Here is the truth about buying a home in this here economy. First, forget about anything represented in the glossy home-flipping/buying/renovating shows on HGTV, et al. I’m just about convinced the couples on them are made-up people. Avatars. Meet Mr/s. and Mr/s. Dewy-Faced & Well Dressed. S/he sharpens pencils for a living and s/he catches butterflies. The reno specialist smiles into the camera on a … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: House Shopping Begins
Chef David bought some professional equipment because he’s been itching to get at it, while we he chews on possible business plans and angles and such. Those delectable little confections are chocolate bombs, or bombe au chocolat, if you prefer. When I say it in French, The Chef rolls his eyes. I didn’t capture all of the steps, but I did many of them. This … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: In This House We Play With Our Food
I pass a road called Rosa Parks Lane each morning on my way to work. It’s unpaved and does not look like much from the major north-south artery in Wilmington that serves it. Driving past it, were you to turn your head and glance, you’d see the characteristically flat, scrubby, sandy landscape that defines coastal North Carolina, offset by clumps of Loblolly pines with their … Continue reading Reflection: Getting Parenting Right, in the Best of Times and the Worst of Times
I come from a long line of fearless women and at various times in my life have been called upon to dip into that gene pool. Sometimes when I reflect on those occasions, I marvel at how I wrestled my way through this or that miserable or terrifying chapter, but somehow did, and suppose I would again if I had to. My great-grandmother Gracie did … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: New Year, New Me…Maybe
The dog needs bathing and his hair is all over the bed, the human bed, whose sheets need changing and the rest of the bedding washed. But there is also baking to do, gifts to wrap, packages to ship, a tree to be gotten, and Christmas decorations to haul out. And there are bills to pay, checkbooks to balance, laundry to fold, and all the … Continue reading Ephemeral Magic: A Christmas Reflection
…in which I bake my first pie. It’s true, gentle reader: I’ve made it this far in my life, which is to say a certain number of decades, without ever having baked a pie. The Chef pointed out a pie crust is not so far removed from the biscuits I bake every single weekend. Huh. I decided Thanksgiving was as good a time as any … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Thanksgiving 2021
Why do you eat that stuff? There’s no food in your food. —Joan Cusack as Constance Dobler in Say Anything The Chef and I recently caught the tail end of an infomercial on the telly touting the miracles of a small kitchen appliance made to take the place of no fewer than ten other small appliances, trumpeted the announcer. It looked like cheap crap from … Continue reading Food Should Have Food in It: A Culinary Reflection
It’s not just the chill in the air, but something a bit more elusive, the angle of the sun in the east and the fragrance of drying foliage borne aloft by the wind, maybe. Whatever it is, I sensed it this morning when I took Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever outside for his first pee of the day. Here we are, feeling more and more settled in our comfortable … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: First Hint of Fall
Carolina Thinklings 