The Sound of Fast Food

...ickly coming to a close. There was a day when cellphones, cordless phones, baby monitors and all kinds of other radio transmissions were accessible to anyone with a cheap scanner. Even police and fire departments are starting to encrypt transmissions. This particular In and Out got so popular that they switched to having an employee in the parking lot with a tablet to take orders which brought an end to our office fun. I invite any musicians in th...

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Citified Parched Corn

...Then I put the nibblets in our fancy electric dehydrator. I dried a bag of baby green peas while I was at it, because I thought they might parch nicely, too. Fresh frozen corn is, obviously, very different than dried-on-the-cob corn. The fresh kernels are sliced off the cob, so they are open ended. They are missing the white part, the germ. Whole dried corn kernels will look more like popcorn kernels. And as they are whole, they act a little like...

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In Praise of Turkish Towels

...me right, really.). Meanwhile, I have as exhibits of quality textiles one baby blue towel Erik brought into our relationship and which was a hand-me-down from his mother’s house. I know it must date from the 60’s or 70’s, due to its un-ironic raised paisley pattern. It reminds me very much of my childhood. And while it is worn around the edges, it is still strong and whole. I also have the bath towel my mom bought me to take to college, and while...

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Garden Update Part II: The Good the Bad and a Lot of Ugly

...re under all that vegetation. A close look will also reveal a whole lot of baby fennel that, unless something called “weeding” is done, will take over the yard by summer. A greater threat is the asparagus fern (Asparagus aethiopicus) on the right, a vile and invasive plant that is proof of the fallen nature of this vale of tears. The plant in the center is from Annie’s annuals and I can’t remember the name of it. Kelly knows what it’s called but s...

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