Shhh....hear that? No, not that. That. Know what that is? It's angels singing because she's back and blogging again. You can't see me, but I'm smiling. Ear to ear.

Do you ever listen to that NPR show Car Talk? At the end of every show, the hosts - whose names I can never remember except that they're onomatopoeiaish - say something like, "Well, you've done it again and wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk..." except I don't think it's a waste of time to listen to them. Even the kids think it's a funny show and Brainiac gets a kick out of finding ways he disagrees with them, car repair-wise. One time they even had on a (-nother, I swear it wasn't me) woman whose husband was irrationally obsessed with old Mercedes, so I even get a lot out of it maritally-speaking. Something for everyone, you know?

Anyway, my point is that somehow I've gone and done it again. Various unrelated deadlines seem to have converged on me in such a way as to make writing a little bit of a not-so-much activity. Just for a spell, though. I'll be back and more of the why-we-approach-cooking-this-way rant and book reviews and comments on another admitedly tagential thread brought about by reading Amy Sutherland's Cookoff: Recipe Fever in America. Oh! And ideas about cooking with kids and quick things one can make for dinner that aren't 1) from box or can and 2) don't make one's family run screaming out to the Tahoe begging to be taken anywhere, just so long as there's french fries.

On her first visit here (Hi!), Caro asked, "Do you really write about canning sometimes?"

Um, yes. Well, sometimes pretty much covers it. But yes. I've got a canning list as long as this post and am actually planning to make a dent in it after the deadline convergance problem is cleared up. And some girlfriends and I have a canning bee planned for next month, so there's that, too. So, yes, we do talk about canning here and welcome, Caro, because with hardcore harvest just weeks away, I think we're about to have some fun.