I haven’t figured out how to embed a YouTube video on my page yet (must go learn that) but check out this clip of Barack Obama’s victory speech in Iowa last night. It’s long, but it’s worth watching the whole thing. I think either Hillary or Edwards would be perfectly good presidents, and certainly better than that man who currently resides in the White House — but neither of them inspires me in the least (and I’m really not crazy about putting all the old Clinton folks back in — in general, I believe life should go forward, not backward.)…
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The New York Times ran a piece in it’s travel section over the holidays about Georges-Louis Leclerc, the Comte de Buffon. Buffon was, along with Linnaeus, one of the great early botanists and naturalists. Among other things, Buffon built the Jardins des Plantes — that enormous garden on the banks of the Seine. I’d never been there until my last trip to Paris when I stayed down in the 5th arrondissement — it was my last day in Paris and the sun was shining and I was getting a little lonely for green spaces and nature, so I went off…
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In the NY Times Magazine’s 2007 roundup, the food page did a tribute to Peg Bracken — and they ran the Braised-Chicken-and-Artichoke Casserole. This was one of the first party dishes I ever made — I was fifteen or sixteen and my mother was very fond of the I Hate to Cook CookBook. I was so psyched to find this recipe — I remember it so vividly! Sauteeing off the chicken, then making the simple veloute with the mushrooms and sherry and chicken broth. Tucking the artichoke hearts in between the chicken pieces and pouring the sauce over — and…