“Glow”
It is October 31. Halloween. I have long lost my love of masks and phantoms.
So says, 26-year old Amelia “Mia” J. McGee, a woman of Cherokee and Scotch-Irish descent, and a writer for the NAACP and WEB in Washington, DC who has returned to Hopewell County, Georgia to find her missing 11-year old daughter, E.F. “Ella” McGee. Three days prior a rock had been thrown through the McGee’s window with a note that said “The next one won’t be a rock.” Fearing for her daughter’s life, Mia put Ella on a bus to Georgia and arranges for her brother, Buddy to pick up the child at the bus station. But when Ella doesn’t make it, Mia decides to vacate her plans to march in the largest picket in Washington, D.C.’s history on October 31, 1941 and return to her childhood home to find the little girl she named after Elizabeth Freeman, “the great suffragist and speaker.” Read more 
Quin Candy
Located in downtown Portland is Quin – a candy shoppe featuring handmade gumdrops, lollipops, caramels, sours, and marshmallows by the foot. Owner and chief candy maker, Jami Curl never outgrew her passion for sweets which drove her to use high quality locally sourced ingredients to create traditional types of candy without artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. Made in small batches by hand, Quin relies on sugar, fruit purée, gelatin, butter, heavy cream, vanilla beans, natural flavors and extracts, lemon zest, and more to make a delicious modern interpretation of old world favorites:
Bragg Organic Sprinkle
While shopping at a food coop in Middlebury, Vermont last month, I picked up a jar of Bragg 24 Organic Herbs and Spice Seasonings – a blend of all natural herbs and spices which adds flavor without sodium to soups, salads, pizza, vegetables, rice, beans, potatoes, marinades, and more. Formulated by Paul Bragg (a health crusader before his time and quite a colorful character) more than 80 years ago, Bragg Organic 24 Herbs and Spice Seasoning was aptly named because 24 herbs and spices go into making this flavorful seasoning. Read more
“The Kraus Project”
Our Far Left may hate religion and think we coddle Israel, our Far Right may hate illegal immigrants and think we coddle black people, and nobody may know how the economy is supposed to work now that our manufacturing jobs have gone overseas, but the actual substance of our daily lives is total electronic distraction. We can’t face the real problems; we spent a trillion dollars not really solving a problem in Iraq that wasn’t really a problem; we can’t even agree on how to keep health care costs from devouring the GNP. What we can all agree to do instead is to deliver ourselves to the cool new media and technologies, to Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, and let them profit at our expense. Read more
The Ultimate Weapon: The Water Bottle
I’m tired. Bone-weary, dizzy, worn out. More exhausted than when I had a newborn, or when I flew back from Hong Kong with my infant daughter and swore to my husband that I must have a brain tumor because I was so off-balance that each step gave me vertigo. Handing him the baby because I didn’t trust my coordination was all I could do before I hit the pillow and fell into a deep sleep. Of course, I didn’t have a brain tumor; I felt fine the next day. But my current condition is different. I am chronically sleep deprived. Read more
It’s Time to Freekeh
Every time I cook up a packet of Organic Freekeh – all natural roasted green wheat – I think of the 1978 hit song by Chic – Le Freak because that’s exactly what I do – freak out . Yes, I really do sing that song changing “freak out” to “freekeh” in my head – Ahh, Freekeh, Freekeh, c’est chic!...(out loud if no one is home) and then freak out over the flavor (nutty and smokey) and texture (firm and chewy) of a big bowl of Freekeh, especially when mixed with steamed broccoli florets and stems or fresh sautéed asparagus. Read more
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts
When most people think of hemp, they think of marijuana and although the association is understandable, there is a big difference between hulled hemp seeds (which are also called hemp hearts) and marijuana. They both come from the cannabis plant but hulled hemp seeds or hemp hearts have .001% (one thousandth) of THC (the mind altering agent) whereas marijuana has 3-22%, with an average of 9%. So although hemp has gotten a bad rap from its distant recreational drugee cousin, hemp in reality is a very nutritious seed that provides a complete protein and is easily digestible. Read more
Why You Should Buy “Humans of New York”
Two days ago, Humans of New York (“HONY“), a photography book by Brandon Stanton was released and although the chatter and buzz made me a skeptic initially, HONY really is a book worth buying for the following reasons: Read more
“That Old Cape Magic”
A false note at the beginning was much more costly than one nearer the end because early errors were part of the foundation.
58-year old, Jack Griffin is a grumpy former screenwriter turned college professor who “has been trying for a long time to understand and resolve his almost pathological resentment towards his deceased parents.” The only child of two Ivy-League educated parents who spent their lives teaching at a college in the “mid-fucking-west,” Griffin has spent his entire life trying to get away from his parents to no avail. They occupy his thought process and influence his opinions even though they’ve been reduced to ashes in urns stored in the trunk of his car. Read more
Quinoa, Sea Bean, and Tofu Salad
The secret to the flavorful Quinoa, Sea Bean and Tofu Salad lies with a tiny green plant called the Sea Bean. Sea Beans are salt tolerant plants that look like skinny little asparagus sprouts, Grown close to salt water: in marshes, on beaches, or in mangroves, these green plants have a salty flavor which can be toned down if soaked overnight in a bowl of cold water and then rinsed. Read more
Paddock Post 