I think one of the more subtle joys to living in and visiting beautiful places is what happens every time you open your eyes. Beautiful, wild vistas are good for the soul. When I first moved to Wyoming, near the mountains, I remember expressing over the phone to my mother that I would have a [...]
Archive for August, 2010
Does Anyone Remember "I'm a Cape Codder" T-Shirts?
Posted in Cooking, tagged Cape Cod, panko, pistachios, Russian literature, stuffed tilapia, sweet potato stuffing, Thomas Hardy on August 31, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Peering into the Past and Zucchini Bread Takes a Baklava Cue
Posted in Community-Building, Cooking, tagged Amherst, baklava, Berkshares, Berkshires, Boston, chocolate zucchini bread, concord grapes, New Economics Institute, Northampton, orchards, urban exploration on August 24, 2010 | 4 Comments »
They may be the subject of many a horror film, but I love me an abandoned house. Put one in the middle of the Berkshires, add a barn and a neglected orchard planted in days of old, and you’ve got the perfect turf for late morning exploration and fruit foraging. Clover and I had an [...]
Defining Home, Channeling Dr. Seuss and Making Sorbet – All in a Saturday's Work
Posted in Commentary, Cooking, tagged blackberry and sage sorbet, clearcutting, deer, going home, greed, grits, ground cherries, habitat destruction, Hudson Valley, McMansions, Nyack, overdeveloment, Pacific Northwest clear cuts, peach and thyme sorbet, Southern food, urban sprawl on August 21, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Home. I’ve been throwing the term around a lot lately, using it to describe places that conjure up different emotions in me. Upstate New York is the cradle of my childhood memories, and her hills, farms and spiderweb of long thin lakes remind me both of times and loves ones past. This month I reconnected [...]
Defining Home, Channeling Dr. Seuss and Making Sorbet – All in a Saturday’s Work
Posted in Commentary, Cooking, tagged blackberry and sage sorbet, clearcutting, deer, going home, greed, grits, ground cherries, habitat destruction, Hudson Valley, McMansions, Nyack, overdeveloment, Pacific Northwest clear cuts, peach and thyme sorbet, Southern food, urban sprawl on August 21, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Home. I’ve been throwing the term around a lot lately, using it to describe places that conjure up different emotions in me. Upstate New York is the cradle of my childhood memories, and her hills, farms and spiderweb of long thin lakes remind me both of times and loves ones past. This month I reconnected [...]
Returning to Roots and the Lure of the Land
Posted in Commentary, Cooking, tagged Albany, chana masala, Delhi, drum circles, homesteading, Indian stuffed peppers, organic farming, stuffed peppers, tahini, vegan on August 18, 2010 | 5 Comments »
In May, a very dear friend left our house in Asheville to return to her roots in upstate New York. I immediately missed her dry wit and the authentic kindness expressed by a warm heart in a strong and capable body. I also missed her cooking; Jaime and I shared a lot of the same [...]
Summer at the Dacha and Earthship Love
Posted in Community-Building, Cooking, tagged Albany Free School, Dacha, DIY, Earthships, farmer's markets, Free Skool, homemade wine, intentional communities, Ithaca, Mexican pizza, natural building, organic gardening, permaculture, polenta on August 15, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I remembered today how very much I want to live in an Earthship. If you’ve never heard of these amazing experiments in eco-happy building, check out www.earthship.com, and prepare to be awed by how beautiful packed earth, tires and old wine bottles can really be… I’m still coming to you from Ithaca, New York, and [...]
Today's Matinee: When Babies Grow Up! (And grow beards…)
Posted in Commentary, tagged Buttermilk Falls, cabins, Dansville, family, hiking, homesteading, Ithaca, puy lentils, relatives on August 9, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I’m going to blame this proclamation on the countless bumper stickers and Urban Outfitter t-shirts I’ve seen over the years: Ithaca is Gorges. Since that’s out of my system, a grand hello from Ithaca, New York. Home to Cornell University, Ithaca College, organic farms and hippies galore, and many, many years ago, members of my [...]
Southern-Style Bruschetta, Sleepy Skullcap and Stopping Burger King from Killing the Rainforest
Posted in Commentary, Cooking, tagged bruschetta, Burger King, deforestation, Dunkin Donuts, Greenpeace, grits, insomnia, orangutans, palm oil, Paradise forest destruction, Sinar Mas, skullcap, Southern food on August 26, 2010 | 7 Comments »
For the love of an orangutan, put down that BK Broiler, and think twice before stopping in for a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee fix: both companies have been tied to the destruction of Indonesia’s paradise forests, where huge swaths of pristine, old-growth rainforest are being slashed down daily to make room for palm oil plantations. [...]
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