how selective breeding has shaped your thanksgiving meal
I have always been fascinated by food history – where our foods come from, how our changing tastes, technologies, and economics shape the foods we take for granted today.   Today, I came across this article explaining how the foods we enjoy on Thanksgiving are very different than they would have been even just a few hundred years ago. For example, corn has been bred to be much sweeter and a little less creamy than the original sweet corn from the 1770’s, and has twice the sugar content. Potatoes have been bred to increase their starch content, because this results in

chef peterson cooks at chez towle
My mom often gives us wonderful home-baked presents – cookies, jams, chutneys, biscotti.  This year, my parents outdid themselves.  For my birthday, they offered us personal chef services for a night, cooking an elaborate meal and serving it elegantly to us and our guests. My mother, Pat Peterson, has always loved to cook.  After retiring as a college lanuage professor she enrolled in the Culi

adopt a word today!
How long has it been since you’ve come across a regular English word you didn’t know?  I hadn’t really thought about it until I found Save the Words. According to the site, hundreds of words are dropped from the English language every year, and 90% of our writing consists of just 7,000 words.  Save the Words is trying to save these neglected words by spreading the word – emailing people the word of the day and  encouraging them to “adopt a word” and bring it back to use.  When you adopt a word, you’re sent a certificate of adoption and can buy a T-shirt printed with your

tech for us gals
A few months ago, I read a great editorial about the lack of thoughtful design and marketing of techie gadgets for women and girls.  This really got me thinking.  It stated that half the consumers of gadgets such as phones, pda’s, and computers are women, and the majority of the people who select and purchase these items for their household are women.  Despite this, most gadgets are designed and marketed by and for men.