Real Mushroom Soup

A half-pound of fresh portabella, shitake or other speciality mushrooms intensifies the woodsy flavor of this soup, the likes of which don’t come in cans.  Even if you use only button mushrooms, this soup is well worth making.
Clean 2 pounds fresh button mushrooms and 8 ounces fresh chanterelle, portabela, shitake, oyster or hedgehog mushrooms by [...]

Time Well Spent

Who has enough time to do it all?  In truth, none of us, but some do manage to get more done than others.  Look at your typical day.  Think about eliminating some or all of these obvious time-wasters:

Not having a plan.  A daily to-do list avoids forgetting things, and, helps prioritize when a traffic jam or flat tire [...]

Playing with Words

Reading whilst sun-bathing makes you well-red.
Alarms:  what an octopus is.
Crick:  the sound a Japanese camera makes.
Dock yard:  a physician’s garden
Incongrous:  where bills are passed.
Khakis:  what you need to start a car in Boston. 

Lights Out

Get the word out.  Today at 8:00 pm EDT, a world wide movement is set to honor our Earth and its environment for one hour.  Called Earth Hour, the simple request is to turn off the lights for one hour.  Just the electric lights–not refrigerators or furnaces or even TV’s.  
If everyone really did it, the impact would probably be [...]

Living Under a Lucky Star

To this day, the details of this story amaze even me, and I am the one it happened to. 
Memorial Day Weekend had arrived.  I was attending college in PA, my fiance was stationed at an army base in southern Georgia.  Our wedding was 6 weeks away.  Plane ticket in hand, I packed my suitcase in the [...]

The Phone Call

Innocently answering the phone this evening, I was slightly amused, but not belly laughing, when the caller responded to my “Hello” with, quote “Who is this?” using an extremely nasty and angry tone in her voice.  How dare me not be the person she thought she was calling. 
Although not the most mannerly way to talk to me, I [...]

Amaryllis

Blooming later than usual this season, these amarylis plants were a gift that began as 1 bulb at least 15 years ago.  Fortunately, getting them to re-bloom is very easy.  After blooming, cut back the flower stem, leaving the leaves to nourish the bulb.  Set the plant outside in a sheltered spot that gets filtered sunlight, watering [...]

Crabmeat and Shell Soup

Saute 1/4 cup each-chopped onion, celery and green pepper in  2 tbs.  melted butter.  Add 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, 8 oz. can diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup small  pasta shells, 1 tbs. parsley, 1/4 tsp salt and dash pepper.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add 7 1/2 oz. can crabmeat, cleaned.  [...]

“Smile, You’re on Litter Cam.”

Litter, litter everywhere and not a speck to use.  The litterbugs have been very busy again in front of this house.  You can read the mindset:  trash in the car, no cars behind to jot down a license plate number, a sheltered stretch of road….
Been toying with the idea of putting a sign out front that says, [...]

Politics As Usual

Obama vs Clinton vs Michigan/Florida.  Society, government, organizations, families.  All, well most, live by tried and true rules that have been the cement that keeps the civil in civilization. 
The two states involved broke the rules.  I understand.  I get it.  Fine them or take away any seniority in the state’s party hierarchy (even if they had nothing to do [...]