Go Betty

Since You Asked

Here is the recipe for the butter tarts. This recipe makes exactly a dozen tarts. You will need:

- a block thingy of Tenderflake lard
- white flour
- white vinegar
- eggs
- brown sugar
- cold water
- corn syrup
- cold butter and softened butter
- salt
- pure vanilla
- raisins (I prefer golden raisins)
- walnut pieces
- a good non-stick muffin tin that makes a dozen normal-sized muffins
- a good rolling pin
- pastry cutter
- pastry board or that fabric pastry thing

Step 1 - Pastry
Do not be afraid. Pastry is easy and any fool can make a pie. Make a whole recipe of Tenderflake pastry, following exactly the recipe on the box (you use the whole block of lard). This is the best recipe out there. It makes six pie crusts and the pastry freezes well. You will use 1 pie crust's worth for 1 recipe of the tarts. So make up the pastry, section it off, freeze what you don't need (I like to freeze my pastry by first wrapping it in wax paper, then plastic wrap (tightly). Then roll it out, cut your tarts using a wide-mouthed tea cup, line the muffin tin with the tart shells, cover the whole thing with wax paper and put it in the fridge. The trick to good pastry is keeping it cool, and keeping your hands cool while you make it. If it's a hot day, make it first thing in the morning. You don't want the butter and lard to get too melty.

Step 2 - Butter Tart Mixture
Mix together:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 3 tablespoons softened butter
- 1 lightly beaten egg
- 1/2 tsp salt (coarse / kosher is fine; normal table salt is fine)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp white vinegar
- 1/2 cup soaked raisins (soak them in a little boiling water to plump them; then drain them)
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces
(if you hate raisins don't bother, ditto walnuts; some people like pecans)

Step 3 - Make Tarts - Yea!
Arrange your oven rack to the upper middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 400 (no cheating, you have got to have a hot enough oven so that the pastry bakes immediately and the tart mixture cooks off properly). Take your prepped muffin tin out of the fridgetator. Carefully fill each tart shell with the mixture. If you top them to the rim they will be slightly burny-bubbley on top - the sugar will caramelize (which some people love). If you leave a millimetre or two before the top edge of the shell then they will more resemble store-bought tarts (though they will taste approx. 10 million times more amazing). Bake them for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. WATCH THE OVEN. Every oven is different. Mine is hotter at the back and hot as hell in general. Mine do not need one minute more. Let them cool (20 mins or so). Carefully lift / pry out with a sharp paring knife. Feed to friends. They are so good out of the fridge, with a cup of tea, with a glass of milk, etc.

~~*~~ Huuuuuuuuuugsssssss ~~*~~

Into The Wild

I loved this book. Something about it really appealed to me. The spirit of Chris McCandless. Wanting to escape day-to-day life. Wanting adventure, freedom from the bonds of money. Going down the rabbit hole to the very end of civilization to find the core of yourself. Wanting to be closer to the earth. Wanting to live off the land. Not that I want to do those things, but I do understand those ideas and how they might appeal to someone.

The movie adaptation by Sean Penn is coming soon to a theatre near you.

Pilgrims visit the site where Chris McCandless died. Local authorities are getting pissed because people just aren't prepared for living in the wild.

It reminds me of Burning Man where every day I encountered people who:

- didn't carry ANY water on walk-abouts and thus were dehydrated
- were hungry and had no access to food
- were wasted and close to OD'ing but no one was shepherding them (strangers had to bring them to a first aid tent)
- did not have goggles or a mask in a sandstorm and thus were completely fucked
- were wearing stupid shoes or sandals and thus their feet were raw from blisters and destroyed from the alkali
- were burned because they got naked and forget to put on sunscreen on ALL their bits
- felt sick from the sun because they didn't have a hat

It takes a lot of planning to go down the rabbit hole.

More Random Burning Man Thoughts about 2007 and 2008

Burning Man was a life-altering, mind-altering experience. Just like Lucy said ALL MY DREAMS CAME TRUE.

What was good:
- the art and images
- shit blowing up
- people's COSTUMES were incredible
- the learnings and activities
- the vibe
- the noise
- the desert
- the music
- the incredible HEAT!
- the extremes
- the self-reliance
- the people
- the gift economy
- the coffee (at people's camps and the centre camp cafe)
- the society that emerges
- the anarchy in the midst of a society that really works
- what you do, who you meet, experiences, weirdness, life on the fringe
- the hand of God striking at us with sandstorms
- the pure MDMA... :-)
- being open-minded and then having your mind blown again and again (the mind never stops expanding!)
- coming home to Sarah

What I did:
- went alone
- planned well and was "playa-ready"
- hooked up with some people I had briefly met online the week before and made a plan to camp with them
- got to BM safely, found them and camped near them! All by myself!
- met all kinds of great people
- let go of inhibitions and judgement
- Orgasmic Breathing
- healing (my capacity to heal may be never ending!)
- was gifted and gave full body massages
- yoga, hugging, breathing through pain
- Human Carcass Wash
- drum circles
- holding people while they cried, healed, faced fears
- had revelations about my own state of being; much personal discovery and acceptance of things that happened to me
- knew myself really well and yet learned so much MORE about me!

Bad things:
- nothing; I was ok with everything and honestly cannot think of anything bad

Things I wished I had done:
- Dance, Dance Immolation (or more extreme things like that)
- Poly High Tea and ALL the activities in the book that I started out to do and then got side-tracked and didn't end up doing
- I wish I had taken a picture of Michelle when she got cattle-prodded (sorrrrrryyy about that!)
- I just think about next year and know that I will stay longer; now that I'm no longer a virgin I'll be more out there

Funny Revelations:
- the poundingly loud rave music made me want to leave for the first 12 hours (camped about 100 ft from The Deep End...); then I loved it and realized I never wanted to stop hearing it; when it would die down at dawn I felt sad; when I left BM I missed it!
- the port-a-potties were JUST FINE
- sleeping was easy
- I didn't get hives, a yeast infection, or a urinary tract infection (so... I wasn't stressed!)
- I didn't smell; and now I no longer use anti-perspirant (just deo); I've also stopped plucking my eyebrows (I still get brazilians though)

Next Year
- Sarah
- bring friends
- a cool chopper bike
- more nudity
- more activities
- perhaps a costume
- more drugs
- more dancing
- more gifting
- more visits to really weird extreme camps
- at least 20 x 2ft stakes made of ACTUAL rebar with a 2' "T" welded to the top of each stake; also a length of canvass belt and a crowbar for removal of rebar from the playa
- more and better rope
- better shade (sturdier)
- my own girl-centric camp with a spiffily run kitchen, shade / a cuddle dome / common area (maybe???)