[I] only learned this past year that my birthday falls on a national holiday. National Waffle Day!! On Aug. 24, 1869, the first waffle iron was patented in the United States. I celebrated the auspicious occasion with waffles — made by someone else. It was, after all, my birthday…shouldn’t I […]
“To feed your Muse, then, you should always have been hungry about life since you were a child.” — Ray Bradbury, “Zen in the Art of Wrting: Essays on Creativity” [R]ay Bradbury told me why I am here. He told everyone, but only some of us were listening. I feel […]
I have had the privilege of attending many powwows and from my first time at one, I’ve sought them out around California. I go for many reasons, not the least of which is that I find going resets my heart to a rhythm matching that of the drums and dancers. […]
I first learned of nasturtiums several years ago when they were included in a planned herb garden kit. The seeds were large and legume-like, similar — to me, at least — to garbanzo beans. I planted them, along with parsley, thyme, borage, sage, etc., having little to no idea of […]
I cannot begin to write about my mother’s bread making without mentioning her kneading. And I would have to begin any discussion of her kneading by describing her hands. My mother is not, nor has she ever been, a delicate doily of a damsel, and neither are her hands. Big, […]
Long ago, my heart fell into a doughnut hole — I have yet to retrieve it. I don’t want to. We are meant to be lost to some passions. My love for doughnuts began as a child or, perhaps before. I was the daughter of a man whose first job […]
Should the first soufflé you’ve ever eaten be the one you made yourself? Should the first soufflé you’ve ever made be served to anyone other than you and perhaps one other trusted friend? I’ll have to say “yes” to both questions, as my experience with soufflé — long on my […]
Easter has always been a favorite holiday, between the arrival and celebration of all things spring and all things rabbit, to the traditions of goody-filled baskets (our childhood Easter bunny was a rock star who gave us kites and books) and an egg-enhanced meal, what is there not to love? […]
It dawned on me recently (dawning can often come surprisingly late): I grew up surrounded by grains. Living in the rural Midwest, our farm was a cluster of trees centered in vast open fields that yielded oceans of golden wheat. Sometimes, the fields were planted with sorghum (we called it […]
Every year on March 17, many Americans channel their inner Irish…wait, I’m not even going to dignify it with that kind of phrasing. A number of Americans use St. Patrick’s Day, like many other holidays, as an excuse to overindulge. They drink – a lot. And it’s ridiculous because the […]