Category Archives: gratitude

Creamed pearl onions.

Posted on November 26, 2015 by cheapskateintellectual

Since y’all seemed to like the talked-through bacon and brussels sprouts recipe, here’s one more: creamed pearl onions, a Thanksgiving and Christmas classic from holidays at home that has won new converts up here, where it’s going to a friend’s … Continue reading →

Posted in food, gratitude, home, seasons | Leave a comment

Bacon and Brussels sprouts.

Posted on November 25, 2015 by cheapskateintellectual

Next time you want a quick, warm, good winter supper — or a dish for Thanksgiving — especially if you are a Southerner in the Upper Midwest, here’s what you do: Go out in your garden and break off some … Continue reading →

Posted in body, food, gardening, gratitude, seasons, self-reliance | Leave a comment

The angels of Bread Loaf.

Posted on June 7, 2015 by cheapskateintellectual

All around me in the half-light of thirty thousand feet, people abandon themselves to sleep: mouths slack as babies’, heads lolled back. A brown-skinned woman in a pale turban dozes under an airline blanket that in this light is startling … Continue reading →

Posted in art, community, gratitude, spirit, writing | 6 Comments

The October garden.

Posted on October 28, 2014 by cheapskateintellectual

It’s late October, getting on for evening, and in a backyard chair, wrapped against the chill, I find the same rare spot of unexpected contentment I find on my favorite path in the woods, at the place where the trees … Continue reading →

Posted in gardening, gratitude, seasons | Leave a comment

The pleasures of okra.

Posted on August 28, 2013 by cheapskateintellectual

If I had a dollar for every time somebody, emboldened by my Southern accent, asked me a question about okra — “What is that?” when they see it growing (once somebody asked, “Is that marijuana?”), or “How do you cook … Continue reading →

Posted in attention, food, gardening, gratitude, the past, the South | 8 Comments

Cleaning out, again; or, my first yard sale.

Posted on July 10, 2013 by cheapskateintellectual

As I have written here, getting rid of stuff you aren’t using anymore feels pretty damn good, for so many reasons.  There’s the knowledge you’ve freed up space (and money) for more mindful choices about what comes into the house … Continue reading →

Posted in attention, gratitude, money, stuff | Leave a comment

First cherries!

Posted on July 1, 2013 by cheapskateintellectual

The Mesabi cherry tree I planted last year is bearing its first cherries this year — only a handful so far, but each one tender and delicious!

Posted in food, gardening, gratitude | Leave a comment

Evanescence on a plate: spring pasta.

Posted on June 11, 2013 by cheapskateintellectual

The raw ingredients of a simple, overwhelmingly delicious and seasonal spring dinner last week: asparagus, morel mushrooms, and ramps (or wild leeks, which have a delicate, indescribably oniony taste), with perhaps a few cherry tomatoes in for color.  Chop and … Continue reading →

Posted in food, gardening, gratitude | Leave a comment

The pleasure of collards.

Posted on November 3, 2012 by cheapskateintellectual

As the days shorten and daylight “savings” time – what a name! – is about to make oncoming winter even more official, I come in from canvassing for my chosen presidential candidate and turn to the stalwarts still waiting patiently … Continue reading →

Posted in food, gardening, gratitude, the South | Leave a comment

Moving home: (re)thinking the organic South.

Posted on October 9, 2012 by cheapskateintellectual

Sometimes I think “home” in my mobile life has become less a specific place than a kind of place where certain conditions obtain — the sense of comfort, practicality, and freedom that comes from being able to move around on … Continue reading →

Posted in community, conservation, food, gratitude, politics, resilience, self-reliance, the South | 6 Comments