Month: April 2009

  • Middle English and Exploding Heads

    My son, B-man, is graduating from college in a few weeks. He’s doing what we’ve been calling his victory lap this year. In general parlance, he’s a fifth-year senior. Whatever you call it, he’s definitely ready to be finished with college and move on. And, as you might guess, Tom and I feel much the same. Not…

  • Recipe for Sticky Date Pudding

    At the request of several friends and a recent reader, I’m posting the recipe I’ve been using to make Sticky Date Pudding. I hope you enjoy it (and the moaning from your guests) as much as I do!  Sticky Date Pudding Pudding (serves eight): 250g (1 cup) pitted dates, chopped 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1½ cups…

  • A Laugh a Day…

    I sincerely hope that you have someone in your life who makes you laugh out loud at least once a day. For me, that someone is Tom, the hubby. Tom has many fine qualities, but his most endearing has to be his ability to find humor in nearly every situation, even when the laugh ends up being…

  • Guilt and My To-Do List

    In my previous life, my to-do lists were generated by the demands of a busy family and exacerbated by my professional life: get the laundry done, finish the user documentation for Client X, shop for the ingredients for the taco casserole you’re taking to the soccer banquet, compile and distribute the meeting agenda for Organization Y, call and…

  • Gluten Intolerance: Food for Thought

    Two weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a nasty headache. Getting up in the middle of the night has become something of a routine in the last year or so–not because of headaches, but because of my middle-age hormones–all exacerbated in recent weeks by the jet lag from an overseas trip. The…

  • Graduation Open House Invites

    Today I made invitations. My youngest, my baby, my 23-year-old, six foot one, two-hundred-twenty-plus pound baby is graduating from college in just over a month. And, as we’ve always done to mark such occasions, we’ll have an open house with family and friends to celebrate the milestone. Since May is such a crazy time of…

  • Food, Family, and Friends

    I’m pleased to report that the Sticky Date Pudding I served to my book club Thursday night once again elicited moans. I have to be honest, not as many as the last few times I’ve served it, but moans nonetheless. It was a tough crowd. Six of my friends were gathered around the table, juggling at least…

  • Sticky Date Pudding

    As the self-anointed Sticky Date Pudding ambassador in this part of the world, I have made a solemn vow to spread the Sticky Date Pudding love whenever and wherever I can. To that end, I’m serving it tonight at my Book Club. I can’t wait! For the uninitiated, Sticky Date Pudding–at least the version I’ve…

  • Welcome!

    For the eight years prior to January 1, 2009, I earned my living as a technical writer. For most of that time, I enjoyed working for wonderful clients on challenging projects, but as the years passed, the actual content I was required to produce grew ever more repetitive, so repetitive it could have written itself if it…