Tag Archives: bloggers 50+

Good News Monday: Random Animal Facts

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OK, none of these qualifies as “news” exactly, but they’re cool enough to brighten my day, and hopefully yours.

  • The heart of a shrimp is located in its head.
  • A snail can sleep for three years.
  • The fingerprints of a koala are so indistinguishable from humans that they have on occasion been confused at a crime scene.
  • Slugs have four noses.
  • Elephants are the only animal that can’t jump.
  • A rhinoceros’ horn is made of hair.

Question: What could possibly be so compelling to a slug that it would need four noses to smell it?!

The 4 C’s of Travel… And an F

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We all know about the 4 C’s for diamonds, but what about your vacation– possibly a diamond in the rough; hopefully, not a lump of coal!

Some factors we should consider are Cost, Climate, Compatibility (not just you and your companion; also you and your itinerary) and Comfortable Shoes.

Add to these, the F factor: flexibility.

As I wrote last week, DH and I found ourselves in a bit of a bind. We’d committed (and pre-paid, thank-you-very-much) to 3 weeks in a small cottage in North Devon. Which might have been lovely, except:

  1.  Cottage was too remote, with no phone service or Internet
  2. Cottage was eternally damp, due to being in a microclimate
  3. Cottage was not near ANYthing, necessitating lengthy drives along perilously narrow roads with locals who knew where they were going careening towards us at breakneck speed. DH was not amused.

We came back to the cottage one day last week (when once again the TV was on the blink) and had a heart-to-heart. The upshot: “We’re miserable, let’s get the hell out of here.”

First idea, since we’re due in London on the 31st: Pick somewhere else, e.g., Somerset or Salisbury, and go there. But then, a brainstorm: Why limit ourselves, if we’re leaving early anyway?? Where haven’t we been that would be a short flight away? And voila (sorry; can’t find accent marks in my iPad!), a new plan: tomorrow we’ll head to Copenhagen for 3.5 days, somewhere neither of us has been before and it’s been on our bucket list.

So. We’ve booked the hotel, gotten opera tickets (a shared passion), and done next to no research. BUT! It can’t be worse than sitting in that dreary cottage!  Right?!?

Flexibilty! Never feel you have to stick with a hotel, destination etc. if there’s any way you can afford to make  a change.

We may still want to kill each other after a month of togetherness, but at least it will be in a new setting.

Have  lovely week! Xx, Alisa

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Admit It: I’m Addicted to My Devices

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DH and I had a genius plan that hasn’t QUITE worked out as imagined: (Has this ever happened to you?, she asks…)  Rent a house in the English countryside for a month and use it as a home base from which to explore, so as not to eat out every meal and be able to live more like locals.

The fly in the ointment is that our cozy little cottage has no WiFi, no phone signal, and a currently non-working television.  In an emergency we could use a provided key to unlock a landline in one of the outbuildings…. Somehow, this does not inspire confidence.

As a result, we can check e-mail, bank accounts, etc. only sporadically. I like to imagine I can do without these updates, as I survived many decades before we all had cell phones and iPads, but the pathetic truth is that I’ve become used to immediate access when I need a recipe, map, random facts, or an Amazon Prime download. And I like it that way.

My parents and grandparents used to fret about the “good old days” but when I look back, I see only major improvements since my youth. For instance:

1) Flat irons. Back in the sixties, if you wanted straight hair a la Francoise Hardy or Jean Shrimpton, you literally ironed it. With an actual iron and ironing board! The alternative was to wrap your hair around a giant beer or coffee can until it dried.

2) Microwaves. What a brilliant way to reheat coffee, let alone cook a potato. I truly don’t care if radioactive waves are shortening my life as long as I can have a hot cup on demand.

3) Google. I don’t begrudge one cent of the money those gazillionaires have made. Not having to go to the library or plow through 400 volumes of the encyclopedia when I want to know something is priceless.

4) 500+ TV channels. I may only watch three of them but I have OPTIONS, dammit!

5) GPS. Maps are great, but having a cheery voice tell you when to turn left or “recalculate” is infinitely better than hearing the same information from an exasperated spouse.

What mod cons do YOU depend on?

Happy weekend, all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good News Monday: Plastic Fantastic

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beige algae on brown rock formation near body of water

Photo by Saad Bouzaid on Pexels.com

Two Dutch scientists have developed a bioplastic made from algae– vegetation that takes in carbon and releases oxygen through the same photosynthesis as other plants.

So far, they’ve been able to turn the dried material into something that 3D printers can use to create items such as bottles, tableware and trash cans!

 

 

 

 

Going Nuts for Mokonuts’ Cookies

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My friend T turned me on to this Paris bakery via a New York Times recipe, which Dorie Greenspan adapted from their unusual rye-cranberry-chocolate chunk cookie.

I made these yesterday and agree with the raves. T wrote about them this morning in her entertaining blog and I couldn’t wait to share the recipe with you. My only caveat is that the directions say that the dough makes 15 cookies, which seemed enormous. So I made 18 (roughly 2.5″ diameter) instead, and next time might go even smaller, perhaps 20 cookies, as they are quite hearty and filling. Enjoy, and let me know if you try them!

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Good News Monday: The Romantic Judge

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I loved this news story:

An Irish judge excused a 54-year man from jury duty after he revealed that he was in love for the first time and had planned a weekend getaway with his sweetheart. “Go with my blessing”, said the judge.

How cute is that?!

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Don’t Ask If You Don’t Want Me To Tell You

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We recently ate at a pleasant Italian restaurant; a day or so later, having been contacted by OpenTable to post a review, I wrote something short and positive.

At least I thought it was positive: 4/5 stars for food/ambiance/value and 5/5 for service, which was terrific. After all, this wasn’t an undiscovered Michelin gem, just a perfectly nice little restaurant with an undistinguished décor and limited menu. I’ve eaten out enough to know what “outstanding” means – from Tour D’Argent in Paris in its heyday to our local pub, which has consistently excellent grub. And, hey, I’ve got the extra pounds to prove it!

Almost immediately, I received a very defensive reply from the chef-owner, wanting to know why I’d given him a “bad” review. (My comments about the “lovely little restaurant with delicious house-made pasta” apparently hadn’t been sufficient praise.) So this led to a series of back-and-forth e-mails in which I explained that one reason for my rating was that the bread was disappointing. As regular readers will know, I take my carbs seriously: flabby, squishy white bread is not ok – though I expressed this as, “I prefer a firmer crust and texture”, attempting to be diplomatic.

The point is, I wasn’t trying to be mean or snarky – but if you ask for feedback, you should expect feedback, not a gold star for trying. (This being the problem of an entire generation getting trophies merely for showing up.)

Which led me to think about other situations in which it might be unwise to ask questions if you don’t want to hear the answers. A classic is, “Where is our relationship going?” Now, if a woman is asking a man, chances are that if he were about to propose, she would know it. If he’s asking her where they stand, well, sorry dude but she’s not that into you, as they say.

I don’t know if gay etiquette is any different, but humans being humans I’ll go out on a limb here and say that, in any relationship, if you don’t know where you stand you can assume it’s on shaky ground.

It’s the same at work. A good manager will praise what’s going well and offer constructive criticism to make you better. Be honest: If you were 100% perfect you’d probably be the CEO, or have retired by age 40 to your yacht in the South Pacific.

In other words, be careful what you ask for.

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Good News Monday: Chocolate Is Good For You

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This might be the best news ever!  Caveat: it needs to be the super-dark stuff, not super-sugary junk.  And we shouldn’t be eating TONS of it. Still…

7 Proven Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

  • Highly nutritious, containing lots of fiber and minerals
  • Powerful source of antioxidants
  • May improve blood flow and lower blood pressure
  • Cholesterol benefits: raises HDL and protects LDL from oxidation
  • May reduce heart disease
  • May protect your skin from the sun
  • Could improve brain function

Click the link for the full article.

 

 

 

Can one person make a drop of difference to a huge problem? Yes!

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Happy weekend, everyone. I wanted to share my friend Terry’s wonderful safe water initiative with you. Thanks for reading!

Dear Cook’s Tour Readers,

A few weeks ago, you read about my incredible trip to Tanzania. Besides the amazing up-close interactions with wildlife, and the expansive, gorgeous views of the East African landscape, I told you about our visit to Safe Water Ceramics of East Africa (SWCEA) where they are working to bring clean drinking water to the local population.

Local women gathering water from a pond
In Tanzania, the fourth most populated country in sub-Saharan Africa, half the people (27 million) don’t have access to safe water.  In many cases, women and children collect water where animals drink, urinate and defecate. 

Only 34% have access to decent sanitation, something we take for granted.

Boiling, which uses expensive fuel, can increase fluoride to potentially harmful levels, and most Tanzanian families use no water treatment method at all.

Left, dirty water from a pond; right, after filtering

But there is a solution and you can help. SWCEA has developed an easy, inexpensive water filtration method and The Cook’s Tour has partnered with them and Safe Water Now (certified non-profit) to raise awareness.

I’m asking you to join me in helping to combat this problem.
Designed and created in Tanzania, one $40 filter can supply a family of six with safe water for five years.

Please consider donating to this effort because everyone deserves clean drinking water. Any amount is appreciated. And if you can’t donate, please share this blog post and/or the link below to our GoFundMe page.

Thank you.
gofundme.com/clean-water-to-the-rescue