Archive for the ‘*Petra’ Category

« Newer Entries
Older Entries »
h1

TND – This is what happens when . . .

February 18, 2011

Other people have these moments too right? Those moments when you crash headlong into the wall that divides your expectations of the world from other people’s expectations of the world? And you’re baffled, because how could other people do this thing differently? I’m not talking about the little things you learn when you live with someone – like they tend to leave cupboard doors open, or will return empty bowls to the fridge – which granted are equally baffling, but you learn to live with them. I’m talking about times when you realize that not everyone’s mother considered knowing how to iron a shirt, or sew on buttons, or rewire a light socket essential life skills to be learned before departing the ancestral home. Because, how can you not know how to iron a shirt? Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

h1

TND – You Keep Using That Word

February 10, 2011

Apparently the new It thing in the food world is the ‘flexatarian diet’. I’ve read articles about it, and definitions of it, and I’ve heard its praises sung from the rafters. But here’s the thing, I honestly can’t figure out what it is.

According to the most recent edition of Bon Appetit a flexitarian diet is:

“A flexitarian diet focuses mostly on plant-based foods but includes meat, poultry, and fish in small amounts. Flexitarianism is the perfect diet for people who know they need to eat more veggies but don’t want to give up meat completely. And the health benefits are impressive: Plant-based diets have been shown to be high in vitamins, fiber, and nutrients. Add a little meat now and then, and flexitarians also get all the protein (and flavor) of animal products.” Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

h1

TND – No really, I got it

February 4, 2011

Okay so last week when I said it could always be worse?  That wasn’t an invitation.  I don’t actually need to live out the Russian Jewish folktale.  I’m already on board with the moral of the story, I don’t need it proved to me with another 20+ inches of snow.  Or, as actually transpired 6-10” of snow on Tuesday, followed by more snow overnight and then freezing rain to compact it all and turn it into solid ice on Wednesday.  I had my second snow day of the year and spent it shoveling snow, chipping at ice and then attempting to recover by adding shots of whiskey to my coffee.  On the other hand, my roommate had to go to work, so I guess it – say it with me people – could always have been worse. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

h1

TND – It Could Always Be Worse

January 26, 2011

Never let it be said that the maxims learned from picture books don’t stick with you.  There’s a Russian Jewish folktale that I am reminded of every winter around about the end of January/mid-February when the weather is unendingly vile and my parents are sending me unsympathetic emails about how they’ve taken a picnic and sat outside in the sunshine reading a book in the forecourt of a 15th C country chapel.

It could always be worse. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra | 5 Comments »

h1

TND – Letter of the Law

January 20, 2011

Michael Pollan wrote a book a few years ago called Food Rules: An Eater’s Manuel. I’ll confess that I haven’t actually read it, mostly because the reviews I’ve read make me think that it’ll annoy me and I’m all about avoiding things that I know will irk me if they’re not essential to being a responsible adult. I mean reading the newspaper every day frequently makes me want to bang my head against the wall, but I still do it because see above about being a responsible adult. I can, however, avoid food manifestos without sacrificing a claim towards being a grown up. That being said, it’s fairly hard to read food blogs regularly without picking up on what some of the big rules are. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

h1

TND – Snow Day!

January 13, 2011

The first decade of the 21st century is now officially over (anyone want to take bets on how long it is before VH1 does a Best of the Aughts series?). I feel like this should be more momentous than it actually seems to be, mind you I thought this about Y2K too and that passed by with more of a whimper than a bang. I thought about doing a roundup of how my eating habits have changed in the last decade, but honestly I can barely remember what I had for dinner last Friday much less what I was and wasn’t eating ten years ago. However, I think I can remember back as far as January 2010, so here are the things I discovered, things I’m cautiously optimistic about, and things which I tried and failed to develop an appreciation for in 2010. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

h1

TND – The Third Thing

January 5, 2011

The third thing was totally snow. Not, I’ll point out, snow in Boston (because when Boston got 20” of snow, Logan airport was open again the next day). No, it was snow in London which was much much worse. Through an unfortunate confluence of bad luck (lots of snow in a short period of time), poor planning (not enough de-icer fluid) and incompetence (‘we were prepared for the snow on the runways, but were surprised at how it piled up around the planes’ – which, what? Did you think that snow was selective about where it fell?) Heathrow shut down for something like 5 days just before Christmas. This resulted in an unsurprising, if tedious, amount of chaos. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments »

h1

WND – Caveats

December 9, 2010

My standard rule is that you can ask for anything you like (within reason) for your Birthday Dinner. It has become clear that I need to amend this to anything you like within reason that adheres to some form of nutritional balance. By within reason I mean I won’t make wild boar in port sauce on the grounds that Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

h1

WND – The Zubin Look

December 3, 2010

My perennial New Year’s Resolution is to stop looking at people like they’re moronic, not because people aren’t frequently stupid but because it seems impolitic and like a wearying way to go through life.  This resolution gets harder and harder to remember the later in the year that it becomes.

In an effort to make it through the end of the year without egregiously transgressing on my own resolution I’d like to request a moratorium on idiotic questions (also on people who don’t understand the serial comma, and end sentences on prepositions).  Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

h1

WND – More than one standard deviation from the norm

November 18, 2010

Generally speaking I can tell how my week is going by how early in the week I make my menu plan, and therefore my grocery shopping list. The earlier in the week the list gets made, the worse the week is. Last week I didn’t get around to making my grocery shopping list until Friday evening because that was the first time I had time to breathe. This week I had my grocery list done by Monday afternoon, but that owes more to the fact that next week is Thanksgiving and I’ve had that menu plan down since early October than it does to the quality of my week thus far. This particular grocery shopping list is typed, itemized, has been double checked and includes a timetable for Thanksgiving. It’s not the most fussy list I’ve ever made, but it’s possibly in the running for the top 10. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in *Petra | Tagged , , | 5 Comments »

« Newer Entries
Older Entries »