940,000 homes received a default notice or were repossessed by banks (a 23 percent increase from last year); the FDIC just shut down its 100th small bank; unemployment is on pace to hit ten percent; and the delinquency rate for prime loans (not the sub-prime or even the Alt-A, but the supposed best loans in the home mortgage market) rose nearly half a percentage point to 6.41 percent.
But here’s what really eating me: fraud. The ratio of home foreclosures to delinquencies is very low. How the hell does that make any sense? As Bill Black pointed out in an interview on Democracy Now, “Banks have tons of folks who are not paying their mortgages on time, and [the banks] are not foreclosing. And their reason for not foreclosing is, once you foreclose, you have to recognize losses under the accounting rules.” He goes on to explain that a year ago, banks pressured Congress and Congress pressured the accounting profession to change the rules that allow banks to keep these loan losses off the books until the property goes into foreclosure. Black said in no uncertain terms that “these banks are deeply insolvent and actually losing money, but [because they have these new accounting rules], they’re able to report that they have lots of profits.” …And pay themselves accordingly (presently) even though the loss will show up eventually. How’s that for having your cake and eating it too?
What’s driving me to drink? Geithner. In an interview with Jim Lehrer back in February, when Geither was presenting his plan to fix the economy, he said: “the capital assistance program the government is going to provide [will] make sure there’s going to be capital available for these [financial] institutions as they go forward…make sure they’ve got the cushion of resources — you can think of it as a form of insurance from the government…” Then again in March (at a press briefing), this idea of “capital insurance” — not deposit insurance — is reiterated. Geithner explains “a program of insurance — you could call it capital insurance for the banking system so that banks have the cushion of capital necessary to lend and expand even if the economy goes through a broader — a deeper — recession.” A very clear indication that the royal “we” (well, serfs like you and me) will pay for it not allow large banks to fail…not even fraudulent, mismanaged ones.
So, besides Spam, what am I eating? Squash. 
Not because it’s the securities traders’ game of choice at the country club. Not because it implies that our democracy is ill-matched against this stronger beast called capitalism. Not even because it’s tough on the outside but all mushy in the middle (like me). No, I’m eating squash because it’s in season cheap. Even at Whole Foods, butternut squash sells for $.99/lb and for this recipe, you’ll need about a $1.50’s worth to serve 6.
Squash Soup for the Economically Squeamish
In a pot large enough to make soup, add the following spice mix that you either chop thoroughly or throw into a Cuisinart; naturally, everything is to taste and subject to availability:
- small handful of lime leaves (or a bit of zest)
- 2-3 chilies
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger (peeled)
- 3 sticks of lemongrass (tough outer leaves discarded)
- a large handful of cilantro
- a heaping teaspoon of each: 5 spice, cumin, coriander
- dash of cayenne
Knock this out into your soup pot and cook briefly with a bit of olive oil to coax out the flavors.
Meanwhile, dice one white onion and add it to the pot. Cook until the onion softens, about 10 minutes.
While that’s cooking, peel your squash, remove seeds and cut into 2″ chunks (or thereabout). 
Add it to the pot along with about 2 pints of chicken stock (or less depending on the amount of squashiness you want to come through). Stir the whole thing up to distribute spices, season, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer with a lid on for 15-20 minutes or until the squash is soft (not al dente, repeat soft).
I was looking for very smooth soup so at this stage I removed my squash, strained the broth (pushing hard on the mix to extract as much flavor as possible), and then pureed the poached squash with the broth in the Cuisinart (not all at once). I put the puree back into the pot, adjusted with salt and brought back to a simmer.
To finish, I added one 400 ml can of coconut milk, brought the soup back to a simmer but then took it off heat for the next day. Naturally, you could serve this immediately, but I let it cool, packaged a pint for my neighbor and put the rest in the fridge for tonight. My thinking is that the flavors will continue to round-out with a rest (we’ll see in a few hours if I’m right).
This recipe is inspired by Jamie Oliver. Whereas he used fresh peppers, I used whole dried Thai; he did not add cayenne nor did he add coriander (which was actually a mistake on my part, because I thought I picked up the cumin). I did not have lime leaves (neither did Whole Foods), so I used zest. He did not strain, but I did because I worried those other ingredients would mask the subtle squash flavor if I left them in and incorporated into the puree. I mention this to remind you that common sense rules — it’s not like you’re not enriching uranium or anything.
JO likes to squeeze the juice of 1 or 2 limes into the finished soup (“for twang”) but I’m going to serve slices on the side like a condiment (frankly, I’m not convinced the soup needs a hit of acid; mine is spicy which is enough of a foil for the veg and “milk”). Since I roasted the seeds with additional chili and salt, I’ll use those as a garnish (liar, I ate them all last night so I’ll make a bit of wild or basmati rice because this girl can’t live without her starch).
Because my Whole Foods stopped selling PBR I saved so much money making this soup, I’ll pair Geithner with Grüner (Veltliner).
