Recipes for Ben

Polenta Pie

Our very own Auntie Bucksnort was surprised this morning to hear a few statistics from my other blog--one being that we expect to break the 500 post barrier there quite soon.

What? You didn't know there was another blog? I was actually kind of hoping you'd say that, just so I could take the opportunity to tell you all about it.

You may have noticed that I am absent from The Zees Go West every once in a while. That's usually because I am working on Recipes for Ben; A Family Heritage Project. I started the recipe blog for my son in October of 2008 in response to his many cross-country suppertime phone calls asking for one recipe or another. The very first recipe published was for Cheese Biscuits, a yummy appetizer that I had learned to make from my friend Cindy, who worked with me in the Government Publications Division of the University of British Columbia Library in Vancouver, British Columbia, back in the early 1970s.

See what happens? Food, in our family, equals the history of our family. I couldn't just say "Cheese Biscuits" without telling you a bit about myself. In fact, I am amazed at how merely writing down information about dishes that I have cooked and served to my family over the years is very much like writing my autobiography.

If someone asked me to write the story of my life, I would have no idea where to start. On the other hand, I could just begin with a simple recipe for Cheese Biscuits. And so I did.

To make this project even more fun and fulfilling, Ben joined the blog in March of this year, starting with his recipe for Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Onions. He brings a new kind of cooking to share--that of a thirty-something urban bachelor who loves bacon and isn't afraid to make up recipes. His first note makes me laugh: Thanks mom for letting me join this blog as a collaborator. And, of course, thanks for giving me a few hundred recipes to re-tune my taste buds and re-live fond childhood memories. It's been nice to print up the recipe cards (using Avery Postcard Stock #5889 and the corresponding word processor template), put them into my little wooden box, and enjoy the family culinary legacy...

Obviously, we share more than a love for cooking, as you can see by his side comment about the "Avery Postcard Stock #5889." As Linda (7MSN) commented: And only the son of a librarian would figure out how to convert all these to Avery index cards to file away in a wooden box. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree..

Now, for those statistics:

Recipes published at the time of this writing: 438

All recipes entered (at the time of this writing), including those scheduled for future publication: 458

There are more labels than I wish to count, but they range from "Appetizers" to "Yeast Breads" and include some fairly surprising ones like "Insects" (sorry, you'll have to wait until Sept. 14th for that one).

We hope you'll visit soon. Wait, what am I saying? Just click here to go there right now!

The Elder Storytelling Place

I hope that you are familiar with The Elder Storytelling Place, a blog maintained by Ronni Bennett. It is a wonderful compilation of writing by older bloggers and I read the stories every day. That is, I have read them daily until lately when, for some reason, people have neglected to submit fresh material. I believe that this is because we have all been so caught up in the campaign and the election.

Please set aside some time to wander through this great collection, then go to this page which will explain to you all that you need to know in order to submit your own story--fiction or nonfiction. It's as simple as sending an email and you will be pleased to see your story in "print."

Let's all be sure that this great resource continues. You are the one that Ronni has been waiting for.

The Trouble with Blogger

Sylvia, of The View From Over the Hill, has been struggling with some Google Blogger problems that made it impossible for her to access her blog. She finally had to make a new one, called Sylvia From Over the Hill. Be sure to update your bookmarks.

If you haven't visited her blog before, you're in for a real treat. Drop by and leave a comment. Bloggers love comments.

Too Good to Miss; Blogs This Morning

Blue Ridge Blue Collar Girl has written this morning about what she would do if she were God--one of the things would be "every time a politician lies to the American public, I’d make their noses grow longer like Pinocchio. Right there on national television." Read the rest of the essay, A Message in the Grass.

And Sylvia, over at The View From Over the Hill, shares Garrison Keillor's GOP; It's Just Like High School. It starts out with this observation: So the Republicans have decided to run against themselves. The bums have tiptoed out the back door and circled around to the front and started yelling, "Throw the bums out!" They've been running Washington like a well-oiled machine to the point of inviting lobbyists into the back rooms to write the legislation, and now they are anti-establishment reformers dedicated to delivering us from themselves.

This is a piece that I wish the Republicans would read--they don't trust us Leftist Dems or the Liberal Media to point out what is right under their noses, but everybody trusts Garrison Keillor, right?

Traveling Via Blog

Some mornings Beez, on a schedule, strides into the kitchen and wonders why I haven't even made coffee, even though I've been up for ages. I drag my bleary-eyed self away from the computer, where I've just traveled all over the world visiting friends I've never actually met. Here's a bit of my daily journey by way of blogs...

Bonobo Handshake Vanessa writes about bonobo research and rescue in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Saartje Knits in the Netherlands

Yarnstorm Jane excels at all things domestic, somewhere in England

Yarn Harlot Stephanie knits and travels and writes in Toronto

Extra Ordinary What's happening with Erikka (former student of mine) in Massachusetts

Extra-Extra News! I can check out what's on my son's mind in New York City

Desert Candy Mercedes writes about middle eastern cooking from Washington, D.C.

Wendy Knits What Wendy is making now in Washington, D.C. (I think that's where she is--after all, the blog is more about knitting than about place) and what her amazing cat, Lucy, is doing.

Switched at Birth I might take a little trip to the seafood market with extraordinary writer, Beth, in Florida

Knitting Weather Kathy writes from Juneau, Alaska

Quiet Paths Christine plays music and takes wonderful photos of Montana

Texas to Oregon Linda tells wonderful stories of family history in Texas, and life in Portland, Oregon

The View from Over the Hill See what Sylvia's thinking up in Seattle

Morning Ramble Patty's simple life on a Texas homestead

Val on Line Fellow librarian Val shares photos of Santa Fe and all around New Mexico

La Casa de Towanda Sharon, a recent transplant from Kansas, talks about her new life near Santa Fe, New Mexico

A Happy Convergence: Blogging, Feeds, and Viral Knitting

I love to blog; I like exploring, experiencing, and researching subjects that I find interesting, and then sharing what I learn.


I love to knit. I like the zen of it, the peaceful rhythm and the quiet click of the needles and the way I can think about things as I produce something useful. I have that Yankee need to know that I am not wasting time. Ever.


So sometimes I blog a bit about knitting. The Zees Go West started out as a journal of new western experiences for a Yankee family, and has evolved into a melange of everything that interests me--knitting and traveling and reading and photography and bike riding and camels and tarantulas and more.


My son recently introduced me to Bloglines, a free service started back in 2003 that helps you subscribe to blogs and newsfeeds. Instead of having to go to each of my favorite blogs to check if there is anything new, I can just go my Bloglines Feed page for my personalized list showing what's new.


When I first signed up for my Bloglines account, I started discovering lots and lots of blogs about knitting. There is Wendy Knits, which has over 8000 subscribers; and the wonderfully-named Yarn Harlot, which has almost 11,000 subscribers and is no. 58 on the Bloglines Top 1000 Blogs. There are so many knitting blogs, in fact, that you can search "top knitting blogs" and come up with all kinds of lists, including this one.


With all this sharing of knitting information and discoveries, new knitting ideas become viral, in the sense of a message "intended to be spread," as the Encarta Dictionary defines the word. Every time I read a knitting blog, I get another idea for a project or a technique. What a wonderful time we are living in.

You can subscribe to The Zees Go West by clicking on the Bloglines button on the right side of this page. That would help me know how many people are reading the blog, which would be intensely interesting to me!

My Favorite Blogs

My favorite bone

You may have noticed my list of favorite blogs on the left side of this page. Here is a little additional information about each one. Go ahead, check them out--but beware of blog addiction!

Animals

-Bonobo Handshake: Vanessa is a writer and researcher with the Hominoid Psychology Research Group. Her blog is about her 2007 research trip to study endangered bonobos in the Congo.


Books
-A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy: Liz B. writes about books, movies, and TV shows, with an emphasis on books for children and teens.

-Incurable Logophilia; reflections on a love of words, of literature, of language: A wonderful resource when you’re looking for books to read next.

-A Patchwork of Books: Amanda is a bookworm and children’s library assistant who is working toward her Master’s in Library Science. She writes about children’s and young adult literature.

Fiber Arts
-Knit Lit: Kate says “I write. I knit. I write about knitting. And I like you. I really, really like you.” Great writing, terrific ideas and photographs, and a list of links that includes I May Be Knitting a Ranchhouse, Skein Cocaine, and Fondle My Sweaters . What else do you need to know?

-Yarn Harlot; Stephanie Pearl-McPhee goes on (and on) about knitting.

Food and Recipes
-Desert Candy: Mercedes does some wonderful Middle Eastern cooking, then photographs and writes about it in this beautifully designed blog.

Life in the Southwest
-greenchilesandroses: Night Lightning Woman is a retired social worker who has lived her entire life in New Mexico and Texas.

-If the Creek Don't Rise: Lin (“I figure that fantasies should be game plans”) writes about living off the grid in the remote desert Southwest.

-La Casa de Towanda: Sharon is doing some New Mexico dreaming while planning her move from Kansas to Santa Fe. She writes lovely posts on northern New Mexico, with gorgeous photographs and a stylish layout.

-Picturing New Mexico: Lots of intriguing photos.

-Santa Fe Journal: “New Mexico, past and present, with photos and text.”


Sites That Appeal to My Librarian Self
-Love the Liberry : Amy and Marian write about the weird stuff that happens in libraries; librarians won’t be surprised, but you may be!

-Planet Esme: Children’s author (Sahara Special, etc.) Esme Raji Codell writes about children’s literature.

Impossible to Classify
-Overheard Lines: I love those snippets of conversation you hear when passing through a crowd. This eavesdropping playwright captures odd bits in that most fertile of listening posts, the San Francisco Bay Area.

-Philip Greenspun's Weblog: A posting every day, an interesting idea every three months. I’ve always loved Philip G’s photographs, now we can find out what he has to say.

-PostSecret: Anonymous handmade postcards each tell a secret never before revealed about their maker; an ongoing community art project that is now featured in several books. People slip even more postcards into the books on the shelves of bookshops and libraries.

-to-do list : A collection of lists and what they reveal (“quirks, compulsions, and habits”) about the people who make them.