I’ve done a good bit of work around self-image, owning my voice, combatting imposter syndrome, and restricting the sources of criticism that I take into my heart. If you don’t know, I’m a queer white person who grew up in a religious culture that said God is love but also told me that, as long…
A Layman’s Culinary Education in a Time of Crisis
Things are challenging all around. Time is often short, and funds aren’t generally abundant. Life’s taught me, though, that I feel better when I eat well, get enough sleep and exercise, and share the things that bring me joy and a sense of fulfillment. In my experience, the things I’ve found that bring me fulfillment…
Choosing a Better Way
I believe in making good jobs that engage and profit all of a business’s staff. I believe in building ethically operated businesses that support the industry as a whole as well as all of the members of the community that supports it. I also believe that supporting community requires the rejection of intolerance. We’re all…
Shakshuka-inspired breakfast skillet
I’m scheduled to go into work late this afternoon after a day and a half of snow break, so I cooked a solid one-pan brunch for myself and aimed for flavor and a good balance of fruit and vegetable, protein, and grains. Taking inspiration from shakshuka (worth looking up if you’ve never had it), I…
Recipe development: Dukkah prototype #2
Some of you know by now that I’ve been in a romantic relationship with a man from Egypt for the last few months, but serendipitously, just days before we met, I was asked in the spice shop where I work part-time for an Egyptian spice blend called Dukkah which we don’t carry and I’d never…
How to get rid of a bully
Were you bullied? I was. I think that, at one time or other, most of us have been bullied. I don’t know about you, but I was fortunate enough to have had a very wise and kind adult tell me early on that it helps, sometimes, to realize that bullies lose there power over you…
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in South Beach
I had an entertaining evening watching movies and the falling snow. Nominated for ten Academy Awards in 1967, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner won two. Katharine Hepburn won for Best Leading Actress, and William Rose won Best Screenplay. Sidney Poitier wasn’t nominated, though admittedly, it wasn’t my favorite of his performances. He did, however, receive…
Confessional
I write every day, and yet people continue to tell me that I need to write. I do write. I need to write. I’m compelled every day to speak my mind, and people listen. People seem to get something out of what I write, and I … I want to say that I enjoy doing…
Gratitude 25–27
I’ve missed a couple of days of confessing my gratitude, but I’m grateful to have maintained it. I’m grateful for books. My grandmother was an avid fiction reader as are my sister, my six-day-older cousin, and I. My mother loved encyclopedias. My dad was always a newspaper and magazine guy. Reading has always been a…
Awry
I was born to be an evangelist. Look at me. Those were the first words out of my mouth. I’m sure of it. I love to talk. I love to be engaged. I love to interact with other people. Over here. That was another big one. Come look at this. I’m full of them. I’ve…