A Recipe for Rest While Congress Is On Recess

I've been enjoying Congress'es recess. There has been a lull in newspaper articles about Congresspeople arguing and maligning each other. The news stations have been a tad quieter, too. It’s time for us all to take a collective deep breath. Oops! Did I use the word collective? Pardon moi.

That aside, it’s time for a rest. This is the week that’s holy to many of us who are in the midst of observing Passover or the Holy Week leading up to Easter. Celebrating Passover, my husband and I recently received a brochure from Ha Mazon (http://mazon.org), a Jewish response to hunger that distributes funds to food pantries and other organizations feeding the hungry throughout America. In addition to the Four Questions that are asked at every Seder, they posed a fifth one: Why on this night are millions of people still going hungry? Should local charities feed hungry people, or does government have a role? As Congress rests and we rest along with them from the fighting and malice, I think that we must ask ourselves why in America are funds for Food Stamps being cut when people in the 1% are enjoying unprecedented wealth?

Mazon has presented us with a new face of hunger in 10 year old John, a boy whose mother has struggled with underemployment and intermittent unemployment. At times, he and his brother went to school hungry until their family began to receive food stamps. Unfortunately, he is not the only boy going to school on an empty stomach. He’s just the only one whose picture is on Mazon’s latest mailing. Does our government have a responsibility to see that he is fed? We are the government. Do we have a collective responsibility as a society? Oh no! There’s that ‘collective’ word again. If we weren’t so afraid to use it, I think we’d have to say ‘yes.’

So when this recess is over, we can resume answering Mazon’s questions. Then we can write to our representatives and tell them about John and his brother and why we want the government to fulfill our responsibilities to him and all the other American families who are food insecure [who aren’t sure of if and where their next meal is coming.] Then we can contact our food pantries and or soup kitchens wherever we are and see what we can do to help.

Happy Recess, Congress. I think I need to stretch during this relaxing week. Even though some are food insecure, we still need to eat and I have some cooking to do. This is an easy recipe for baked chicken. Preparation time is 15 minutes. It serves four.

                                                          Apricot-Sesame Chicken

1 whole chicken cut up
1onion diced and sautéed in vegetable oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp minced garlic sautéed in vegetable oil
sage, thyme, onion powder
sesame seeds
apricot jelly

Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit.

Put the chicken pieces in a baking dish skin side up.
Saute the garlic and onion
Sprinkle chicken pieces with seasoning and pour lemon juice over them. Put some apricot jelly over them. Add the onion and garlic over the time. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.
Bake for about an hour.