“Franny and Zooey”
An artist’s only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else’s.
Franny and Zooey is actually two short stories that were originally published in The New Yorker magazine: Franny, in the January 25, 1955 issue, and Zooey, in the May 4, 1957 issue. Written by J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey was published as a 2-chapter book in 1961 and is both a perplexing yet satisfying read that explores the meaning of life in its spiritual context. Read more 
Slipstream Organic Granola
When a cyclist (who owns Slipstream Cycling) from Fort Madison, Iowa teamed up with a pastry chef from Boulder, Colorado, the collaboration resulted in the creation of Slipstream Organic Granola: four delicious varieties of granola that primarily rely on organic wildflower honey as a sweetener.
Mixed by hand and made in small batches, Slipstream Granola is chock full of oats, nuts (hazelnuts and almonds), and seeds (sunflower and sesame) – which makes for a scrumptious, crunchy granola low in sugar (3 – 6 grams of sugar per serving) and high in wholesomeness. Read more
The Green Veggie Burrito
A Green Veggie Burrito is comfort food at its best: broccoli, zucchini and onions all bound together by sweet mashed potatoes within a sprouted grain tortilla. The Japanese Sweet Potato – a large potato with dark pink skin and a white exterior that turns a pale shade of green when cooked – is the key ingredient in this recipe. Sweet and creamy, the Japanese Sweet Potato is available at most Whole Foods Markets or large farmer’s markets this time of year. Read more
42 Hours from Ithaca to West Palm Beach
I didn’t make any of this up. No one can make this stuff up.
Last week my husband picked up our daughter from college and together they drove to Watkins Glen, New York where she started an internship at Farm Sanctuary – a rescue, rehabilitation, and shelter for farm animals that also serves as an advocate for animal rights. On Sunday morning, my husband was scheduled to depart Ithaca Thompkins Regional Airport on a 10:20 am United Airlines flight to Newark connecting to West Palm Beach. Sounds easy? Turns out it was the trip from hell thanks to United and Delta. Read more
Des Moines’ Downtown Farmers’ Market
Many people start thinking about Farmers Markets during the early days of summer but Iowans living in the central part of the state have been patronizing the Des Moines Downtown Farmers Market since early May. They haven’t forgotten about meat and potatoes (the market has plenty of these items) but instead celebrate the fresh local harvest of fruits and vegetables every Saturday from May thru October in the capital city on the west bank of the Des Moines River. Read more
What Consumers Should Know About Corn
There are more than 45,000 items in the average American supermarket and more than a quarter of them contain corn.
How can that be? Because corn is cheap, as in r-e-a-l-l-y cheap. 7 cents a pound, on average. But corn production is not measured by the pound. Instead, corn is grown, priced, measured, and traded by the bushel, which holds about 56 pounds of kernels. At $4 per bushel (the current market rate from farmer to buyer), that’s 7 cents a pound. Read more
Inside Smarts Wash Bags
Long live your laundry! ~Billy Mays
We’re talking laundry today. Yes, that boring task that grows exponentially daily. Many things annoy me about laundry but the number one irritation is how to properly care for clothes because it’s not a matter of filling up the machine, pouring the detergent in, and turning the dial (were it that easy, no one would have designed men’s white underwear with a red waistband, shirts made with different fabrics, or work out clothes with lycra and mesh).If you’ve ever opened up the washing machine to see bra straps tied tightly around a favorite white shirt or the laces in the waist of your husband’s gym shorts shriveled into a tight ball, read on. Read more
“The Girl on the Train”
Imagining something is better than remembering something. ~John Irving, The World According to Garp
Summertime is when everyone seems to be talking about “beach books”, which I never fully understood until I read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The Urban Dictionary defines a “beach book” as “easily digestible, designed to be guzzled down from a cramped airline seat or reclining poolside chair” and although that definition seems more like a description of a beer to me, I finally realized that a beach book is like a refreshment or some tangy pineapple that may momentarily satisfy hunger when descriptive prose and depth are just too much to think about. Read more
Raw Crunch Bars
Just when I think there couldn’t be a better tasting, nutritionally sound bar on the market, along comes one that blows me away. That would be the Raw Crunch Bar: a handmade, unprocessed, uncooked energy bar made with a core of four types of organic seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, flax), three types of organic nuts (cashews, pecans, macadamia), raw honey, and Celtic sea salt. Read more
Asparagus and Mushrooms with Teriyaki Tofu
Spring is the perfect time to enjoy fresh asparagus (although available year-round, the largest asparagus crop is harvested from late February to June). Stem thickness indicates the age of the plant with the young, thin stalks the most desirable and tasty. The thicker stems indicate the plant is older and can be tough and woody although a peeler can eliminate the rough outer skin. The tips are the most tender and flavorful so look for firm stalks with dry tips. Read more
Paddock Post 