Thinking out loud

I'd like to thank my fellow veterans for being who they were when they were needed to do what they did. Regardless of how little they think that was. Without you there is nothing.

Anyone remember the commercial where the woman makes an entire dinner out of boxes and then fluffs flour on her face and spritzes herself with water to look tired as she carries the food out to the family? I hate that commercial. A totally amazing dinner, especially one for an occasion, should be presented as if it was totally effortless to produce. I don't want people focusing on how hard I worked on it. I want them focusing on how damn awesome the food is! I think it ruins part of the enjoyment if people think you worked like a one armed carpenter to make them happy. If it's a group cooking effort I think different rules apply, but one or two cooks and several guests? They should be oblivious. I don't want my guests feeling like they owe it to me to like the food because I worked so hard to make it. If it sucks, I want to know. I'll know as soon as I take a bite anyway, so why not tell me? Now; just after dinner (or at least the first round of eating), or the n...

I am a horrible blogger. I've been meaning to post for weeks now. I actually have one written up that just needs photos attached. One of my resolutions is to blog more regularly. Please pay no attention to the fact that it took me 2 weeks to post. And don't look at that man behind the curtain either. We drew a complete blank for the last Can Jam of the year, and frankly ran out of time before we knew it. Christmas was a very busy time in our household this year, and having our neighborhood Thanksgiving celebration the first weekend of December did not help us any. My wife and I were mildly ill for most of December as well. Sniffles, headache, tired, not conducive to getting things done. We started Judo in November, and missed most of our classes in December. DD is a 2nd degree/dan/something Brown Belt, and I am a lowly white belt. Our oldest daughter is also with us on that and she is a yellow belt. Monday I got my 1st Yellow Tip, which means I learned a few words o...

Ok, for those of you who have a blog you know how this goes. You are driving down the road and you think to your self, "Oh yeah, I need to post about this!!!" This is the garden back in May. And then you get home and life happens to you. So, as you get ready to go to sleep something else hits you... This is the Rhubarb cordial, syrup, stuff. It's all gone now, mostly in Rhubaritas, but some in Rhubarb Iced Tea. A few days pass, maybe a week or two, or three, and you realize that you are way behind on anything you meant to talk about, and some things don't even make sense any more. Some people get on planes and go to foreign places... Some things show up and start eating shoes. And sometimes, even when you post the most recent picture of something, it's still three weeks old.

We are driving home from vacation right now.  I have had the most relaxing time.  We stayed with Woodman's Nana and Papa J.  They live just west of Washington DC in a little piece of heaven.  Their farm is very off the beaten path and they are the most wonderful host and hostess ever.  I feel as if I have just been to a bed and breakfast where my every need was attended to.  It isn't that they necessarily wait on you, they just make you feel so welcome and relaxed.  We did make a trip into our nation's capitol for a peek at the cherry blossoms (beautiful) and a couple museums.  We really had a great time and I am coming back refreshed.  Of course spring is in full bloom there so I played outside quite a bit and brought home some wild onions and a few starts of a willow tree.  I am so excited to get started on my garden.  Woodman and I had some discussion about why we (or more specifically I) are drawn to the locavore movement....