Modernism Makes Me Hungry...

Dear Reader,

Apologies for the silence. Things are very crazy what with my fitness kick, all of the books at the New York Public Library which demand my attention, etc. But I will take this moment to announce a new big plan. Yes, Christoph and I have a little transatlantic cottage industry going on and soon you will be able to view and buy our scrumptious designs, which will in turn finance our wedding celebrations which in turn you will prolly be invited to.

ATTACKED BY ZOMBIE IN PARK SLOPE

So, dear reader, you probably think of park slope like that recent .NYtimes article and as the land that has FARM. But, it also has a seedy side. Last week, when I was biking home from the coop, trying to make it before the downpour, I was attacked by a real life ZOMBIE. There I was, patiently waiting for the light to turn, and this Vicki Pollard-esque teenager on a fitness walk came up to me with blank blank zombie eyes and held onto my arm! She didn't say a thing. Luckily, the light changed and I pried her Zombie hands off of my arm, saying,"Ok, gotta go." Quelle cauchemar!

Toaster Oven? I say Most-er Oven!

Dear Reader,

As a person who does international moves to and from places with diffent voltages and plugs with alarming frequency I have very few electrical kitchen devices. But let me tell you about this rare and ingenius device that is a miracle worker on a hot day: yes the humble toaster oven! The high points of my culinary history have all been toaster oven concoctions- from my earliest experiments with mixing butter and sugar together (mmm!) and spreading the resulting caloric spread on toast and baking it until it caramelizes to the raisin bread with cheddar cheese melt (!!!) to my latest achievment: toasted veggies. Instead of cranking up the oven to a ridiculous temperature to roast my veggies (usually for an omelet or to toss with my farro pasta) I simply arrange the vegetables cut to pinky finger thickness, toss with salt, pepper and olive oil and toast twice. Amazing. But this story is a bitter sweet story. Toaster ovens are unavailable in the UK. Not even at John Lewis! the sadness! and they are a rare beast in France.

Pesticide: Not for Wusses

Dear reader,

Usually, I am all for organic stuff, but I draw the line very clearly with mosquitos. I am so totally not organic, but am actively conventional. There is a point at which public health concerns far outweigh any antipesticide wussiness. DEET! I'd rather bathe in the stuff than risk malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, epidemic polyarthritis, Rift Valley fever, Ross River Fever, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile virus(WNV), Japanese encephalitis, LaCross encephalitis, etc.