in a silly yet resourceful move, jay trans-planted the scallion starts into inverted 16 ounce beer cans.

maybe i shouldn't be so impressed by how much more interesting fresh bay leaf is than it's dried version. because most things when parched long enough to turn to powder aren't as good as fresh. but still, after three years of having the little bay growing just outside the kitchen door, i get stoked when i'm braising/brothing/whateva-ing and think bay! and go out and snip.

these are our dogs Sara and Charlie. our chicken protectors. if it appears that they have that laissez faire attitude it's because they do. my good friend Henry Hoeschen once commented that "...they act like they're on medical marijuana."

"You're busted." that's what my doctor said after a physical a couple years ago. needed to lose weight, exercise, lay off the beer, salt, fatty stuff. well there's no way in hell i'm giving up the hot lunch. even in the summer when we get up to a scorching high of 72' i'll still make pho for lunch. so i started running again, lost 20 pounds and the hot lunch routine is not in jeopardy. there's nothing elaborate about my hot lunch...it's just not cold. leftovers usually morphed into something slightly different than the night before with a somewhat consistent cast of characters...habanero, scallions, hoisin, broth, refried beans, freshly picked greens and chives, eggs, bread. hot lunch means eating well with no more than 10-15 minutes of time invested. like adding some of the cast of characters to a ramen bowl. or a sandwich. a grilled sandwich.

just before going to this morning's CAO hearing at the grange i noticed a raccoon in the trap by the chicken coop. at the hearing i thought about what to do with that raccoon while watching the 4 county employees and their stacks of CAO paperwork. i was impressed by the intro presentation by the county. Janice Biletnikoff (hope i got that right) was eloquent, knowledgeable and well prepared. their formula for calculating setbacks was not the number crunching nightmare i anticipated. but even Dr. Adamus seemed to concede that the system is limited by it's exclusive reliance on nitrates data collected in different parts of the country "...because there is no other data out there..."

i raised hogs last year because i lucked out and scored 4 tons of organic granola. a friend's gluten free food company had to dispose of the cereal because it turned out to be contaminated with some chunks of plastic from a broken piece of equipment at the manufacturer. fortunately i had the means by which to unload and store half ton bags of granola...a mini excavator and a barn. i'm back in the hog business!