It's a wrap! With rum.

As promised, here is a brief election wrap up for 2015. In San Francisco, two stalwart progressive GreenDog candidates who unfortunately ran into turbulent waters, were defeated. Wendy Aragon, who would have been a great addition to the City College board, and Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. They both worked hard, but their better funded (and connected, in an establishment way) opponents were able to win. A loss for SF.

We were glad to see the return of Aaron Peskin to the Board of Supervisors, and only wish someone had challenged Ed Lee for Mayor. Next time we all hope.

In Marin, we had a big win with Gregory Mack for Novato School Board. He ran a great race, with lots of grassroots outreach and came in second place. Congrats Greg!

In other races, incumbents lost several seats on City Councils and special districts, signaling dissatisfaction. This malaise seems a general discontent, and distrust of elected officials, echoed throughout the land. We fear a rising conservatism (we hope it is a passing fever), and Yes, we are cheering on Bernie Sanders. And putting pins in voodoo dolls of Donald Trump and all the Republican scary clowns. Nothing to laugh at here.

Sorry to be a downer, but 2016 will be exciting and we are hoping for good things in the Bay Area and for Democrats everywhere. What do you all think? Comments accepted, rants encouraged, advice welcomed.

And recipes will be tried out. For now, I think a hot buttered rum is in order. Here's what the GreenDogs do on cold winter days.

Dotty's Hot Buttered Rum:

Boil water
Shot of rum mixed with brown sugar.
Pour in the water, mix lightly
Pat of unsalted (organic preferably) butter floated on top
Fresh grated nutmeg sprinkled overall
Drink, you'll feel better

Election Wrap up Coming

Wednesday night the Marin Women's Political Caucus will hold its annual Election Wrap up night with a twist. The twist this year is one of our stalwart panelists lost her re-election campaign this year for Novato City Council. This was a shocker and should make for a good discussion. Was it a "throw the bums out" election, as some pundits have postulated? Or was it more of a mixed bag. Many incumbents, after all, retained their seats, but we did see a higher than average change in several Councils.

Now former Councilwoman Jeanne MacLeamy telling us how she sees it

One big issue? Development and traffic. Always on the agenda, but with lots of moaning and wailing and gnashing of teeth over how "affordable" housing, especially the high density kind, will destroy neighborhoods, let "those people" loose on the populace and, of course, bring down property values, some of the noise has been downright nasty. Last year was just as bad, with incumbent Supervisor Susan Adams, whose only crime was sticking to her principles (very clearly enunciated in her first race more than 10 years  back), that she wanted to help create a very modest affordable housing project as part of a much needed and desired revamp of a local shopping center.  But the times they are a changin' and not necessarily for the better.

That's not for this Campaign Cook to say. We test the kitchen, its heat, its accessibility and we help the cooks and the wanna-be chefs work their magic.

Then we let the pundits and the analysts hash it all out so to speak. This year's Election Wrap Up ought to be downright delicious.

 

Epicurean Electoral Hash recipe:

Yield

Makes 6 servings

Active Time

1 1/2 hr

Total Time

6 hr (includes making brisket)

Ingredients

1. • Braised beef brisket
   • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
   • 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
   • 2 medium fresh poblano chiles (1/2 pound total)
   • 1 medium Yukon Gold potato (1/2 pound)
   • 1 medium rutabaga (1/2 pound)
   • 1 medium Fuji or Gala apple
   • 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
   • 1 small white onion, finely chopped
   • 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
   • 6 large eggs

Preparation

1. 1. Finely shred brisket and transfer to a bowl, then mix with mustard and Worcestershire sauce until combined well.
   2. Roast poblanos on their sides on racks of gas burners over medium-high heat, turning with tongs, until skins are blistered and slightly charred, 4 to 6 minutes. (Or broil on rack of a broiler pan about 2 inches from heat.) Immediately transfer to a large bowl and cover tightly, then let stand 10 minutes. Carefully rub off skins from poblanos. Cut open lengthwise and remove stems and seeds, including attached ribs. Wipe poblanos clean with a paper towel if necessary, then cut into 1/4-inch dice and transfer to a large bowl.
   3. Peel potato, rutabaga, and apple and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, then cook in 1/2 stick butter with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden in spots and just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to bowl with poblanos.
   4. Cook onion in 3 tablespoons butter with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in same skillet, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes more. Transfer to bowl with poblano mixture. Stir brisket into hash until combined.
   5. Preheat oven to 250°F with rack in middle.
   6. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Add half of hash to skillet and cook, turning portions occasionally, until browned and crisp in spots, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a large (17-by 11-inch) 4-sided sheet pan and keep warm in oven. Cook remaining hash in same manner in 1 tablespoon butter. Transfer to sheet pan in oven.
   7. Rinse and wipe out skillet. Fry eggs in 2 batches with 1 tablespoon butter per batch over medium heat. Serve eggs over hash.

Cooks' note:

Hash, without brisket, can be cooked 1 day ahead and chilled. Bring to room temperature before using.