.signed Potato and Onion Soup and Dijon on anything that wont take Skippy Crunchy. Bless you for bearing the weight of my bad nights sleep (the cat kept moving)
Yourself once said on PHC that "perfection can be difficult or expensive to achieve. In many things, OK is good enough." And I agree with that sentiment, since it would be difficult and expensive to have perfection in all things. But I also agree with looking for the perfect burger, the perfect tomato, a moment with your significant other, etc. Seek perfection in the simple pleasures.
The tomato is the best fruit to grow in the home garden if you have a home garden. It is difficult to find a good tomato in a store or market because as you say those are bred for long shelf life and for handling and shipping.
Some people say that ketchup is "the leading cause of stupidity among children." Whether that is true or not, I stay away from ketchup. I am with you -- good old American mustard is my favorite but I will use any kind of mustard rather than resort to ketchup or mayonnaise.
Have you visited the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin?
In Alabama we are getting into the "dog days" of Summer when it is hot and humid with the possibility of a thunder cloud each day. But that is good because it means about two months of hot and humid then cooler weather. October is the best month in Alabama and I am looking forward to it coming.
Just like the tomato you grew yourself, the ketchup you make yourself is a whole 'nother animal. Not to be compared with anything from the store. Just sayin'
Great food. Only thing to add is real homemade banana pudding by Aunt Min!! I can still taste slightly burned topping and warm vanilla wafers. No pudding mix or plastic container,cooked in tempered glass that added its own taste
This is Garrison Keillor at his best.....the subtle humor at what can be considered the important things commonly experienced in life as opposed to "the grousing about politics" to echo Keillor's phrase....
One of your best. Thank you. This one may be perfection. Although, in writing there is no perfection, so we continue to write. Your ability to paint with letters and punctuation marks is humbling to read. I paint stories that at best could be hung on a mother's refrigerator. All who see it accepting it's imperfections with an air of understanding and love. Your strength is the ability not to capture the lighting but to capture the moment and everything that makes us alive.
Thanks for preparing a meal of words that makes us hungry for more.
My tongue slides gently into my cheek as I note that you take pride in being "self-effacing" but still use hundreds of words to impose your vision of the perfect burger on your innocent readers.
"Not many vegetables are thrilling. Greens aren’t or green peppers, and spuds and squash are only vehicles for butter. Corn, as we know, is a grain, not a veg, so it doesn’t count. I consider tomatoes a fruit but either way, the tomato of today is bred for long shelf life, not for flavor. Beans are beans. This leaves onions and radishes,..."
The Henry David Thoreau limerick has one flaw that undoes its “perfection”: rhyming “ago” with “go” is obvious and repetitive, and denies the reader the surprise and delight that a wholly unexpected consonance might yield from a word like “sloe”, “Pernod”, “flambeau”, or “banjo”. That may prompt a meditation on the meaning of perfection, which, I have read, is considered in some cultures to be unattainable; the Navajo are said to include a flaw when weaving their rugs because they regard the pursuit of perfection as an act of hubris, since only God can create perfection . So, in that sense, the Thoreau limerick may be perfectly imperfect.
This past weekend I fired up the grill, nothing fancy, just a basic kettle and a chimney starter for the charcoal, no lighter fluid, thank you. Made four medium thick burgers and threw on four all beef hot dogs for extra fun. (I added the words "all beef" because the nine-year-old across the street told me those are the only hot dogs she will eat.) It's been a long time since I grilled meat, and it only took five minutes to get the burgers to medium rare and the hot dogs with skins bubbled at the grill lines. Will not discuss the condiments because...well...you know what happens on these threads when people disagree about condiments. I was shocked at the results. They were cooked perfectly, just as my Dad would have done them, and tasted like home. It was a lot of joy for such an insignificant accomplishment of perfection. Hamburgers and hot dogs? Still, joy is joy, so OK!
I may disagree with you on rhubarb pie, but I am all with you on the hamburger. I wouldn't mind a modest slice of tomato, if only a real tomato-tasting tomato were to be found. I've seen a tomato harvest in California, where a truck wheels slowly between rows, with a mechanical apparatus at the rear grabbing the fruit from the vine and hurling it into the truck bed like Frost's load of apples rumbling into the cellar. We followed such a truck rumbling down the highway to the gas chambers, bouncing green tomatoes all the way. As you say, perfection is worth waiting on, but it can often be reached by leaving out the unnecessaries, like cheese or hard pink tomato -- or, may it be said, strawberries.
The first time this week I disagree
.signed Potato and Onion Soup and Dijon on anything that wont take Skippy Crunchy. Bless you for bearing the weight of my bad nights sleep (the cat kept moving)
Garrison, Thanks for the upbeat column.
Yourself once said on PHC that "perfection can be difficult or expensive to achieve. In many things, OK is good enough." And I agree with that sentiment, since it would be difficult and expensive to have perfection in all things. But I also agree with looking for the perfect burger, the perfect tomato, a moment with your significant other, etc. Seek perfection in the simple pleasures.
The tomato is the best fruit to grow in the home garden if you have a home garden. It is difficult to find a good tomato in a store or market because as you say those are bred for long shelf life and for handling and shipping.
Some people say that ketchup is "the leading cause of stupidity among children." Whether that is true or not, I stay away from ketchup. I am with you -- good old American mustard is my favorite but I will use any kind of mustard rather than resort to ketchup or mayonnaise.
Have you visited the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin?
In Alabama we are getting into the "dog days" of Summer when it is hot and humid with the possibility of a thunder cloud each day. But that is good because it means about two months of hot and humid then cooler weather. October is the best month in Alabama and I am looking forward to it coming.
Thanks and best wishes to all.
Just, thank you. Have a terrific day. Crunch.
Just like the tomato you grew yourself, the ketchup you make yourself is a whole 'nother animal. Not to be compared with anything from the store. Just sayin'
Great food. Only thing to add is real homemade banana pudding by Aunt Min!! I can still taste slightly burned topping and warm vanilla wafers. No pudding mix or plastic container,cooked in tempered glass that added its own taste
This is Garrison Keillor at his best.....the subtle humor at what can be considered the important things commonly experienced in life as opposed to "the grousing about politics" to echo Keillor's phrase....
Garry, I checked Juniper 8-2014 the other day and some sort of recording said you'd moved out east somewhere. Hope you're doing well!
One of your best. Thank you. This one may be perfection. Although, in writing there is no perfection, so we continue to write. Your ability to paint with letters and punctuation marks is humbling to read. I paint stories that at best could be hung on a mother's refrigerator. All who see it accepting it's imperfections with an air of understanding and love. Your strength is the ability not to capture the lighting but to capture the moment and everything that makes us alive.
Thanks for preparing a meal of words that makes us hungry for more.
And... when your "nearly perfect", you can recognize that perfection in others. But if you are that "other" can you recognize it in yourself?
A conundrum that, perhaps, is at the heart of humor. And we all know where the travails of the heart can lead.
Thank you, Garrison, for your keen insights stated so eloquently.
My tongue slides gently into my cheek as I note that you take pride in being "self-effacing" but still use hundreds of words to impose your vision of the perfect burger on your innocent readers.
My husband likes to sauté radishes in a little butter until they are slightly tender. Delicious!
"Not many vegetables are thrilling. Greens aren’t or green peppers, and spuds and squash are only vehicles for butter. Corn, as we know, is a grain, not a veg, so it doesn’t count. I consider tomatoes a fruit but either way, the tomato of today is bred for long shelf life, not for flavor. Beans are beans. This leaves onions and radishes,..."
Good sir, have you forgotten GARLIC?
Thanks Garrison once again for taking us for just a few moments to a place our thoughts had abandoned. Reality today is so misleading in some way.
The Henry David Thoreau limerick has one flaw that undoes its “perfection”: rhyming “ago” with “go” is obvious and repetitive, and denies the reader the surprise and delight that a wholly unexpected consonance might yield from a word like “sloe”, “Pernod”, “flambeau”, or “banjo”. That may prompt a meditation on the meaning of perfection, which, I have read, is considered in some cultures to be unattainable; the Navajo are said to include a flaw when weaving their rugs because they regard the pursuit of perfection as an act of hubris, since only God can create perfection . So, in that sense, the Thoreau limerick may be perfectly imperfect.
This past weekend I fired up the grill, nothing fancy, just a basic kettle and a chimney starter for the charcoal, no lighter fluid, thank you. Made four medium thick burgers and threw on four all beef hot dogs for extra fun. (I added the words "all beef" because the nine-year-old across the street told me those are the only hot dogs she will eat.) It's been a long time since I grilled meat, and it only took five minutes to get the burgers to medium rare and the hot dogs with skins bubbled at the grill lines. Will not discuss the condiments because...well...you know what happens on these threads when people disagree about condiments. I was shocked at the results. They were cooked perfectly, just as my Dad would have done them, and tasted like home. It was a lot of joy for such an insignificant accomplishment of perfection. Hamburgers and hot dogs? Still, joy is joy, so OK!
I may disagree with you on rhubarb pie, but I am all with you on the hamburger. I wouldn't mind a modest slice of tomato, if only a real tomato-tasting tomato were to be found. I've seen a tomato harvest in California, where a truck wheels slowly between rows, with a mechanical apparatus at the rear grabbing the fruit from the vine and hurling it into the truck bed like Frost's load of apples rumbling into the cellar. We followed such a truck rumbling down the highway to the gas chambers, bouncing green tomatoes all the way. As you say, perfection is worth waiting on, but it can often be reached by leaving out the unnecessaries, like cheese or hard pink tomato -- or, may it be said, strawberries.