Winter Garden

The best thing about Watergate was reading new revelations daily. Like a soap opera, it never ended and the venom one felt towards Nixon could only be expressed in then unthinkable expletives.

The best thing about the current financial crisis is that just when you think things have reached rock bottom, and a new source of venom is brewing,  something happens to make you feel like things may be on the upswing. The worst thing about it is that unless you are a professional blogger, trying to keep up is almost impossible.

Take, for example, what I wrote two days ago:

“Today’s Sunday New York Times is rich with advice and commentary. In the business section  Kelly Holland writes that good leaders tell their troops the truth about a situation. In this way, people can assess their status,  understand why certain actions are being taken, and make informed decisions.  She also says that being fair doesn’t mean necessarily treating people equally, especially when it comes to layoffs.

Thomas Friedman’s op-ed says Obama “should have gone on national TV and had the fireside chat..a talk where he lays out exactly how deep the crisis we are in is, exactly how much sacrifice were all going to have to make to get out of it…and then [ask the AIG executives] to return their bonuses “for the sake of the country…Inspiring conduct has so much more of an impact than coercing it.” Mind you, this comes two weeks after the press was calling for Obama to stop with the doom and gloom pronouncements and be more upbeat. Friendman suggests Obama follows  Holland’s advice.

Yes, Obama said during the election that everyone would have to sacrifice, but that implies a voluntary renunciation toward a shared goal. When there is no fairness when big banks get bailed and home owners with mortgages don’t; when rich executives get bonuses while workers get laid off; does it surprise you that anger is expressed by people  calling for the tumbrel’s rumble down Wall Street’s narrow alleys towards the people at AIG who engineered this mess?”

That was yesterday’s thinking.Today the curtain is raised on the toxic asset plan. The market soars, and three quarters of the AIG executives return their bonuses. Ok, scratch one for sacrifice. Obama didn’t even have to appeal to the executives directly. They did their civic duty while AIG supplied their homes with body guards.

Everyone is so eager for good news that even my SO talks about things getting better. Overnight? When there are banks still on the brink? When we don’t know if the toxic assets can be tamed?

Enter Michelle Obama and her new broom-or rather shovel- approach to being the First (Green) Lady.

Maureen Dowd, the one journalist who can turn a silk purse into a sow’s ear, wonders if “the wrong Obama is in the Oval” based on Michelle’s no nonsense expectation that even the president would be out pulling weeds “whether [he] likes it or not.”

Those muscles she likes to display in her favourite sleeveless attire are symbolic of who she is: not just brain but brawn too. Finally a woman in the White House who is feminine and forceful, secure in who she is and more importantly what she stands for.

Out in the cold, those scuplted pecs covered  in a dark cardigan, she was doing more than just digging an organic garden last week. She was showing all of us how we will  have to rely on ourselves (and our kids) to dig  out of this mess.

Mark my words, it won’t be president Obama who sows the seeds of a new age, it will be Michelle who already has planted the future in the White House lawn.

Green and Root Vegetable Stir-Fry

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 shallot, sliced

1″ fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1 turnip, sliced in 1/2″ rounds, then into 1/4″ strips

1/4 celeriac, peeled, and cut into 1/4″ dice

12 French green beans, cut in half

1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce, or any spicy condiment, such as a curry paste

1/2 cup cooked rice

1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a saute pan until hot.
2. Add the sliced onions, shallots, and ginger and cook over medium heat until slightly caramelized.
3. Add the turnip and celeriac and raise the heat until the edges are browned.
4. Add the broccoli florets and the stock.
5. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for about 3 minutes.
6. Remove the lid and allow the broth to cook down to almost nothing.
7. Add the green beans and the rice, toss to mix.
8. Add the chili garlic or other condiment paste and heat through.
9. Sprinkle with optional cilantro and feel virtuous with your virtually green meal.