We have a simple rule in our kitchen: if we buy a new piece of equipment, something has to go. We go a long way with good knives and a couple decent pots, and we don’t use many gadgets. But I do like my immersion blender, and have been using it for over ten years.… Continue reading Immersion Blender
Category: Simplify
Mirepoix
I like to cook from scratch, but some days I simply want to assemble previously cooked ingredients. The solution is to have a selection of “subassembly” ingredients in the freezer. I’ve written about one of these ingredients: stock. Another is mirepoix. Mirepoix is the “holy trinity” of two parts onion and one part each of… Continue reading Mirepoix
Hita Station
I can add Hita train station, northern Kyushu, Japan, to my “delighted” list. By any standards, it’s a small station. A single train track enters town, and a single track leaves town. At Hita station, the track fans out into multiple tracks, more than enough to handle the three platforms and the boarding of an… Continue reading Hita Station
Minimizing Packaging
Filled up with dish and hand soap at Linden Hills Coop. Wish I could do the same with wine at the liquor store.
Glass Houses and Buried Museums
The Farnsworth House A Glass House in Illinois Completed in 1951, the Farnsworth House, near Plano, Illinois, is widely regarded as one of the major architectural achievements of the twentieth century. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe took his belief that “less is more” almost to the limit by designing a steel-framed, glass-walled box. The box floats… Continue reading Glass Houses and Buried Museums
Success Secrets They Don’t Want You to Know
Success is too often defined as celebrity, money, or power. Do Something A colleague, an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, was about to deliver an early morning lecture. He stood in his heavy coat, and pronounced it to be a super frigid day. The students groaned in agreement. He then asked: “What are we… Continue reading Success Secrets They Don’t Want You to Know
Tax Prep Day
Tax prep today. A first (for us): we only brought digital records. Then, we celebrated over brunch at Wise Acre Eatery.
Our Traditional Tree
Life, Phase 3, is an opportunity to simplify. Simplification will become a necessity when, one day, we move from our current home to something more manageable. With simplification in mind, we took our bulky Christmas tree to the curb. “Free. Take me.” I was attaching the “take me” sign when a car came to a… Continue reading Our Traditional Tree
Our Traditional Tree
Wrote about our traditional tree.
New Home for a Christmas Tree
Downsizing today. I was attaching the sign when a lady asked if she could have the tree. We loaded her car, giggling.