I was cruising through Everyday Food this month when I saw this ad. It really put me off. Word of mouth marketing is an incredible and unpredictable tool, but to suggest that we should put down our friends sarcastically for sharing information is just nasty.

I am a big fan of dry humor, but I would never speak to a friend this way. I might ask her reasoning or give my own opionion, but to cut her down like the example given is simply mean. The corn syrup lobby must be on some kind of sugar high.



Hello,

Your advertisement on page 41 of the October 2008 issue of Everyday Food gave me pause. Suggesting that typical Americans sharing information over daily activities is wrong because we're not experts is condescending and distasteful. I shouldn't have to wait to speak to a doctor before gathering information about a product or ingredient and sharing it with my peers.

Many busy mothers are glad that our friends to pass along important information that we may have missed in the constant flow of news, e.g. product recalls, e coli scares, etc. The example response in your ad -- of a woman using sarcasm to refute her friend, is mean-spirited. This is no way to increase support for your product.

Clearly, there's a reason the phrase is "you catch more flies with honey" and not "you catch more flies with high fructose corn syrup."

Tara Liloia

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There's a moment while you're making apple butter when you hit the applesauce stage and you have a choice to make. Will you take the easy road, stop here, and make a batch of applesauce, or will you continue along that hard road of six more hours in front of the stove and make the apple butter?

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I ended up winning the Seven Days photo contest with 37.8% of the popular vote for my sliced carrot picture -- thanks to everyone who voted!

First prize was a gift certificate to a New England Culinary Institute cooking class. These are hands-on classes for members of the public, taught by chefs from The Inn at Essex, where classes are held.

On the day I received the gift certificate, I popped over to the "Chef Inn Training" class schedule and found a breadmaking class for the following week that wasn't going to be offered for the next few months. I called for a reservation and there was room in the class (I didn't think to ask how many people had registered).

A few days later, I was on my way to Essex for my bread class. As you know, I'm bread-challenged, and I've managed to bungle every loaf of yeast bread I've ever made. Well, do you think Chef Kerry cured my bread deficiency? Judge for yourself:


Clockwise from top left: hazelnut-raisin dinner roll, everything bagel, grey salt bagel, plain pretzel, black salt pretzel

It didn't hurt that I was the only registered participant, and I had the kitchen to myself. I asked a boatload of questions and I specifically checked on what I might be doing wrong with my yeast. Chef Kerry had many helpful tips, and she encouraged me to do most of the steps in the recipes myself after a quick demonstration.

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It's not easy to get a photo of the back seat when you're driving, but I had to try. Trev opened his window in the rain and leaned back to catch drops full in the face. He isn't asleep there, he's just enjoying the sting of the rain on his face with the tiniest hint of a smile, which is so awesome.

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The ILM Southpaws were soundly beaten by the team from the north end of the island. They showed up in uniforms. That should have been a clue.



We have exactly one year to improve our game so that we don't lose by double digits. And next year, I hope the other team discovers that there is another gender besides male.

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These little guys may look cute, they may even act playful, but they are chicken chasers beneath those puppy dog eyes.

I was working on the computer the other day and I heard the tinkle of one of the cat's bells. I reached down to pet her and felt rough fur -- it wasn't a cat. A dog had wandered into our kitchen! I dragged her outside just in time to see her mate chasing Norrin through the yard at top speed. Norrin had a good lead and zig-zagged through the field to keep the dog away. He finally sprinted high up into a tree with the dog jumping at him down below.

While Norrin was running, Trevor and I grabbed garden stakes and the hose to separate the two in case the dog caught up with him. We set up Miss Chicken's wire cage and grabbed the slower, female dog and put her inside. By this time, the male dog was chasing chickens around the yard with much flapping and screeching.

We grabbed the second dog and put him in as well. Once in the cage, both dogs just sat quietly. We moved them into the shade, gave them a dish of water, then set about finding all of our terrified animals. Norrin wouldn't come down out of the tree, until he was absolutely sure the dogs were gone. Ten of the chickens were cowering in their coop, but three were nowhere to be found. While we were searching the yard, one snuck back into the coop. Who knows where he was? We found one under the house and the third, Pam, was hidden so well between the barns that I didn't even find her when I searched there. I saw her timidly sneak back out a couple of hours later.

On our way to St. Albans, (and with all of the animals put away), we decided to let the dogs out so they could wander homeon their own. After all, they wandered here alone. Bad move. These dogs were clearly not used to living near a road. They immediately ran full-speed into Main Street, toward biking tourists and oncoming cars. People who saw them leave our yard were yelling at us to get our dogs. I don't think anyone believed it when we said they weren't ours, so we gave up and penned them again.

At St. Albans we bought them a small bag of food. And when we got back they ate up the huge plate I poured out, then scoured the grass for dropped pieces. We emailed our neighborhood and managed to find the owner in about 30 minutes. They live down the driveway that's so long you need a car to wait at the bus stop in the morning -- no wonder they were clueless about traffic.

Dogs, chickens and cats clearly do not mix.

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I must admit that despite this post's title, Miss Chicken has laid eggs before. Just not with us. You see, she's an adopted hen who comes from a neighbor's house. She used to fly up into the loft of their barn to stay out of the way of an overzealous family dog until it burned down this summer. Without a place to hide, the dog came after her one too many times. Now she's been moved a few houses down to our place to mingle with our flock of twelve.

The photo is blurry because Miss Chicken doesn't sit still much, and unlike the chickens we've had from babies, she's flat-out against being picked up at all. She's a different coloring than the dominiques and the reds; I'm venturing a guess that she's a Delaware Blue Hen. She has the black head with gold stripes that I've seen of that breed in photos.

It was a trick getting her introduced to the existing flock of pullets (non-laying hens). She stayed in a cage in the yard while the other birds got a good look, but every time one ventured near the bars, she'd give them a swift hard peck. One tenacious dominique got herself a bloody beak from a particularly bad attack. And once, I saw a smug Miss Chicken with a mouthful of feathers as another pullet ran away squawking and flapping.

Miss Chicken (her name from before we adopted her) was out of sorts and hostile for the last week, but she was finally docile enough to be let out with the other birds a couple of days ago. She found the highest nest box and made herself comfortable. Clearly, the spot meets with her approval because she's begun to lay eggs again.



They're tiny compared to supermarket jumbo eggs. The yolks are bright and thick, and the shells are a pretty tan/salmon color. Just a couple more months and the dominiques will start laying as well, then the reds after that. With a baker's dozen eggs coming in a day, we'll be looking for people to take them off our hands. I'm going to need that extra fridge I keep putting off.

Anyone remember when I originally said I wanted two chickens?

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