Seize the Day! Put no trust in the morrow! — Horace
Some of my friends who have turned 60, it hit them kind of hard. As for me, I am frankly glad I have made it this far! It reminds me of that proverbial question… a half glass full one… that asks whether sixty is the ‘youth of old age or the old age of youth?” Frankly, those are the types of questions people ask if they have regrets or have some unresolved issues.
Life is to be lived, savored and enjoyed at any age. Life is with family, always.
Laura grew up with a wonderful Tamale Pie and I wanted to recreate it for her!
Rogelio’s Tamale Pie!
There are two parts to a Tamale Pie: the topping and the filling! I have always thought of a Tamale Pie as a way to make a bunch of Tamales without all of the detailed preparation. For hungry people this is the answer.
Some time ago, I did the same thing by making a BULK recipe of chili relleno.
The Topping!
You might have to play around with the moisture ( adding more cream or a little milk) to have the right texture ( to be able to spread the mixture over the filling)… so here is what worked for me:
2 cups corn meal
Around 24 ounces cream
2 cups of your favorite cheeses ( I have three favorite Mexican Cheeses)
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
Cook over low heat until thickened… add ½ – 1 cup chopped Cilantro
The Filling
Task 1
This is the time consuming part for me as I like to sauté everything completely.
cook until done: 1 pound diced steak & 1 pound ground sausage with 1 teaspoon each of: salt, black pepper and garlic powder
dice and sauté until ‘clear’ one large sweet onion and about 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
set aside
Task 2
Combine the following in a large pan:
12 ounce creamed corn
28-30 ounces of tomato sauce
3 teaspoons Spanish Paprika
1 teaspoon Chipotle powder ( or sauce)
8 fire roasted peppers (sliced and chopped)
½ cup sliced olives
2 tablespoons Baker’s sugar
add 1 cup of the topping
1 cup Mozzarella cheese( or more!)
add salt , pepper and garlic powder to taste
Cook over a low heat about 10- 15 minutes
Fold in 3 cups of Hominy and add the meat and onions
Task 3
Pour filling into baking dish and spread topping over the top of the filling
Bake at 350 degrees for around 40 minutes
I hope you enjoy this as much as Laura did!
Recently, my bride Laura and her coauthor John Cacioppo launched their first project together. It was an introductory psychology textbook entitled: Discovering Psychology – the Science of Mind. It is a fascinating and a remarkable peek into a dynamic changing field.
Now, I know very little about the writing of textbooks, but for me the experience was something akin to trying to escape second hand smoke; you can’t do it. I was Laura’s ‘minion’: fetch her coffee or fix a platter of cheese and crackers and in one bazaar episode I even was asked to paint my tongue blue and take a picture of it for their book. Depending on how you measure this project, it started somewhere between 7 and 10 years ago. Neither John nor Laura wanted to begin a project if it was just going to be like everything else in the field of psychology. However, John had observed that the field of psychology was evolving and that a textbook addressing this natural evolution was needed.
Psychology, like so many very large fields of study, had been chopped up into pieces for 50 years to aid analysis. Experts developed in the new fields of Physiological, Clinical, Social, Developmental, Cognitive among others… and each defended their territory religiously from the intrusions of other disciplines. However, as multidisciplinary and Transdisciplinary teams began to define how modern solutions to academic and social challenges were being met; it seemed quaint for scientists to limit their expertise to a narrow field. Psychology among other hub sciences were reaching out to other disciplines and pulling together the disciplines of psychology at the same time to help address the big questions of our day.
We’ve all seen buildings designed by architects who forget that people have to live in them, business offices that create unhealthy social environments, and engineers that fail to introduce the human equation to designing solutions to structural challenges. I think this textbook models the right approach and it is a first step in the right direction.
Congratulations John and Laura.
