cooking | Mostly Bright Ideas

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Related by Blood

May 17, 2014

When we were young, my cousins and I got together at least once a week. We all grew up in big, Italian-Catholic families that were in a constant state of competition — the fathers vying to see who could smoke the most cigarettes, and the mothers to see who could have the most babies. Holidays […]

Trying to Avoid Eye Contact

May 29, 2013

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I recently cut up some hot peppers. When I say hot, I mean the kind that drives diced onions to run for cover, and produces a choking, blistering sensation in your throat that impels you to gulp down a cold drink in the desperate hope that you might soon resume breathing. I’ve done this before. […]

Our Cats Ate Spaghetti

February 28, 2012

106

I grew up in an Italian household. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, but I also had no choice in the matter. Everyone in the family was Italian. Even the pets. When I was very little, my grandmother had two parakeets that would fly from their open cage to perch on her fingers […]

Help Has Arrived, and Just In Time

December 31, 2011

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Life seems to be getting more and more complicated. You must’ve noticed that, because even I’ve noticed it, and believe me, a lot of things escape my attention. For example, I frequently walk around for the better part of a day with a dryer sheet hanging out from the bottom of my pants. Last week, […]

The Queen of Cookies

September 8, 2011

I sometimes fantasize about having one of those cooking shows, the kind with a set that looks like a fully-equipped kitchen, even though it’s really no more than a stove, sink, and countertop surrounded by big cameras and people holding up cue cards just out of sight. The cooking itself would be largely an illusion, […]

Bringing Up Daughter

January 27, 2011

The age-old struggle for supremacy between father and daughter is not well understood. Few scholars have dared approach the subject, preferring to wade into less treacherous waters of study, such as the transmission of plague or the destructive results of being hit by lightning. I have not enjoyed the luxury of such gutless timidity. * […]

Guilty with an Explanation

January 17, 2011

A few days ago, Earth Ocean Sky Redux posted about her recent attempt at making pancakes for the family. The word “attempt” gives away the ending, of course, but I think you’ll enjoy the pictures as well as her narrative. By presenting photographic evidence, EOS seemed to be throwing herself on the mercy of the […]

Do You Ever Do This?

June 14, 2010

On busy days I make lists of the things I need to do. Sometimes I add something to the list that I’ve already done, just so I can cross it off. This makes me feel productive and neurotic at the same time. When taking a shower, I’ll drop the soap. If I’m trying to get […]