Povey Prattle

In me red 'at AT (Formerly called "Stop Hunger Now"0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 100 good people were members and friends of St. Boniface Church on Siesta Key, Sarasota FL. (including two holiday makers from Barbados). The task was to create  15,000 meal packs, each containing vitamin and mineral supplements, soy, dehydrated veggies, and rice -  to be sent to places where hunger is a daily reality.  (Ours were most likely to be sent to Haiti).  Each meal pack contains enough (hardly exotic) ingredients to create six meals. And we did it!  Excluding set up and break downtime we created 15,000 + packs in under two hours. The "secret" was (a) goodwill and bonhomie,   (b) seriousness of purpose,  (c) excellent on the job training by JASON, our "Rise Against Hunger"  Supervisor, and (d) a dedication to team ...

Alexander Palmer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids

I met Frankie Presto about eight days ago.   I got to know him well.  I hope that you will meet him. He is the central character in the book "the magic strings of Frankie Presto", and the ,love of his life Aurora.. This wondrous tale was written by Mitch Albom (author of "Tuesdays with Morrie") and published in 2015 by Harper Collins. Frankie Presto was orphaned at birth during the Spanish Civil War., and then abandoned by the Nun who had rescued him from a burning Church in the town of Villareal. He is taught to play guitar by a stern task master El Maestro.  Presto becomes the greatest guitar player in the world. At aged nine he is sent to America with his only possession -  a guitar with its six magic strings. Along the way he meets (amongst many others) Little Richard, Duke Ellington, Lyle Lovett, John Lennon, Darlene Love, Paul Stanley (KISS)  he eschews the  great fame which comes his way, and falls from the public gaze and...

I gathered together all my 2016 tax information just over  three weeks ago, and sent it to my tax accountant in Peabody, MA. She prepared my tax return which I signed  in late February and which she immediately  filed, (electronically)   My check/cheque for her fee was "cashed" on March 1st. My tax refund arrived in my checking/current account today, March 7th. Whoop-de-doo for Sabelli and Co in Peabody, MA, and thank you to my colleague and one time curate Manny Faria for hooking me up with Sabelli back in 2001. And a gentle and slightly smug "raspberry"  to those who put off filing their tax returns until the last minute,

My family, friends  (and some enemies!) know that I am a fan of Trader Joe's.  In fact I have come to believe that T'J's is more or less a comestible cult. The store evokes deep devotion. Their grain medley  (above)  is great as a side or a main dish. Maybe it's a wee bit pricey at $3.49 for eight ounces. I decided to make by own version -  and you can do it too. I cooked equal amounts of wild rice, barley, and quiona.  I omitted the wheat-berries 'cause  I did not have any in my pantry. ('Tis a bit time consuming since the rice, barley and quiona have different cooking times, so  they cannot be merged before cooking), Once I had cooked the grains I mixed them in a big bowl, cooled them in the fridge, and then added dried cranberries, slivered almonds, and the juice of two lemons. Oh so good!   Nearly as good as the T.J's original  -  and less expensive. I ate some for dinner tonight with (waste not, want not) ...