I was in a cover band that played far too much Eagles.  My sign off was a paraphrase of this line.   I never could figure out the appeal of this band.

Drive I-5 from Sacramento to LA and there are miles of nothingness. It makes the kitchy-ness of Harris Ranch a god sent oasis in the middle of a 7 hour drive.

My best friend in HS had an Italian/Irish mom and a Polish dad (Yes, she used to tell people she was a walking ethnic joke). Her mom made amazing pierogis both the savory and sweet kind. One of my favorite memories of HS was sitting in that large suburban kitchen watching her make pierogis for supper. Yum

My mom always put chopped up dills in hers.  When our cafe at work started selling tuna salad with pickles, I felt like I was in heaven.  Or at least back in 5th grade on those rare occasions I got to take a tuna salad sandwich for school lunch.   I also like tuna with a bit of curry mixed in with the mayo as well--it…

I had a friend who had impeccable tastes in musicians and musicality. I put on a Smiths album one evening when he was visiting, just to see if I could raise some vitriolic diatribe. He sat back and listened for a bit and said “You know, Johnny Marr is probably one of the best guitarists of his generation”. I mean,…

I would love to wake up some morning and find the word “artisanal” banned forever.  

When I was 15, I picked up a NYC music rag and saw an advert for the Ramones “Rocket to Russia”. I went out and bought it and remember playing it over the phone to my best friend several times.  We formed a band the next week.

Nothing against Humboldt County, CA, but his archtype is not uncommon in that part of the world. I’ve known a couple of middle aged “dudes’ from there and they are usually fairly nice people with unfortunate style choices. Humboldt is also one of the epicenters for cannabis in CA, so that may explain a few things

I would strongly suggest avoiding the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Or the other book I was read as a child, Der Struwwelpeter.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter

So if you are ever in Santa Rosa, you must go to Russian River Brewery and do their “beer flight” aka “OMG I just got seriously buzzed on a beer flight.”

Best radler I ever had was in München at a cafe behind the Kunstmuseen. We had walked from the old town center and it was a hot day. Two German business men suggested trying one. I’m not big on fruity tasting beers, but a good radler made with lemonade is wonderful.

I wondered about using a yogurt maker.  Thanks!  Now I’ll have to try this!

As I saw the headline, I thought—Dammit if Jason and the Argonauts and 2001:A Space Odyssey are not on this list I’m going to be quite upset. Thank you for not making me rant against humanity this morning.

The weird thing was that usually the diminutive for Grandmother in German is “Oma”, but my German Grandmother was Nana.  Her mom was known as Nana as well.   

The weird thing was that usually the diminutive for Grandmother in German is “Oma”, but my German Grandmother was Nana.  Her mom was known as Nana as well.   

My grandmother would make these on occasion, as well as my mom. (My great grandfather was from Bavaria). Thank you for the early morning food nostalgia! When I would wax romantic about my friend’s family’s homemade ravioli, Nana would make these as a “one up”. 

Kerrygold or a German butter I get at my local health food store. After spending time in Europe, I can’t abide the taste of American butter. And because my mom had high blood pressure most of her life, unsalted all the way.

ALL the TIME!  It’s really embarrassing...

My mother in law was slightly appalled that we didn’t have a traditional east coast wedding cake, all white icing etc and instead went for a chocolate with raspberry filing and ganache icing. “It’s not traditional!” she kept saying.

Two things: