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Creamy Corn Soup
Ever since I read this post over at Fancy Toast, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a meal out of crab cakes. They’re not cheap to make, even with canned crab, and even less cheap when you buy them like I do, pre-made. So to have enough to fill everyone up would be difficult. But I could buy us one each without breaking the bank. Last Saturday, I went to the Farmers’ Market in Pleasant Hill, and there was a booth there for a new restaurant in the neighborhood that sounds pretty yummy, Nibblers. (I only ate four or five of the little samples they had sitting…
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We Get the Government We Deserve
As I was laughing hysterically at the comic above (this is just one panel…click here to read the whole thing…I love Bad Reporter) in today’s paper, Ted was reading about how Obama’s poor choice of analogies is pushing voters over towards McCain/Palin. I will admit, when I heard Obama’s comment, I thought, “That was not a smart comment to make. Even though McCain made the SAME COMMENT about Clinton and her policies last year, in this charged environment, and so soon after Palin’s folksy joke about Hockey Moms and pit bulls with lipstick, it did appear that he was calling her a pig. Not wise. But clearly, people are getting…
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Friday Dog Blogging
Bounce Bounce Doggy Bounce… Genevieve is guest posting on Ted’s blog today. Show her some love and check it out!
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September 11, Again
This is the third time I’ve posted this. Part of me thinks I should publish something new on this, but part of me thinks I said everything I had to say back then. I’m tempted to get political this year and ask if you feel safer this year, and if Osama bin Ladin has been caught “Dead or Alive”, like we were promised…or if the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq look close to being over. I’m tempted…but I won’t. Wait. I just did. Sorry. Edelmiro Abad of Brooklyn at a wedding with his close-knit family: his wife, Lorraine, and in white from left, daughters Serena, 19, Rebecca, 26, and Jennifer,…
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Wordless Wednesday
(picture courtesy of SFGate)
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Conversation about Politics, via email
With my dear friend, who shall remain nameless, because I didn’t ask her permission to post this. This is from an email conversation we had yesterday. ************************************************************ DEAR FRIEND OF MINE: Hey darling, I had a great time a dinner too. I am glad you love me because of what I am about to say. I really like Palin. I appreciate the fact of her trying to raise a child with special needs and being a working mom. She had gotten a lot of flack and people have said how could she possibly be Vice-Pres with a small child but give me a break, how long has everyone said women…
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Poetry Tuesday
The Waking I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I have to go. We think by feeling. What is there to know? I hear my being dance from ear to ear. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. Of those so close beside me, which are you? God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there, And learn by going where I have to go. Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how? The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair; I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.…
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Vanilla, Pear, and Cinnamon Crumble
I was watching reruns of Take Home Chef last week, and Curtis made a yummy looking Pear Crumble. There are some ladies at the farmers’ market who have the tastiest pears, so when I went this Saturday, I got some specifically for the crumble. For my money, a crumble beats a cake any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Mmmm. Fruit and crunchy topping. Delicious. Seems like it would be good with nectarines or peaches, too. Even plums. So I made this yesterday, and we enjoyed it after dinner. It was good, though I kind of thought the proportions were off…I think I would use twice as many…
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Will the Circle Be Unbroken
When my mom died back in June, our friends Jeff and Leah sent me a book full of stories of death, full of stories of people’s experiences when their loved ones died, full of stories of compassion and hope. That book was Will the Circle Be Unbroken, by Studs Terkel. I had never heard of Mr.. Terkel before, but he’s a very well known interviewer and used to have a famous radio show in Chicago. He is well known for his interviewing skills, for the honesty and candor he is able to elicit. Perhaps what is most remarkable about Mr. Terkel’s interviews is that the subjects are mainly average people,…
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Book Awards Reading Challenge
I’m already a month late for this challenge, as it started August 1st. Dang. Last year, the rules were to read 12 award winning books in 12 months. This year, the rules are to read 10 award winning books in 10 months. Here are the rules, from the awards website: Read 10 award winners from August 1, 2008 through June 1, 2009. You must have at least FIVE different awards in your ten titles. Overlaps with other challenges are permitted. You don’t have to post your choices right away, and your list can change at any time. ‘Award winners’ is loosely defined; make the challenge fit your needs, keeping in…
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Talking Politics with a 12 Year Old
Last night, watching Palin speaking at the convention, Maya started asking us, “Is she lying?” She’s 12. She does not understand nuances yet, sees the world in black and white, us and them, good and bad. She likes Obama, and therefore if there’s a woman up on stage trash-talking him, she wants to know if that woman is lying. She doesn’t yet see that, sadly, ALL politicians skew the facts in their own favor, ALL politicians pump up their own resumes in order to make themselves more electable. What she wants to know is, “Is she lying?” So, I printed this article up for her today when I saw it…
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Summer Recipes of Yummy Goodness
(image not mine…I was too lame to take a picture. This picture was found here.) This Sunday again found me at the Farmers’ Market, trolling for fresh summer produce. Ted’s youngest cousin had a birthday last week, and her party was on Sunday afternoon. She is a fan of this bruschetta, so I happily made a batch to bring along.  There’s nothing like bruschetta to make you appreciate the bounty of summer…fresh, really ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, good quality olive oil…mmm. Really, really good. The recipe comes from The New Basics Cookbook. Bruschetta 12 to 14 fresh ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds) 2 tablespoons minced garlic 2 tablespoons…
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Christmas Curry
Richard emailed me awhile ago, and said that one thing he would like to keep of mom’s is a couple of her curry bowls. This is the set. She took a pottery class back in 1980 and 1981 at our local community college, and she made them for our Christmas curry. Isn’t the glaze pretty? Of all of the things I’m keeping of my mom’s, I think these are my favorite. They’re lovely to look at, and she made them herself, and they bring back memories of meals shared together as a family. When we lived in Alaska, my mom worked two jobs…first as a Montessori teacher, and second (because…
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Wordless Wednesday ~ Missing Mom
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The Thirteenth Tale
I knew how it was for him. It was easier now that I was grown up than when I was a child. How much harder birthdays had been in the house. Presents hidden overnight in the shed, not from me, but from my mother, who could not bear the sight of them. The inevitable headache was her jealously guarded rite of remembrance, one that made it impossible to invite other children to the house, impossible, too, to leave her for the treat of a visit to the zoo or the park. My birthday toys were always quiet ones. Cakes were never homemade, and the leftovers had to be divested of…