Sylvia Plath

When I was nine, a lime-green anesthetist
Fed me banana-gas through a frog mask. The nauseous vault
Boomed with bad dreams and the Jovian voices of surgeons.
Then mother swam up, holding a tin basin.
O I was sick.

- Sylvia Plath, from the poem Face Lift

Alice Carrier

Art
Food

Robert Frost

MENDING WALL

by Robert Frost

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

Difficult People

Helpful hints on dealing with difficult people.read

My Mantras:

It's a big world
What is the lesson?
Breathe deeply
Blow your brains out - on the sax
Poetry and libraries are free!
Keep walking, keep writing
Keep doodling and daydreaming
incubating, simmering, and fermenting
and dancing

Allergies!!

Look what I found on Web MD. . .

Caffeine from tea or coffee can act like antihistamine in the body, according to Leopold, but the tea and coffee need to be of high quality and freshly brewed. Hot liquid in general will have soothing effects on the throat and sinus congestion.

Horseradish not only offers the mucus-thinning benefits of other “hot” spices, but studies have indicated that some horseradish constituents may have antibiotic activity. The hot sauce will also help clear the sinuses.

source

Teddi Scobi

Making Life Easier for Those You Love

by Teddi Scobi

I want to be a bodhisattva
and devote my life
to others.

So Jake can be
reborn as a human
and use a fork
and knife to eat.

Then he won’t have to lick
from the side
of the bowl.

- Teddi Scobi

Cooks Valley Farm

We mail order winter vegetables from local Cooks Valley Farm. Last week I asked Marilyn to put together an assortment of their potatoes so I could learn about them. This morning I washed them and put them in my 1920's dutch oven, covered. I put the oven up to 350 degrees F and forgot about them. The amazing aroma climbed up the stairs to my office and reminded me to check on them. They were amazingly delicious. I had a finger potato and then a purple potato both with a drizzle organic olive oil we received as a Christmas gift--with some kosher salt and twists of fresh pepper. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

Here's a sample of last weeks potato list.

Yukon Gold 1.50/lb size med. or large
Red Norland 1.50/lb. small or med.
Adirondack Red 1.50/lb. small, med., large; red skin, red flesh
Adirondack Blue 1.50/lb. small, med., large; blue skin, blue flesh
Peter Wilcox 1.50/lb. small or med.; blue skin, yellow flesh
Nicola 1.50/lb. yellow skin, yellow flesh; similar to Yukon Gold
French Finger. 2.50/lb. red skin, yellow flesh
Russian Banana Finger 2.50/lb. yellow skin, yellow flesh

Dutch Baby

I made a gigantic seven cup sourdough whole wheat bread in my Dutch oven yesterday. It is a shiny mahogany with air bubbles bursting up. It is the most glorious bread I have ever seen. My cat Sammy thought so too and he jumped up on the kitchen stool to reach the bread. He nibbled the top crust while we were around the corner sitting at the table.

After 37 years of bread baking I still try to cultivate a beginners mind.

Mike Avery's Sourdough Passion

Love doesn't just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread. remade all the time, made new.
- Ursula K. LeGuin

Make do with bread and butter till God brings the jam.
- Berber saying

It isn't bread that feeds you; it is life and the spirit that feed you through bread.
- Angelus Silesius, in Der Cherubinische Wandersmann

And we feel there is no better bread than bread made with sourdough. As Dr. Ed Wood summed it up: "10,000 years later, and there's no better way to raise bread!"

We have learned to see in bread an instrument of community between men - the flavor of bread shared has no equal.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

source

Improvisation

I never know what I am doing or where I'm headed when I paint, write, or cook. Today I was reheating some whole wheat elbow macaroni and ended up slicing some black radishes and green cabbage and onion and I was off and running expanding into larger and larger pots on the stove. I ended up with a huge and delicious pot au feu. I used everything in the fridge! I used the leftover whey from yogurt cheese, cubed rutabaga, thin sliced cabbage, home made yogurt, garlic, shallots, onion, red chili flakes, salt, black pepper, splashes of soy sauce, gloops of peanut butter, sesame oil, Adobo and salt. It tastes like Hungarian meets Asian. It's fabulous!

Cafe Mocha

I just made this in a small mug and it was delicious.

A teaspoon of dried unsweetened cocoa and a teaspoon cane sugar dissolved in heated evaporated milk and blended with hot coffee.

Enjoy!

Histamine High

A few years ago our doctor told me I had a histamine high. Today I found an article about it. read here.

The Circus of Lost Dreams

by Nin Andrews & Emily Lisker. View the announcement on my painting blog here.

Spring Seasoning

Every Spring I take out my vast collection of cast iron frying pans and Dutch ovens and rub them down with Price Rite brand generic Crisco. I bake them (stacked up) for an hour at 300 degrees F. When they cool I wipe out the excess oil. They are gorgeous and sexy, and they behave like Teflon! The house smells weird from the baking grease, so I bake bread afterward.

Martín Espada

The Republic of Poetry: Hampshire College Commencement Address
read here.

Topping off the Toast

Yesterday I made home-grown yogurt. Then I strained it through a white cone coffee filter to make yogurt cheese and separate the whey to use later in soup or bread. I sliced green pimento olives and added them and a few twists of fresh black pepper. It was a great topping on sourdough toast.

When I stepped outside there was a camera crew filming the latest drug raid. I say blame the plethora of slumlords! They are the ones who turn a blind eye to the drugs, pit-bull breeding and automotive title scrubbing going on daily in our beloved city neighborhood.

Lat: 42.0° N Lon: 71.5° W

Home sweet home.

Monster Corporations!

CVS is telling its employees they need to reveal their height, weight, body fat percent and other personal information for health insurance purposes.

In CVS's case, workers not comfortable getting the review done will have to pay a $600 annual penalty.

source.

Leo Tolstoy

Running into the marsh among the familiar scents of roots, marsh plants, and slime, and the extraneous smell of horse dung, Laska detected at once a smell that pervaded the whole marsh, the scent of that strong-smelling bird that always excited her more than any other.
-Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Just Out!

The Circus of Lost Dreams by Nin Andrews & Emily Lisker
link here.

Woody Allen

I'm not a drinker, my body won't tolerate...eh...spirits, really. I had two martinis New Years Eve and I tried to hi-jack an elevator and fly it to Cuba.
-Woody Allen

Asthma and Running

Tips:
Take Your Meds

Asthma medications work by relaxing the muscles around your airways. It's when these muscles constrict (an occurrence known as bronchospasm) that asthmatics experience wheezing, coughing, and difficulty breathing.

Quick-relief asthma medications such as Albuterol, which are often prescribed as rescue inhalers—so called because they are designed to ease symptoms within minutes—can also be used as prophylactic or preventive medication, says Roberts. So, runners with asthma can take a dose as directed a few minutes before a run to help manage symptoms.

If you have chronic asthma (that is, your symptoms aren't triggered solely by physical exertion), you'll probably need to be on a daily control medication, like an inhaled steroid, in addition to having a rescue inhaler.

Protect Against Pollen

Pollen allergies can trigger asthma symptoms for some sufferers of exercise-induced asthma, so it's smart to run when pollen counts are at their lowest, which is usually in the early morning. Roberts also recommends checking your local pollen count online (try weatherunderground.com or pollen.com) and running on the days when the count is lowest. Afterward, shower as soon as possible to get the pollen off your hair and skin, and toss your workout clothes directly into the hamper.

If the pollen count is high even in the morning, do what Roberts does: Consider substituting an indoor activity for running, or doing something outdoors that doesn't make you breathe as hard, such as kayaking, biking, or walking.

Cover Your Face

Even people without asthma find themselves coughing during runs in cold temperatures. Why? Breathing cold, dry air results in cold, dry airways—a trigger for bronchospasm.

Roberts suggests covering your nose and mouth while running so the moist air you exhale will help humidify the air you inhale. Stay away from cotton bandanas, which can freeze against your face in cold temperatures. "Fleece balaclavas or neck gaiters are probably the best," Roberts says. "They maintain a fair amount of warmth even when they're wet, and they'll stay thawed pretty easily."

Be Smart

* Always carry your rescue inhaler. And not just while running. "There's no reason not to have it," Roberts says. "You can slip it in a lot of places, like the pockets in running shorts." You may never need to use your rescue, but if you do, you'll be very glad you have it.

* Have a game plan. Confirm with your doctor the steps you should take if you have an asthma attack. Should you call the doctor's office so they can determine the severity of the attack? Or should you see if you can get relief from your rescue inhaler? Create an action plan that both you and your doctor are comfortable with.

Roberts' advice for when you get into trouble: "You want to clear this with your physician, but what I tell my patients to do is to take as many puffs of your inhaler as it requires to stop the attack, or until you start to shake so much [a side effect of the medication] that you can't hold your inhaler. For some people, that's four to six puffs every five minutes for several minutes. I start shaking after two puffs."

* Consider wearing a medical alert tag. A bracelet or tag that indicates you have asthma can save first responders valuable time. "Giving the right medication quickly could be lifesaving," says Roberts.

* Take extra precautions if you have severe asthma. If you've ever had what Roberts calls a "flash attack," in which you quickly go from feeling good to being in severe distress, you should either run with a friend or carry your cell phone—or both.

source

Slow-Baked Whole Chicken in a Dutch Oven

2 teaspoons paprika (we like Hungarian)
Kosher salt sprinkled everywhere!!
1 teaspoon dried thyme, fresh if you have it
garlic powder or a whole bulb of garlic unpeeled--just thrown into the chicken cavity
sprinkles of cayenne (red) pepper
twists of freshly ground (black) pepper
1 chopped onion
1 large chicken rinsed and patted dry.
Combine the dried spices in a small bowl - or not. I prefer to wing it-- free-form style
Chop the onion in rough chunks. Add a chopped carrot if there's room!
Remove any giblets from the chicken and then rub the spice mixture all over--even under the skin. If you have one, put prepared chicken on ovenproof trivet inside the Dutch oven. The chicken fat will melt and fall below. Add the onions to the pot and cover and bake in a 225 degree oven for hours. There is no need to add any liquid.
Check and baste occasionally. Throw in half a lemon or lime--into chicken cavity-- if you have them on hand. Cook until chicken is falling off the bone.

Dancing Cows

Cows belong in fields. We have known it for a long time. And the cows agree!

In March 2012, we visited a farm in the UK to film cows being released from their indoor winter housing to their fresh pasture for spring and summer grazing.

Some dairy cows never get to leave the confines of their sheds, but instead are kept indoors all year round in intensive zero-grazing systems.

Zero-grazing is already common in the USA and we do not want to see this practice become commonplace in Europe or anywhere else.

We believe that all cows should be given access to pasture and want to see an end to the practice of zero-grazing.

source