Products |
HOLIDAY WEEKEND BUTLER (CAUTION: EMOTIONAL): “Five Easy Pieces.” The bill at the Last Supper. Bon Iver. A Danish PSA. Easy Chicken Marbella.
By
Published: Mar 27, 2024
Category:
Holiday
SUPPORTING BUTLER: Since the start of 2023, Amazon seems to have gone on a quiet campaign to rid itself of small sites that, collectively, generate revenue worth noticing — and Head Butler no longer gets a commission on your Amazon purchases. So the only way you can contribute to Head Butler’s bottom line is to become a patron of this site, and automatically donate any amount you please — starting with $1 — each month. The service that enables this is Patreon, and to go there, just click here. Thank you.
THIS WEEK IN BUTLER: John O’Donohue. Tallis Scholars: Miserere. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin.
REMINDER (ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES) : Holiday Ham and Lamb.
A HOLIDAY WEEKEND. MANY FEELINGS. FORGIVE ME IF I OVERSHARE
If you saw “Five Easy Pieces” — and you can be forgiven if you haven’t; it was filmed in 1970 — you’ll recall that Jack Nicholson plays a piano prodigy who now works on oil rigs. At a diner that allows no substitutions, he improvises a way around the rules to order what he wants. The waitress bites back: “I’m not taking any more of your smartness and sarcasm — you all have to leave.” Nicholson coolly puts his sunglasses on and sweeps the water glasses off the table.
The audience is divided. Yes, he’s so privileged. But the waitress is so small-minded.
That was then. Now my sympathy is 100% with the witness. And if I were hired to rewrite the script, I’d extend the scene and give her the last word: news of a sick child, a husband recently dead, whatever. The point is to see her as a person. Because unlike Nicholson, she has no buffers against reality. When she hurts, she doesn’t get to turn her pain into aggression. And in 2024 America, she’s very aware she’s not rich — and others are. As the Times reports, “The economy is on track to mint its first trillionaire — that is 1,000 billion — within a decade.” Hard not to sympathize with her.
So when I run across a photo like the one of a homeless man and his dog (above), I want to lead with it. Because even the most financially stressed of us …. Etc. etc. etc.
The story is from Facebook:
There was a homeless man who ‘camped’ in the covered garage where my office was located. You’d see him huddle down for the night, along with his little dog, a small scruffy little terrier mix. When I walked thru the garage on my way to lunch, I would often check to see where he was and then bring him a burger and drink. He always tore the sandwich in half, ate one half and gave the other to his dog. I started bringing him a bag of dry dog food every month and he took great pains to keep it dry. His little dog rode in the child’s seat in the grocery cart wherever he went.
One especially cold winter morning, I noticed his dog was missing and he seemed utterly forlorn. I bought him some coffee, and he explained how the city rounded up the homeless and took them to the shelter because it was bitterly cold — they took his dog away from him to the local shelter (no license, no tags, no rabies vaccination).
I was appalled. I took the morning off, picked him up from the garage, and drove him to the shelter. We we asked to look for his ‘lost’ dog. When we found her, she put up such a racket of pure joy upon seeing him: yipping, yelping, wiggling uncontrollably. Paws squeezed between chain link trying to touch her master and his fingers stroking her little face.
I paid for her license, basic shots and retrieval fee . He rode back in silence hugging her so tight, I thought he would break her. When we got out, I told him to keep her safe. He hugged me, made Sasha give me a smooch of thanks, and hurried off to where he’d hidden his cart.
I understand the need to keep these souls safe but taking his one undeniable friend — while legally founded — was gut wrenchingly wrong on so many other levels.
Any act of kindness can change lives….no matter how great or small.
Comment from me would be overkill. But maybe just this, from Matthew 25:40: “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
HUMOR: SPLITTING THE BILL AT THE LAST SUPPER
(Thank you, Andy Tobias.)
MUSIC: THE BEAUTY PART
Bon Iver and the Staves, “Heavenly Father,” Live at the Sydney Opera House
IT’S AS BAD AS YOU THINK IT IS. BUT WHAT IF YOU DON’T THINK IT’S THAT BAD?
The media is one complaint after another. School shootings, environmental disasters, the clown show that is our Congress. I see all that, but I’m amazed by exactly the opposite: how much still functions. I’m impressed by how many people like us — readers, doers, thinkers, people who never lack for a POV — and people who have much, much less than us are keeping it together. We don’t do dramatic, violent harm to our bodies. We’re triggered all day long, but we manage to de-trigger ourselves without anyone noticing that we’d really like to stab some random asshole in the neck with a letter opener…
We deserve points just for behaving decently? Yes.
The historian Howard Zinn cast this phenomenon as an expression of a fundamental hope:
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. Human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.
If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
Amen.
A DANISH PSA FOR WEARING BICYCLE HELMETS IS THE BEST VIKING MOVIE IN 63 YEARS
WEEKEND RECIPE: WEEKNIGHT CHICKEN MARBELLA
The recipe from “The Silver Palate Cookbook” is rich and deeply flavorful, but time-consuming. It also requires overnight marinating, which doesn’t suit last-minute cravings or weeknight grocery runs. This no-marinade-needed Marbella gets the job done — and well — in under an hour. Chicken thighs are seared hard until deep golden brown to render the fat, which also helps amp up the chicken flavor. This version is also significantly less sweet than the original, but if you like your brown sugar, use ⅓ cup instead. The reduced pan sauce is easy to love, so be sure to serve with a loaf of crusty bread to mop it all up.
4 to 6 servings
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2½ pounds)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ cup pitted prunes
½ cup pitted Spanish green olives
¼ cup drained capers, plus 1 tablespoon caper brine
3 fresh or dried bay leaves
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
PREPARATION
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high until shimmering and tiny wisps of smoke are visible, about 2 minutes. Add chicken, skin-side down, cover and cook until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. (Covering the chicken speeds up the cook time and prevents the oil from splattering all over your stovetop.) Flip chicken, cover again and cook until golden on second side, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute.
Arrange prunes, olives, capers and brine, bay leaves and oregano in between chicken pieces. Sprinkle with brown sugar, 1 tablespoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper; pour wine and vinegar over top and bring to a boil. Reduce to low, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
Transfer chicken to a serving platter and return pan to high heat. Cook sauce, swirling occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Spoon pan sauce over chicken and serve.
