Like asking Dwight about beets, Obama about healthcare

It's really hard to photograph goats. I quote Owen far too much, but as he puts it, "They're like paparazzi when th…

No one has been hospitalized after 23 hours, so I'm calling it a success

I've stalled out on Barbara Lynch's Stir , a great book that I've been dawdling through for months. I was going to ca…

The mother of all catch-up posts

Should we forbid this comportment at the dinner table? Should we laugh it off? I never would have worn a box to dinner! I wonder …

Catch-up post #3: Off the Grid

If you don't live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you probably don't know how cold it has been this summer, how Siberian t…

A perfect Berkeley day

That's not a Novella Carpenter cardboard cut-out Owen is standing behind, it's the real Novella Carpenter, author of Farm…

Does that look heavy to you?

Capital letters denote words spoken in anger. Tipsy: Owen, it's time to feed the goats. Owen: Why do I have to do EVERYTHING…

She needs a haircut

I poured a glass of wine, pulled out my wallet, and Owen and I ordered some chicks the other night. What with shipping, you pay a…

Breakfast of cowboys

Here's a surprise: Muffins are even better when you dunk them in a half pound of melted butter and roll them in sugar.  …

Better cream of tartar biscuits

Every photograph ever taken of Owen would look like this if he had his way. He's eating biscuits, watching League of Super Ev…

Again I am wrong about something

This is the tiny frizzle hen that inspired me to buy Owen a frizzle hen last fall. Owen's black frizzle was ugly, miserable,…

Moro yogurt vs. Brown Cow

On the left is homemade yogurt with strawberry jam. What's on the right was marked down at Whole Foods this week. Although I…

An almost horror story

Two nights ago, Owen and I could not find Rhoda, one of our favorite chicks. She's perky, smart, and rust-colored.  We search…

The kitchen bitch vs. bitchy in the kitchen

Owen has claimed Isabel's Snuggie as his own, a practice we called "Indian giving" back in the day. They don't …

While I was napping

That's a clone of a Mars Munch Bar that my husband and Owen  made out of Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes Unlocked  yeste…

Three pies down, two to go

I always thought that I was drawn to cooking because my mother had so few inclinations in that direction. She was always installi…

Gourmet Today: roasted pears and candied celery

Right before we went to Boston last week, we had party with my uncle Luis, his wife Ana Maria, and my grandmother. The only dish …

If what she's trying to show (not tell) is utter contempt -- A+!

This was on the screen of our family computer when I sat down a few minutes ago. It is a writing assignment that Isabel produced …

A Perfect Picnic

I'm taking a short break from Cecilia Chiang and Chinese cooking because my captive eaters are disappearing for the next few…