I need a vacation from the vacation.” It was The Chef’s answer to me after we wrapped up our Thanksgiving travel, when I asked how he was feeling ahead of his first day back at work, just a few hours away. We had five glorious days off, five consecutive days, where our agenda was possibly a tad too ambitious. Heading over to Asheville to spend … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Thanksgiving 2023 Is in the Books
A certain ‘smart speaker’ makes quick book purchases a tad too easy, doesn’t she? Open email, flip through the Times book review, ask her to buy it now, and Bam! an exciting new read (or a pile of ‘em) shows up on your doorstep in a day or two. To make matters worse, I happen to be a hardcover snob and relent to a paperback … Continue reading Reflection: Exploring the Deep South (Slowly) With Paul Theroux
Black Bean and Chipotle Chowder; see recipe down below On this crisp, low-humidity October day, the light in the kitchen seemed magical to me so I decided to chop and click. No words, just images on a beautiful fall Sunday in coastal North Carolina. From Soup for Syria, contributed by Jane Hughes: 1 t vegetable oil 2 small onions, diced 3 small carrots, diced 4 … Continue reading Photo Essay: Silent Sunday Soup
This morning I experimented with a new bread recipe that came in two steps, the first a starter to make the night before, and then the balance to make the next morning. I was trying to replicate a Tuscan loaf I bought locally that was so, so good. This does not resemble it at all, but I must say, is so, so much better. Given … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Trying Something New
And B is for bicycle wreck, which is how last week started. The skin on my legs is variegated in the most gorgeous technicolor hues right now, and there’ve been surprise areas of new mottling every day. Funny I didn’t feel all those pop-up bruises from the first instant I hit the pavement. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: A Is for Anniversary
My SIL down in Charleston got me interested in this pepper-ish website months ago, and I bit. We don’t have any growing space at our new place beyond the ornamental beds around our immediate house—the greenspaces in this neighborhood are all ‘common’ areas maintained as lawn by the HOA, and that suits us just fine. No more mowing. But that means any fresh veg we … Continue reading Labor Day Almanac: Summer of Peppers
Memories that pop up in social feeds can be cruel, but as often they’re so beautiful. Once in a while, images surface as reminders Chef David and I somehow found time to do things together, a lot of things, in the chapter that was life in Vermont. But leisure time seems so elusive somehow in this chapter. We’ve been in our new house for a … Continue reading Reflection: Piloting Through Chapter and Verse
And because of its distinctly non-human condition, it sure can’t tell stories like we can. Recently I was tasked with composing an essay all about it for work. If you’re interested, go here and check it out. Continue reading Reflection: AI =/= Human
The last two things I remember about the day I left Knoxville forever were gripping fear and a cameo of my ex-husband’s backside as he stood before the kitchen sink with the tap open. He was washing his hands (metaphorically too, I suppose) while the morning sunlight filtered through the stained-glass window framing him; I hoped with all my might he was bawling, but I … Continue reading Reflection: I Have Stories to Tell
It has been a while since I exercised my camera and my eye and so today I decided to capture what was a fairly typical Sunday in our household. It is quiet but not, relaxing but busy. When we put off Sunday chores we pay for that decision all week long. Scoutie and I started our morning outdoors while David was at work, a job … Continue reading Sunday Photo Essay: Domestic Arts
Carolina Thinklings 