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April 14 Writer Birthdays

• 1629 - Christiaan Huygens, Dutch astronomer and physicist who discovered the rings of Saturn, invented the pendulum clock, and wrote about mechanics and optics.
• 1879 - James Branch Cabell, American author of satirical fantasy and literary fiction.
• 1886 - Ernst R Curtius, German literary scholar.
• 1889 - Arnold Joseph Toynbee, ( Read more... )

You may remember that I was part of the group that made the car-tire-sized yarn donuts that hang in our local monument to donut goodness, The Sugar Shack. Now, the Del Ray Yarn Bombers have turned to another favorite food item, pizza. We're working on an assortment of yarn pizza slices to adorn Del Ray Pizzeria on Mount Vernon Avenue. Today we had ( Read more... )

I just finished making a batch of Easter Eggs, using a technique I hadn't tried before. Onion skins and purple cabbage impart vibrant orange and blue shades, and flowers and leaves I picked in my own yard make interesting stencils! This is what they look like finished:

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February 6 Writer Birthdays


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February 2 Writer Birthdays

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This morning the Today Show said it's National Chicken Wing Day and National Pizza Day. So we thought it our patriotic duty to go to La Casa for pizza. We did, and the pizza was great. Alas, when I arrived home and looked it up, I discovered that the Today Show erred. Yes, it is National Chicken Wing Day, but it is not National Pizza Day; it is ( Read more... )

I tried a second Butterbeer recipe over the weekend, and this one is a keeper!

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A few years ago I did some extensive research to determine which red wines should be served with different Halloween candies. For instance, a hearty Toscana nicely complements Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. And a lighter-bodied Pinot Noir paired well with the dark-chocolate Three Musketeers bars with mint, which unfortunately no longer seem to be ( Read more... )