When I think of bigos I immediately feel like I'm about to open presents. See, for me it's the ultimate Christmas dish and one of the perfect comfort dishes. It is a meal ideal for entertaining guests and a good topic for a conversation about Poland, its culture and history. It is so because it's a dish similar to Russian and German dishes and very often when I introduce someone to it they say "But this is so German!" or something of a similar effect. Yes, I perfectly understand why anyone would think so- bigos is mostly sauerkraut and meat so you can't get any more German than that.

Longer ago than I care to admit, a dear friend asked me about making pie crust. And since today is that person’s birthday, I figured evidence that I hadn’t forgotten that request might make a suitable birthday gift.

When done well, pie crust is a deep brown, delectable testament to the near-miraculous effect of heat on a few simple ingredients. Tender and flaky, it serves as a perfect embrace for fresh fruits, pudding, or whatever tasty filling a cook can devise. Pie crust can also be intimidating as hell to make, because the quality of those simple ingredients really matters. So does the cook’s handling of them. I am by no means an expert pie baker, but I am adequate and if I had regular practice, I’m confident I could become an expert one. So could you; and here are my tips and an excellent recipe for starting down that path. Let’s head into the kitchen!

I am all kinds of pleased to announce that my dear friend Polka—a longtime commenter at this place—has graciously accepted my invitation to join the conspiratorial band here! Like all the conspirators, she’s a busy person, so I’m not sure what her schedule will permit in the way of blogging ... but I am confident that her contributions will be stimulating to many regular readers.

Here’s Polka’s profile, for anyone interested in learning more about her. Witamy, Polka!

Yes, it is at last true: I have begun adding my essay archive back to this place. Lamentations, justifications, prognostications, and probably more –ations are offered on that page, so I shan’t repeat them here ... but if there are requests for certain essays to re-appear, I am happy to consider them. A link to the archive is in the right sidebar, under “Noteworthy Nodes” for easy access.

Thanks to B.W. and P.T. for the kick in the posterior scales on this matter.

I have not been avoiding making note of H. Ben’s death several days ago ... rather, I’ve been quiet because I haven’t quite known what to say. Today, his family is hosting a memorial celebration of his life; and while I would like to attend in person with his many other friends, this will need to do.

Anyone who’s been paying attention to the economic news has seen this announcement coming from a long way out: Vallejo, California, Officials Vote for Bankruptcy. If that is the start of a trend—and there’s good reason to think it might be—I think it could be a “making lemonade” opportunity for voluntaryists.

Isn’t amazing how a person can dance all around a common theme without seeing it? It seems to me I’ve been doing that in my recent posts—both implicitly attack the authority inherent in many current systems. Yet I was clueless as to that until just now.

Somewhat oddly, I’ve been seeing signs of increasing S.E.S.S. amongst pro-freedom individuals, even us staunch individualists. On the one hand, it might be surprising that such individuals fall into its clutches now and again, but on the other, it shouldn’t be: we, too, are simply humans trying to find a good way through this adventure called life.

I don’t recall where I saw the link to the Harper’s article, The revolution will not be pasteurized: Inside the raw-milk underground, but I’m glad it came to my attention. The article is quite long, but very interesting, and mostly excellent. Oddly enough, it isn’t the subject of raw milk that leads me to write about the article.

A deceptively simple question, perhaps ... but something I’ve been pondering for quite some time now, actually. It burbled into this question on my recent cross-country drive.

Ignore practical considerations of cost, “relevance”, duplication, etc. What would you focus on in the museum you would love to create?

I’ll provide my answer in the comments, after giving you fine individuals a chance to answer.

Well, I survived the trip. Actually, it was much better than that bare statement would suggest, in most respects.

A while back, Pint of Stout invited individuals to consider a question, and to share an answer to it. As his question was a neat bull’s-eye for me—something I have thought long and hard, and variously about for decades—I hereby accept his invitation and offer my ramblings to accompany his.

I am quite undecided about this turn of events in the housing market. Banks’ mail jingles as borrowers walk is the headline on a commentary by James Saft. For anyone who hasn’t come across the phrase “jingle mail” yet, it describes the phenomenon of homeowners walking away from a home because the debt owed is greater than its current value—and so, they mail the keys to the lender. The unmistakable signal jingle mail sends is, “I’m done here. The house is yours.”—thus breaking the mortgage contract. Is that wrong? I’ve seen a fair bit of commentary arguing both ways; but none of it has been from a pro-freedom perspective.

I don’t have much to say about it this time around, but Garry Reed did an excellent job of depicting the federal money-laundering system in We Are Taxbucks. Bravo, Garry!