plan b
my colleague – who’s British and constantly offering biscuits, which I love (the offer & the biscuits)—has two stinkin’ cute kids. In a collegial way, I asked their ages, their names, and got a few stinkin’ cute stories. Then she asked me, in a collegial way, what about you? got any kids?
Biscuit in hand, I froze. The only other time in my life that question even came near me was when a friend of a lover asked him if I had any kids, after she learned I was 30, which felt bizarre in an entirely different way.
Lots of people have asked me if I want to have kids. My answer has varied radically. I mean – I like them. I think babies and young people are really spectacular to be around. I worked in this great office that was all feminist women academics for a few years, and my favorite was gorgeously pregnant then gave birth. When she brought in the new person to visit, I was immediately in line to snuggle up, and my boss was shocked that I looked so easy holding a baby. She delivered this entire amazed monologue.
With longer hair and a new audience, I suppose I appear more likely to have kids. To my BC, I smiled and said, no. But—the point is, really, what I did not say to her, which is, no, in fact, I am actively preventing pregnancy at this very moment!
Because I took emergency contraception in the communal bathroom this morning, and I really wanted to go off about how it cost $45. Then thank all the fabu advocates who worked to make EC available over the counter –kiss kiss to all those folks. Now we have to fend off politicians who would make it even harder to get. And I am glad it was in stock and that the pharmacist handed over the box (though she put it in the bag under the counter and would not look at me, with either kindness or embarrassment, maybe both). I just cannot believe two pills cost $45.
Here’s your good fact for the day – in New York , which recently joined Illinois and Washington, Medicaid covers EC.
I, however, do not have Medicaid; I am waiting on my health insurance to kick in.
In other news, you have until the end of May to write your entry for the Tofu Haiku contest.
peanut butter kiss cookies
it snowed two inches in chicago yesterday
— peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies —
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup veggie shortening
- 1 cup peanut butter (yummy crunchy or creamy)
- 5 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- chocolate kisses or chocolate stars
this is the kind of dough that doesn’t suffer from just dumping everything into a big bowl and running the electric hand mixer through it, but i tend to mix stuff by hand just because i like the head-time and the bowl and the hard stirring feels good in my arms. And this recipe originally (?) ran in an save-energy-to-help-the-earth calendar of recipes that encouraged hand mixing, among other energy saving tips. So to mix by hand:
using a heavy fork, cut the sugar into the shortening and peanut butter. Crack the eggs into a liquid measure or small bowl & beat, pour into the sugar & fat. Stir in the vanilla and milk. Continue stirring and sift in the dry ingredients. Stick the bowl of dough into the fridge for an hour or so.
preheat the oven to 375º and pour some sugar into a dish. Form the dough into balls, roll in the sugar, and line up on an ungreased cookie tray (i line it with parchment paper when i have it. Also, if you are using chocolate stars, it’s good to flatten your cookies a little by pressing them with the bottom of a glass or do the traditional peanut butter cookie cross-hatches by pressing the flat back of a fork onto the ball, once then again on a 90º angle). Bake for 10-12 minutes then remove the tray to the stovetop, press a chocolate piece into the top of each cookie while still warm and let sit on the tray while the second batch bakes then lift each cookie to a cooling rack.
makes about 4 dozen cookies, and the dough freezes pretty well so you don’t have to make them all at once.
