Real holidays: Happy New Year!

We had our friends Steve and Gayle over for the holidays last week (here’s the meal we made). Our grown daughter and their two grown sons (one of whom played Simon Birch just as an aside!) were over too, and we told them about a New Year’s Eve in about 1979 or 1980, when, as [...]

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A walk down memory lane…

A few days ago, I went up to the attic and pulled out two reindeer to sit on our table. The table is sitting in the middle of the kitchen right now (not its normal spot). Somehow, I didn’t plan too well and we had all 22 of our windows replaced a week ago. Every [...]

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‘Tis the season

Even in a non-religious household like mine, it’s important to remember the religious, cultural and spiritual underpinnings of this most dear of holiday seasons.  Forgotten in modern consumer focused holidays, is that Christmas is a season and not just a day. We tend to think of Christmas as happening on December 24 and 25th, and [...]

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Big river

I grew up in Philadelphia, a stone’s throw from Valley Forge. I never really thought about this; we went to Valley Forge often, like going to a city park. When we moved to Illinois, in 9th grade, none of my new classmates believed me. To them, Valley Forge was a distant myth of the remote [...]

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Lammas

In the industrial west, we’ve largely forgotten the rhythm of the earth.  On the theory of “it’s 5:00 somewhere,” we eat strawberries in February and tomatoes in May. We think food is fresh if we buy it in the produce aisle instead of in a box, or from Whole Foods instead of Safeway. We paste [...]

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Weekly Photos: Happy Birthday, America

These days, it’s hard to be a pink-haired, goddess-following, urban-farming Crazy Old Lady who votes left (oh, far far left) and yet loves her country to the point that I get a little choked up just thinking about it. I spent the afternoon at our community garden, where interestingly they had a film crew from [...]

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Matriarch

What makes a matriarch? Is a matriarch the oldest female in the family, or the wisest, or simply the one who usurps the role? We often conflate age and wisdom in our society, possibly because no one ever feels quite “wise,” but it seems safe to assume that age confers wisdom. I think my own [...]

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Sun Flowers

The Solstice is a year-marker. The longest day, the shortest night; the day when the god believes in his supremacy and his triumph over the world. He shines high and strong and hot and proclaims the summer. The Sun flowers are primary- daisy, petunia, primrose, tickweed. But though the god sleeps through the winter, the [...]

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Real food recipes: More Easter goodness

My mother grew up in the Greek Orthodox tradition. She threw out all the religious stuff, but happily kept the food. My daughter and I make these together every Easter, just as I did with my mother, and she with hers. Greek Easter Twists (Koulourakia) 1/3 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 [...]

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Real Food Recipes: An Heirloom

Here’s the recipe I made with my daughter yesterday. It’s from the wonderful Can The Greeks Cook cookbook, heavily edited by my mother, my grandmother, and me. Pastitio (Greek noodle casserole) Another recipe from Can the Greeks Cook First: 1 1/2 lbs penne or other tubular macaroni Cook according to directions on box. This needs [...]

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