My brother has a house on a pond in North Reading. We visited today for an end-of-summer party. It was a bit too windy for kayaking.
Author: doug
Neck bones
Beef neck bones from the CSA, roasted and ready to be turned into stock.
Bonus picture: here they are 4 hours later, having been turned into 2 quarts of tasty beef stock.
Gandalf
The very picture of feline grace and dignity.
Sexy LEDs
The price/quality relationship of LED light bulbs has been moving in the right direction for several years, and now more unusual bulb types have started to be come available. These are “Sexy LEDs” brand chandelier bulbs, with the individual LED chips mounted on little stalks that look like flower stamens. The best part is, they consume 1/8 the power of the incandescents they replaced – 30W for the entire chandelier.
Goodie bag
The “goodie bag” given out by my dentist shares a theme with Smarties, Mike & Ike, and other disappointing candy given out at Halloween.
T pass
As I’ve mentioned to some of you, I’m trying an experiment: September is the worst traffic month for my commute, so I’m going to try taking the train. I’ve bought a monthly T pass to make sure I give it a fair trial. This morning was my first installment: I’m biking the 1 mile to the West Newton commuter rail, then taking the train to South Station and the Red Line to work. In bad weather I’ll have to suck it up and pay for parking. So I’ve traded briefcase for pannier, and we’ll see how it goes.
(With this post, I am caught up to the calendar: from here forward, the date on the post will be the date of the photo.)
Penzeys run
Today I made a successful run to Penzeys to replenish some herbs and spices. And by successful, I mean I got out for under fifty bucks. (Photo taken September 2, 2013)
As it should be
Compare and contrast this picture to my similar one from last week. The difference is, today’s picture is full of my friends. Instead of boring paperwork. (Photo taken September 1, 2013)
Gin
I bought gin… on purpose. Reading The Drunken Botanist on the Vineyard this year led me to believe there are gins that don’t taste like someone left a pine bough in the bottle. So I had to try it. This photo shows the ingredients for a French Gimlet. It’s pretty tasty on a warm summer day. (Photo taken August 31, 2013)
Charcoal
When it comes to a pork chop, pan-fried is quick & easy, breaded & baked is reliably juicy, and sous-vide is tender perfection. But as a celebration of summer, none of them can match good old charcoal. (Photo taken August 30, 2013)