Posole Recipe

• 1 1/2 lbs. pork shoulder
• 1/2 onion stuck with 2 cloves
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 5 peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed
• oregano, pinch
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 4 cups canned white hominy, drained and rinsed
• 3 to 5 cups pork broth from cooking pork shoulder
• 1 cup canned chopped green chilies
• Salt to taste
• 2 whole jalapenos, canned or fresh, chopped (optional)

Place the meat in a large saucepan and just cover with lightly salted water. Add the clove studded onion, 2 cloves peeled garlic, peppercorns, cumin seed, and oregano. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skim off any foam that rises, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove meat and broth, reserving both.

Sauté the chopped onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Add the remaining spices, stir for a minute. Cut the reserved pork into 1 inch cubes and add to the pan. Stir in the canned hominy, pork broth (if there is not enough pork broth, add chicken stock), green chilies and jalapenos (optional).

Cook at a simmer, covered, for 45 to 60 minutes until the meat and hominy are tender. If necessary, cook for up to an additional 60 minutes until the chilies and onions are well blended into the broth. Degrease the stew, taste for salt, and serve in soup bowls.

Mexican Beans Recipe

• 2 pounds dried pinto beans
• 2 1/2 quarts water
• 1 pound bacon, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium ripe tomato, chopped
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Combine beans and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 3 hours. Add more water if necessary while beans are cooking.
2. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until it is beginning to brown. Stir in onion, and continue cooking until onion is tender. Stir in tomato, and jalapeno, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in cilantro.
3. Stir bacon and onion mixture into the beans, and continue cooking for 1 hour, or until beans are soft.

Chicken Cilantro Bisque

6 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 c. cilantro leaves
1/2 c. sliced green onions
1/4 c. sliced celery
1 lg. clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. (12 oz. can) undiluted Carnation evaporated skimmed milk
Fresh ground pepper, to taste

In large saucepan, combine chicken, broth, cilantro, green onions, celery, garlic and cumin. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and boil gently, covered, for 15 minutes.

Pour soup into blender container. Add flour. Cover and blend, starting at low speed, until smooth. Pour mixture back into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens.

Remove from heat. Gradually stir in milk. Reheat just to serving temperature. Do not boil. Season with pepper to taste. Garnish as desired. Makes about 4 servings.

My Ishmael Assignment

1.)What are Ishmael's two general rules on how to identify people from our culture? Do you agree with Ishmael when he says that people from all over the world are part of the same culture? Why or why not?
Ishmael's two general rules on how to identify people from our culture are that they keep their food under lock and key and that we are a fundamentally flawed race and inherently doomed to suffering and misery. I do not agree with Ishmael when he says that people from all over the world are part of the same culture because culture to me means where you are from,what your beliefs are,the way you live,your characteristics,your religion,etc.

2.)Ishmael disagrees with Mother Culture's voice that says that humans are inherently flawed. After reading through page 66 of My Ishmael do you agree or disagree with him? Why?
I agree because I believe that we are not inherently flawed because no one is perfect, everyone is perfectly unperfect,and we make mistakes to learn from them.

3.)Ishmael uses a parable of Tunes and Dancers to explain his idea of Takers and Leavers. Who are these Takers and Leaves and how do they relate to American culture?
I think that the Takers are the type of people who don't really help out the community and say they need something that isn't necessarily necessary and the Leavers are the type of people that help out the community and live with what they have.

Election

Who would I vote for? The answer to this question is Barack Obama. Now you're probably asking yourself why. The answer to that question would be because he believes that everybody should have the opportunity to have a job that will pay a living wage, that nobody should get bankrupted when they get sick, and that everybody should have access to decent health care. He also believes that any child should be able to go to college even if they don't have enough money and the things that he has listed I agree with. Please watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPy7RnHwvmA



Barack Obama signed as a community organizer for local churches after college and he was organizing at the time when everything was collapsing because of plant closures. I think this shows that if he becomes president that he will help many communities because he has had experience. Barack Obama also believes that any student should be able to go to college and university if they have the grades and that it shouldn't be so much money for college and etc. This is very good news for me or to any other student because I might go to college and I really need the money for the college just like many other students.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eYSStPGZhA&feature=related

Many politics talk so much about politics that teenagers like me get bored. Yes, it might sound very offensive, but it's true. Everybody has their fun side, but they don't show it and I believe that they could have fun without being disrespectful. Barack Obama is like this, he showed his fun side without disrespect. Check this video out.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsWpvkLCvu4 After he had fun with Ellen he answered a question which showed that he could be fun and make things easier for a teenager like me to understand when he talks about politics with no problem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-nrjvsETQU&NR=1

Blurb

This is my dad, Alfredo Sanchez, when he barely came to the United States from Michoacan, Mexico. In this picture he was around his 20s and in his first days of working as a cook in the restaurant Los Panchos. This picture shows how my dad is overjoyed because he is working to support my family and I.

What do I think about this painting?

I believe this painting was painted by Nikolaos Gyzis and to me this painting symbolizes hope because the girl seems to have teary eyes and she is looking up as if she was asking for hope. It also looks like the girl is waiting for something and is very nervous because it looks like she's playing with her hair. The shadowing and the painting in general, reminded me of someone outside the class of detention. When I googled old Greek pictures this painting got my attention because of its shadowing, her face shape, her eye catching dress, and the way she is playing with her hair like if she was in some kind of trouble. Her book and her dress remind me of a catholic school because they kind of dress like her and the book because it's a school.

Code

1.) How accurate were your predictions?
My predictions were pretty accurate.

2.) Which predictions were very accurate? Describe.
The predictions that were very accurate were when I said that the story was going to take place in the old times in other words around the 1960s, the genre was going to be non-fiction, I was going to enjoy this story and it was going to be very interesting.

3.) Which predictions were less accurate? What were the differences between what you predicted and what actually happened?
The predictions that were less accurate were when I said that the story was probably going to start by telling the main character's story and then the present and the other less accurate prediction was when I thought that the book was going to be difficult because of the vocabulary and hard on understanding the story. The differences were that the story didn't start by telling her story,the story wasn't hard to understand and the vocabulary wasn't hard either.

This Weekend

YES!!!!! The weekend!!! Who doesn't enjoy the sweetness of Saturday and Sunday? I know that I enjoy every exiting moment. I want to go to eat pizza at some pizza place for example Petter Pipper Pizza,but I'm not sure yet. I know that I might not be able to go so i should just let it go. I don't want to stay home alone and really bored with nothing to do so I will do my homework and then probably play pillow fight with my little bitter brother.

Now it's Saturday and I just finished putting my last puzzle piece on a puzzle which I was going crazy for. I'm still doing my blog because I have nothing else to do this boring weekend,well so far boringly boring weekend because I can't predict the future. I'm back trying to finish and finishing my blog while eating and wondering if I am ever going to finish my blog on time. Well there's nothing interesting happening so I guess I'm going to make this my blog assignment and now I'm wishing I was at school actually doing something.

green- Alliteration

blue- Assonance

purple- Consonance