Illinois House Agricultural Committee passes anti-abortion measure

Rep. Deborah Mell, a Chicago Democrat, was one of the two members voting against the bills and criticized the assignment to a committee that generally handles farming issues.

“We’re not talking about abortions for cows and pigs, right? We’re talking about women?” she said.

Insert your favorite breeder joke here. I’m too tired to laugh at this anymore.

I’m distracted by a couple of health issues. No worries, I am feeling fine. Just frustrated dealing with the medipharminsurancopoly. My liquid gold renewal is hung up in red tape and another doctor casually prescribed me a med that was completely inappropriate for me. It’s a good thing I can read and understand the package insert.

This morning we woke to a chilly 55° indoors. The oil company we pay for auto-fill service neglected to top off our tank last spring and we ran out of oil before winter set in. Luckily a tech was out to give us an emergency 10 gal and serviced our furnace before mid-afternoon. I should be pleased with the quick Saturday service call except the same thing happened last year. Time to shop for a new oil provider. Any suggestions?

Milkweeds are the sole source of food for Monarch butterfly larvae and one of my favorite native Midwestern plants.

The hierarchy of the Church is in stark disagreement with the practice and conscience of its members on the issue of contraception. A cave to the bishops on expanding exemptions to the requirement for insurance to include birth control coverage is undemocratic. It places the power of a religious hierarchy over the will of not just a majority of the American people, but also of American Catholics. Sign the petition asking the President to stand strong with us.

Cheesy potato casserole is a classic of the genre, designed to be assembled quickly and satisfy a crowd. The only fresh ingredients are dairy-based and no potato peeling or slicing is required due to the secret ingredient: frozen country-style hash browns. I picked up the recipe at my cousin’s wedding back home. Family members chipped in together to provide the reception buffet dinner. My mother made a huge roast beef, the groom’s father made chicken salad croissant sandwiches, and my aunt made tray after tray of this sour cream dream. There are many variations of the basic Cheesy Potatoes recipe. I made mine vegetarian with cream of mushroom soup and mixed Emmentaler cheese in with the cheddar. Of course, these tweaks likely mean it’s less authentically midwestern, but then so am I.

Every school child should know that the Pilgrims did not live on packaged carbohydrates and dairy fats alone. This bountiful continent they invaded also provided a wealth of delicious, even nutritious vegetables, some of them not known as maize. I’ve been eating a lot of autumn curries lately at Thai restaurants and enjoying the silken sweetness of squash. I added acorn squash to Caramelized Butternut Squash and was pleased with how scrumptious it tasted and how pretty it looked in the serving bowl. Thank you to the recipe reviews for reminding me to wear gloves when preparing the raw squash. I can be such a delicate flower sometimes.