Saturday, February 20, 2010

Peppercorns, stock and whaler's wife.

1. I always think 'lizard's eyes' when I cook with peppercorns.

2. I like to tip the spent stock bones into the compost bin.

3. I am reading the diary of a whaler's wife -- One Whaling Family. Eliza Williams set out from Nantucket in 1858 with her husband on a three-year whaling expedition. She was five months pregnant the day they launched, but the first you hear about it is when at the end of a paragraph about pigeons, she says "We have a fine healthy boy, born on the 12th, five days before we got into port."

Gift, web and route planning.

1. As I leave the field, there's a rush of wings and a cackling, crackling cry. THUD! A magpie has dropped a dead vole at my feet. 2. We...