High Summer Stir-Fry

You’ve got oodles and tons of veggies pumping out of the garden every.single.day. . . it’s all you can do to keep up with the canning and the freezing and the fermenting and yet there is MORE STILL!  That’s when you make what I like to call a “High Summer Stir-Fry” which, in my opinion, is the epicurean epitome of the summer garden!

First get out your cutting board and start chopping those veggies!  I snap the beans first and then cut in half and set aside, chop up the onion, garlic, any peppers (both hot and sweet), yellow summer squash, zucchini squash, tomatoes, and any herbs.  Chop them all to your desired size, some like larger hunks and others like smaller..just keep in mind that the larger hunks take longer to cook and try to make everything about the same size if you can.

Next, get out a great big wok, stir-fry skillet or huge cast iron pan.  I like to use my huge and heavy 12″ diameter cast iron skillet, a flea market find from over 10 years ago that was in horrible shape but I restored to near perfect condition..I use it for just about everything!  Add a fair amount of oil to the pan, I usually use peanut oil or coconut oil, enough for it to liberally coat the bottom of the pan and heat over medium-high heat.

The key to a stir-fry is to add the things that take longer to cook first.  So, I always add green beans first and let fry for about 3 minutes and then I add the onions, garlic, and peppers and let everything fry again for 3-4 minutes while constantly stirring.  Then I add in the squashes, mix really well, then turn heat down to medium and cover and let steam/fry cook for about 10 minutes till squash is cooked through.  And lastly add your tomatoes and chopped herbs (I usually use parsley, oregano, and basil..all from the garden) and stir and cook for about one minute.  Season with grey sea salt and freshly ground pepper and if there are no hot peppers in the stir-fry then add some homemade hot sauce too (that’s how I like it, and we still have close to a gallon of hot sauce left over from last year…and I must say, it has aged quite well 🙂 )

Dish it up and chow down 😀

 

My Video Game Theory Of Life

In a land far far away from here, one day I decided to go out and buy a video game, a new one called “Earth”…and I am playing it still.

Being a gamer, this is how I view life, as a video game, and the real me is outside of all just playing away.

Because I want to have a good time, and because I wish to win the game, I do my best to abide by the rules and parameters of the game’s Creator. But some of the other players have rebelled against the Creator of the game, thinking that they somehow know of a better way to win the game apart from the Creator, they have cheated and taken shortcuts and developed a different set of rules and parameters that must be adhered to in order to “win” the game…but this “game” within the game doesn’t actually exist, and in reality is a snare used to trap people and keep them from playing the REAL game. Their “game” within the game has wrecked all kinds of havoc and destruction, however the Creator of the game allows this to continue in order to show that the game cannot be played apart from him, there are NO SHORTCUTS…taking a shortcut means you are going to have a bad time playing the game.

Making yourself aware of the instruction manual (A.K.A. “The Bible” = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) and adhering as closely as possible to those instructions is your primary safeguard against falling into this snare.

The majority of these instructions are pretty simple and straightforward:

1. To be successful in this game you must listen to and trust in the game’s Creator, not in the game itself or in other people playing the game with you. Some of these people are real and playing the game for real, just like you are, but others, although looking quite realistic, are simply constructs of the game itself. One of the goals of the game is learning to discern this difference.

2. Do not take the Creator lightly or use him as a means to further your own ends as a “cover” for evil deeds like the rebels do, professing to be all good and holy and righteous while all the while playing their own “game” apart from the Creator’s game. Do not profess to trust in and follow the game’s Creator if you really do not mean it and do not intend to play the game according to his rules and parameters.

3. For the duration that you are inside the game, for every six days that you work you should rest for one day. This does not mean work seven days and never rest or work five days and rest for two days. These instructions are for your own benefit and represent the perfect balance, you’ll work enough to make a decent living so that you may exist somewhat comfortably within the game and that one day of rest will prevent you from getting stressed-out and overtired which can lead to you having a bad time playing the game. I don’t yet know if the ratio works in larger proportions, if resting two days for every twelve days of work or three days for eighteen days of work is just as legitimate, but it’s definitely worth experimenting with I would think.

4. If you wish to stay alive a long time, you will respect and honor the parents through whom you made passage into this game. This doesn’t mean you have to like or even love them, but you should go out of your way to treat them with kindness and consideration and see to it that their basic needs are taken care of as they age and get ready to leave the game.

5. You have NO RIGHT to forcibly remove another player from the game, doing so is an automatic forfeiture of your right to stay in the game. If someone tries to remove you from the game then use your own best judgement as to what you should do. Defending your right to stay in the game is NOT wrong, especially if, at the same time, you are defending other players who have not yet developed the ability to defend themselves, like young children for example. The rebels who are playing the “game” within the game have nothing but pure hatred for those who profess to follow the Creator of the game and strive to adhere to his instruction manual over the rules and parameters of their “game”. If they discover who you are, they WILL seek to forcibly remove you from the game by any means necessary. However, being forcibly removed from the game by a rebel guarantees you an automatic victory especially if you sacrifice your place in the game in order that others might continue playing. If there are no young children or innocent bystanders involved and you are alone then it comes down to a personal decision as to whether you wish to defend your right to stay in the game or receive an automatic victory by allowing yourself to be forcibly removed. No one else can make that decision for you.

6. Do not have sex with anybody or anything other than your own spouse of the opposite gender!!  If you wish to have sex but have no spouse then get married, but ONLY to a human that you are not already related to and ONLY to a human that is of the gender that is opposite your own.  And, no, you cannot legally be married to more than one spouse.  Sex is allowable under these parameters ONLY!!  Sex partaken of under any other set of circumstances, while it might seem like fun for the moment, will lead to certain consequences which will make for a bad time playing the game. These instructions are for your benefit and protection, if you are smart you will not take them lightly!!

7. Do not take or use things that do not belong to you. There are a great many and numerous interactive objects within the game, but using or taking what does not belong to you can anger and enrage other players in the game which means you are going to have a bad time playing the game. The key here is to remember this: If you wouldn’t want it done to you, don’t do it to somebody else…and nobody wants to be stolen from.

8. Never speak, write, or adhere to that which is not true. Since every single second of playtime within the game is being recorded and constantly reviewed by the Creator of the game, lying is purely pointless and just makes you look retarded. Like I said before, if you wouldn’t want it done to you, don’t do it to somebody else…and nobody wants to be lied to.

9. Do not desire to have what other players in the game have and then despise them for it because you do not have it. If you desire a house like theirs, work hard, save up money and buy one. If you desire a car like theirs, work hard, save up money and buy one. If you desire a spouse like theirs, get off your lazy ass and go out into the world and find one or if you are already married work to become a better spouse yourself. If you desire another player’s beauty or intelligence or any other thing over which they have no control, but were gifted them by the Creator of the game, then seek to make the most of the beauty or intelligence or whatever it is that you have been gifted with. You are NOT them and will NEVER BE them and to desire what they have and then despise them for it is purely pointless and just makes you look retarded. Work hard and make the most of who you are and what you have and you will not desire to possess what others have.

10. And last but not least remember that which you give out will return back to you. The Bible calls this “reaping what you sow”. Sow an evil seed and you will reap a full crop of evil. Sow a good seed and you will reap a full crop of goodness. While the “harvest” can, at times, be reaped from within the game, for example sow seeds of procrastination and you will reap a crop of sloth…sow seeds of intemperance and you will reap a crop of gluttony…sow seeds of whining and complaining and you will reap a bitter crop of loneliness and despair etc.   . . . BUT, more often than not, the full “reaping” is held in reserve for the day of judgment, which occurs after the game is over, during which each player’s performance in the game is judged and rewards and penalties are dealt out accordingly. So while looks can be deceiving and for a short time within the game it may look as though evil prospers and good people suffer beware of the fact that it’s just a game and not of a long duration compared to the real reality of eternity where the TRUE repercussions of their actions will be meted out once the game ends.

Some final points of advice:  According to the Creator’s instruction manual, if you wish to get the very most out of your experience while playing the video game called “Earth”, you should get married (see point # 6) and have children, preferably many children.  You should also grow a garden and strive to learn lots of different and varied skills for living off the land and spend lots of time within the main construct of the game, which isn’t the city or town built by other players but the wild or the wilderness, learn how to care for it and protect it and it will take care of you.  I personally find that one of the main challenges of the game is learning to discern lies from truth and nothing is ever as it seems on the surface.  Everything is backwards, almost to the point of ridiculousness…this is due to the twisted perversion of the “game” within the game that the rebels are playing and at this late stage of the game they have successfully deceived the majority of the playing population into believing that their version of the game is real.  If you are playing correctly then most of the time you will find yourself doing the exact opposite of everybody else, save for a select remnant few (you know who you are).  So keep this in mind…to move up you must go down, to be first you must make yourself last, to be scorned is to be exalted, to lose everything is to receive everything, to die is to live, and the truth is simple but more paradoxical than the complexity of their lies.