A very nifty thing

This is so incredibly cool! (World's first computer rebooted after 2000 years.)

Makes a mama proud

Meet my oldest kid... in Japan for a year. And what does he do there?

(Check the "More from user" link for some touristy vistas and voracious fish.)

That's m'boy!

inverse spices

inverse spices
Originally uploaded by mamagotcha.

This just tickled me this morning.

If you're not a hopeless amateur food geek like me, that flaky stuff is
Cyprus black sea salt... the crystals are these cool tiny little
pyramids, and I'd pulled it out to sprinkle on the spoonful of sour
cream I'd just plopped on Bill's egg and veggie scramble.

And may I just say how happy I am that I'm married to a man who can
heartily shovel in his breakfast while enthusiastically discussing
things like surgery for a brain tumor that is discovered to be a
fetus in fetu midway through the procedure.

Alchemy

Alchemy
Originally uploaded by mamagotcha.

I love the little surprises you get while cooking, how things become
more than the sum of their parts sometimes. A recipe says "stir gently
until smooth," which doesn't even begin to hint at the spectacular and
sudden transformation of a bowl of sodden, messy sludge into a glossy,
luminous mass of truffle filling. I was despairing of this recipe
working, because of course I had to fiddle with it. To my astonishment,
this glorious substance just bubbled up from the depths of the chaos...
I can see how people could be tempted to call this magic.

Of course, I've also visited Hell via seizing a whole bowl of expensive
couverture (years ago... I've learned how to temper since then, you
betcha). It goes both ways, doesn't it? But tonight, so far, the Kitchen
Deities have chosen to smile upon me, and I am so grateful.