In this journal I share a lot of the recipes I find online or develop myself. Since people often ask me for pointers to those, here's an index, dated to stay at the top of the page:

( Click for Links to Recipe Entries )

When I first encountered this question, I thought surely I must have done, but I couldn’t think of a story. Then came our most recent trip to Iceland ( Read more... )

Are you an extrovert or an introvert?While I don’t think those categories are as rigid, or as useful, as most people seem to think, I’m pretty obviously extroverted. I enjoy social events, can easily make conversation with strangers, make friends comparatively quickly, and don’t find other people’s company exhausting in reasonable doses ( Read more... )

What do you admire most about your mother?My mother strove all her life to be of service to others. She was raised on a tobacco farm in rural North Carolina during the Great Depression, but thanks to her father’s value for the education he never got she went to college and became a teacher. As the wife of a smalltown minister, she was his ( Read more... )

Have you ever sleep walked or sleep talked?Oh, yes! I’ve never sleepwalked, that I know of, but I talk in my sleep all the time. Roommates and bedmates remark on it from time to time. Beckie swears I used to play basketball in my sleep when I was in middle school ( Read more... )

Do you believe in a higher power?Not really, no. At best I believe in a greater power, some kind of collective consciousness, or sustained zeitgeist. Mostly I’m deeply agnostic. I think that we do not have the perspective to understand existence as a whole. And I think that we are pattern-creating beings, so any pattern that we claim to perceive ( Read more... )

What are your favorite movies?The whole idea of favorites is a tricky one for me. When I answer this question, it’s often simply a matter of what movies I happen to think of at the moment. I’ve learned that’s fine in conversation-what people are asking is simply for an insight into what kinds of things you like, what they might talk about with you ( Read more... )

The best class I ever took was Oceanography, my last term at Wellesley. The combination of biology and physics and the glimpse into an almost entirely hidden world fascinated me. I often distracted my roommates by reading excerpts from my textbook-which I still have. I remember the explanation of centripetal force using the example of throwing ( Read more... )

What traits do you share with your father?Physically, I'm built very much like my father, with his long arms and legs and heavy middle. My face is much more like my mother's, something that wasn't apparent to me until I reached my forties. I did seem to inherit his sinuses, however--we both can sneeze down the house and need a tissue frequently, ( Read more... )

Who have been your closest friends throughout the years?My friends are the crowning glory of my life and I've been lucky to develop deep, long-lasting relationships with many of them. This may take me a while ( Read more... )