Thursday, March 8, 2012

Last night's copyeditor nightmare
I learned that for years I have overlooked a fundamental style rule: all paragraphs written by men must include exactly seven sentences; all paragraphs written by women must include exactly eight sentences.

I would appreciate your analysis of this dream. The eighth grader's response was "Jeez, you must really love your job." I think he wasn't being ironic, but I'm not sure. He is not yet perfectly in control of his tonal repartee.

Last night's dinner
At the eighth grader's request, we had a double batch of toad-in-the-hole. My version involves frying up tiny sausage balls (Harmony-grown ground pork that I season with fennel seed, garlic, red pepper, sage, and salt) and baking them with Yorkshire pudding batter. Five minutes before it's done I sprinkle on freshly chopped parsley, just time enough to let it crisp up but not lose its color. I also made cranberry-orange-green apple relish and a plain spinach salad. You can't be interested in this information, can you? Because I'm barely interested. Winter cooking is a drag.

A few weeks ago an acquaintance showed me a picture of her version of toad-in-the-hole: an egg fried in a hole she'd cut out of a piece of toast. But in my patois this dish is called eggs a la dump truck because I used to have a heavy-equipment-loving toddler who would eat anything with truck in its name.

This week's Frost Place newsletter
Check it out here. Then sign up and come visit me this summer. We have brand-new scholarships available only to teaching conference participants, so tell your friends.


3 comments:

Carlene said...

I love the idea of using sausage in yorkshire pudding batter for Toads. YUM. And the egg in the toast thing, we used to just call it window frame eggs. Not creative at all. LOL

And the paragraph nightmare? Yikes. Defies analysis. My sympathies.

Ruth said...

Yes, I do like to know what you are serving as it gives me reminders of things I could cook too. I certainly hope to be in Franconia in June. It rather depends on when school is out.

Maureen said...

The nightmare makes me laugh.

Congratulations on the lovely feature in the Frost Place newsletter, which I receive via e-mail.