The sign said “burpless cucumbers.” I had not noticed that my previous encounters with cucumbers were particularly burp-inducing, so I asked how this variety was different. “They don’t repeat,” the woman at the farm stand said. “The other cucumbers, they repeat in your stomach.” “Repeat?” I asked. “Oh, yes,” she said. “They repeat.” The woman Read More
In 1936, after her children were grown, Mrs. Frances Williams of Winchester, Massachusetts, decided to dedicate her life to spreading the gospel of hosta. An MIT graduate, she discovered that hostas perfectly suited her shady, one-third-acre plot on Highland Avenue and went about establishing a nonpareil collection—gathering seeds from Japan (hostas originated in Asia), hybridyzing, Read More
“Bloody hell, that was a good decision. Damn!” English director Danny Boyle was boasting about casting the magnetic Irishman Cillian Murphy as his leading man. “In between the first film I did with him [28 Days Later] and this one [sci-fi suspense thriller Sunshine, which opens on Friday], I’ve seen some of the things he’s Read More
After my recent failure in attempting to introduce raw root vegetables to my grill, I decided to head back toward slightly more well-trod terrain. Squash is reliably grill-friendly and in abundance all summer long. Avocado squash were new to me, though, so I thought I’d see how they work on an open flame.
The Read More
Katharine White gardened in tweed suits and Ferragamo pumps. Pat Buckley preferred a bikini when deadheading her Connecticut rose garden. But what to wear to garden in a public space, Riverside Park, where I was not only visible but a kind of minor attraction?
As I tried to put together the perfect outfit, I Read More
Break out the leg warmers! The new breed of Xanadu fans—fANADUs, as they’re calling themselves online—want you to “do the ’du!”
Xanadu on Broadway, a campy interpretation of the 1980 movie starring Olivia Newton-John (played by Kerry Butler onstage) as a roller-skating Greek muse who comes down from the heavens to inspire an artist Read More
It was a perfect day for transplanting. With the soil moist from a few days of rain—thank you mulch for maintaining that ideal condition—I could “fix” some previous planting mistakes without having to drag out the hoses. Any instructions for transplanting include the imperative “water, water, water,” but because of my faucet-challenged conditions in Riverside Read More
It seemed like a good idea at the time. I was planning a grill-based dinner for some friends last weekend, and there were a lot of cool-looking root vegetables at the farmers’ market on Friday. French breakfast radishes, Thumbelina carrots—the names alone were worth paying for. It occurred to me that I’d never seen a Read More
Mary Wilson, the luscious-lipped founding member of the Supremes, took a moment in the middle of her rendition of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” last week at Feinstein’s to perk up the otherwise solemn-looking audience. Shimmying her ample breasts, she quipped, “You guys are so serious!”
That loosened them up!
During Motown’s golden years, Ms. Read More
Sand shark? I’d never heard of it, either. But once you see those words scrawled on the daily-catch board, it’s hard to look away. How often do you get to confront your deepest fears and buy dinner at the same time?
My fillet still had some skin attached, and when I Read More
