Baffling IN THE KITCHEN
Here I am, checking out the cooking page of the Packet, titled IN THE KITCHEN, (caps and all), only to find a political commentary, Who knew that Earth Day has a dark side?, supplemented by two recipes featuring sorrel, one for soup, one for sauce.

The article is not on line, alas, but starts by saying

You would think that Earth Day, which is celebrated each April 22, would qualify as the most benign of annual rites. Who could possibly object to people pitching in to clean up school grounds, parks, and other nature areas in their communities?

Who? I would. I'd rather people clean up after themselves instead of leaving a mess behind, and I pay someone an honest salary for the honest job of gardening and outdoor maintenance. It's good for the economy and good for my yard. IN THE KITCHEN presses on,

Well, FrontPageMag.com begs to differ, noting that each year schoolchildren everywhere are duped into being made part of a Marxist plot. It turns out that April 22 is Lenin's birthday. "The sad fact is", its columnist writes,that by participating in forced labor, "our children in public schools and colleges probably are directed to celebrate Lenin's birthday and his values, whether they know it or not".

So I went to FrontPageMag.com and searched for that article, but couldn't find it, either with a regular Google search or Google/FPMag. The newspaper didn't offer a link. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if Earth Day has a connection (other than the date) with Lenin. The pledge of allegiance has socialist roots (mentioned on my April 5 links to the Mulshine and Wood articles), for example. James Burke has found connections on all sorts of other things.

Boy Scouts troops across the country (both here in The Principality and in Miami where my sister lives) are able to raise funds by getting paid for cleaning up private land where slobs have left their trash. The kids get paid, and also avoid having to pester their parents and other adults by having to sell gift wrap, candy, and other useless stuff. So maybe the unnamed FrontPageMag article might have a point there on "Lenin's values"; maybe it doesn't. Not having the FPM.com article to view, who knows.

The article then goes on to plug a book on global climate hazards by a faculty member of The University. It's not until the fourth paragraph that one gets to read about anything that might possibly have anything to do with cooking.

Ah, for the olden days of Martha, Julia, and Jacques, when women and men were cooks and cooks didn't lecture us with politics when we were looking for soup.

Let's hope Mario doesn't start preaching on FoodTV. I'd be heartbroken.