All Four Burners

Neccessity is the mother of invention. More accurately, not wanting to waste food is. You see, I’ve used fruit as decoration for our annual (?) holiday party for the past few years. This year, I was determined not to let it go to waste. In my house, cooking large amounts of fruit naturally means preserving. […]

Did you watch Sesame Street growing up? Although I liked many characters (though NOT Big Bird — he was a big yellow mess) from that show, my favorite was clearly Cookie Monster. He loved cookies; I loved cookies. He was messy; I was messy. He was blue; my favorite color was…red. The color discrepancy notwithstanding, […]

Have you started your holiday shopping yet? Last year, I started giving preserves as holiday gifts to rave reviews. It was purely out of necessity. If you recall, I went wild preserving apricots and peaches last summer in Colorado. When I returned to California, I went on a strawberry rampage, which I kept mostly hidden from you […]

November is a time to be thankful. It’s about recognition of the big things (good health; new jobs), but also of the seemingly mundane (access to water, food, and shelter). With the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan and the tens of thousands feared dead, reflecting on the everyday — the very luxuries we take for […]

My eyes are on fire. Actually, they feel like there’s fine sand trapped under my eyelids. Now I understand the feeling Matt was complaining about last week. Yep, Matt apparently made me sick. I think he may have made Olive (the dog) sick too.* She and I are both hiding out under cozy blankets today. Also, […]