• Food, Glorious Food

    Punk’d pies

    Just wanted to add that a comment at a recipe site mentioned adding a bit of molasses, so since I had some for the pecan pie, I added a tablespoon to the mixture to make these two. We’ll see how it turns out. I think we’re only taking 2 pies total, since there will be at least one or two other desserts. David is anxious that there will be pie left over to bring home. Oh, there may be, or I can just make more. This image was sent from Flickr as a blog entry, email or cameraphone image. Via:…

  • Food, Glorious Food

    I want pie

    Okay, my pecan pie is out of the oven and looks pretty good. I got the recipe from Elise’s Simply Recipes site, which I read regularly via Bloglines. Her recipese always look so good and they’re very easy to follow. I’m a nervous cook and always take forever fussing around getting ingredients set up in advance, then repeatedly check and re-check before I finally start combining. I will say that her recipe is a snap to put together, much easier than one I saw that involved cooking the sugars on the stove first until they got to the “crackle” stage…

  • Childfreedom

    Why Childfree People Get So Irked

    There are so many things in Dennis Byrne’s Chicago Tribune column today that I find objectionable, since I’m childfree. He apparently just became aware of the phenomenon of couples declining to reproduce and seems to be just horrified at the prospect. From the sound of it, he ran across some rants pages from the more extreme end of the childfree spectrum and he was shocked. Shocked! Yeah, Dennis, that’s the point: to shock people like you, and to reinforce the “us/them” construct between denizens of the various childfree sites. Another irksome thing: I’m pretty tired of hearing endless variations on…

  • The Life of Riley

    For Persons Who Care About Cats

    Please, please, please adopt a cat this week and give thanks for companionship, warmth, and a new friend who purrs: Chicago Tribune | Cats multiplying like rabbits David and I adopted Riley Cat Gibbs after a long spell of catlessness, and have had so much fun playing with him and getting to know his beguiling little ways. We’re so grateful we helped rescue him, and we’re grateful to the folks at PACT Humane Society who helped. There are several links to Chicago-area shelters in the Trib story – to that I’ll add a link to PACT Humane Society, Chicagoland’s largest…

  • Moblog

    At The Home Store

    We were at Home Despot earlier mulling ways to make interior storm windows. As I originally thought it might be a variation of the magnetic kit thingy I found, we were at the Plexiglas section. There was an upper shelf that was empty, except for a long cardboard box that had been repurposed by the store with the message “Please place nothing on displays,” which was written in black marker. As you can see, it looks oh so slick and professional and workmanlike. Immediately below, someone got as philosophical as it gets in a suburban hardware store: “what about this…

  • Politics, Schmolitics

    Yesterday in the House

    House Rejects Iraq Pullout After GOP Forces a Vote Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) drafted a simpler resolution calling for an immediate withdrawal of troops, saying it was a fair interpretation of Murtha’s intent. Members were heatedly debating a procedural rule concerning the Hunter resolution when Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) was recognized at 5:20 p.m. Schmidt won a special election in August, defeating Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, and is so new to Congress that some colleagues do not know her name (and she is the most junior member of Congress – Blogula Rasa). She told colleagues that…

  • Uncategorical Weirdness

    An Omnibus of Random Thoughts

    My grouchiness factor is pretty high; this has to do with a badly-designed technology “upgrade” that screwed up everyone’s macro keys, repeatedly. And of course, the “upgrade” runs like an overladen swallow on final approach to Mogadishu. This grouchiness factor is abated once I get home, smooch David, and pick up Riley-the-kitty for a slouchy cuddle in the leather armchair. Last night, I watched as two dry leaves skittered around in the wind under the crabapple trees as I left the office. As I got closer, I realized they were actually two tiny little rodents, skirmishing for the scattered fruit…

  • Politics, Schmolitics

    I Like Murtha

    CNN.com – White House: Murtha’s call is ‘surrender’ – Nov 18, 2005 “I like guys who’ve never been there who criticize us who’ve been there,” Murtha said. “I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and sent people to war and then don’t like to hear suggestions that what may need to be done.” There’s a lot of fur flying in Washington DC over Rep John Murtha’s (D-PA) about-face; this hawkish, decorated Marine vet now says “It’s time to bring the troops home.” For making this statement, he’s been targeted for special treatment by…