Learning How to Drink Scotch: the Rusty Nail
I’ve never been much of a scotch drinker, never really found a way I liked it. I tried it on the rocks, with water, straight up, basically anyway I could find it, but scotch and I just never really hit it off. Until now. At a friend’s house, I was recently introduced to the rusty nail, and I was pleasantly surprised at what a wonderful sipping drink it is. She made it with equal parts Dewar’s and Drambuie and floated one ice cube in the mixture. We sipped for a good while because it’s a pretty strong drink, but it...
New Year’s Resolutions and Deer
I usually make a resolution or two each year, and just like everyone else, I fall off the wagon at some point on some of them, but others stick. For instance, last year, I made these resolutions: Eat fish twice a week Cook food from a different country each month Eat a mono-unsaturated fat (MUFA) with each meal Drink no more than two cokes a week I failed pretty miserably at the second one. I bought two cookbooks about food from Spain, the country chosen for January, and promptly stopped there. The others I did fairly well at for most of the year. I ordered...
Learning to Cook a Meatless Meal for a Crowd
A good friend is in town for a few weeks, and we had him and some other friends over for dinner last night. Because one of my New Year’s resolutions is to only eat local meat, preferably with no added hormones, and I haven’t acquired said meat yet, I needed a veggie meal that could feed a crowd and was hearty and filling. I opted for one of my favorites: baked penne with vegetables. I’ve used a variety of vegetables and cheeses in the past, but I think the version last night is one of my...
Cashews Make Me Happy Today and Miserable Tomorrow
I have finally succumbed to being allergic to cashews. I love them. My body rejects cashew nuts. I love them. When I wake up the day after eating cashews, my mouth hurts. I love them. Cashews make my lips swell. I love them. Eating cashews causes an itchy roof of the mouth. I love them. Cashews cause tiny, itchy bumps along the edge of my lips. I love them. I love them. Some lessons aren't as fun to learn as others, and after two major reactions to cashews in the past year, I am finally retiring them from my snack list. The itchy lips are not worth the tasty...
Seed Saving in the Fall Means Money Saving in the Spring
The weather is so beautiful today that it has me thinking about gardening. I spent most of the afternoon perusing my Organic Gardening issues and planning out the spring beds. Although this is very out of season and perhaps not all that useful to folks in January, I’m posting about my seed saving techniques for peppers this past year. For the past few years, I’ve been working on becoming a better gardener. I discovered in college that I liked houseplants and started there many years ago. I then graduated to...
Learning How to Paint and Add Baseboards and Molding without Blowing the Marriage
My husband and I have recently remodeled a room in our home. This room was billed as the master bedroom when we bought the house, but we use it as the family room (read: where we watch movies and play the Xbox). It was a hideous shade of blue. Somewhere in the sky blue family. I think some people may consider this color appropriate for a baby boy’s room, but they are wrong. This blue was offensive. The carpet is also offensive, but that change will have to wait for more funding.
Now Reading
Planned books:
None
Current books:
-
The Western Intellectual Tradition, from Leonardo to Hegel by Jacob Bronowski
-
The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
Recent books:
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- Wandering Star (Lannan Translation Selection Series) by J.M.G. Le Clézio
-