Essential Confection

The ear of Nature
listens to what is asked of it.
It must be the same act of intense and unfettered listening
as when one discloses her deepest secret.

Is holding the health of the land naïve?

Tomato Seed Thief, a Big Bear of a Guy If I Could Save Time in a Bottle

Thanks to a man whose influence steeled me into clear thinking, my writing and cooking lives have been made clearer.

Whose influence in your life has helped crystallize your thinking or writing?

The Pieces of Us That Assemble Themselves Feeling Like a Much More Earth-Grounded Fledgling

58,000,000 board feet of locally sourced Douglas Fir, ecologically managed. Six years in the planning and construction. The PDX renovation is a place of calm and refuge.

A Traveler's Refuge PDX: A Walk in a Pacific Northwest Forest

With equal parts sadness and joy, Paul and I dined at L'Echelle, the pop-up restaurant Naomi Pomeroy's partner, family and staff decided to move ahead in her honor.

A beautiful summer evening on the Woodsman Tavern patio surrounded by lush greenery. The excellence and detail of Naomi's legacy live on.

'echelle

L'Echelle Pop-Up Naomi Pomeroy's legendary influence lives on

While the season may be halfway over, I'm still trying to wring summer out!

The July 2024 Newsletter How I survived, even thrived, in a cult | The Pleasures of Cooking

What is the source of light that gives life to a master's work?

Is it in the Unseen Force of Memory? Searching for the master's light...

Who in your life lovingly pushed or pulled you into being more fully, you?

The July 2024 Newsletter: Was that Yoko Ono? Let others show you how to become more fully yourself...

Happy Independence Day.

This is the first decent, compassionate opinion piece on the profound decision Mr Biden must make for the preservation of our democracy. His list of accomplishments is extraordinary; his legacy is secure.

I’ll support with equal vigor whomever the Democratic nominee is.

Opinion | What if Biden spoke these words? A Fourth of July speech on kings, independence and American resilience.

I maintain aging bodies are the great cosmic joke. Fruit is my friend.

https://open.substack.com/pub/lnaylor/p/the-baked-apple-experiment?r=v3zxe&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Cooking projects. Mini trips. The lemon marmalade challenge. The self-imposed humility of Accoutrements e-book testing.

And... Links Linda Likes!

Our first monthly newsletter!

mail.google.com

Paul Caloca and I love supporting what people do well - particularly if it engenders community and mutual success.

https://open.substack.com/pub/lnaylor/p/a-taste-of-luxurious-pacific-northwest?r=v3zxe&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

“Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.” This was the Ricky Fitts character videoing an autumn leaf dancing in the electricity of the air. My, by-far, favorite line from American Beauty, a movie securely in my Top 5.

That passion washed over me this morning.

Our Saturday Morning Salve with Scott Simon was well underway, caffeine drip assiduously regulated, and we were in transit to the Portland State University farmers’ market.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss discussed with Scott their 2007 album, “Raising Sand”, which swept the Grammys, and their 2021 collaboration, “Raise the Roof.” They begin a 40-stop cross-country tour this weekend.

Alison recounted the many, many collabs she’s had with brilliant artists, specifically mentioning how Johnny Mathis placed “the N on the end of his word much sooner than anybody else I’d ever heard, and it was beautiful.” As a Bluegrass artist in partnership, it was her job to “match” her partner’s style.

When Robert, as a boy in Wales, talked about trying to “match listening to Robert Johnson”, he said he “wanted to strain out and wring out the emotion.”

By the time Robert Johnson was, yet again, credited for the work of today’s Blues, Bluegrass and Rock & Roll artists, I knew I was about to lose it.

Robert: “… maybe as musicians, we [should] just lie back, just taking it as all part of a beautiful dream.”

I said to my partner, Paul Caloca, “I’m going to need a lot of tissues.”

Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world…