Annual holiday get-togethers always feature a grand cast of characters.  This year the wise-cracking drunk, the overly sensitive cook, the gushing sentimentalist, the determined wanderer, the eager helper, the laissez faire parent and the bad conversationalist all made an appearance. And that was just me. Alas, I am still in the process of discovering myself.  […]

I think of myself as a logical person.  I consider numerous solutions to a problem, weigh them against each other on the scale of reason, and choose the best alternative. At least I used to. As I get older (and lazier) I find myself turning my back on rational thought in favor of gut feelings, […]

Do you have siblings who overshadow you in all aspects of your life? Are they better looking, funnier, more successful, and just plain more likable than you are? Me neither. But if you asked those same questions of the tomatillo, you’d get a whole lot of head nodding.  Not literally.  It is, after all, a […]

This week’s soup began like so many others in this blog, at Caputo’s. This ethnic Italian grocery store has some of the best produce in town, even better than Whole Foods most of the time. Their stuff is interesting too. It reminds me of the Jon’s in my old neighborhood in Los Angeles. Jon’s had […]