Sunday Five: Edible Origins

1: Where do "baby carrots" come from? 

2: When was the last time you cut up a whole chicken? 

3: Have you ever cleaned a fish? 

4: When was the last time you baked a cake and did you use a mix? 

5: Butter or Margarine and why? 

My Answers: 

1: Where do "baby carrots" come from? You see the oddly shaped carrots in the bunches above? Stores didn't want them, so a machine was developed to carve round carrot sticks out of them and that is what is bagged and sold as "baby carrots." Those are not babies, they will not grow into adult carrots, they are rejects reshaped and sold at a premium price. 

2: When was the last time you cut up a whole chicken? About a month ago. I am surprised at the number of people who have never done this.  

3: Have you ever cleaned a fish? It has been a very long time, but yes, and I had to get to them before my Aunt's cat. He was faster at catching and cleaning than I was. 

4: When was the last time you baked a cake and did you use a mix? It has been three or four months, and no mix was involved.  

5: Butter or Margarine and why? Butter. I took a university lab science class in human nutrition. The professor explained it this way, "we know what is in butter and what the body does with it, we have no clear idea what mystical chemicals are in margarine and really don't know what happens to them in the body long term. Stick with the devil we know, over the one we don't. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Getting Unstuck

I was stuck, I needed a painting for "Explosion of Color" and I kept drawing a blank. I had started a couple of times, and the color just was not there. How to get unstuck? 

I was soaking in the Jacuzzi, talking with Rachel Bright a neighbor who is a professional artist. I mentioned to her that I was blocked. She said go home, start fresh, open your favorite paint color, thin it if you need to and pour it onto the canvas, just play with it, then pour a second color, and another, and another. Freestyle. The critical step in getting unstuck, is to start. You don't need a plan. You don't need to know where you are going.  Act like you are 5 years old turned lose with paint for the first time. 

The show opens today, The piece is titled "Bright Idea." 

I added some glitter and sequins. 

Foodie Friday: Martinis

Back in 2020, we met John Grey from Going Gently for dinner near where he lives in Wales. I ordered a dry gin martini, and the waiter came back a few minutes later with a troubled look on his face and asked, "how do you make that?" John had a good laugh, he had lived and worked in New York and knew what I was asking for, a rarity in small town Wales. 

To make a dry Gin Martini start with good Gin, add a splash of white vermouth, shake with ice, and strain into a frozen glass, the proper garnish is an olive. It really is that simple. Be very sparing with the vermouth, the flavor should be the herbals in the gin. 

Some people make Martinis with Vodka. I am in the camp that thinks a dry martini needs to be made with gin. A flavored martini is best made with vodka, as the flavor comes from the added flavor, not the clear liqueur. 

I recently made a coffee cordial to be used to make Espresso martinis. It is fairly easy to make. Start with ground coffee, you need about half a pound of good dark roast and about 700 ML of vodka. Buy a vodka you would drink. Combine the coffee and the vodka in a tightly sealed container, shake, and let sit. Shake it a couple of times a day, for a couple of days.  In essence you are making a vodka based cold brew coffee. Strain it, I used a fine mesh strainer for the first pass, then re-strained through a coffee filter (if you don't do this the final produce will be gritty.) Combine  1 1/2 cups of sugar, with 1/2 cup of water and a squirt of corn syrup in a small sauce pan, heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and it is mostly clear. You don't want to boil this, probably 165-170 degrees F. Let this cool. 

Combine the strained coffee with the sugar syrip, and bottle. 

To make a coffee or expresso martini, 

1 part coffee cordial, two parts vodka over ice, shake, strain into a frozen glass. Enjoy! 

Thursday Ramble: Reducing Travel Stress

The airline matters.  The big names, Delta, American, United in the USA, the country named international carriers, often have the best service, the best equipment.  

Don't go bottom fishing for airline tickets.  Cheap seats are often cheap for a reason, they are less comfortable and include nothing. 

Your favorite airline, should be the one that has the largest number of flights in and out of your primary airport. Poo happens, and when it does that airline will have the most capacity to get you out or get you home. 

You probably don't want to book basic economy. You want to be able to select a seat and check a bag without paying extra. Seats matter, no one looks forward to sitting in the middle seat, unless you are wedged between two hot lovers. I prefer a window seat on the right side, or an aisle seat on the left. 

Check a bag - ALWAYS. Unless you are going out and coming back the same day, check a bag. I have free checked bags on my two most used airlines as a credit card perk. Yes I pay a fee for those credit cards, but if I fly one flight a year with free checked bags, it more than saves me the fee. And I get earlier boarding. Carry on bags are always a hassle, on every flight you worry about overhead space, you have addition stress at security - is your toothpaste tube too large? When you check a bag you don't have those worries. 

Get to the airport early. Two to three hours before flight time. This gives you plenty of time to check in, check that bag, and clear security. Once you are through security, release the stress. 

In the USA, sign up for TSA Pre-Check, if you travel internationally sign up for Global Entry - it includes Pre-Check and gets you the express lane at customs and immigration. The security screening is simpler. It is less stressful. 

Learn to enjoy airports. Airports are a great place to walk, to people watch, and read. Don't stress over a couple of hours in an airport, have breakfast or lunch and relax. 

If you can afford it, book business class, or first class.  I don't do this often, but if it is $50 or $100 more each way, I will. On international flights I have paid $250 extra, and it was so nice. The seats are bigger, the food is better, the service is better, you board earlier, there is more overhead bin space. It is less stressful. 

In major airports, avoid any connection that is less than an hour long. It often takes 15 minutes to get off the plane, 15 minutes to sprint through the airport, and the boarding closes 15 minutes before departure time, all of sudden a 45 minute connection time becomes a missed or nearly missed flight. At a minimum you want 5 minutes to stop and pee. I just suffered through a 45 minute connection in Atlanta, fortunately the connecting flight was delayed 10 minutes and was still boarding when we arrived.  

My World of Wonders: August 5, 2026

 

Where have I been this week? Chicago, getting there via New York, and getting home via Atlanta. The things we will do for our second favorite airline. 

Who have I talked to this week? My Sweet Bear, Erica, Emily Loraine, Alan, Tom, Ken, Robert, Bob, Jack, Kell, Bob, Cathy, Eric, Al, and bunches of other old lawyers. 

What have I been up to in the Kitchen? Nothing, we have been traveling. 

Who deserves a slap this week? The speaker in a room with 150 people in it, that put up a massively crowded PowerPoint slide and said, "here you can see the nine different elements of this strategy."  No we couldn't unless we were sitting in the first row. This is what happens when I stop teaching "death by PowerPoint. Three out of five slaps. 

Who deserves a big THANK YOU this week? Jack, Al, and Lorraine for helping to mentor me into a new committee assignment. 

What have I enjoyed this week? My friends from the Senior Lawyers Division and the amazing city of Chicago.  

Travel Tuesday: Around Ft Wayne Indiana

Reconstruction of the Fort 

History Museum 

Amish farmers a few miles out of town

 

Arnie is 18 or 19 years old, a grumpy old man. 

Dog Treats 

Saturday Farmers Market in downtown Ft Wayne

Monday Mood: Get Out and Go

I enjoy traveling.  I enjoy spending time with people I know. I enjoy seeing different places. And so I make plans and I get out and go. I am Chicago as this posts. 

Doc Spo lamented recently that a friend was in town to close out some business and he feared it might be the last time they meet for lunch as the friend will have little reason to return the Valley of the Sun, once this business is concluded. My comment, was "make reservations, go to the airport, and go." Don't wait for others to come see you, get out and go see them.  This is often a one way street, I go to Florida to see my brothers or my one and only first cousin, but they have never come the other way to visit me.  If I don't go, the next time we "see" one another with be at a funeral with one of us being the guest of honor. 

If you are physically, mentally and fiscally able to travel, get out and go. 

Travel is a great privilege. Most people alive today will never fly on an airliner. Many will never leave the country or state they are born in. Less than 1% of the population will ever travel on a cruise ship.  We learn so much and see so many interesting people when we travel. Don't fear it, just get out and go. 

I will never understand people who sit in a window seat on an airliner, and close the shade. The awe and wonder is outside the window, not on their phone, or in their book. 

I will work on a list of ideas to reduce the stress of travel.