I suppose this would be the place where I count up all the noteworthy events that occurred during the past year and list my resolutions for the new decade. But last night I watched a documentary about Howard Zinn, the radical historian, and it reminded me that what growing my own food here in the [...]
Entries from December 2009
Is Phys Ed The Death Of Learning?
December 29th, 2009 · No Comments · Wellness, kids
It may just be impossible to take seriously what Washington Post reporters write in their blogs.
Jay Mathews, the Post’s education reporter, says the “Healthy Schools” initiative introduced recently in the D.C. Council makes a big mistake by requiring the city’s children to engage in more physical activity. How, Matthews wonders, will they ever have time [...]
Breakfast
December 28th, 2009 · No Comments · Blog
Fried eggs with leftover venison stew.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Shopping: None
What you see peeking out from between the eggs is a big dollop of sour cream, which completes my venison stew. This stew resembles a goulash with its abundance of thick, brown sauce. I love the way the yolks from the eggs mingle with the souce, [...]
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Have Grain, Need Market
December 27th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Sustainability
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Someone has started growing and milling grain again close enough to the District of Columbia that you can buy it at the local farmers market.
That would be Rob Moutoux, representing the third generation of Moutoux farmers famous for their orchards, formerly at Seven Corners in Fairfax County. [...]
Tags: farmer's market·local farming·local foods·whole grains
Holiday Chilaquiles
December 26th, 2009 · No Comments · Ethnic, breakfast
We normally wait until February for our annual chilaquiles brunch. But it seems this favorite Mexican breakfast food, traditionally made by recycling old tortillas with red or green sauce and a bevvy of garnishes, has crashed the American Christmas party. The Washington Post’s food blog this week linked to the Slow Cook’s recipes. You can find everything you need [...]
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The Gift Of Seeds
December 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Blog
The doorbell rang last night and who was standing there in the cold but our friend Lee holding a platter of cookies and a bundle of seed packets tied with a festive bow. But not just any seed packets. These were all from the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson’s gardens are suddenly in [...]
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You Louse
December 23rd, 2009 · 4 Comments · kids
Nothing gets your motor running at the top of the morning like an 8 a.m. call from a friend saying, “I think your daughter has head lice.”
That would be our friend Becky who had hosted daughter, 9, for a sleepover. She noticed head scratching and, since she had gone through an “all-consuming” infestation with her [...]
The Show Must Go On!
December 19th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Blog
The Washington Chorus was missing an organist for its annual candlelight Christmas performance at the Kennedy Center yesterday afternoon. They tried to fly one in from Canada, but he reportedly was held up at customs. An even more last-minute replacement from the D.C. area was snowed in.
“So I will be trying to play the organ,” [...]
Tags: District of Columbia·snow·winter
Blizzard of ‘09
December 19th, 2009 · No Comments · Blog
A low pressure system moving up the Atlantic coast creates perfect conditions for a huge dump. We are expecting up to two feet of snow in the Washington, D.C., area between now and tomorrow morning. In other words, plan to be indoors. We will be working on leftovers. Can you say, “turkey soup?”
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
