Category — Organics

Sacrifice at the Pump

Does anyone remember that famous President Carter speech about sacrifice?  The one where he bundled up in a Mr. Roger’s sweater and urged Americans to accept the notion of personal sacrifice? Where he called for mandated gas rationing and lowered thermostats to help buck America’s dependence on foreign oil? You can go to PBS.org to read the full text of his speech.

As you might imagine, President Carter’s call for personal sacrifice went over like a lead balloon.  And interestingly enough, every subsequent American president has avoided the word sacrifice like the plague. [Read more →]

Credit: Anne Dillon

The Jewish New Year begins tonight. This seminal holiday, called Rosh Hashanah, is marked with festive family meals featuring a host of deliciously symbolic foods. Quintessential among them is the apple, which is not only a seasonal fruit, but also a sweet one. To up the sweetness quotient, we dip our apples into honey and then say a special blessing beseeching G-d to grant us a year that is as sweet as the apples.

Last week, I took my boys apple picking at a local orchard to help get them into the mood for the upcoming applelooza.  We went with my good friend Anne and her three sweet boys.  (Anne is the very talented photographer of the above picture. Check out more of her outstanding work at www.annedillon.com.)

It was a perfect fall day and we had a great time running between the trees, picking a peck of tart Jonathan apples. These beauties will be perfect in my apple challah, apple cake and apple tart. (Told you the holiday was an applepalloza.) [Read more →]