Life On A B-I7

Day 0

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Lazy, Stupid or Unknown

I’m reading “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans. It is our neighborhood bookclub selection for April. I don’t like book clubs but I said I would participate in April and May anyway. I love this book! Here’s the problem. Either I’m too lazy, too stupid or I have an undiagnosed cognitive impairment of some sort because I’m having trouble keeping track of all the characters. The book is an epistolary work. Lots of letters to and from different people. I’m picking up the gist of all the interactions but there is a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I should be keeping some kind of “cheat sheet” of all the characters and their relationship to the protagonist of the novel. I’ll push on and see how it goes. The cat just jumped up on my writing desk and is demanding my attention. Fortunately I remember his name.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 165

Strengthening yourself is hard work. Physical strengthening or emotional strengthening takes effort and determination. This work, this effort, is how you will develop the ability to persevere through all of life’s difficulties.

by Virginia Evans

To call this book unique may be a bit of an overstatement. It is an epistolary work (a work composed of letters) which at least makes it unique to me. This is Evan’s first published novel. She has been writing novels since she was 19 years old. This book was published last year, she was age 39. She wrote eight novels previously that were never picked up for publication. That is true dedication to your craft.

The novel feels to me like it is almost autobiographical. The main character could be the author. I later read in an interview that there is a great deal of the author in the book’s main character. The impression that the book is autobiographical makes it all the more attractive to me since I prefer non-fiction over fiction. With writing like this, I could become a fan of fiction.

I love this book! Here’s the problem for me. Either I’m too lazy, too stupid or I have an undiagnosed cognitive impairment of some sort because I’m having trouble keeping track of all the characters. The book is nothing but letters to and from the different people. I’m picking up the gist of all the interactions but there is a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I should be keeping some kind of “cheat sheet” of all the characters and their relationship to the protagonist of the novel. I’ll push on and see how it goes. The cat just jumped up on my writing desk and is demanding my attention. Fortunately I remember his name.

Here is the main character, Sybil, talking about her need to write letters:

“If one has committed oneself to the page, the tragedy I’ve just laid out will not apply.” (The tragedy she is referring to here is dying with no legacy to speak of.) “Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle, or, a better metaphor, if dated, the links of a long chain, and even if those links are never put back together, which they will certainly never be, even if they remain for the rest of time dispersed across the earth like the fragile blown seeds of a dying dandelion, isn’t there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one’s life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?”

This is precisely why I have a blog. If you are reading this, you have found it. Sybil has beautifully articulated why I do this.

by Amanda Montell

We live in an age where we can easily feel overwhelmed. An age of overconsumption that feeds overwhelmed feelings. Part of being overwhelmed is caused by some modern biases that we share as a society. This book explores some of these biases that we carry around with us — many of them without even noticing. The psychological term used is cognative biases. That is a simple (without overthinking) way of saying “self-deception.” What follows is an explanation of some of the cognitive biases plaguing modern society. This is an important work, written in an informal style with plenty of personal examples from the author’s own life.

People tend to be overly worshipful.Another attribute of this is “cancel culture.” This effect is manifested by the tendency to make overly broad assumptions about a person based on a single attribute. We see this in our hero worship. Knowing one thing does not mean a person knows everything. Assuming that they do know everything can lead people down some very dark alleys. Not a bias we should subject ourselves to.

This is the human perception that causes us to search for big causes when big events occur. This bias causes us to overestimate cause-and-effect relationships. It makes us want to look for big (and easy) solutions to problems that are actually complex. People that have trouble seeing complexity in the world around them are particularly susceptible to this effect. You may be familiar with the term “Conspiracy Theory” (who isn’t) That’s what we are talking about here. A conspiracy theory is an explanation that appears to make sense and it offers an emotionally satisfying explanation for some uncomfortable reality.

The best explanation for this bias is when you decide you can’t give something up because you have too much invested in it. Think relationships here. Also jobs, political beliefs, and so on, ad inffinitem. In the back of your mind is the idea that things can’t get any worse so they must necessarily get better. The sunk cost fallacy is a mental state that prevents us from moving forward. It prevents us from seeing the damage we are doing to ourselves. We can prevent this bias from controlling our life by acknowledging it and not dismissing it.

This bias embodies the notion someone else’s gain is our loss. This is a perfect example of one of my favorite T-Shirt sayings: “Equal rights for everyone does not mean fewer rights for you.” Life is not cake. When all the slices are gone, so is the cake. Life is a cake that never runs out of slices. Don’t be afraid to give a slice to someone else.

This is the tendency to attribute success to reasons that are not attached to reality. We tend to look outside of ourselves for reasons why we succeeded. To look for reasons greater than ourselves. A near death survivor may attribute their good fortune to “the universe willing” their destiny. This holds true in business, athletics, fine art, war, you name it. Not only do we tend to look outside of ourselves for answers, we also have a tendency to dismiss or ignore the actual reasons. You might call this optimism run rampant. It’s better to take charge of your life and recognize that it is yours and you choose what it will be.

I like to think of this as the “alien” bias. For a brief period of time in 2021 everyone thought the world was coming to an end. It was commonly held that aliens were coming to get us. It was a wide spread societal Illusion. The Recency Illusion is the bias that says since something is new to you (and note worthy) it has to be important. Anything new is more cognitively stimulating than threats that have occurred in the past, even if those threats may still be active in some capacity.

This is my favorite bias. (Not the one I exhibit most, the one I like the most.)

Don’t be like the man that covered his face in lemon juice then walked into a bank and held it up without a mask. He did this because lemon juice makes you invisible, everyone knows that right? You may think that’s just stupid, not over confident, but there is a fine line between I.Q. and confidence, sometimes they overlap in dramatic ways — like in the case of our overconfident stick-up man. Grifters, con artists, even successful CEOs all suffer overconfidence. The key is to make sure your affliction is properly channeled. There is a famous study by Cornell Psychologist David Dunning which hypothesized the “Dunning-Kruger Effect. The study demonstrated a statistical correlation between people with the smallest amount of knowledge on a subject consistently proving themselves likeliest to overvalue their expertise. Gosh, that explains a lot doesn’t its it? I can’t tell you if naming the effect after himself (and his research assistant) was overconfidence or not… but it does lead one to wonder.

Beware much repeated claims. Check your sources. With so much information available at our finger tips these days, and much of it unreliable, you can’t be too careful about what you choose to believe. Ultimately what we accept or don’t accept as truth is entirely up to us. This bias comes down to our propensity to believe a claim simply because we have heard it repeated multiple times.

Beware of people that work backwards from their strongly held beliefs to prove that some new discovery is nothing but bogus fluff — in order that they may continue to live in their long held delusion. Case in point: Dinosaurs are extinct only because God decided not to let them on the ark — therefore they became extinct 2,000 years ago, not 2 million years as fossil remains have proven. We have a tendency as humans to look for reasons, as impossible as they may be simply to confirm beliefs we have difficulty abandoning.

Declinism is the false notion that things are worse now than they were in the past. It is difficult to find studies that validate that hypothesis, yet when we look around and talk to people we see many people expressing this notion. The empirical evidence is everywhere. As ancillary evidence, the number of people that report being happily married is almost the same as it was in the 1950’s when this question first started being asked. Other psychology research verifies that people hold on to positive memories with greater emphasis than they do negative memories. This naturally leads to a stronger connection to the pas than if both types of memories carried equal weight in our consciousness. Hence the tendency to glorify the past and decry the present.

We all tend to ascribe a higher value to things that we have made ourselves the to things that we have purchased. It’s why IKEA is such a successful retailer of home furnishings. It’s why I sit at my desk and design the perfect side-table in my head, planning to make one someday. (I actually have four different designs in my head.) “DIY, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Pinterest, The Cooking Channel, how-to Reels on Instagram, all are reflections of this increasing trend. In one very interesting study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest levels of career happiness was reported by loggers. These are people that work with their hands in the outdoors. The answer is clear, go build something!

by Walter Isaacson

I Bow to Shiva

“Om Name Shivaya” is a profoundly sacred, five-syllable Hindu mantra meaning “I bow to Shiva,” the divine inner Self.

Breathe…

Say outloud: “Ohm Namah Shivaya.”

Breathe and repeat…

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 164

Do not rely on good luck. “The rational soul is stronger than any kind of fortune.” The words of Seneca ring as true today as they did in ancient times. Be like Cato, learn indifference to fortune. Live the life you know is correct despite adversity or good fortune, either one. By being strong in this way you will be prepared for whatever may befall you.

Consumption

I picked up the phone this morning and started scrolling Amazon for shit to buy. I’m not going to tell you what I was looking at, that’s not the point. The point is that 20 minutes into my black hole of consumption I realized I didn’t need what I was looking for. Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Emperor knew what I am only beginning to realize, we all live with too much stuff. When referring to our tendency to over consume, Marcus said that over consumption “leaves their owner with no place to shit.”

I could not have said it better. That is so true. So true in fact that I’ve realized I don’t even have room to shit in my off-site storage unit.

I had to really coax Polly to give me this recipe. This is a recipe that you can make in cast iron (my preferred method) and works well in the campground. It tastes even better in the wild than it does at home. There is an homage here for my Irish friend. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble picking it out. I’ve always had a bit of a beef with the Irish because they keep the good Guinness in the homeland and they send the shitty Guinness to America. I suppose in a lot of ways we deserve that.

Ingredients

These ingredients are for starters, once the beans come up to temperature in the cast iron, you can adjust the ingredients to suit the flavor profile you are shooting for.

• Pinto, Black, White and Kidney beans in the can, rinsed and drained.
• 3 or 4 Kosher Dogs cut in medallions
• 1/2 can of Guinness
• 1/4 C Molasses
• 1/2 C Ketchup
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 C Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 Yellow Onion cubed and sautéed with 4 cloves of chopped garlic
• Dash of olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika
• 1/4 C of your favorite BBQ Sauce

Ya, that’s a lot of ingredients, but nothing good comes easily, even in the campground.

Directions

Mix and cook. It doesn’t take a bunch of charcoal, just a few cubes on the lid and a few underneath. If you want to add more protein, Sauté some nice sausage sliced in the diagonal and add to the pot wile simmering.

This recipe uses similar ingredients to the Baked Beans recipe but it does not use BBQ Sauce or Molasses, the result is surprisingly different. This recipe yields 5 or 6 Joes. Most people if they are hungry are going to want 2 of these babies!

Ingredients

• Butter and Olive Oil for sautéing the Onions and Green Pepper
• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 2 large Italian Sausages, casing removed
• 1 Green Pepper chopped
• Medium Yellow Onion chopped
• 4 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 2/3 C Ketchup
• 1/2 Can Guinness
• 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Yellow Mustard
• 3/4 tsp Chili Powder
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Instructions

1. Sauté hamburger and sausage, drain.
2. Sauté onions and green pepper using butter and oil, add garlic at the end of the cooking time.
3. Light charcoal
4. Combine meats in Dutch Oven and add remaining ingredients.
5. Cook using 10 coals on top and 5 - 8 coals on the bottom

Cooking time is about 30 minutes, but could be longer to reach desired consistence. If mixture is too moist, add corn meal to thicken.

Serve over toasted Potato Buns.

This is the perfect accompaniment to the Dutch Oven Baked Beans. It is important to use a parchment lined Dutch Oven to prevent the bread from absorbing flavors from the previous oven use.

Ingredients

• 3/4 C corn meal
• 1-1/4 C flour
• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/4 C vegtable oil
• Honey butter for topping (optional)

Directions

Measure and mix dry ingredients at home to simplify preparation.

1. Preheat Dutch Oven to 350. 21 briquettes. 14 on top, 7 underneath.
2. Mix all ingredients in preheated, parchment lined Dutch Oven.
3. Cook 30 minutes (approximately) rotating the oven and lid 1/4 turn in opposite directions every few minutes.

A great camping desert. For deserts in a Dutch Oven, always line with parchment paper.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C butter
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1 (20 oz) can peach slices (enough to cover bottom of oven)
• 1/2 C vegetable oil
• juice from peach slices plus enough water to make 1-1/4 C
• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1 box cheesecake instant pudding mix
• 4 eggs beaten

Directions

Use 12” Dutch Oven. Melt butter in bottom of dutch oven. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of butter. Place pineapple slices on top of butter brown sugar mixture. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and spoon into dutch oven. Cook with 6 coals underneath and 18 coals on top. Place serving plate over dutch oven and invert onto plate.

This isn’t the type of thing you would normally associate with camp cooking, but why not? This is typically made in a 12” Dutch Oven.

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 (29 oz) can pumpkin
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 3 eggs
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 C evaporated milk

Topping

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 C butter

Directions

1. Mix filling ingredients
2. Cut butter into cake mix
3. Pour filling into parchment lined Dutch Oven
4. Sprinkle topping over the filling
5. Bake for 1 hour (or more) 8 coals on the bottom, 16 on the top

Serve with Cool Whip, of course.

These are finger licking good. A 12” Dutch Oven is recommended for this recipe.

Ingredients

• 3/4 C sugar
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/3 C butter
• 1/2 C peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 C flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 12 oz milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Cream butter and peanut butter with sugars.
2. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well
3. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt
4. Stir into wet mixture
5. Spread into 12” Dutch Oven
6. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top
7. Bake at 350, swirl chips after 5 minutes of baking, bake 20 minutes more

Cool thoroughly before serving. See cast iron baking temperature chart.

It’s hard to beat a good beef stroganoff in the wild.

Ingredients

• 1 medium yellow onion chopped
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1 C water
• 3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 C sour cream
• 1 (12 oz) bag egg noodles
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Brown meat, onion and spices in Dutch Oven
2. Mix water, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream
3. Combing meat and sauce mixture
4. Pour half into Dutch Oven
5. Spread noodles evenly on top
6. Pour remaining mixture over top, moistening all the noodles
7. If additional moisture is needed, add beer
8. Cover and cook 30-45 minutes, 10 coals on bottom, 15 coals on top

Note: My assistant (who knows more about cooking than I do) tells me this recipe could use celery salt, more garlic salt and some Everyday Seasoning.

Nothing better than crispy little baked potatoes to go along with your casserole. These guys are sure to please.

Ingredients

• 24 oz bag small red potatoes cut in half
• 1/2 stick butter (or less)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp Lawyer’s Seasoning Salt

Directions

1. Melt butter (or slightly less than called for)
2. Add spices and herbs
3. Coat potatoes with butter, spice, herb mixture
4. Put potatoes into preheated Dutch Oven
5. Cook at 450 until crispy

If doubling the recipe, it’s better to use two 10” Dutch Ovens than it is to overfill a 12” Dutch Oven.

Use either 10” or 12” Dutch Oven. This recipe bakes up very nicely but it should be allowed to cool before serving.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Melt butter in melting pot add sugar to incorporate
2. Mix dry ingredients
3. Best eggs
4. Fold butter/sugar mixture and eggs into dry mixture
5. Spread into parchment lined Dutch Oven
6. Dab bits of peanut butter here and there on the top
7. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top (optional)

Bake 15 to 25 minutes. For 10” oven use 7 coals on the bottom, 14 coals on the top. For 12” oven use 8 on the bottom, 17 on the top. Cool before cutting.

Queso in the afternoon with chips is a real treat in the campground. You don’t just open a package and throw it into a pot. This one takes a fair amount of skill and care in the preparation. This is a real treat. Dip the chips directly in the Dutch Oven.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup finely diced white onion
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 4 oz can fire roasted diced green chilis drained
• 1/4 cup canned diced tomatoes (drained)
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/3 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ancho chili powder
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
• Dash of cayenne pepper for a spicier queso, optional
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/3 tsp table salt plus additional to taste as needed
• 12 oz can full-fat evaporated milk
• 8 oz freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese see note
• Corn chips for serving

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large pot or skillet
2. Add onion and cook until softened and translucent
3. Add garlic and cook until fragrant then add tomatoes and chilis and cook until well-combined
4. Add minced garlic, diced Roma tomato (or canned), fire roasted diced green chilis
5. Sprinkle cornstarch over the ingredients and use a spatula to stir and cook until absorbed and no lumps remain
6. Add cumin, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, pepper, and salt
7. Gradually drizzle evaporated milk into the pot while whisking. Cook, stirring or whisking, until milk is completely combined, warmed, and slightly thickened
8. Turn heat to low (remove most of the coals) and add shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and completely combined. Taste-test and add additional spices as needed.

I copied this right from the website Every Day Dutch Oven Cooking. I think this is going to be a good one.

Forget the grill this weekend, for your Memorial Day cook out why not try these Baked Hot Dogs in your dutch oven? I was so intrigued by this recipe when I saw it, one of my favorite ways to eat a hot dog is with a soft, steamed roll. By baking the hot dogs with all the toppings together, everything is wonderfully heated through and piping hot at the same time. I thought maybe the rolls would burn in spots but they were perfectly baked, warm inside and a little crispy on the outside.

Ingredients

• 8 hot dogs
• 8 hot dog buns
• 1 14 oz can chili with beans
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1-2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• Mayonnaise
• Mustard
• Sweet Relish

Directions

1. Lightly oil or spray Dutch Oven
2. Spread the inside of each hot dog bun with mayo, mustard, and sweet relish
3. Fill the hot dogs and place side by side in the oven
4. Top each dog with chili, cheese and onion
5. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes
6. Remove with large spoon or and spatula

This recipe is best made in a cast iron skillet on a Camp Chief stove. No need for charcoal or a Dutch Oven (although that is always an option). I like making this on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Ingredients

• 3 - 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
• 1 - 26 ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 - 10.75 ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 2 chicken breasts diced and grilled
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 bell pepper chopped
• 1 tsp seasoning salt
• 18 ounces egg noodles

Directions

1. Saute onions, garlic, and peppers
2. Grill chopped chicken breast
3. Add liquid ingredients and seasoning
4. Simmer to let flavors develop
5. Add noodles and cook until tender
6. Enjoy

10” Dutch Oven

12” Dutch Oven

I love this recipe not just for the classic taste, but also for the slight savoriness that the rosemary brings to the recipe.

Filling

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 large sprigs fresh rosemary plus 1 tsp. finely snipped fresh rosemary
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 cups cored, peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 recipe Rosemary Pastry, see recipe
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Directions

• Step 1 For rosemary syrup, in small microwave-safe bowl combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the water, and 2 sprigs rosemary. Microwave, uncovered, on 100% power (high) for 2 minutes. Let stand 30 minutes; remove rosemary sprigs and discard.
• Step 2 In small bowl combine brown sugar, flour, salt and 1 teaspoon finely snipped rosemary; set aside. In very large bowl toss apples with lemon juice. Add brown sugar mixture; toss to coat. Add whipping cream, vanilla, and rosemary syrup.
• Step 3 In large skillet melt butter over medium heat; add apple mixture. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Step 4 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On lightly floured surface, slightly flatten one Rosemary Pastry ball. Roll it from center to edges into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry circle around the rolling pin. Unroll pastry into a 9-inch pie pan or plate. Trim pastry even with rim of pie pan; spoon in apple mixture.
• Step 5 Roll remaining ball of pastry into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Cut large slits in pastry. Place pastry circle on apple filling; trim to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pan. Fold top pastry under bottom pastry. Crimp edge as desired. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar. To prevent over-browning, cover edge of pie with foil. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake 35 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 20 to 25 minutes more or until fruit is tender and filling is bubbly. Cool on wire rack; serve slightly warm. Makes 10 servings.

Pastry

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon finely snipped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 cup shortening, chilled
• ⅓ cup ice water
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions

• Step 1 In a food processor combine all-purpose flour, salt, sugar and fresh rosemary leaves. Add shortening. Pulse until mixture resembles cornmeal. In a small bowl combine ice water, egg yolk, and vinegar. Add liquid mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, to flour mixture and pulse until a soft dough forms. Divide in half; form into balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.

This is a yummy recipe that you can make in a campground and it tastes terrific. It satisfies the urge for a salad when camping.

Ingredients

Slaw

• 3 C grated cabbage
• 2 C grated apple (Granny Smith or Rainier or 1 of each)
• 1 C grated carrot
• 1 or 2 chopped green onions

Dressing

• 1/3 C mayo
• 1/4 C brown sugar (or slightly less)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• dash of salt and pepper

Directions

1. Grate and combine slaw ingredients
2. Squeeze out excess moisture with paper towel
3. Mix dressing
4. Add dressing (not all of it)

Don’t mis all the dressing into the slaw to start with. Reserve the remainder for those that want a bit wetter salad.