voyager

A remarkable woman, a life well lived. You and she were fortunate to have had each other. Savor your memories.

Your experiences at the Acropolis sent me into a deep depression as I recalled our visits with our then pre-teen son. We waltzed onto the Acropolis at our convenience, often returning after dinner to enjoy its moonlit magic, spur of the moment visits to museums throughout Athens and Crete, Florence's Uffizi and Pitti, a dozen Roman sites including the Vatican museums, all without need much less thought of reservations. And even then, seasoned travelers taunted us with stories of old days when travel was so much easier!

Ramps available at "corner store", $39/lb. On way out of store, I encountered a man with a bunch in his hand. He was showing and trying to explain them to a young butcher. I quipped that I wanted to go home with HIM. He was delighted, telling the butcher, "See? SOME people understand them!"

Do you drive? I drive between 5 and 10 miles a week. Else, on foot.

It all depends on one's criteria. Since it is a town car, and parking in SF is essentially a figment of one's imagination, length was my determinant. Current car (Honda Element) = 170" Mini = 155" Madza3 = 175" to 184" Those 20 someodd inches usually mean finding a spot or cruising the neighborhood for hours.

Son is giving me “driving” lessons in my new Mini. One would think that switching from 4 on the floor to automatic would be a no brainer but a hundred button and screen options are a lot more complicated than a clutch, brake and gas. And replacing a key with witchcraft and Simon Says!! Half a century of driving a manual dies hard.

Reminds me of the similar pan our son bought for the country, on which he put an unremovable label that read, "This pan for EGGS ONLY!" Enjoy!

Maybe Wuthering Heights is a young woman’s book. The angst of love deemed “unsuitable”. A fascination with the exotic. Every girl’s fantasy. I read it in 11th grade English.

Cheer up, knowing that as you age, your nails get tougher. (Of course, everything else may go to hell.)

I have 3 sizes pliers in my kitchen drawer, from needle nose to mini-wrench, also a single-edge razor blade.. Nice nails need protection.

I dunno. These kids are pretty sophisticated. And pig Latin was out of date/useless in MY time!

I think its a later generation's resurrection of Germain "thanks". I was recently amused by an 11 year old grand-sprog snidely explaining to me that his peers had developed a language unintelligible to older generation. So they can talk behind our backs while in earshot. While I understand the vital importance of staying in touch with youth's thinking, I had to bite my tongue to refrain from telling him that most of their chatter was of little/no interest to me. Hard to walk the tight-rope.

Here is a flourless, no added fat recipe for a fabulous chocolate cookie I've made for decades. (I use Hershey's natural cocoa.) Essentially an unfilled macaron. Suitable for many dietary proscriptions. Idiot-proof.

Note also their (Spanish Table) branch on inner Clement Street, San Francisco. My go-to for sherry vinegar.

Phrased otherwise, I will gladly patronize a restaurant with mediocre interior design, but not mediocre food.

You can send the bones in my direction (please).

Unarguably. But many/most true classics were surprisingly invented in the 1800s. Even the Negroni was born in the early 1900s. That's a pretty long provenance.

There was a time when a cocktail was an adult drink, not an alcoholic soda pop.

Bucatini with whitened Carbone marinara and sausage.

Is it considered political if I grouse about having been on the phone for 1 hour 40 minutes with the IRS regarding a letter from them stating that I had an unclaimed credit that needed to be addressed immediately? Only to find that they had neglected to apply the amount to timely made estimates? Told to refile!!???? WAIT A MINUTE! I filed correctly! It is you who have not correctly applied the payments to the proper allocations. Finally, "Oh, yes. You are correct. Just ignore that letter." SLOW BURN.

Nice save, I guess. While I try not to waste food, husband was a bear about sending good money after bad, often encouraging me to "cut my losses" when it came to salvaging food we didn't like.

I nominate you to open and relabel all of these.

I have found a simple way to blanch asparagus is to use a skillet with 1/2 - 3/4 " water. Fast to boil, tender-crisp in very few minutes.

That first date would be a last date with anyone that cheap.

Larder plate: asparagus and poached eggs on dill rye fried bread with Meyer lemon beurre blanc. Bad plating but delicious