Category Archives: Uncategorized

Incompatible

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Woodland Creek Furniture makes this table. I can see myself giving the dried flower arrangement away and then sitting around it with a bunch of friends having dinner that is laid out on a groaning sideboard.

The top is hand hammered copper in a very dense pattern with a very nice red and black molten patina.

According to the catalog this densely patterned technique causes the hilltops but not the valleys to wear down enhancing the overall design. Inferior copper tops end up with indelible scars. What this all means is anyone’s guess.

The description leaves significant gaps: How heavy is a hand hammered copper table?  What its price?  Well, the groaning sideboard just weighed in, “Betcha way too much.”

I just don’t think they are going to get along.

Wowsa

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Let’s suspend reality for a minute or two and imagine that Sarah Palin is a bona fide candidate for the highest office in the land. Let’s imagine Sarah sees herself in the oval office holding tight to the reins of country bringing the dog sled home, a capable and competent Chief Executive.

Photo by Charles Krupa, AP

Mrs. Palin, if this is true, then permit me a small word. You HAVE GOT TO STOP blaming the questions when your answers get unfavorable press. Far be if for me to tell you that this is the dress rehearsal. But this is a DRESS REHEARSAL.

When you go on tv and say, defend a silly, inaccurate observation of Paul Revere’s motive for his historic midnight ride, you look anything but presidential. When you then declare the topic (Paul Revere?) was a grenade lobbed by your media enemies, frankly, I’m thinking it’s none too soon to be setting yourself up in real estate in Arizona.

Yuck it Up

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My criterion for passing along you tube videos that are supposed to be funny is I have to laugh out-loud while watching it by myself. This made the cut.

I sure hope Clark’s dog dish will have some meat in it this weekend.

Mix it Up

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Cake mix has turned many of middle-of-the-road cooks into rock stars. It happens when a competent cook comes across a recipe and says, “This has got to be really good and better yet, it’s amazingly easy, I’m claiming it.”

I saw it in action when a friend of mine offered me biscotti that she had made.

I said, “Biscotti?”

She said, “Yeah, it’s better than the biscotti you used to get from Kay.”

“Really,” I said. That biscotti was pure grade Italian issue, with a lot of time devoted to cooking, drying and cutting. But I was game. She had given me a full zip-lock baggie, I reached in, grabbed a hunk and bit down.

So this is a keeper.  Change it up if you want different flavors, butterscotch chips with caramel frosting, or walnuts for almonds, for instance. But here are the basics:

Image from Holiday Gourmet

Almond Chocolate Biscotti
1 pk chocolate cake mix
1 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup  chocolate syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 pk (10 to 12 oz) vanilla or white chips
2 TB shortening

1) Beat cake mix, flour, butter, eggs, chocolate syrup and extract until well blended. Stir in almonds, chocolate chips. On un-greased pan, half dough,  shape into a 12 x 2 log.
2) Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until firm to touch. Cool on rack for 20 minutes.
3) Transfer to cutting board cut diagonally with a serrated-edge knife into 1/2″ slices. Place cut sides down on baking sheets. Bake 10-15 minutes until firm. Cool.
4) Melt chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over biscotti; store in air tight container.

Han-dee

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I am a little behind in picking up leaves hiding out under and behind bushes in my yard. I was hoping that they’d break down a little and turn into mulch all by themselves but last time I checked, they are as sturdy as ever.

Action photo of Jumbo Hands.

On the up side, it is a good excuse to spend ten bucks on a pair of jumbo garden hands from the Walter Drake catalog.

They are big (14″ x 11″) forked plastic lids that let you scoop up a lot of leaves at one time. They come in an attractive shade of garden green in case you care about that.

Could be a Father’s Day gift as long as you stick something really good in the package with it.

‘Cause, let’s face it, getting garden hands for Father’s Day (even if they are jumbo) would be about as much fun as getting a double boiler for your birthday.

Bittersweet

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Small town cemeteries in the mid-west start bustling when Memorial day weekend rolls around. Leading up to the weekend, lawn mowers chug up and down the rows and weed eaters raise dust and gravel as they trim the edges of the winding paths.

American Legion volunteers study the cemetery map and then fan out to place a miniature flag on every veteran’s grave site.  Another crew places larger flags in a precise row along the side of the cemetery facing the road.

The chief Legionnaire orders up a sunny and hot weekend with blue skies and a bit of wind to move the leaves on the enormous shade trees and rustle the grasses in the surrounding fields.

The visitors come in clusters. They carry peonies in coffee cans wrapped in aluminum foil or pots of cheerful geraniums or wreaths with plastic greenery and purple pansies. They greet people they know and stop to catch up.

When they stop at grave sites and stoop to arrange their flowers, there are silent words of comfort that mix with the sharp pain of loss.