On a Roll
I can't remember what made me think about butter first. It might have been the recent Bitten post, or the copious amounts of bread I've been baking or thoughts of making my own cheese. I'm pretty sure it was one of those. Turns out fixing the housing crises might be simpler. Making anything but the soft cheeses is a real pain and involves more patience and equipment than I currently can handle. Plus, Chelle barely tolerates the jars of sourdough starter fermenting in the fridge and wasn't about to embrace active mounds of mold in the basement. Luckily, it turns out butter is a lot, lot simpler.
Birthday Boxes
What to get someone for their 30th birthday? I'd used up my quotas of photobooks and custom made art prints for awhile and none of my ideas seemed to match up with the significance that seems to get dropped on these deca-milestone birthdays? To add fuel to the fire, the present also needed to work for someone that's nine months pregnant and a house already stuffed with newborn paraphenalia. And I'm just smart enough to realize this present should probably be more about her and less about the baby. Which brings us back to the original question. Jewelry wasn't totally jibing with our pending addition and therefor more frugal ambitions. What was a guy to do?
Garden Party
Last year I missed the window for the cool season, early spring planting. I had to spend late March, early April pulling up the grass, building the raised beds in the yard and rehabbing/importing soil. I didn't actually get any plants into the ground until late May. Sure, like a tone deaf man at a karaoke bar, I tried to give it a go with some lettuce and brussel sprouts anyway. The results were not exactly Martha Stewart and rainbows. The heat just kept a foot on the necks of those plants and they never went anywhere. That corner of the garden was like an abandoned block of Detroit. The one real failure in last year's garden experiment.
Recent Posts
Hi, this is Mike’s website. He likes to make things. Some people would say he’s a serial hobbyist. He likes to take photos, bake things, play any sport, grow vegetables, read mysteries, write stories and spend time with his family. Not necessarily in that order.
Asides
- The Daily Beast looks at the crime novel standing in for the social novel. Not news to genre fans, but a nice overview. #
September 1, 2010 at 1:20 - Ask the Editor: Top 5 secrets to getting a book deal #
August 10, 2010 at 8:51 - More homeowner essentials: How to fix a leaky bathroom faucet. #
August 8, 2010 at 1:46 - 100 free tools to tutor yourself in anything. #
August 7, 2010 at 1:48 - 100 best blogs for photography students. #
August 7, 2010 at 1:44 - AskMetafilter: What is your favorite bourbon under $100. #
August 4, 2010 at 3:53 - Gotta try this. How to ship cupcakes in mason jars. #
August 2, 2010 at 3:52 - How to make candied citrus peels. You know, just in case. #
July 31, 2010 at 3:49 - Most of these are beyond my current grasp, but here's a good list of free After Effect tutorials. #
July 27, 2010 at 3:48 - Need some new podcasts? Here's a list of ideas top freshen up your subscription list. #
July 24, 2010 at 3:46 - View all Asides
