Christmas 2012

I'm hoping we have a new Christmas tradition: Christmas Bocce. This was really fun. Pete, Marnee (Pete's mom) and I arrived first at the bocce court. Soon after Marc and their dad rode up on their bikes.

Here's where Marnee explained the rules to us:

Pete got those pants for Christmas. Sort of. Marc got them for Christmas, didn't like them and gave them to Pete.

Christmas Bocce!

Crap Drawing

A not 100% shitty drawing

One of the things I need to do for this vast project I'm working on is think up a good name for it. Okay, also I have to do a lot of the kind of drawing that I suck at.

I am a shit cartoonist. I'm pretty good at drawing the things I see. Particularly portraits. I love faces. That's neither here nor there. We're talking about what I suck at.

I suck at trying to draw faces and bodies from my head. But I want to put out a comic.

At first I thought I could take photos of myself in costumes and sets doing the things I want my characters to do and then make drawing from those. That might be cool. I could still do that. I've been thinking about doing that for over a year and still haven't taken one photograph.

I have also been completely unsuccessful at getting myself to buckle the hell down and just do sheaves and sheaves of shitty drawings until I get better at it. Is practice the easy way? I mean, wouldn't it be easier to just draw until I came up with something I could live with?

But is making art about easy? No. Duh. It's about learning, exploring, trying something new. It's about being willing to fail and keep going until you get something you can use.

Failure is so much easier to stomach when you're in good company and maybe over a couple of beers. So I'm thinking I should get a few friends together and have a shitty drawing party. Or maybe meet at a pub and have an informal shitty drawing event.

Brilliant! Problem solved! I wonder if I could get anyone to go?

Painfully horrid and embarrassing

Stiff and awkward but I don't completely hate it 

August Wrap-Up

These ornamental grass seed heads are a beautiful, silky red this year.

So August turned out not to be a vast improvement on the end of July. Pretty painful month, all in all. Most of the things that made July and the rest of the summer so fretful haven't really improved. I'm just more accustomed to being unable to do anything about them. I did get a bit of work done though.

Tropical storm Irene knocked our power out for five days. That was just an inconvenience. The worst part was seeing our neighbors' houses in the river and the land the houses were built on gone. Yes, their land is gone. A number of roads we use all the time are also gone. That's pretty shocking to see. You see natural disasters on T.V. and you think "that's horrible" and it is horrible but (sadly, human nature being what it is)you feel the punch in the gut more when it happens in your neighborhood, it's right in front of you and you're not seeing it from the comfort of your sofa.

One major thing is a lot better though: my dear friend who underwent organ transplant surgery a few weeks ago is on the mend. He and his wife are two of my best friends and it was scary and hard to see him in danger and suffering and to just see her suffer. It was very familiar from watching my mom take care of my dad when he was dying. Same time of year too. This time I could remind myself that my friend was likely to get better. Still I'm probably always going to hate mens' loungewear and the end of July/beginning of August.

I'm not going to try to call September.

So far this month I've had an art show. I'll post photos once I get them off of Pete's camera. His camera is currently locked in a cooler with a large bag of desiccant because, due to an enormous and uncharacteristic brain fart, he left his camera bag outside over a rainy night.

Some other good news is that I'm chipping away at my major art endeavor. I'm calling it an endeavor because it's the single largest project I've ever taken on in my life. Well, I'm not positive that it's larger than being married but it is up there. I know I've mentioned the novel/comic book/art pieces. What this really means is that there are characters, figurines, art pieces that the characters make, drawings, several comic books, photographs, paintings, possibly film, possibly animation, possibly performances in the works. There's a lot to figure out and a lot to learn. I'm really excited about it. I'll be working on this for years.

With all of the hard things that have been happening lately and making it difficult for me to enjoy anything, it's nice to have something positive to focus on. It's nice to have something to do that feels like progress.

Of course, with a project this large I could get bogged down and lost. Somehow that doesn't seem likely though. I feel like there are enough stages to work through and small parts to complete that I'll keep feeling like I'm accomplishing something. I'll have examples of progress made, areas completed and work to show that will keep me on track. Some parts could go way off in their own wild directions but there's nothing wrong with that.

Some highlights from August:

I love bees.

Fay snoozes in the laundry

It was a great year for lilies

The roses looking good before Irene

Random Cooking And Eating

My first attempt at making tamago with my new tamago pan.  As you can see I need a great deal of practice.  Maybe I should have watched the "how to" videos on Youtube before I tried out the pan?

In other news, I misplaced the lid to the Nutella jar.  I guess that means I have to finish the jar.

Wherein I Become A Shill

I knew 120 million people were not waking up every morning and making dashi fresh with kombu and fish flakes.  It's not like it's super hard to make - though it is hard to make well.  Even so, I knew there had to be an instant powder that comes in a jar somewhere.

Enter Amazon.com.

This "Amazon Associates" thing I'm doing now has definitely increased traffic to their site.  I'm going there daily now.

If you've been reading this blog for a while you will know I'm interested in Japanese cooking.  All of the cookbooks I have contain a recipe for tamago, the Japanese rolled omelette often sliced and made into sushi.  While I enjoy eating tamago it's the skill I'm after - I want to learn how to make it well!  So I searched Amazon (because you can find anything on Amazon and read the reviews before you buy) and I bought this pan:



I haven't used it yet but it's very well made and has a non-stick coating.  It's also tiny and cute as hell.  Kawaii!!!  A recipe for tamago came with it in the box.  The number two ingredient was "Hondashi (Japanese instant soup base)"!

There it was!  I knew it!  Instant dashi!  Thank you again, Amazon!  Well, thank you, House of Rice who included the recipe with the pan.  But I wouldn't have known about The House of Rice without Amazon.

So back to Amazon I went and ordered some:


I think this discovery will open up a whole, new world of Japanese culinary success for me.

Ebelskivers

I was going to blog about how I completely trashed our kitchen making Ebelskivers (oh wait - I am blogging about that) but I don't have the correct cable to get the photos off the camera. What the hell, I'll keep going...

I've been wanting to make ebelskivers for a couple of years now but I couldn't bring myself to buy the pan. The pan that does only one thing. Then I lucked into finding out about a sale and was able to get the pan for $20. I went for it.

This morning I made them for the first time and they were delicious. I'll definitely be making them again. I discovered that practice helps in making successful ebelskivers. Also that 5 on my electric stove is too hot and will burn them. One fun thing I did was use some of the pear compote I made last year as filling. I would have no idea what else to do with this compote otherwise to tell you the truth. I also used bittersweet chocolate chips in some and commercial strawberry-apricot jam. There were no losers. Pete and I decided that when making these it's a good idea to always make a few chocolate ones just for what the chemicals do to your head: chocolate adds a pleasant little caffein kick. Not that we didn't have coffee too. It was a very fun and satisfying breakfast.

There are a couple of slight drawbacks to making them though. The recipe is a bit utensil-intensive so there's quite a bit of clean-up. For example you need three bowls and two whisks in your set-up (if you don't use a mix - I haven't tried a mix) Also, they are the kind of thing that the person cooking them doesn't get to eat until after everyone else because they should be served immediately while they're hot. I ate most of mine standing up. I hate eating standing up. I don't hate it enough to not make more ebelskivers though.

Motifs So Far

Here's what I've got so far for the lust blanket. These have been made over the last several weeks. I'm not positive that all of these will end up in the final product but it's a start. I'm going to make a bunch more larger motifs and then assemble them together with crochet.

It's really fun to be able to try out new techniques and to see what all of these odd yarns I've always been curious about can do. I predict that there will be a lot more ruffles.

Shots! (Not The Fun Kind)

Highway hypnosis. Fay and I drove from Vermont to Jamaica Plain (Boston) and back today so she could have her usual six-week check-up with the neurologist. We are both zombified and I just want to go to bed without any supper.

I'll have to power through though so I can try out the exciting new skill I learned today at the vet: how to prepare a hypodermic syringe for subcutaneous injection!

Fay's usual injectable medication now comes in a new formulation with no preservatives. They used to pre-load the syringes for me. Now I have to make it fresh myself. The neurologist's assistant showed me how to assemble and load a syringe today. Neato! And see - I can spell "syringe" correctly too!

I love a new skill! I wish it were karate or making a sea-worthy canoe out of rushes or dancing a tango or something else more exotic though. Maybe later. I'm not dead yet.

Hoopin'

My mother-in-law (a very fun woman) gave me the Acacia catalog last time we were visiting my in-laws in Florida. It's mostly yoga clothes, Aisianesque home decor items and alternative-y work out dvds (I'm not at all sure how my mother-in-law got on their mailing list)

That is where I discovered hooping. Hooping, it turns out, is kind of a thing. Did you know? I didn't. Hoopnotica is featured in the Acacia catalog. In my area there's Boston Hoop Troop. Maybe I'll take some classes with them. Good hoopers are hypnotic.

It looked fun so I ordered the instructional dvds and a travel hoop. Turns out it is fun. I love it! Every morning I wake up psyched that I can hoop today (unless it's raining) I'm not good at it yet but I'm feeling determined.

Below you can see Pete's hooping debut. I already posted mine on Facebook.

He's got kind of a horsey-riding style.

In Vermont Today

It was sunny in Vermont today.  At least it was in my lower-right-hand corner of Vermont.  The only human I saw today was the FedEx man who came to pick up a defective piece of gear that Pete's reviewing for Tape Op magazine (only he'll need a working example if he's going to be able to review the thing.  Ahh, Tape Op - I love those folks.  Very good people.  The defective gear has nothing to do with them)

I spent the morning in my studio and the afternoon at the house working on various projects.  I get more done in the studio.  When I'm in the house Fay pesters me almost constantly for food.  Oink!  She's so cute I can't complain much but it is an interruption.  Also I keep checking twitter and e-mail.  Bad news!  Some people have a serious case of tweetterrhea.  I am not referring to you, Marilyn.

As usual I have too many ideas for things to make.  Today went well though because I'd just work on something until I got to a stopping point and then move on to something else.  In theory this means progress on a number of projects which means that I might be able to finish a few of them someday.  I have high hopes.

Today I also finished that damned 25 Random Things list that's going around.  Facebook, you are a diabolical time suck!  Number 23 was a list of things I want to learn and the observation that when you're a kid a list that long is possible to tackle.  On further consideration kids take years to learn the things they learn.  In school you take French for an hour then computer for an hour then you have gym then you have lunch then maybe you have your violin lesson, etc.  You do this every week over four to six years.  Why can't I do that?  Oh yeah, adult responsibilities.  I think I can still do that only it might take longer.   

Also I have proven to be kind of bad at honoring the schedules I set for myself.  I keep trying though.  Just like I keep showing up for Maya, my XBox personal trainer.  It took four years but I can do five man push-ups.  That counts for something.  Forty-three years old and can do man push ups for the first time ever.

So now I'm going to go take a quick peek at the moon because Michaela told me to and then I'm getting back to work.  And it will be fun!

Ice Adventure

That's my man, always on top of the promotional opportunities. It wouldn't kill me to follow his example a little more.

So that was one heck of an ice storm. The power's still out at our place in Vermont. Rumor is it will take until Tuesday at 8 PM before our power's turned on again.

The power went out Thursday night. No electricity, no heat, no water, no modem. Fortunately the phones are up and running. As Pete reported I stayed behind to keep the pipes from freezing. I was kind of looking forward to it. I was thinking it would kind of be like a snow day and I could do all the reading and knitting I've been wanting to do. It didn't really work out that way though.

Mostly it was dark and cold, uncertain and a little lonely. At the time I thought "this would be really fun with a bunch of friends. We could toast marshmallows and drink whiskey together." Yeah but we'd also be sharing the non-flushing toilets too. Less fun. I didn't get creeped-out or anything though.

I spent most of my time being the fire jockey. I had never been in charge of a wood stove before so I had to get the hang of it. I love new skills! I made a lot of trips between the house with the fireplace and the studio with the wood stove. Home base was the house since a wood stove mostly takes care of itself after you get it good and hot. In the beginning though I was going back and forth every fifteen minutes to check on things. Pain in the ass! It was a little stressful too wondering if I could achieve my objective and keep the buildings warm enough. I got splinters in both of my thumbs.

At least it was very beautiful. The moon was full that night. Iced over trees and plants are beautiful in any light. Each time I crossed from the house to the barn and back I got to admire the scenery.

First I want to say HEAD LAMPS. I can't emphasize that enough. Candles are cheery and sometimes smell good but if you really need to see what you're doing head lamps are the way to go. Get Santa to bring you some. Also, WATER. You've got to have water. I didn't have enough. My dishes are still dirty. Baby wipes are decent for washing your hands in a pinch but you can't flush the toilet with them. I collected what water I could from the roof melt in whatever pots and pans and bowls we had but it wasn't enough.

I was also very grateful for the gas oven/stove. Remind me to never switch to electric. Nothing keeps my spirits up like eating and cooking!

Fay and I slept on the sofa in front of the fireplace so I could keep the fire going through the night. That worked out fine. When I awoke in the morning it was about forty degrees in the house, fifty-one degrees in the studio and there were enough hot embers (thanks Mij!) in both the fireplace and the wood stove for me to be able to get them going again easily. Mission accomplished!

I fed Fay and made myself some coffee with a french press. In the mean time Fay, no longer on top of me in a pile of comforters, started to get too cold. I decided I should spend the daylight hours taking her down to Brookline so she wouldn't get sick. Then I could pick up plenty of water and other supplies on my way back up.

That didn't happen either. Instead it's Sunday, Fay and I are here in Brookline where there's power and heat and Pete's on his way up to work on the pipe project.

Yesterday is another story which I might tell tomorrow.

Opportunities

There are some great jobs coming out of the current economic crash. Not a lot of them but...

Consider the Planet Money team. I wouldn't mind being one of them right now. As horrible as this crash is and will continue to be, it's also really fascinating. Those Planet Money folks get to research every aspect of the crash. They're traveling the world finding out how the economy is affecting people of all economic levels. Planet Money is finding out about arcane financial products, what they really are, how they came to be and how they're causing domino-effect destruction in markets all over the world. Then the team boils down all the information and figures out how to explain it to us in an entertaining and understandable fashion. What a great job to have!

Then there are the lucky visionaries who are going to revolutionize the auto industry. That's going to be the job of a lifetime for somebody. To paraphrase a surfer dude I used to know, it'll be heavy but it'll be killer. Heads are going to have to roll, old, dead wood will have to be removed. But think of the opportunities for new designs, new concepts, new systems, better vehicles! It might even produce more interesting jobs for the workers who build vehicles.

Again, it's painful to have to change and move into the future but it can also be really exciting. We're being forced out of our self-indulgent ruts (Working in a dying industry may not feel self-indulgent but if you know your industry's dying and you stick around because you already know how to do the job and you can't be bothered to learn a new skill, that's pretty self-indulgent) If we're lucky, creative and keep our eyes open there are good pieces of pie to be had.

We're all going to have to learn to be flexible and try something new. I think that's very exciting. Like training for a marathon, it's going to be a lot of work but look what we'll be able to do afterward.

Interesting Times - We've Got 'Em

OVERLOAD

I don't even know what to write. I don't have organization skills. How can I express myself coherently?

I CAN'T!!!!!!

My favorite: excessive use of exclamation points!

I heard some dude on the radio say that the entire U.S. financial system is breaking down. I wonder if this is sort of what a tsunami looks like? I don't want to belittle the experiences of people who have lived through (or not) a tsunami. I'm just wondering if this is figuratively similar. It starts out kinda weird and you don't really know what's happening. The big wave comes from far away and you can see it but not understand what it is. Then before you know it you're engulfed in calamity and it's faster, stronger and more overwhelming than you could ever have imagined.

I think I may be in the "see the big wave" part. Where the hell is the high ground and how do we get there?

In Sierra Leone a woman's chance of dying in childbirth is 1 in 8.

At the same time the world is full of amazing things.

This article on tracking elephants with text messaging is pretty amazing.

Then there's amigurumi.

And I just found this incredible site full of wonderful things, Print & Pattern.

Then there's cupcakes. I know there's a major cupcake backlash going on but holy cow. How can you argue with this?

And of course the whole bento thing.

As it says above, I make things. How can a person possibly decide what to make? I'm really stymied right now because there are so many things to make and so many things to learn and I can't organize my experience in a way that makes moving forward meaningful.

Maybe there's just no meaning, no forward and it doesn't matter what I do next so I should just do anything. That's what I've always done in the past. No meaning, no path, no destination.

And we should all just do what we do. I'm going to try not to hurt anyone while I'm about it.

All my life I've idly wondered what it was like for people in other times. What was it like to be Roman during the fall of Rome? What was it like to live in the Dark Ages? World War I? What was it like to be German during the rise of Hitler? Times of chaos when the world (or one's country) seemed to be going entirely the wrong way.

Maybe I'm going to find out. How much chaos are we in for exactly?

How about ecology? Are we going to retract in fear and use up all our resources because we're too scared to take the apparent risk of trying new ways? Panicked people behave stupidly sometimes. Use up all your resources and you will die. Do we have the sense to take painful short term hits so that we can survive into the future?

Beats the crap out of me.

So now what do I do? Do I go to the local farm stand and buy some more eggplant so I can make some more Japanese eggplant with miso topping? Do I just go out and put in more lily bulbs and peonies? Make more fuck plates? Design myself an agedashi dofu amigurumi?

What the hell?

Oh, I don't Know...

So far as I can tell yesterday's pear preserves, "Spirited Pears," or as I like to call them, Boozey Pears, went perfectly. I even got an extra jar or two. Hopefully time won't prove me wrong.

Today I made pear jam using pectin. There's a butt-load of sugar in jam. Much more than there is in marmalade or the other preserves I've tried thus far. The recipe called again for finely chopped pears. This time I was careful to chop them very finely so I could measure the amounts properly. I followed the recipe carefully too and ended up with five full jars plus one not quite full jar of jam. The recipe said it would yield eight jars. I don't think I can blame altitude for this one. Maybe our pears aren't as juicy as commercial pears?

Anyhoo, I've learned so much from making these preserves. I've had a lot of fun trying new things and making mistakes. I'll definitely continue to make preserves in the future.

You know, apple season is looming.

I thought I'd use up all my pears today but no, I still have several more. What kind of preserves will the future bring? Or maybe I'll just make a cake or a tart or something. I'm too tired to think about it right now.

Preserves, Day Two

The preserve of the day: pear port compote. I believe it went pretty well. There isn't actually all that much port in them though. Only a quarter cup compared to about eight cups of other ingredients. Supposedly the compote gets better with age and will be really delicious around next Thanksgiving (not this upcoming Thanksgiving) I will have plenty of other preserves to try in the mean time.

For example the pear ginger marmalade/tar I made yesterday. One of the jars didn't seal which was okay by me because I wanted to try some anyway. What's more I'd just eaten the last of the store bought marmalade I had. Yeah, my marmalade's tar-like in viscosity. This makes me want to try again and see if I can do it properly next time. It does taste good but you really have to pry it out of the jar and your bready vehicle has to be pretty strong to take the force of the spreading. You might not want to have this marmalade on something so delicate as a scone.

I'm developing an x-ray sense with pears now. I've handled and cut open so many I can pretty much tell if they're going to be brown in the middle or not. Here's the simple secret: pears should be firm when they're ripe. If they're a little bit soft throughout they've probably gone too far. I haven't had tons of pear experience in the past. I didn't know.

Tomorrow it's ginger lime pear preserves. I'm going to make all the recipes I've marked in the book then go around again for the ones I want to make over.

I also made it over to my studio today. I went there first in case I got another migraine. No migraine today. If I'm lucky tomorrow I'll have some photos of my new series of plates. It might be more like Monday though.

'Can' Do (oh please)

Okay, the filled jars of marmalade (all four tiny eight ounce jars) are sitting submerged in the titanic pan waiting for the water to reach a "rolling boil" so they can be boiled for ten minutes. Will it take half an hour for the water to boil so I can boil the jars for ten minutes?

Recipes always take longer for me than they do in the cookbook. What I mean is if the cookbook says "fry onions till golden, about ten minutes" it always takes me about twenty minutes. Is it me? Does the author have a much more powerful stove than I do? Do they assume all their readers are yuppies who have professional stoves in their home kitchens? It's probably me.

It took me four or five hours to make that marmalade. I really just looked at the hour and not the minutes when I checked my watch at the beginning. It was eleven-something o'clock. So each eight ounce jar of marmalade represents an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes of my time. I should sell that stuff for big bucks! Except I think I might have made pear ginger marmalade flavored cement. It was hard to tell if that was jam "flaking" off the spoon or a chunk of pear so I just kept cooking.

It tastes good. Fay and I enjoyed licking the spoons. I also discovered that Fay likes to eat lime rind. What a weirdo.

Forty-five minutes later, here are the little suckers in person:



However the marmalade comes out I still feel pretty satisfied with myself right now.

Unfortunate Discovery

It would appear that peeling and slicing pears has something in common for me with digging up rocks in the garden: I have another migraine. I don't remember ever having two migraines in two days before. So much for that career as a pastry chef that I was thinking about.

I'm ploughing ahead though. I hope I don't screw up the ginger pear marmalade. Especially since I've never done this before, it's completely unfamiliar and it's really hard to read instructions with a migraine. I've been peeling and slicing for hours. If I wreck it...well bummer.

Ow And Mediocre Food

Flattened by a migraine. I don't recall relaxing recently (I usually get them after I relax a bit) Anyway, I'm forced to take a break in activities.

All the canning supplies have arrived and I made it to the market and the hardware store for everything else I need. That's when the migraine hit. Nothing like driving when you have massive unstable blind spots. At least I'm in the country where there isn't much traffic.

I did get the pear crisp done this morning and it's tastier than last year's. Since it's not photogenic I don't have proof that I made it. You're going to have to take my word for it. This time I used toasted pecans in the topping as opposed to slivered almonds. Toasted pecans are a bit more flavorful and crispy. Memo to myself: use less granulated sugar in the filling, more lemon juice and maybe more cinnamon.

The recipe is from one of those Cook's Best Recipe cookbooks. I'd have used a different one but Pete asked for it. Have I said before that I find their recipes disappointing? Well I do. There's definitely a committee effect to those recipes. Every one that I've tried except for the pan roasted chicken breast has been less than compelling. They get some things right: the methods are solid and produce good textures but the flavors lack the magic that would make me want to make those dishes again. The mac and cheese was actually kind of a bummer. You put in all that work some really good Grafton cheddar and yeah, it's creamy and not mushy but it just doesn't taste cheesy. Boo!

I'd kill for a bagel and cream cheese right now. Did I buy that at the store? No. I got some Heradura Silver tequila though. That doesn't help me in this condition.

Hey - I just heard my Brookline neighbor's band on the VPR local jazz show. Cool! And it didn't bite. That's a bonus.

Okay, now I'm going to make myself a substitute for bagel and cream cheese. Probably pasta with jarred sauce and mozzarella. Just like in college! No brain power required. Well, slightly more required than for a bagel and cream cheese.

How pathetic that I've written so much about mediocre food.

Uhhm, my migraine made me bore you. Sorry.

Pears - My Activities For The Near Future

So far I'm planning on making pear crisp (because Pete asked) pear jam, ginger pear marmalade, pear port compote, pear mincemeat, ginger pear preserves, and pears in brandy, rum, cognac - whatever we have around since you add the alcohol to each jar individually.

I'm very excited because I've never really tried making preserves before. I think the Ball Complete Book Of Home Preserving will be very helpful. The instructions appear to be very thorough and clear and the recipes look delicious. I'll let you know after I've tried some.

Michaela suggested pear tart. I'll probably make one of those too. Why not?

I'm also working on a new range of plates. I might - if I'm lucky and don't collapse under the weight of all these pears - be able to photograph them and post the photos by the weekend.

On Fruit

I'm back in Brookline now, away from the overburdened pear tree. When I was in VT it was so easy to eat five or six pears a day. It sort of became a habit. You could just pick one up off the ground and eat it. If it had bruises from falling off the tree you just eat around them, throw the rest into the woods and pick up another one. Or else if you saw a ripe one still on the tree you could just go for it. Then you could have the fun of hunting for another ripe one on the tree.

It made me realize that ordinarily I kind of ration fruit. In fact I've been carrying around mixed feelings about fruit and I didn't know it.

There are a few difficulties with fruit if you don't produce it yourself. Fruit is precious. Normally fruit is kind of expensive. You buy it at the store and you have to get it home without squashing it. If you don't eat it promptly it rots and then you feel guilty. Also, it's good for you (of course it's good for you whether you grow it or buy it) and sometimes I'm childish enough to let that dissuade me from thinking of fruit as a treat.

"Cookie or fruit? Cookie or fruit? Cookie bad! Fruit good! Cookie!!!"

I do think of fruit as a treat despite myself. I would never eat three store bought fruit objects at a go. That would be extravagant. If I bought them at the store I'd probably have bought six at the most and if I ate three at once they'd be almost gone. That would be a waste of resources. So instead I parcel them out, one a day or so.

Then there's the hoarder's backlash that kicks in: if I eat them all then they'll be gone and I won't have any more so sometimes I put off eating the last one until it's almost too late. The last of a package of grapes always become raisins in the back of my fridge.

Sometimes I just skip buying fruit altogether because I tell myself "it'll just end up rotting anyway" all because I can't bear for it to be all gone. How twisted is that?

Now I can afford to eat fruit just like a pig. It would be more of a waste not to eat as much as I want at a time.

So can our abundance of pears get me to change my ways? Knowing me I doubt it. My fruit habits are at least thirty-five years ingrained. I'll probably forget about this epiphany once the pears are gone and go back to my fruit hoarding ways.

In the mean-time Pete picked probably hundreds of pears off the tree yesterday while we prepared to leave VT. The pear bonanza continues for now. I"m going to look into canning and put up some preserves. I might even have time to do that before they all rot since most of them are still green. Fun - a new skill to learn!