Author Archives: mourningdove

Friday Favorites: Blessed Machine–The First 50 Years

There was this nice older lady at my church growing up, Bea Eschelmann, and she told my mom a story once about when her immigrant mother got her first washing machine, she petted it and whispered reverently, “Bless-ed machine.” Thus, my mom used to occasionally bless some device that was saving her time in theContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Blessed Machine–The First 50 Years”

Gotgam-danji (Korean stuffed dried persimmons)

Not something I would ordinarily go out of my way to make, but Maangchi happened to run the recipe right when I was in the middle of drying persimmons this winter and right after I had made a jar of yuzu marmalade with the 1 yuzu I got from my new tree. So, once theContinue reading “Gotgam-danji (Korean stuffed dried persimmons)”

ESC #13 & #14: St. Patrick’s Day and Distilling Day

Again, no pics of anything. I really am the worst blogger ever. The highlight of St Patrick’s Day was definitely the from-scratch corned beef that my friend Nicole made using the cure from this recipe and the rest of the recipe from this source. I can ask her for it and update. I made thisContinue reading “ESC #13 & #14: St. Patrick’s Day and Distilling Day”

Tips for Snagging Hard-to-Get Reservations for California State Parks

I’ve told you before about Wright’s Beach, how much I love it, and how hard it is to get a reservation for the “premium” beachfront sites. Well, I managed to snag one this year for a week, and it took me enough tries (like, almost every morning for 3 weeks) that I think I canContinue reading “Tips for Snagging Hard-to-Get Reservations for California State Parks”

ESC #12: Brunch Edition

Well, I didn’t save the menus, and I didn’t take any pictures: that shows you how hard it is to teach a Gen X blogger Gen Z tricks…. But brunch was great! It had a Southern/Caribbean vibe. The centerpiece were these Biscuits with Pancetta, Collards, Marbleized Eggs, and Espresso Aioli that sound way cheffier thanContinue reading “ESC #12: Brunch Edition”

Loading…Review of Death’s Door

As I sat down to write this post, I was reminded of the Portlandia skit, “Put a bird on it!” Because truly you can get me to buy almost anything with a raven or crow in/on it (or any corvid, really–I’ll take that magpie print and those piñon jay dishtowels, too, thank you). I’ve lovedContinue reading “Loading…Review of Death’s Door”

Ceramics Saturdays: The Crocker Collection

You guys. I had no idea that for 15 years I’ve been living 2 hours from one of the biggest international ceramics collections, and the biggest collection of works from California kilns, in the U.S. True, I should have known, and the Internet would have happily informed me. But it was SO MUCH FUN toContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: The Crocker Collection”