Super G Mart (sounds slightly pornographic, but unless you are a food freak, it's really not)
How did we not find this place sooner! Really, really amazing food selection from all over the world. We bought fresh produce (Sevilles - I can make my own marmalade!!!)...

Quail eggs (getting ready to make up some recipes - so far thinking "dollhouse omelettes" or maybe with hot chilis/parmesan/some roasted veggies on a flatbread)...

A variety of noodles...

Some sweet treats (who could resist coconut biscuits made by a company called "Ping Pong?!)...

Oooh, and here's one I'm really not sure about. But the ever-adventurous Mr went for 'em.

I mean, er, nonsense, they'll totally be scrumptious I'm sure!

Plus, we picked up a slog of rather more mundane items (for example - actual bananas that weren't winking back at us while practicing their zumba). We walked away with 4 grocery bags and $43 poorer. Not the cheapest ever, but certainly don't feel ripped off either. 

Think we need to whip back up our

test subjectdinner group!

Eggshrooms

So, this blog seems to have devolved into the collection of stuff I like vs. ranting. So, here's another for  the masticating-inclined.

It's a breakfast experiment that came out pretty yummy:

1) De-gilled/stemmed and then sauteed a portabella cap in olive oil over medium heat until golden. Drained it on a towel and stuffed it in the bottom of a glass bakeware dish (nice, snug fit de-gilled side up).
2) Poured on a layer of loosely stirred eggs with a little skim milk, Siracha, sauteed shallot and garlic.
3) Topped with a layer of Panko, grated parmesan, chopped fresh thyme and some cracked pepper.
4) Into a pre-heated 400° oven for 15 minutes (until it seemed set, but not yet sponge-like)
5) Let it sit for 5 on the counter and dug in.

Manipulative, materialistic, thoughtless...

So materialistic is bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I have to ask on this beautiful, cool evening though - is it so awful to be this happy with new flannel sheets? The idea of nesting in warm, fluffiness for the coming autumn and winter fills me with a certain undeniable pleasure.

Everything in it's place

Our delightful friend is on Pinterest even more than I am. His partner calls it "electronic hoarding"
Well, Mr Mc's got nothin' on me.

Here's the blog (mindfarts), there's the Pinterest (idea stew), another posting to Ravelry (fibrous) and some quality time at Goodreads (libros). Also, for the sake of full-disclosure, I am also a recovering Facebook junkie. Gracious, I probably need to find some other hobbies.

Anyhooooooo, there's this weird thing of not crossing the streams.
You know - Ghostbusters 101:
"It would be bad.
I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?
Try to imagine all life as we know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light."

Okay maybe not that bad. Guess that what I am getting at is that (obviously - duh) we need to track every mundane detail of our lives, but it just seems rude to overlap too much.

But, you know me "Lucy Law-Breaker." So, here I am recommending a book on my blog - a plain, old  mystery novel that I enjoyed a lot. It's part of a series, so you can read it as is, but it's more fun knowing the characters and their past interactions.

Here's the blurb from Louise Penny's (the author) site:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY is set in a remote monastery in Quebec. The monks have chosen a life of splendid isolation, of quietude. To contemplate nature and God. To commune with the Divine, without distractions. They've taken a vow of silence, and their days are filled with near complete peace and quiet, with the exception of the services that highlight their monastic day. The Divine Office. The simple services are sung in chants so old they predate written music. Plain chant. Gregorian chant. Singing the word of God in the voice of God. Their chanting is so mesmerizing, so glorious that the little recording they made to raise money has become a sensation.

But while the monks might choose not to speak, there are other ways to communicate. And lately a battle, fought in near silence, has shattered their community. And led to murder. When Chief Inspector Gamache and Inspector Beauvoir, of the Sûreté du Québec, arrive they enter a cloistered and secretive community. Shut off from the outside world. They meet men trained to conceal how they feel and what they think.

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY is about the plain chant at the heart of their monastic life and the power of that music to inspire and corrupt. But Chief Inspector Gamache soon discovers something else, hiding in the silence. Tyranny.

Gamache and Beauvoir are faced with an unsettling question. Was the monk murdered by the tyrant, or because he was the tyrant?

In the great silence of the monastery, Gamache and Beauvoir come face to face with their own truths, and their own tyrants. While so many are kneeling down, Gamache must discover if he has the courage to stand up. To speak up.

I hope you like THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY. I'm so looking forward to you reading it!

Cheese. Whatever. It's good - you should read it.

Toast frosting

You heard me and yes toast can have frosting, nay, must have frosting.
A nice little schmeer is all that is required, you needn't spackle in every crevice.
Mix equal parts...Go on...I dare ya

Here's mine

Opinions, everyone's got one...

It is sometimes sensible to make jokes, to inject humor when ugly subjects like religion, politics, etc come up. Occasionally, it may snap a conversation out of the "I'm right, you're wrong" path. It is a worry when the joke ends the debate though.

As I see it, the problem in agreeing to disagree means we don't have to hash it out. Each side usually leaves it there, at that dangerous intersection. It's like walking away from a car crash - each group  becoming strengthened in their somewhat faulty convictions.

In the two years leading up to the last presidential election, not having a television was a wonderful gift. That sensation is being reinforced again this cycle. It's hard to imagine what listening to that much political braggadocio might do to a person.

Mind you, most of us seem to agree that staying informed is key. Is that possible though? How do the television news cycles we have really help us in this regard? Can we form our own opinions from watching analysts and newscasters tell us conflicting anecdotes?

Reading and watching videos online seems a slightly less vile option, but not without fault either. It is too easy to misinterpret or just jump on someone else's bandwagon.

There is the human condition that we can never really understand ourselves, let alone others or society at large. Just because something seems impossible, doesn't mean wonderful things can't happen.

For a commie-heathen type, I admit that the intricacies of nature, life, etc are beyond comprehension. Priests and scientists search for explanations. Many of us have become numb to it all and numb to the real impacts of our actions. That is also true for the miracles of human invention all around us - from glass lenses to refrigeration. These are things I could never imagine on my own. Yet, here they are. For some of us anyhow.

Could Mitt or Barack ever come up with anything as useful to humanity? More importantly, can they provide an environment whereby greater creation and solutions are possible? There's a good chance with all the distractions, we'll never hear about that. We'd rather watch Biden's latest gaff or Eastwood talking to a chair. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see ads about what has been or could be accomplished - realistically vs. what weakness the other guy has?