Remembering Nelson Mandela, Food Friday, Returning To Vietnam

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• Vietnam War Veterans Return To Where They Fought For Closure

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  It’s been 40 years since the Vietnam War, but for many who fought in that war, there are still many unresolved issues.

  Writer and journalist Nissa Rhee explores how some Vietnam War veterans are dealing with some of these issues in her Christian Science Monitor, “Why U.S. Veterans Are Returning To Vietnam.”

  Rhee said the instance of veterans going back to Vietnam is different than other vets returning to countries where they’ve fought for two main reasons: First, the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam and second, until the 1990s, it was very difficult for Americans to visit the country.

  Former troops return for many reasons, Rhee said, including missing-in-action soldiers, Vietnamese children fathered by U.S. personnel and open wounds regarding the war.

  A listener who identified himself as Harry from Rhinelander shared his experience returning to Vietnam. He said he spent two tours in the country in the late 1960s and he went back on a tour with several other people.

  “The Vietnam I visited six years ago was not the Vietnam I fought in, and it’s better for all of us, and I’m really happy that the country is doing well,” he said.

  Another caller who identified himself as Lee from St. Charles, Minn., said he was a U.S. Marine Corps rifleman in the laste 1960s, and he’s part of the DOVE Fund. DOVE stands for the Development Of Vietnam Endeavors. He said he has helped to build schools in Vietnam in addition to doing other service projects, which he said has been a very emotional experience. At the dedication of one school that he helped to build, there were lines of Vietnamese children waiting to thank him for his help. He said he turned to his friend with him and said, “Well, we finally got our parade.”

  Rhee said she expects a renewed interest in Vietnam veterans returning to where they fought as the 50th anniversary of the war draws near.

• Writer Offers Tips, Recipe For Holiday Cocktails

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  Holiday time inevitably brings people together to celebrate. Parties, dinners and other events this time of year have many people wondering: Just what is the perfect holiday drink?

  Troy Patterson, writer-at-large for Slate online magazine believes he knows the answer for Wisconsinites.

  “Wisconsin’s own, great eggnog tradition of the Tom and Jerry,” he said. “With brandy, dark rum and egg whites and a bit of steamed milk, it is the most palatable way to enjoy an eggnog.”

  Patterson also has suggestions for other holiday-themed drinks, like the Philadelphia Fishhouse Punch that includes brandy, rum, peach liquor, lemon juice and sugar.

  According to Patterson, hot drinks are also very popular this time of year, like mulled spiced wines, the Hot Brandy Alexander or Hot Toddy.

  “The most important thing itself is the mug itself needs to be warm,” he said, of those drinks.

  Troy’s recipe for a perfect Tom and Jerry follows:

  The Tom & Jerry
  Yield: 2 servings
  Time: 10 to 20 minutes

  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons sugar, ideally superfine
  • 1½ ounces brandy
  • 2 ounces dark rum
  • 12 ounces milk?
  • Nutmeg

  1. Start a kettle boiling.
  2. Separate the egg.
  3. Reward yourself for separating the egg by sipping just a little rum.
  4. Beat the egg white. In the best of all possible worlds, you would keep beating until soft peaks formed. In this one, it will suffice to keep beating until your arm is tired, if you’re using a simple whisk, as opposed to an electric hand mixer with traces of cookie-dough batter and saliva still clinging to it. If you really do whisk the white until soft peaks form — be honest — you have earned another little sip of rum.
  5. The kettle is whistling. Pour the hot water into two mugs to warm them up. If you own a set of dedicated Tom & Jerry mugs, then use them. Of course, if you own a proper set of Tom & Jerry mugs, then you’ve only read this far so that you can be more thorough in your contumely when derogating this recipe in the comments below and insisting upon your vastly superior family recipe.
  6. Beat the egg yolk with the sugar. Fold in the white. Pinch a bit of allspice or ground clove in there if that is how you roll.
  7. A little more rum never killed anybody.
  8. Pour the water out of the mugs and into the Christmas-tree stand. Divide the batter, the brandy, and whatever is left of the rum between the mugs. Stir.
  9. Here you are at a crossroads. You could top each of the mugs with hot water and have yourself a treat that splits the difference between a candied egg drop soup and a standard hot toddy. Or you could take the alternate route, sophisticated and soporific, of bringing 12 ounces of milk to a simmer and using that. If you use the organic milk that you pay through the nose to buy for your children, this Tom & Jerry will be sinfully filling because the milk is whole fat, because you have been led to believe that that is what is best for the children’s so-called brains.
  10. Top with nutmeg. In the absence of a whole nutmeg, substitute ground nutmeg from a jar or else a dash of fine wood chips, same diff, happy Christmas.

• Nelson Mandela's 27 Years Imprisoned On Robben Island

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  After avoiding the death penalty for sabotage, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years imprisoned on Robben Island. That time was one of the defining periods of his life.

• Hot (And Cold) Holiday Cocktails

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  In this week’s Food Friday, a cocktail fan shares some of his favorite winter and holiday concoctions.

• 40 Years Later, Veterans Return To Vietnam. But Why?

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  40 years after the Vietnam war, veterans are returning to the country, some to foster relations between the two countries, and some to find closure. A writer tells the stories of some of these men.