I had salad on the brain this week. Last Saturday, my wife and I helped put on the second of two Olympian twelve-course dinners our church auctioned off last April.  And by Olympian, I’m talking about the denizens of that mountain in Greece, not that piddly little sporting event held every four years. The theme […]

It was one of those weeks when things just went wrong. I thought we’d already gotten through the rough part of the month what with taxes and the big 12-course wine dinner. This week was supposed to be all fun: My daughter’s birthday party, softball games, Easter, warm weather. I’d even bought a big box […]

After my trials and tribulations with cucumber soup this week, going to see an author reading about Thoreau seemed somehow inappropriate. The most recent blog deadline had already rushed past and the desperation that filled my life was anything but quiet. I railed and  railed. What was I writing this stupid blog for anyway? Didn’t […]

  My wife, the girls and I were in the San Bernardino Mountains last week, enjoying a little time with the California branch of the family. That means that this week’s soup blog is coming to you from the road.   My brother and sister-in-law’s backyard to be precise, as I am currently locked out […]

  This week’s soup is pesto.  Not one of those new, nouvelle?, pestos like cilantro, dill or mint (oops), but the classic made from fresh basil. This sauce, a paste really, was one of the first things I ever cooked on my own. Note: I’m not counting that batch of Charlie Brown’s brownies I made […]