Like many young-marrieds in the 1970s, Bob and Jill devoured Siddhartha and Vonnegut, appreciated Hendrix, and filled their bodies with revolutionary meals from the spiralbound pages of Moosewood Cookbook and the Diet for a Small Planet. They bought a small, shingled house, set back from the Seattle street, which they papered, painted, and flower-potted with vigor. Both got good jobs and then had a healthy, happy son. On TV, Julia Child stirred an enticing pot of life’s possibilities which captured …
Tag: Family
“Cooked Under Pressure” & Other Poems * Joan Mazza
Cooked Under Pressure My mother loved her pressure cooker and gave testimony as if in a commercial: Preserves vitamins, fast cooking! Energy efficient! Sterilizes your food! Even quick-cooking vegetables like spinach, escarole, and broccoli went under the power of pressure, set the valve jiggling as if it might explode at any second. My father arrived as Mother served the meal. He washed his hands and ate in silence, while pressure built in that small dinette. We knew he could blow …
Read More "“Cooked Under Pressure” & Other Poems * Joan Mazza"
“Italian Sunday” * Poetry * Diane Kane
Sunday morning quiet Open cans of tomato Puree, chopped, and paste. Only Contadina will do. Garlic, oregano, palm Full of sugar. Mix, check Flame, place cover askew. Remove ground Hamburg From brown paper wrapper. Room temperature Tan eggs in yellow bowl On Formica table. Time to go to the garden. Snap rubbers over black Shiny shoes. Walk through Dew to where the Green parsley grows. Pinch willowy shoots between Fingernail and thumb. Inhale. Return with bounty Steam drips from …
“The Smells of Home” * Memoir * Kate Chamberlin
I remember a beautiful old Victorian home in Wellsville that yowled “Cats!” even as you stepped onto the wide front porch. Here in Walworth, one of my friend’s home smells of candles and paint; another like the farm; and another actually has no smell at all. As I walk through my home, I can smell which room I’m passing – especially on a hot, humid day. You’ve heard of being led by the nose? Well, the nose knows. In the …
“Dumpster Lives” * Fiction * Yash Seyedbagheri
I like sorting through the dumpster behind my apartment every night. I inhale possibility and pungency, moldy cheddar cheese, dying pizzas. I examine discarded items with tenderness, even if I must crane my neck. There are boxes for flat screen TVs, crumpled cartons of Bud Light, blue and white arresting my eyes. Old newspapers. Styrofoam and crumpled cardboard. Discarded garbage cans. But there’s also a crumpled joint or two and a couple Michelina’s TV dinners with their soothing green boxes. …
Distilling the Southwest: An Interview with Clare Licher of PhiBee Aromatics
As interest in aromatherapy explodes, and huge corporations seek to dominate the field with cheap essential oils and hydrosols, I’m honored to present Clare Licher and her family-run business PhiBee Aromatics, which specializes in the distillation of plants of the Southwest. Situated in Sedona, Arizona, an epicenter of the alternative health, well-being, and spirituality movements, Clare and her family provide the world with beautifully crafted oils that encapsulate the wonder of the unique and special landscapes of the Southwest. I …
Read More "Distilling the Southwest: An Interview with Clare Licher of PhiBee Aromatics"