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Some time back when my metabolism allowed me to make and savor cookies without having to change pant sizes, I evolved this recipe over a two-year period. Here I introduce the modestly named cookie: Dad’s Universally Acknowledged Greatest Cookies Ever Created 1 1/4 cups (2 ½ sticks) Horizon unsalted organic butter 1/2 cup Sucanat 3/4 cup C&H golden brown cane sugar (packed) 2 fresh organic eggs from range chickens 1 tbs Cooks organic vanilla 2 1/4 cups organic whole wheat flour 1 tsp Arm & Hammer baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 2 tsp cinnamon ½ tsp Hain evaporated sea salt 1/4 tsp nutmeg 2 cups quick oats 1 cup raw, unsalted, organic nuts, chopped fine (almonds, walnuts, cashews …) […]
The grand installation of Missy’s Christmas project from me was today. It is a little corner unit custom-designed to fit the way she likes to use her corner at the head of the bed. I delight in the pleasure she gets from my custom shelves. It is all part of the art of living large while simultaneously living small. Happily we are both quite happy with polyurathene coated pine construction. There is pine a plenty around here, making it readily available and inexpensive. We sized it up for fit on my side of the bed. I will make precious few changes to the design as it fits almost as well there as it does where it was targeted. As long […]
Circle this date in RED. I removed several warning labels in direct violation of the printed instructions thereupon. This first one cautions anyone literate enough to read, but too stupid to think that the heater it was attached to CREATES HEAT. Heat, the government wizards go on to inform, can increase the risk of, gasp, FIRE. This big cluttered blob of ALL CAPS (widely known as shouting in print), bold, red print lists several stupid things that the narrow population band of eager-reading non-thinkers might find enlightening EVERY time they prepare to use their electric heater. This kind of begs the question, “How many eager-reading, literate idiots can dance on the head of a pin?” . For a decade […]
I finally finished re-doing the insulation in my studio. It was quite uneven and drafty. It is quite even and well sealed now. I have yet to clean up the ceiling insulation and re-expose the wires for the two work space light fixtures. However, eliminating the incoming cold air should make a great difference in the comfort. Yeah, someday we will afford the sheetrock. Meanwhile, I choose to appreciate what I have. I’ve seen worse taste in decor than my “ecobatt wallpaper” … and had to inhabit some of them for at least a little while.
Missy recorded this last summer with her I-Pad from her lawn chair. She was just learning the new tool – but that fits well, because we were just learning the tune. This is the Bitterroot Community Band in the Hamilton Band Shell playing a Beach Boys medley. Recorded by Missy’s I-Pad here in three parts (with several parts missing). Certainly a good enough recording to get the drift. Also known to some insiders as the Bitterroot Summer Sight Reading Program – we get a complete set of new charts at our Tuesday evening practice, then see them a second time at our Thursday concert. It is stimulating and fun .. if not exactly polished in performance. This is my first […]
Learning to play: Music instructors say picking up an instrument good for the mind Learning to play Music instructors say picking up an instrument good for the mind Let’s say that, in a moment of confidence and hope, you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to learn to play a musical instrument. Now, three days into 2014, you’re paralyzed by the audacity of your goal, and in need of some motivation. “There’s no downside to learning a new skill, especially a musical instrument,” advised Julie Ludington, a Stevensville piano teacher. Of course, starting at age six or seven is optimal, she said, but adults can still learn, and even benefit in unexpected ways from the effort. “Once you’re past your mid-20’s, […]
I spent most of my life feeding the machine … indirectly mostly, but for 3 years, 8 months and 11 days during “the Vietnam era”, directly. Years later, I completely comprehended and accepted the libertarian philosophical concepts of accepting nothing from big brother. No handout was okay. Keep your distance. Stay pure. Not too long ago, an emotionally close, geographically distant friend of my age slapped me in the face … “You are putting in while I am taking out.” Sadly, in approximately equal amounts. Holey crap. I’m feeding the monster that I hate while he is bleeding it. Who is doing the better thing? Of course both of us are insignificant gnats. But the point was very well taken… […]
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