Brant Point wreath from the Coasties…Thanks!


A Merry YouTube Christmas

Making the Most of a few Snowflakes







Elf Yourself

Everybody has one of these. They’re sort of like home movies. You want to share them, but not necessarily see someone else’s. Nonetheless, no one else’s is a cute as my family’s. So here you go:


Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Pollan’s Food Advice

Earlier this year, food writer Michael Pollan asked his NYTimes readers to send in their food advice. These were his favorites:

“Don’t eat egg salad from a vending machine.” David Wilson

“Both of my parents were from Italy, and one of our family rules was that you could not leave the table until you had finished your fruit: ‘Non si puo lasciare la tavola fino che hao finito la frutta.’ It was a great way to incorporate fruit into our diets and also helped satiate our sweet tooths, keeping us away from less healthful sweets.” Marta Larusso

“You don’t get fat on food you pray over.” This is from a friend who points out that meals prepared at home, served at the table and given thanks for are more appreciated and more healthful than foods eaten on the run. Carol Jackson

From my Romanian grandmother: “Breakfast, you should eat alone. Lunch, you should eat with a friend. Dinner, you should give to an enemy.” Irina Dumitrescu

“Don’t eat anything that took more energy to ship than to grow.” Carrie Cizauskus

“Make and take your own lunch to work.” My father has always done this, and so have I. It saves money, and you know what you are eating. Hope Donovan Rider

“If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, you are not hungry.” Emma Fogt

The Chinese have a saying: “Eat until you are seven-tenths full, and save the other three-tenths for hunger.” That way, food always tastes good, and you don’t eat too much. Nancy Ni

“Eat foods in inverse proportion to how much its lobby spends to push it.” Kirk Westphal

“I am living in Japan and following these simple rules in preparing each meal: GO HO — incorporate five different cooking methods (steamed rice, simmered vegetables, grilled tofu, sauteed vegetables, raw fish, etc.); GO SHIKI — incorporate five colors (red, white, black, green, yellow); GO MI — incorporate five flavors (sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter). While it might look like a lot of work, it is actually very easy and helps with menu planning and shopping.” Yukari Sakomoto

“Avoid snack foods with the ‘oh’ sound in their names: Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Hostess Ho Hos, etc.” Donna David

“One of my top rules from eating comes from economics. The law of diminishing marginal utility reminds me that each additional bite is generally less satisfying than the previous bite. This helps me slow down, savor the first bites, stop eating sooner. It also helps get plenty of variety in my diet, because this rule also makes a meal of small plates more enticing: 3 bites of 5 plates is better than 15 bites of 1 plate at maximizing satisfaction and nutritional variety.” Laura Kelley

“Don’t eat anything you aren’t willing to kill yourself.” Lorene Lavora

“No second helpings, no matter how scrumptious.” Karen Harmin

“When drinking tea, just drink tea.” I find this Zen teaching useful, given my inclination toward information absorption in the morning, wen I’m also trying to eat breakfast, get the dog out, start the fire and organize my day. I believe it’s so much better for our bodies when we are present to our food. Perhaps a bit of mindfulness goes a long way first thing in the morning. Of course, some time ago I came across a humorous anecdote about a hapless Zen student whose teacher taught him this aphorism and then was discovered by the same student, drinking tea and reading the paper. When confronted, the teacher said, “When drinking tea and reading the paper, just drink tea and read the paper!” Michelle Poirot

When you’re eating, don’t talk about other past meals, whether better or worse. Focus on what’s in front of you. Good meals are more thoroughly enjoyed this way, and lousy meals can yield their own useful information (”I’ll never cook that way again”). It’s also more polite, to food and cook alike. Miles P. Finley

After spending some time working with people with eating disorders, I came up with this rule: “Don’t create arbitrary rules for eating if their only purpose is to help you feel in control.” I try to eat healthfully, but if there’s a choice between eating ice cream and spending all day obsessing about eating ice cream, I’m going to eat the ice cream! Laura Usher

“It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor,” was the saying my Italian grandmother would frequently use to remind us of the love and attention to detail that went into her cooking. John Forti

Just a funny picture

Friendship Christmas Show

Scott Bamber. Friendship Lane. Go ride the train!






2009 Christmas Stroll








A favorite vendor

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