Another Monday at the Office

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So far this week, I’ve a) babysat a monarch butterfly chrysalis while we waited for it to eclose and b) attended an after-hours photo meetup at the National Aquarium. The butterfly was eventually released Monday afternoon (see above), and the aquarium resulted in some fun photography and a bevy of new friends on Instagram (see feed at right).

All in all, not a bad week at NWF — that’s right, this was all work related.

Putting Up With Grandma

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A few months ago I was putzing around on Medium when I came across this article about canning/preserving. I was a little bit intrigued, to say the least — I have so many memories of my Grandma Flora putting up jars and jars of apricots and peaches. I remember the time my grandpa took me across town and had me climb a tree to pick plums for her (to this day, I have no idea whether we had permission). When the apricot tree in my grandparents’ backyard actually produced fruit, it was a wondrous summer of warm empanadas. But she would pull down a huge mason jar of peaches in thick syrup in the fall and winter and delight us with a cobbler every now and then as well.

There are so many things I wish I could ask my grandparents now, and it seems almost petty that so often my thoughts dwell on food. They all lived pretty remarkable lives, though I did actually spend quite a bit of time asking them growing up in the Depression and raising their families. In high school, I recorded an interview with my Grandpa Gary about his time as a medic in World War II, though he wasn’t really forthcoming on many points (likely to my benefit). My Grandma Marie and I often spoke about her childhood in northern New Mexico, of her washing clothes for money and neighborhood kids being caught in the arroyos during floods.

But more than anything, especially with my grandmothers, I think of food. Food was the thing that brought us together most often in my childhood and — naturally — the same held true in my adolescence and as an adult. Until we were about 10, we spent our days and most evenings at Grandma Flora’s house, where my favorites were chicken dumplings or a piece of catfish my grandpa had caught that afternoon, fried in cornmeal. For lunch in high school I’d often take my friends to my Grandma Marie’s for bean tostadas, and when I was a reporter at the Daily Press I’d save a few bucks when I could by grabbing a bean burrito at her house for lunch (followed by a nap on her couch).

When it comes to cooking, I don’t know that anyone will ever match the simple flavors my Grandma Marie perfected over decades in front of the stove. She’d be up at 4 a.m. (or earlier) making a batch of tortillas, and she’d make papas that were crisp on the outside but perfectly tender inside. Her frijoles were amazing, and that was before they were refried — I maintain to this day that there will never be anything so delicious as a spoonful of those beans on a tortilla with some cheese.

My Grandma Flora, on the other hand, could hold her own while cooking, but her true talents were in baking. In that regard, I can claim some small (miniscule, really) measure of parity. But there are things I never learned from her: the secrets to her cobbler crust (which didn’t really need a filling at all), her recipe for pineapple upsidedown cake, or how she “put up” her peaches and apricots.

I’d thought about doing some home canning in the past, since the farmers’ markets in Baltimore have the variety and quality of fruits and vegetables that could make it worthwhile. And my friends are doing it as well: Leah does her jams and jellies and Dominique puts up a few (50 or so, if I recall) cans of tomatoes every year.

But after reading this article about Kevin West, and his desire to reconnect with his roots via canning, I added his book Saving the Season (trust me, get the hardcover) to my wishlist and awaited its publication. Finally, a couple of weeks back, Meredith returned from a trip to Missouri and told me she wanted to make some bread-and-butter pickles. And I knew that I wanted to do some canning of my own. I’ve started easy, with the six jars of pickled beans seen above. But I’ve been stalking the peaches at the Farmers’ Market as well — they’re next. Who knows: maybe there’s a cobbler in my future.

Who and Why I Follow

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Today is Who and Why I Follow Day (yeah, I’m late to the party). So, without further ado, here’s my list (in no particular order):

  • Brian Auer – His blog is a must read for photographers.
  • Danielle Brigida – A mentor of sorts in the world of social media outreach.
  • Danielle Corsetto – I love her Web comic, and I love her marketing style.
  • Jay Rosen – The dude knows, and has been following, what’s wrong with traditional media.
  • Julia Goldberg – Back in New Mexico, she’s the one in the know.
  • Clay Shirky – He rocked PDF this year.
  • Scott Orr – He’s not prolific, but his tweets are always solid.
  • Nora Reed – Because her dad is so awesome, something had to have rubbed off.
  • Ari Herzog – The man rocks, and helped us out.
  • Roaul Pop – His photos are incredible, and he’s ahead of the curve with great links.
  • Jason Stoff – I now know what funny truly means.
  • Jim Goldstein – Great insight into modern photography.

Of course, the entire Sunlight Foundation crew (too many to mention here), and, of course, members of Congress.

Friday Cat Blogging: Pleo Edition

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Nutmeg and Beta
Here’s Nutmeg sniffing out Beta, one of the Sunlight Foundation’s Pleos. They’re basically little robotic dinosaur pets, incredible lifelike for the technology: they coo when you pet them, and have a fit if you hand them by their tales. Yes: they’re cats in dinosaur form.

The Nut and Squishy were both intrigued, but never really had a lot of fun. They stared at the Pleo a lot. But, they ventured in for a closer look every once in a while.