Category Archives: Uncategorized

I first got excited about popovers watching my favorite Christmas movie, Remember the Night, with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. In it, the New York D.A. (MacMurray) gets stuck with a petty thief (Stanwyck) over Christmas. It turns out they’re … Continue reading →

This is the season of people falling through the ice in Minnesota. On Mondays, I read the weekend’s newspapers, looking for items mentioning the monastery, and each of the three papers: Saturday, Sunday and Monday, had small items in the … Continue reading →

Here we are, more than halfway through Advent, and I have not much in the way of baking or cooking or even spiritual reflection to offer. This year things are moving hard and fast. I find I still have trouble … Continue reading →

The reviews and weeks of over-the-top media hype (his face on an ipad commercial) had me thinking that Jonathan Franzen’s new book Freedom was akin to Tolstoy’s War and Peace or The Great Gatsby or what I consider an even greater Great … Continue reading →

Thursday, on a day that felt like fall, Steve and I went to the Minnesota State Fair. We haven’t been there for three years, though we think every-other-year is the perfect balance. Last year we tried to go– on a … Continue reading →

No one can say I haven’t thrown myself into rural life, at least the cooking part, with gusto. This year’s garden is bigger and better than last year’s, and I can add pickling to my new set of skills. Perfectionist that … Continue reading →

Well, I’ve made my first venture into the world of pickling. I’m not sure I’d want to call it a success– the real test will be once the pickles come out of their jars. I will say that they don’t … Continue reading →

On my way home from work, I was stunned to see an otter crossing the road. I was about a block from home, and this guy was obviously making his way from the wetlands in a nearby park back to … Continue reading →