I don’t know about you, but I bought my CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) last December, 2021. Remember December, 2021? Joe Biden had been elected in early November. We knew that two COVID vaccines were being tested, but no one had them yet. I had not been inside a restaurant in almost a year and I was 1) tired of my own food, and yet 2) couldn’t really afford … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Pasta with Peaches … and Tomatoes? Try It, You’ll Love It!
Columnists
A la Carte: So You Have Heard of a BLT … Well, Why Not Try a BLT Soup?!
By the time you read this, my CSA (community-supported agriculture) will have begun. Will the farm stand at Stone Acres be filled with the summer’s best of the best? Well, not really. Sweet corn will be a few weeks away (and usually the Connecticut’s first sweet corn comes from the Windsor area) and tomatoes may not available for another month or more. I love my own … [Read more...] about A la Carte: So You Have Heard of a BLT … Well, Why Not Try a BLT Soup?!
Gardening Tips from ‘The English Lady’ for June, Which ‘God Invented [Because] Spring is a Tough Act to Follow’
“Cast ne’er a clout till May is out” is the medieval English saying means do not put away your long johns until May is over; well, we certainly have had a few very cool nights recently, which is just wonderful ... allowing sleeping with the windows open. I cannot remember the last time we had a real spring like the one we are experiencing this year, with plenty of rain. May … [Read more...] about Gardening Tips from ‘The English Lady’ for June, Which ‘God Invented [Because] Spring is a Tough Act to Follow’
A la Carte: A New Twist on an Old Favorite with an Unexpected History
Sometimes I try to come up with recipes that have themes or special times of years, such as holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July or Labor Day. But I sometimes I forget, before Columbus landed first in the Bahamas and later on the coast that would become America, that the native Americans were here first. I also forget about the white people, who came soon after … [Read more...] about A la Carte: A New Twist on an Old Favorite with an Unexpected History
Legal News You Can Use: Basic Information About QDROs
When a couple is going through a divorce, they often know that they will need to divide their property and there may be decisions to make regarding child custody. However, they may not be aware of the requirements of a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) and its role in the divorce. Retirement plan benefits A QDRO is a domestic relations order that creates or … [Read more...] about Legal News You Can Use: Basic Information About QDROs
A la Carte: Cowboy Beans … a Sure-Fire Favorite
I have had the requisite failures in the kitchen, and they may have been legion, but the one I remember happened decades ago and it had to do with baked beans. We lived in our first old house in Leicester, Mass. It had massive stone kitchen fireplaces, this one with a beehive oven. That failure was on a day we invited friends for dinner. It was a cold winter, and we had … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Cowboy Beans … a Sure-Fire Favorite
Reading Uncertainly? ‘And Yet . . . ‘ by Christopher Hitchens
Here is yet another compendium of literate, acerbic, often hilarious, and thoroughly opinionated essays from Christopher Hitchens, the UK-expatriate who moved to Washington for freedom from monarchy and amusement. He died in 2011 at the youthful age of 62 but these essays will long outlive him. He dissects both people (Che Guevara, Edward Kennedy, George Orwell, Barack … [Read more...] about Reading Uncertainly? ‘And Yet . . . ‘ by Christopher Hitchens
A la Carte: A Special Soup for Summer … Asparagus, of Course!
I had promised to send you my friend Stacie’s flan recipe, but time, as often, got away from me last week. Perhaps I was dreaming about a book I just finished reading, “We Begin at the End,” a sort-of growing up and murder mystery recommended by my good buddy, Rick Koster of The Day. Or maybe I was thinking about a new novel I am reading now, “The Plot,” written by an … [Read more...] about A la Carte: A Special Soup for Summer … Asparagus, of Course!
A View from My Porch: Epic Poems of Folk and Rock Part 3 — The Rock and Roll War
Editor's Note: This is the third column by Tom Gotowka under the heading, 'Epic Poems of Folk and Rock.' Find Part I at this link and Part II at this one. I continue the “epic poems” theme in this essay, but shift to the epic works of conflict; focusing on the rock and roll genre, as influenced by the Vietnam War. In review, Part 1 presented several works of folk music … [Read more...] about A View from My Porch: Epic Poems of Folk and Rock Part 3 — The Rock and Roll War
Gardening Tips for May from ‘The English Lady’: A Feast of Color Highlights the Merry Month of May
OLD LYME -- The darling buds of May” is such an apt phrase for one of the most enchanting months, bloom on bulbs and trees and the fresh foliage on trees winking in the sun. By now, you have probably removed most of the winter debris, pruned broken branches and re-edged borders. Do not however, apply that spring layer of composted manure as the soil needs to warm up to 60 … [Read more...] about Gardening Tips for May from ‘The English Lady’: A Feast of Color Highlights the Merry Month of May
A la Carte: These Chicken Lettuce Wraps (After PF Chang’s) Make Perennially Popular Hors D’Oeuvres
I can’t remember a more beautiful couple of weeks in May. Years ago my husband and I would charter a sailboat in the Caribbean for a week in the winter. The mornings were cool in the morning, warm and cloudless in the afternoons and out of nowhere a cloudburst would appear for just 15 minutes. After that it was clear and sunny for a few hours and cooled down … [Read more...] about A la Carte: These Chicken Lettuce Wraps (After PF Chang’s) Make Perennially Popular Hors D’Oeuvres
A la Carte: Surprise! Creamy Cauliflower Rice with Shrimp is a Winning Combo
I used to write about the surprises I often find in my garage freezer. I used to call it Lee’s Freezer Diary. The truth is that if I kept a diary, perhaps there wouldn’t be surprises, since the freezer often looked like Fibber McGee’s closet. (For those younger-than-me readers, it was a radio show in the 50s and maybe in early television in the 60s. Fairly often, Fibber’s … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Surprise! Creamy Cauliflower Rice with Shrimp is a Winning Combo
Reading Uncertainly? One Old Man Reads Another — Kloman Reviews Angell’s Latest
What can I say? One old man reading another! Roger Angell, the prolific editor and author from the pages of The New Yorker, begins by calling his latest book “a dog’s breakfast, because that’s what this book is. A mélange, a grab bag, a plate of hors d’oeuvres, a teenager’s closet, a bit of everything. A dog’s breakfast.” Letters, essays from the magazine, the odd haiku, … [Read more...] about Reading Uncertainly? One Old Man Reads Another — Kloman Reviews Angell’s Latest
A View From My Porch: Epic Poems of Folk and Rock Part 2
In my previous essay, I discussed a few contemporary works of folk music, that, in my opinion, are natural successors to the epic poems of antiquity. I continue the “epic poems” theme in this essay, but shift to the epic works of conflict; focusing on the rock and roll genre, as influenced by the Vietnam War, which remains in my memory as a chaotic and tragic period of American … [Read more...] about A View From My Porch: Epic Poems of Folk and Rock Part 2
A la Carte: Linguini with Rhubarb and Parmesan is a Perfect Combo, Who Knew?
I am wild about rhubarb. I had wonderful friends who had an enormous rhubarb patch. When they were younger, they would bring arms full of the ruby and green fruit to me so I could make strawberry-rhubarb pies and puddings. (Yes, I know, rhubarb is a vegetable, just as tomatoes are a fruit, but we are free to call them whatever we like!) They also showed me how to “stew” … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Linguini with Rhubarb and Parmesan is a Perfect Combo, Who Knew?