Chattering, lunging, running kids on the way to school
I never met a walk I didn't like
Days too warm or days too cool
I never met a walk I didn't like
Dog charging, barking - sniffs hand, is nice
I never met a walk I didn't like
Meet new client, back soaked in sweat
I never met a walk I didn't like
Wind blowing, bit of rain
Doesn't bother, doesn't pain
I never met a walk I didn't like
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Baking Soda is sooooodamazing.
NOTE: I'm recently getting back into blogging, and I have a large cache of half-written, mostly written and (like this one) fully written posts that I never got around to finishing or posting. Here's the first oldie, from about 3-4 months ago. I was VERY close to changing the cheesy title, but it is late, so enjoy:
Seriously. Until recently, I had never tried using baking soda to clean.
Between cooking in restaurants for 4 of my teenage years, being an enthusiastic cook most of my life, having two children and doing a lot of my own car maintenance over the years, I'm no stranger to cleaning all sorts of crazy messes. Over the years, I've come to think that the more caustic and chemical-laden the cleaning solution is, the better the cleaning power.
Recently, my wife has gotten into cooking with clay pots, with delicious results. However, because clay pots are porous and absorb the flavor of whatever you soak them in, you can't clean them with soap. Instead, baking soda was the prescribed cleansing agent.
I was dubious at first. Surely baking soda is much too benign and simple to have any sort of cleaning power, right? I mean, there has to be some threat of cancer to even begin to have any serious game here.
WRONG
This stuff is ridiculous. Pour a little pile of the white stuff, and mix it with small amounts of water until it becomes a paste, and it will remove the most caked crap off of any pan, dish or skillet. Forget the scrub/scour pads - you'd have to go steel wool to get even close to the amount of time this stuff saves. I'd still recommend a pre-soak with the bad stuff though.
I may be the last idiot on earth to come to this realization, but if I've helped at least one man, woman or kid clean a really dirty dish more easily, I'll be happy.
Seriously. Until recently, I had never tried using baking soda to clean.
Between cooking in restaurants for 4 of my teenage years, being an enthusiastic cook most of my life, having two children and doing a lot of my own car maintenance over the years, I'm no stranger to cleaning all sorts of crazy messes. Over the years, I've come to think that the more caustic and chemical-laden the cleaning solution is, the better the cleaning power.
Recently, my wife has gotten into cooking with clay pots, with delicious results. However, because clay pots are porous and absorb the flavor of whatever you soak them in, you can't clean them with soap. Instead, baking soda was the prescribed cleansing agent.
I was dubious at first. Surely baking soda is much too benign and simple to have any sort of cleaning power, right? I mean, there has to be some threat of cancer to even begin to have any serious game here.
WRONG
This stuff is ridiculous. Pour a little pile of the white stuff, and mix it with small amounts of water until it becomes a paste, and it will remove the most caked crap off of any pan, dish or skillet. Forget the scrub/scour pads - you'd have to go steel wool to get even close to the amount of time this stuff saves. I'd still recommend a pre-soak with the bad stuff though.
I may be the last idiot on earth to come to this realization, but if I've helped at least one man, woman or kid clean a really dirty dish more easily, I'll be happy.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
My Cat is a Badass
We noticed our cat was walking and sitting a little funny the other day, and kept licking a spot on his chest. He had what looked like a puncture wound, so we took him to the vet to get him checked out. They couldn't really tell us what happened, but gave him an antibiotic shot and some pain meds for later.
Later, after bringing him back home from the vet, my wife texts me:
Later, after bringing him back home from the vet, my wife texts me:
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Books on Lunches
Since my kids were little, they've loved books. To be honest, this was less of an option in our home and more of an eventuality. Since my kids have been going to school, I've been writing messages to them on their food containers. Partly, this is because I was required to put their name on all items, and I get bored. I was also inspired by my wife, who likes to write them notes.
Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors, and I was thrilled when he started writing books for children, as he did so just as my children were old enough to read them. One of my favorites is the warm and mysterious Instructions.
I love to come up with puzzles, solve puzzles, and watch others try to solve puzzles. Instructions was already a mysterious book by nature, so I decided to begin writing bits of the book on my kids' lunch items. I was curious to see how long it would take for them to realize which book it was. Instructions is very distinctive, so of course, they realized on the first day. Despite having figured out the puzzle, they wanted me to continue, so I did.
We're up to the tenth page, and there is plenty of time left in the school year. Though I never intended to write this entire book a page at a time onto their lunch, I should have time to transcribe the remainder of the book on cheese sticks, sandwich containers and bottles. We might even have time to do another short book before summer comes.
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