Where thoughts brew while the coffee percolates
Reading Time: 6 minutes On the toxicity of unrequited love In order to speak more about Gollum’s fall, I first want to bring up a poem by one of J. R. R. Tolkien’s contemporaries, W. H. Auden. (Tolkien and Auden died within a month of each other in September … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 2 minutes I didn’t always love bourbon. I got shit-faced on Jim Beam in my early twenties while camping with my brother. Ever since that day, I couldn’t stand the stuff. Eventually, I began wondering if eschewing bourbon meant that I was missing out. I decided that … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 2 minutes What if we missed Aesop’s point in The Fox and the Grapes? Convention holds that the titular fox of this fable walked away from his snack and declared the grapes sour only after he couldn’t reach them. I haven’t read every fable from Aesop that … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 3 minutes In some quaint part of some remote world exists a curious man named Otik. An itinerant traveler once asked me to make him some of Otik’s Spiced Potatoes. As well-traveled as the man was, he was sorely lacking in the nuances of recreating recipes from … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 2 minutes During the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself drawn, time and time again, to my pantry. The previous day I had made some Strawberry Jalapeño Jam in a desperate attempt to salvage some produce before it spoiled. Now I needed something to spread it on. I … [continue reading]
Reading Time: 2 minutes I had strawberries and jalapeños in danger of going bad and love the juxtaposition of sweet and spicy. Strawberry Jalapeño Jam seemed like a no-brainer. Using chiles in recipes can be hit or miss for some people because the heat is often inconsistent. I like … [continue reading]
