Florida Agenda

jean’s kitchen

By JEAN DOHERTY/LE PATIO

Asparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate flavor and diuretic properties. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and dried it for use in winter. Asparagus is pictured on an Egyptian frieze dating to 3000 B.C., and France’s Louis XIV had special greenhouses built for growing it. Asparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is also a good source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A, C, E, and K, and then thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese, selenium and chromium (whew!), a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells. In other words, it’s very healthy.

The shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, typically as an appetizer or vegetable side dish. In Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often stir-fried. Cantonese restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stirfried with chicken, shrimp, or beef, and also wrapped in bacon. Asparagus may also be quickly grilled over charcoal or hardwood embers. It is also used as an ingredient in stews and soups. In the French-style, it is often boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise sauce, melted butter or olive oil. In recent years, almost as a cycle dating back to early culinary habits, asparagus has regained its popularity eaten raw as a component of a salad.

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion
• A dash of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 lbs of peeled and washed asparagus tips
• 1 big potato cut in cubes
• A good splash of fresh cream
• Salt, pepper & paprika

Directions:

1. In a good-sized saucepan lightly brown the onions at medium heat.
2. Add the asparagus and the potato, and 2 to 3 pints of water and boil for
   about 20 minutes.
3. Blend well in a food processor or directly in the pot with an immersion mixer.
4. You are the chef, so you taste and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of paprika and of course
   the fresh cream.
5. Enjoy!

Sexuality not known but she did fight for gay rights

By DMITRY RASHNITSOV

Solicitor General Elena Kagan (Photo courtesy
of the WhiteHouse.gov)

United States President Barack Obama has chosen Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his next pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. If approved by the Senate, Kagan would replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring at the end of the 2009-2010 term.

Kagan was formerly dean of Harvard Law School and Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law at Harvard University. She had also been a professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. During the administration of President Bill Clinton, Kagan served as Associate White House Counsel. Kagan has never served as a judge.

While there are rumors that Kagan is a closet-lesbian, she has never confirmed nor denied her sexuality. An internet message board states that Kagan is “with a female former partner of another leading legal academic.” Also an Epinions Harvard Law Review does name her as a lesbian. She has never been married.

“She is, according to large numbers of people who have known her, a lesbian,” said political activist Andrew Sullivan, who is gay.

In addition, in April, CBS News published a blog post by Republican blogger Ben Domenech calling Kagan the “first openly gay justice.” When pressured about his claim, Domenech added to his post, “I have to correct my text here to say that Kagan is apparently still closeted— odd, because her female partner is rather well known in Harvard circles.”

While she won’t speak about her sexuality Kagan has taken several stands in support of GLBT rights throughout her career.

During her deanship at Harvard, Kagan supported a long-standing policy barring military recruiters from campus, because she felt that the military’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy discriminated against gays and lesbians. However, before her confirmation as Solicitor General, the Judiciary Committee gave Kagan a list of questions to answer, including one about same-sex marriage. She responded that “there is no federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage.”

Because Kagan has never been a judge, not much is known about what type of chief justice she would be. However from 2000-2008, she donated more than $12,000 to Democratic candidates running for election, including Obama, so groups on the left are pretty confident she will help keep the Supreme Court’s 5-4 majority of leaning left on issues.

Some GLBT groups are coming out and praising the Kagan nomination.

“We applaud President Obama for choosing Elena Kagan to become our nation’s next U.S. Supreme Court Justice.,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Sollmonese. “The U.S. Supreme Court decides cases that intimately affect the lives of all Americans. We are confident that Elena Kagan has a demonstrated understanding and commitment to protecting the liberty and equality of all Americans, including LGBT Americans.”

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force agrees.

“Some of the most important issues of our lifetime will be considered by the nation’s high court in the coming years,” said NGLTF Executive Director Rea Carey. “Our country will be best served by justices who possess a judicial evenhandedness and will give a fair hearing to the issues of equality that will ultimately come before the court. We congratulate Solicitor General Elena Kagan on her nomination today and look forward to a confirmation process that is balanced, fair and informative.”

The National Organization for Marriage, the group hell-bent on stopping the legalization of gay marriage has already voiced their disapproval for the Kagan nomination.

“A vote for Elena Kagan will be a vote for imposing gay marriage on all 50 states,” said NOM President Brian S. Brown.

The Senate is expected to take up the nomination process and interview Kagan in the coming months.