Recently, my friend, Cynthia (what do you call someone you've met online but have never met? acquaintance sounds too cold for the foodie community, so I'm going with friend), made some homemade ketchup. I've heard many a time that homemade ketchup is the bomb, but as ketchup has always been one of my least favorite condiments, I've not tried my hand at making any. With excellent french fries? Yes. With amazing onion rings? Yes. But in general, ketchup and I keep a wary distance. Anyway, I thought about Cyn's ketchup for a while and then the light bulb went on: MUSTARD. For me, mustard is the antipole to ketchup. My Dad feels the same way; each of us keeps a full-on buffet of mustards in our respective fridges, and I regularly give him newly discovered moutardes for Christmas or birthdays. I think they're sometimes his favorite gifts. Our attitude is often, "have a little __ with your mustard," a behavior my mother finds fairly revolting. We just nod and know that means more for us. Creole, Moroccan, Bone Suckin', country, Dijon, tarragon...pretty much any stripe other than yellow and mass-produced honey mustard.

I continued noodling on my to-be-made mustard during Pilates this morning and decided to try a variation that includes mango and Vidalias. I'm still considering the addition of a bit of crystallized ginger. The mustard seed-vinegar-wine-Vidalia mixture is having at it in the fridge right now, and after I get the kids to bed tonight, I'll add the mango and blend. Will, of course, let you know how it turns out. It sure sounds good, yes? ~~~~~ Who else is totally psyched about Obama finally coming out in support of same-sex marriage? It sure took a long damn time, and you've got to wonder if Biden's "gaffe" was a planned one to set the stage for O's big announcement. Of course, there is a great deal of political calculus going on behind the scenes regarding the November election, but for whatever reason and timing this happened, I am beyond thrilled. I also think the unsurprising response by the Christian rightists isn't going to do anything but show how out of touch and bigoted they are and thusly will help Obama with independents and centrists; then again, neither of those groups tends to vote with the evangelicals and Tea Party folks, but still... Go O!

On the opposite end of the good news spectrum is today's headline about Ultra-Orthodox Jews shunning "their own for reporting child sex abuse." Really? Punishing those who expose evil is as despicable as the abusive behavior itself. You're just asking to perpetuate these terribly damaging misdeeds with the tacit approval that silence gives. Awful! Just awful!

Also in the bad news column is that ⅔ of American adults are overweight or obese and that ⅓ of U.S. kids are. Two-thirds! 66%! This isn't a totally new statistic, but I was reminded of it while listening to NPR on my ride home today. Really sobering numbers and just another example of something we desperately need to be doing something about - climate change, anyone?- but aren't.