mourningdove

ESC #50: Golden Jubilee

I can’t believe we’ve done 50 of these dinners! We started ESC in early fall 2023, so that means it’s been 2.5 years with an average of a dinner every 3 weeks. Pretty cool. To celebrate we decided to rent a house in the Russian River valley for the weekend, near Guerneville, and enjoy hangingContinue reading “ESC #50: Golden Jubilee”

“Walter, NO….”

Ceramics Saturdays: Nasco Sayonara and Real (Well, Almost Real) Kintsugi Project

Discerning viewers may have noticed that the china featured in the ESC #49 post was different from my usual options of Churchill Blue Willow (or its saucy cousin, Calamityware) or Iittala Taika. That’s because I finally decided to be an adult and get 12 place-settings of the same pattern—instead of always having to mix andContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Nasco Sayonara and Real (Well, Almost Real) Kintsugi Project”

ESC #49 and Truffle Hunting!

So one of the very first recipes in my To Try file (the OG version, in an actual filing cabinet on actual paper), was a French fish dish. Not terribly chef-y EXCEPT for the fact it called for fresh white summer truffles. Yeah…. So, it sat in the old To Try file, and then migratedContinue reading “ESC #49 and Truffle Hunting!”

Strawberry Matcha Latte

I’m not a matcha latte kinda girl. I don’t like bitter matcha at all (I’m a super-taster, so bitter tastes are really cranked up to 11 for me), so I tend to buy really expensive matcha when I do buy it—which means I’m not going to turn around and dump it into a latte…. ButContinue reading “Strawberry Matcha Latte”

Recent Audio Books: Silence of the Girls and Marrow Thieves

These were both good–well-written and read well by the voice actors. And each in their own way perfect to listen to across the long desert miles between the Sierra Nevada and the Sangre de Cristos over Spring Break. The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker: This is part of the recent trend of revisiting/revising theContinue reading “Recent Audio Books: Silence of the Girls and Marrow Thieves”

16th Annual Diorama-rama

Ah, another great event. We had a couple newbies this year who really brought it, and an excellent showing from the junior participants….

Tiny Homes: One in a Greenhouse and One on a Tokyo Train Line

I have a thing for tiny homes, and I think it started way back when I was a kid and persuaded my dad to build my sister and me a “cottage” in our backyard: it wasn’t just insulated, it was 2 stories with a pigeon loft in the back and a porch on the front.Continue reading “Tiny Homes: One in a Greenhouse and One on a Tokyo Train Line”

How to Whisk Matcha and Pronounce Scottish Whisky Names Correctly!

A couple of useful tutorials for drink connoisseurs:

Hahn’s Atelier: Bag Re-make

I think I’ve reposted this guy’s content before: here he’s remaking a leather bag for a student of Korean medicine. I love the low-key jab at AI, too!