Cooking through the Depression

Clara Cannucciari is a 94-year-old force of nature. She's also a presence on the Internet thanks to her website, her blog and her series of cooking videos on YouTube.

Her website, Depression Cooking with Clara, is the project of her grandson but the screen presence and the wisdom she imparts is all Clara. I am grateful to be old enough to have been raised by two people who came of age during the Great Depression and more grateful still to have had grandmothers who were young adults when the bottom fell out in 1929. I was raised with a sense that everything we had could well be temporary, but beyond that I learned first hand how resourceful my parents and grandparents were. My Grandmother Stewart in particular was always after us to be grateful for how good we had it, always quick to illustrate her point with a story about re-using wax paper or having a single pair of shoes.

Due to her indominable spirit and great sense of humor, I could listen to her stories for hours on end. I was fascinated by a time where people seemed to have nothing, yet instead of being broken by it, people seemed to grow stronger. My grandmother could whip out a meal from a handful of potatoes, a can of green beans, a bit of cabbage and a sliver of ham that was both basic and filling, and all the while she'd tell stories about how it used to be.

I still make that potato and cabbage thing for myself and I think of her every time. I don't need to feed myself for a week on a dollar thankfully and I hope I never have to. Recreating one of my grandmother's recipes makes me think that I could if I had to though. And it's funny, when I sit down to a bowl of that cabbage and green bean soup(Depression Stew she called it), I remember her fondly but the food doesn't taste the same as it did when it was prepared by good old Gram. Something goes missing because she's not around to tell me stories of resilience and self-reliance, all delivered with her crackling wit and genuine love of life.

So enter Clara Cannucciari. Clara not only cooks with simple and inexpensive ingredients, she does it with humor and some really great stories. It's almost as good as having a grandmother around to talk to me as she cooks.

So as this generation stares into what could well be the abyss, it's valuable to know that people have lived through worse and come out of it stronger and happier than they would have been otherwise. So thanks Clara, you make me feel like I have a grandmother again.

New inset door styles from Medallion

My dear friends at Medallion Cabinetry have added to their collection of door styles in their Platinum line of inset cabinetry. Inset doors are a traditional form of cabinet making that staging a bit of a comeback. Notice how the doors in these photos sit inside the face frame, rather than attaching to the outside of the frame. Pretty slick.

Medallion rolled out its Platinum line about two years ago after spending years developing it. This is a high quality cabinet, clearly the best value in its class. These Platium door styles are available in Medallion's full range of wood species and can be stained or painted in any of Medallion's many, many colors. If that weren't enough, each of these doors is available as a beaded inset or a plain inset, and with visible or invisible hinges. Confused? Don't be.

You can find a Medallion showroom that's local to you through Medallion's website or you can just ask me any questions you have about these new offerings.

Bayside Cherry inset with exposed finial hinge, Gingersnap stain

Devonshire Cherry inset with hidden hinge, Vinyard glazed finish

Hudson Falls Cherry inset with exposed finial hinge, Pecan Burnish glaze

Newcastle Cherry inset with hidden hinge, Chestnut stain

Picadilly Cherry beaded inset with exposed finial hinge, Brandywine stain

Stockton Maple inset with hidden hinge, Seagrass opaque stain and dry brush finish

Venice Maple beaded inset with hidden hinge, Vinyard glazed finish

Take a look at comet Lulin

I spend a fair amount of time looking up at the night skies, nothing gives me that kind of an instant break. I went to a seminar once and the seminar leader encouraged all of us who were participating to tell our problems to the stars and watch them not do anything in response. It sounds callous, but I can't think of a better way to put my own trials and tribulations into perspective. What's a big deal to me is in the big scheme of things, not a big deal.

Anyhow, if you look up and find Saturn tonight there will be a fuzzy ball right below it. That fuzzy ball is the comet Lulin and Lulin is currently making its one and only pass through our solar system. After Friday you probably won't be able to see it again. It will leave our solar system and continue on its trajectory into the far reaches of space, never to be seen by anyone again. At least not anyone on earth.

Got a secret? Tell Lulin. It won't react to it either and maybe that's not such a bad thing.

Check out this great blog

I met a woman named Jamie Goldberg through Facebook over the weekend and Jamie's a Tampa-based kitchen and bath designer with a thriving practice and a blog to boot. I'm telling you, that Facebook thing continues to amaze me. Anyhow, I've been reading over Jamie's blog and she has some really great ideas and advice. Give her a read, her most recent post in particular --Kitchen and Bath Remodeling FAQs. She blends practical advice with a sense of humor and anybody offering that is a welcome addition to my blog roll. Here's an excerpt: 

Q. How long will the remodel take?

This is a three-part answer that has nothing to do with 30-minute HGTV shows.

Part one is the planning/designing/shopping process. This will depend on your availability, as well as your designer's or architect's. It will also depend on the complexity of the project. In some instances, you're keeping your existing appliances, so you don't need to spend time choosing and shopping for new ones. That can certainly shave days or weeks off the process. In other instances, you're opting for a complex wall and floor tile design. This can add days, in terms of choosing each element of the design and approving layouts. Typically, a full-scale kitchen or bath remodel will take two to three months to plan, including showroom visits, design plan and revisions, contractor bid preparation and consultations.

Part two is ordering your selected materials. Cabinetry can take from two weeks to 12 weeks to arrive, depending on whether they're stock or custom. Special order tile from overseas can take weeks, as well. If you're not planning major structural changes, you can wait until the new cabinets arrive and are inspected before tearing out your old ones.

Part three is the actual on-site work. This will vary from days to weeks, depending on the extent of work to be performed. Your contractor can (and should!) advise you on the time line in advance. Chances are, by the time the project is completed, you'll be about four to eight months later than when you wrote your first check, longer for major additions.

Bravo Jamie and welcome to both my blogroll and my Friends List.

Having fun with the Carmina Burana

Recently, I started reading the great blog called Bad Astronomy. Bad Astronomy deals with astronomy of course and its primary writer, Phil Plait,  touches on other branches of science regularly. The whole endeavor is peppered with a kind of sophomoric intellectualism and I can't get enough of it. Anyhow on Friday, Phil Plait wrote an amusing piece about pareidolia. Pareidolia is listening to something and hearing words and patterns that aren't really there.

To illustrate his point, he posted this video that's had me laughing since Friday.

         

That's O Fortuna from Karl Orff's Carmina Burana and it has to be one of the most stirring arrangements ever composed for a chorus. If you ever get the chance to see it performed live please drop what you're doing and go. It's at once so primal and so passionate you'd have to be a cadaver not to be affected by it. If you're interested in the lyrics, here they are in Latin as performed:

O Fortuna

velut luna                        

statu variabilis,                 

semper crescis                    

aut decrescis;                   

vita detestabilis                

nunc obdurat                     

et tunc curat                     

ludo mentis aciem,                 

egestatem,                          

potestatem                          

dissolvit ut glaciem.               

Sors immanis                       

et inanis,                          

rota tu volubilis,                 

status malus,                       

vana salus                         

semper dissolubilis,                

obumbrata                           

et velata                           

michi quoque niteris;              

nunc per ludum                      

dorsum nudum                       

fero tui sceleris.                  

Sors salutis                       

et virtutis                         

michi nunc contraria,              

est affectus                        

et defectus                         

semper in angaria.                  

Hac in hora                        

sine mora                           

corde pulsum tangite;               

quod per sortem                    

sternit fortem,                    

mecum omnes plangite!    

If your Latin's not up to snuff and you'd like a translation, you can find one here. Be warned though, these lyrics aren't what I'd call uplifting. That's OK though, uplifting lyrics are overrated.