Hey, who doesn’t want to be on the “gravy train?” Wait a minute, what exactly does that mean? Well, after conducting (is that a pun?) two entire minutes of rigorous research, I have learned that this idiom apparently has some connection with railroad workers in the 1920’s who reportedly used the phrase to describe a “run” with good pay and little work, in other words, big bucks with little effort.

The results of this research are troublesome for me, since I had originally thought that I might find some interesting information to add to my sage (yep, there’s another one) advice on how to make really good gravy. Instead, I find myself reading about trains. Jeez.

Oh, and what about gravy boats? Where does that come from? Never mind, who cares. I didn’t even look. What we really need to care about is how to prepare some excellent gravy.

Continue “All aboard the gravy train”

The autumnal equinox, which occurred on September 22nd this year, marks one of two times each year when day and night are each of exactly the same duration. And I love it. As the air cools and dries a bit, I’m reminded of bracing strolls on country lanes, the smell of fallen leaves stirred by shuffling feet, and going on high school hay rides with my girlfriend and our pals, which was always a great excuse for cuddling up on a cushion of straw in order to stay warm. Frosty breath and snuggling. How wonderful.

One of the advantages of living in Northeast Florida is being able to enjoy the refreshing months of autumn without having to endure the ensuing annoyance of a brutal winter (not to say that it doesn’t get danged cold down here in January or so). And there are many deciduous trees in the region, so we get to see some color changes, too, although certainly not to the extent that folks in the cooler climes enjoy. I guess there are always trade-offs.

Continue “Falling for fall”

One Thousand and One Nights, or you may know them as The Arabian Nights, is a collection of Arabic folk tales conjured up by various authors, translators and scholars in the period from about 750 C.E. to 1,257 C.E. The framing story goes that a Persian king, Shahryar, whacked his beloved wife due to her infidelities. (Without benefit of a bench trial, this was apparently how these people handled irreconcilable differences in those days.) In his grief from this embarrassment (her infidelities, not the whacking), he came to the conclusion that all women are untrustworthy.

But, ya can’t live with ’em and ya can’t live without ’em, I suppose. Therefore, he gets this brilliant idea of marrying a succession of virgins, and then simply executing each one in the morning, following the previous evening’s nuptials and, presumably, a blissful midnight at the oasis before she can run out the front flap of the tent at the crack of dawn and dishonor him with the first UPS delivery man she comes upon. Problem solved. Continue “Seeking magic carpet – new or used”