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Monthly Archives: December 2008

What they're eating in the south of France #2

From my friend in Perpignan, here’s another installment in the series “What they’re eating in the south of France.” Above: a breakfast/lunch baguette with cheese and salad, with coffee. Basmati rice with lentils, corn, and scallops Tiramisu ice cream

Winter: Greener than I'd imagined

I was away from North Carolina for 17 years, so I’d forgotten that the local flora is by no means completely dead during the winter. We’ve had a series of warm, wet days, but we’ve also had many nights with lows in the low 20s, with the lowest temperature I’ve recorded so far 16.3F. Not […]

Yum… Fritters…

I think I found a use for those dry hummus mixes. They’re healthy, and they store well, and they make good earthquake or ice storm food for the cupboard, but they’re terrible hummus. Only fresh hummus is worthwhile. However, these mixes make a good binding for vegetable fritters. The fritter above is chopped broccoli, chopped […]

Dang, what a big bird

A great blue heron (Wikipedia) I got out of the Jeep in the driveway in front of my house earlier today, and the biggest bird I’ve ever seen lifted off from the front gable of my house and lumbered out over the woods like an overloaded 747. It was huge, with a five-foot wingspan or […]

A nice carpenter gothic

This is Rockford Methodist Church, built in 1913. It’s in the little town of Rockford, close to the Yadkin River. Note the chimney. Not all old wooden churches of this vintage have chimneys. I have not been inside this church, so I don’t know what kind of stove might be, or might have been, inside.

Lady Windermere's Fan

Have you ever been to a high school drama production that wasn’t fun? I thought not. What’s that? Some of you say you haven’t been to a high school drama production? Then you have missed an important piece of Americana. The local high school did “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” and a young neighbor who had the […]

Improvements in the 'Where's David' GPS system

The track I followed today to Walnut Cove, then to Sauratown Mountain (getting lost on the way), then back home past Hanging Rock State Park and through Danbury. I’ve made some improvements in my “Where’s David” GPS system that make it practical for me to use the system any time the Jeep is on the […]

This just in…

Continuing in the category of who’s eating what where, here’s another shot of what they’re eating on Maui, with another cat as bonus. This is Phatboi, who I suspect got fat off of something other than pineapples and limes. Send me your who’s-eating-what-and-where photos! But please, mind the quality of your photography. Whatever your subject […]

Homemade sauerkraut — the first tasting

The sauerkraut was put into the crocks on Oct. 29, and the first tasting was yesterday, Dec. 3, when my mother and brother were here for lunch. At that point the sauerkraut was a little less than five weeks old. I would say that it is good sauerkraut, but not the best I’ve ever tasted. […]

Potato salad revisited

Sweet potato salad. No guilt necessary. My local grocery store in Walnut Cove has North Carolina sweet potatoes on sale for 29 cents a pound. I bought some last week and baked ’em and mashed ’em with cinnamon. They were so good I went back and bought a bunch more, wondering what to do with […]