Oh, my gourd

This is one of my favorite cartoons, so I drag it out each fall.  Starbucks introduced the pumpkin spice latte in 2003. They've sold over 350 million of the yucky things, making it their most popular seasonal drink.

Pumpkin products started appearing at Trader Joes in September. According to Chow Hound, there's a total of 42 pumpkin flavored foods on the shelves this time of year, many of them pretty weird.   Everything from pumpkin bagels to ravioli.

On my way home from the gym early in the morning, I often stop at TJ's and help myself to the mini cup of coffee at the free sample table.  The flavor is this month is "pumpkin spice" an especially vile brew.  I can't stand flavored coffee or those nasty flavored creamers.

Well, other than trivial complaints, not much is new around here. I'm cooking white beans in the pressure cooker now for turkey chili, an easy comforting meal at the end of a long rainy day.  I have an eye doctor appointment this morning, and maybe I'll get a flu shot this afternoon.  Can a person have more seasonal fun that that?

Happy Birthday, Maya

Our darling granddaughter Maya turned five yesterday. Where does the time go?

Amanda sent these pictures of the fun party, complete with presents and very cool unicorn cake.  We're sorry we missed it but will see you soon.

A noodle by any other name

October 6 is "National Noodle Day."  Whatever you call them, noodles (from the German word nudel) are found all over the world, in every culture, every country, every cuisine.

A nudel is simple unleavened dough, rolled out then cut in a variety of shapes.

My friend Julie sent me a link to "The Pasta Grannies," a series of short videos on YouTube.  They show elderly ladies at home, demonstrating the disappearing art of making hand-made pasta.  The different regions of Italy each have their own traditional style and shape.

One of my favorites is "macaroni and fava beans with ricotta" made in a little kitchen in rural Sicily.  I loved the old couple. The husband lends a hand with the beans, then it's his job to sit and wait for his dinner.

Enjoy!

Do Something Nice Day

We're having another lovely stretch of bright, crisp fall weather. The sun is coming up in a clear sky and a big harvest moon just set behind the Olympic Mountains.  It seems unreal that such horrible things could exist in this beautiful world. 

The tomatoes are almost finished and we had an incredible bounty from just two plants grown in pots on the sunny side of the house.  The peppers were a big surprise, and we have dozens of jalapenos. Some are gradually turning red and they are wildly hot. Just one little pepper is enough to fire up a big pot of bland tofu curry.

What makes some peppers hotter than others?  Hot, dry climates promote the production of capsaicin. It was indeed hot this summer, and a daily chore trying keeping the pots watered.  Apparently, the more stressed the plant is, the more capsaicin grows inside the pepper. For really hot peppers, you should let the soil dry out until the leaves begin to wilt, then give the plant a good soaking.  It wasn't intentional, but that happened over and over all summer.

I chopped one and fried it with leftover vegetable pasta. For the first time, I made something that was too hot to eat.  I'll probably freeze them to dole out for chili and curry seasoning this winter.

October 5th is "Do Something Nice Day." We need it. We are simply overwhelmed with bad news, and our hearts broken for Las Vegas and our loved ones there.  Let's all shine a little light today and spread some cheer.

Oh, Mighty Apple

Obsolete

Apple giveth and Apple taketh away.  My favorite little Nano and Shuffle iPods have been discontinued. That doesn't mean they immediately cease working, it just means they gradually cease to work well.

Like a bossy parent, Apple in all their wisdom decides for us what we need next. The problem is, we don't know what we want until they tell us.  Then our familiar old computers, phones and gadgets fall by the wayside.  We grumble but eventually shell out money for new toys and finally come around to liking the new bright shiny thing.

I was still sulking about my old iPods last week when John surprised me with a fancy new iPod Touch.  I don't mean to be unkind, but this is my typical snarky response: "What's THAT THING supposed to do for me?"

Well, as it turns out, quite a bit.  As you can see from the home screen, this isn't just a music player, like my beloved but ridiculously unsophisticated iPod Shuffle.  When connected to WiFi, it has most of the functionality of an iPhone. So while you're at the gym listening to tunes, you can also text, email and check your news feeds.  The ultimate multi-tasking gadget.

Over the years I've built up a nifty collection of thousands of songs in my iTunes library. Many are stored on my computer, like uploaded CD's from our own collection. But a significant number are 99 cent singles (heavy on the 70's light rock) that I've purchased at the iStore over the years. Even though I "own" them, they live somewhere out in the Cloud.

When you think about it these mini-purchases start to add up. As Amanda said, "Mom, nobody does that anymore!"  Well, maybe just old and/or dumb people. Even if you just buy a few a month (which I do) you've already spent more than a monthly subscription to Apple Music, where you can listen to your choice of 30 million songs.

So I started a 3-month free trial, and of course I'm already hooked.  Warning: you can waste a lot of time fiddling around with 30 million songs.

My favorite feature is the "Apple Music Editor" who comes up with new suggested playlists every single day, based on what I've listened to recently.  Yes, I know-- snoopy!  I have very eclectic tastes, so my personal editor has to work hard. I like to think of them as a nerdy type, drinking latte and sitting in a cube down in Cupertino all night trying to come up with new suggestions for me.  But of course my editor is just an algorithm, somewhere out there in the great electronic vastness of Apple.

Dark October morning

Dew Light

Now in the blessed days of more and less
when the news about time is that each day
there is less of it I know none of that
as I walk out through the early garden
only the day and I are here with no
before or after and the dew looks up
without a number or a present age.

W.S. Mervin