oh what a pretty world it is!

"Moo" say the cows in the woods across the street.

a week in the life of Kemily

Lula attempts to eat a sunflower that is 4x the size of her head.

Wow, it's Wednesday Morning and I finally have a minute to update the blog. With the school year here, lots of things are going on. From a previous post, you saw the ladies I had over for dinner! I was just tickled to be able to have my mentor, her mentor, and my mentee from the English Department over to enjoy pie and gossip. We represent all different stages in the graduate program... Laurie is working on her dissertation, and expecting a baby! Jennie-Rebecca was her mentee, and my mentor & she too is dissertating. Me, in my last year of coursework. And Emily who is just starting the MA this year . . . and just graduated from Gordon, Abby's college! Incidentally, Jennie-Rebecca also went to Gordon, AND her father is an English prof there.

The day before we had guests, Ken and I were walking down the road, past the farm, and we saw out neighbors there. We talked for a while, and walked through their FANTASTIC ENVIABLE BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC ENORMOUS FANTASTIC veggie garden. We walked out with HUGE stalks of sunflowers of all shades and sizes, as well as a bag full of ripe tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, hot peppers, carrots, and the beets that were made into the soup I posted the other day. We feel very lucky.


Aaron and Emily @ the Bowery Poetry Club

Last Saturday was the launch party of our friend Patrick's new magazine, Oddfellow. So there was an event at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC. Since Ken and Aaron both had stories in the magazine, we all went down for it. Ken also did a feature performance... and was, of course, the STAR of the show. Well, at least, it seemed that way to me. We walked around 'the village' for the afternoon--it was sunny and lovely. Although the whole city pretty much smells like trash, it was still fun. I have to say that the eating down there is pretty sweet. . . we had sushi which was scrumptious, and we also visited my favorite French Cafe, Le Gamin.


Ken at Le Gamin


Readers, I have a yogurt maker. It's one that makes yogurt in one big quart-sized container. I think I like it a lot. The first batch was a little watery, but I think that is because I did not let it sit for long enough before turning off the machine and refridgerating it. So I'll keep experimenting. To all those out there who have had acid reflux problems, or other stomach ailments, I'd really recommend eating yogurt 2 times a day for a month, and see how things go. I can honestly say that a regiment of daily yogurt has done wonders for my chronically troubled tummy. I remember taking all sorts of horrible pills like Nexium and all the other PPIs--bad side effects and little change in the way I felt. I haven't felt this good since I was a kid. Of course, the really sugary or fake-sugary kinds are to be avoided at all costs. Plain yogurt sweetened slightly by maple syrup or fruit is more palatable. I'm still in the market for a yogurt maker that makes yogurt in little cups.

On Sunday Ken and I took a really long walk along the Fenton "river." Is something still a river if the bed is all dried up? We walked up the rocky bed of the river. I was sad to see all the dead fish. I think rain is coming today or tomorrow, though. After the walk we went to "A Taste of Organic Connecticut" in Coventry. What a nice, nice time! There were some yummy samples, and some great music. I saw lots of the farmers from my Farmer's Market there. We bought a pumpkin and a tiny little tabletop Mum. I love mums in the fall. We listened in on a talk about organic gardening. I also got a houseplant. It is some sort of succulent.


Miss Marble

Bowl of Paint (Cold Beet Soup)

4 beets, boiled, peeled, chopped
Mix with 2 cups of plain yogurt (I used whole-milk yogurt)
Add some cumin to taste
Add salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkle copiously with fresh dill

Serve to the brave.
Ken loved, loved, loved it.

Dinner Party


Laurie (and Cody is within), Jennie-Rebecca, Me (in vintage housedress!), and Emily--4 generations of metor-mentees!

Introducing THE LUMBERYARD

Ken tries to find his "radio voice"

Here is the official word sent out to a small but growing LUMBERYARD mailing list this morning...

THE LUMBERYARD: A Radio Magazine of Poetry, Prose & Music

www.thelumberyardjournal.com

On Tuesday, Sep 6, at 5pm, THE LUMBERYARD's first episode will be broadcast on WHUS 91.7FM, from the campus of the University of Connecticut. THE LUMBERYARD will continue to air in the same time slot on a bi-weekly basis through May 2006.

Vol I, Episode 1: Table of Contents

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Patrick Penta
Marilyn Nelson
Adam Blackwell
Amanda Cagle
Chris Dowd
Emily Dickinson
Musical Feature: The Damien Pratt

There are three ways to listen to THE LUMBERYARD:

1) radio broadcast on WHUS 91.7FM, Connecticut
2) streaming audio at www.whus.org
3) podcast at www.thelumberyardjournal.com

We hope you take a listen to our half-hour radio magazine. If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to editors@thelumberyardjournal.com.

Happy listening,
Ken Cormier & Aaron Sanders
Co-Editors
The Lumberyard, WHUS 91.7FM

a recipe and a movie suggestion

morning is good, isn't it?

Finally the morning glories have decided to come out. It took them forever to start growing, and only one out of about 30 looks like it'll bloom.

We watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding tonight. It was really good (aside from the really cheesy guy from Northern Exposure playing the fiancee). It was FUNNY. Carolyn suggested it to me, and I suggest it to everyone reading this blog.

The greens at this time of year have been phenomenal. We had some collards last night that were bigger than the t-shirts my students wear. And much tastier. Below is some sweet swiss chard. Try this for dinner (Mother, don't gag).

-wild rice
-cannelenni beans heated up in a little veggie bullion
-Swiss chard cooked in olive oil, margarine or butter, and s & p

Pile up on plate. Eat. Not very fancy, but very yummy.


rainbow chard. heavens it's tasty.

summer food

mmmm... a BLT and a tall glass of olive oil

We love summer food. Last weekend we got some positively luscious tomatoes from the garden at Ken's aunts' house. My tomatoes (there were 3 in all) went from green to rotten in the garden. Ho-hum. Now that Martha Stewart can leave her estate, perhaps she can make a house call.

This semester I'm taking an American Lit I survey, and a Children's Lit class. I couldn't help being positively tickled to see that we'd be reading books like The Secret Garden, Goodnight Moon, Anne of Green Gables, James and the Giant Peach, and Where the Wild Things Are. I'm wicked lucky. Perhaps if I am this excited about the class, I've finally stumbled upon a dissertation-worthy subject. We shall see.

My friend Molly got engaged this past weekend. She went to our wedding with her (now) fiancee, and it was one of their early dates. Now she gets to (or is it has to?) plan a wedding! We're going to have lunch together soon, so that I can hopefully unload a small pile of somewhat useless books on her.

I want to buy a yogurt machine. I will not rest until I find one! Any suggestions? Should I go with one that has individual cups, or one that makes it a quart at a time? Should I buy off of e-bay? Is it gross to buy kitchen stuff from e-bay?