Two articles in another newspaper recently caught my attention, and because my mind is still trying to deal with the implications of the two, you will suffer the consequences if you read this column.
The first article had to do with trafficking in prostitution, particularly with regard to young teen-aged girls.
No, not in some other “less civilized” place; right here in our own U. S. of A. There are, according to the article, thousands of young girls who run away from home for any number of reasons (often, unfortunately, due to inner-family abuse) and are spotted and picked up by a male who promises he will make life better for them; in other words, a pimp. They soon learn otherwise, but are threatened with death or permanent scarring if they try to leave or quit. These girls are suffering from, among other things, low self-esteem, a phrase we’ve heard so often this past decade that it has become a catch-all excuse for any sort of disruptive or aberrant behavior.
Low self-esteem. How, exactly, does a young girl come to suffer from low self-esteem, especially in today’s equal opportunity, equality for all world? There are so many strong women throughout all the layers of our society now, that surely there are role models for any girl to look up to, emulate and learn from.
Well, let’s consider the other article I mentioned.
“The Vatican issued a new set of norms Thursday to respond to the worldwide clerical-abuse scandal, cracking down on priests who rape and molest minors and the mentally disabled.” Fine, better late than never, but would you care to guess what else the document listed as a “grave crime” to be handled by the Vatican “just as sex abuse is?”
The attempted ordination of a woman as a priest.
That’s right; any attempt to ordain a female as priest in the Catholic church will result in the same punishment as sex abuse. In other words, considering ordination for a woman is right up there with raping and molesting minors and the mentally disabled. How’s that for making it plain what the Vatican thinks of women and their place in this world? So much for equality in the eyes of God. And ask yourself, what message does this send to young Catholic girls? It certainly isn’t a self-esteem booster, at least not to my way of thinking.
We all know that no family is perfect and that there are heartbreaking instances of parental abuse or neglect that can lead to dysfunctional children, male and female. The possible reasons for low self-esteem are legion, and building a strong, integrated personality in a child is one of the most difficult of the many aspects of parenting, as well as teaching. I personally feel that much TV programming still stereotypes females and contributes to lowering self-esteem, and too often marketers are guilty of adding to the problem with hyped-up advertising displaying how young women should look and act.
But many girls I know and spend time around today are vastly different from the good friends I was hanging out with too many years ago, and for the most part it’s a huge improvement.
There were so many things girls were just not supposed to do when I was growing up, and I clearly recall how often I felt it unfair that my brothers did things and went places
I could not, at least not without risking the wrath of my mother, which I must admit I frequently did. It was more or less expected that we girls would grow up to be wannabe Betty Crockers, that is until the “women’s movement” exploded on the scene and expanded both our minds and our horizons.
By the time my daughter and step-daughters were growing up, a great deal had changed. Girls were playing baseball, even football, turning out for track, majoring in math and science, having “careers,” delaying marriage and children and, gasp, even deciding not to do either or both. And now, today, it seems to me that there is, literally, nothing that an average, healthy young female cannot aspire to and achieve, if she puts in the work. Except, of course, being ordained as priest in the Catholic church.
Perhaps if the Vatican had, in all its wisdom, thought to allow ordination of women decades, perhaps even centuries ago, they would not now be entangled in the ugly, degrading business of trying to “codify the ad hoc norms for dealing canonically with pedophile priests …”
RECIPES
I still have the Betty Crocker cookbook as well as the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook my mother gave me when I was in high school and she felt it was time I learned, seriously, to cook.
Yes, she very much expected me to go to college, but there was little question in my mind that she really didn’t believe I’d finish and get a degree because I’d probably “meet someone and get married and you need to know how to cook.” (She was more than a bit concerned when I not only graduated but wasn’t married even two years later).
All my friends’ mothers felt exactly the same way, and we all got cookbooks at some point during our teen years. Talk about self-esteem boosters; clearly, our basic value was as a future wife and homemaker.
Well, frankly, most of us went on to do not only that, but have a career, as well, and some of us are still working on “what next.”
Here, from my somewhat tattered, stained and obviously much-used cookbooks are some old but still excellent recipes.
I made these cupcakes often for my kids, as well as school treats when I was teaching, but frosted them with buttercream frosting for the kids. For myself, I prefer the cream cheese or mascarpone.
SPICE CUPCAKES
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup light molasses
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 t. salt
1 t. baking powder;
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. ginger
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cinnamon
3/4 cup buttermilk
Thoroughly cream together the shortening and sugar. Add egg and molasses, beating well.
Sift together the dry ingredients. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon mixture into lightly greased or sprayed cupcake pan, filling pans half full. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 20 min. or until top springs back when lightly tapped. Top with softened cream cheese or Neufchatel or mascarpone cheese. Makes 12 cupcakes;
is easily doubled.
This light, refreshing, rich berry dessert was very popular “back when”, turning up at potlucks, bridge club and frequently on our table when berries were ripe.
MIDSUMMER BERRY DESSERT
1 pkg. (10 oz.) butter cookies
3/4 cup butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 qt. fresh strawberries, cut in half, or fresh raspberries
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
Roll the cookies into crumbs. Cover the bottom of an 8-inch square pan with half the crumbs.
Thoroughly cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Spread the mixture over the crumbs, sprinkle with chopped nuts and top with berries. Spread with whipped cream and sprinkle with remaining crumbs. Chill thoroughly in refrigerator. When ready to serve, garnish with additional whole berries on top; cut into squares. Serves 12.
Remember bread pudding? Does anyone make it anymore? This was my Dad’s top favorite dessert and because bread often went dry and stale quickly then, we had bread pudding often. I still love it, but my favorite version is this one, from that same old cookbook.
BUTTERSCOTCH BREAD PUDDING
2 cups dry bread cubes
4 cups milk, scalded
1 T. butter
1/4 t. salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 slightly beaten eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins, golden or dark, optional
Soak bread cubes in the scalded milk for 5 min. Add butter, salt and sugar. Pour this mixture very slowly over the eggs, beginning with just a little to temper the eggs, then adding the rest. Add vanilla; mix well. Pour mixture into a greased baking dish. Place baking dish in a pan of hot water and place in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake until firm, about 50 min. Serve warm, with Lemon Sauce. (Recipe follows). Serves 8.
LEMON SAUCE
1/2 cup sugar
1 T. cornstarch
1/8 t. salt
1/8 t. nutmeg
1 cup boiling wter
2 T. butter
1 1/2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
In a saucepan, mix together sugar, cornstarch, salt and nutmeg. Gradually add water; cook over low heat until thickened and clear. Add butter and lemon juice, blending thoroughly. Serve over warm bread pudding. Also delicious served over warm gingerbread! I also use this, along with hard sauce, over my steamed Christmas pudding.
