The Carrot Cake I Knew Was Wrong (And Photographed Anyway)
I had a carrot cake that never failed me, then chased a fancier one. It baked flat, dense, and rubbery. I frosted it and shot it like a magazine anyway.
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Friday Roundup #38
Sunflowers on the counter, half the office bolting ahead of a Friday storm, the collards still sitting on my desk, and a gluten-free honey cake in the oven.
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Put Down the Camera
The 9/11 Memorial Museum has a room where they ask you to put the camera down. Seven trips to Ground Zero, and the photograph I did not know I still had.
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How to Roast and Freeze Hatch Chile (25 Pounds at a Time)
Twenty-five pounds of fresh Hatch, one afternoon on the Kamado, and a year of green chile in the freezer. Plus the queso you have earned by the end of it.
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Somebody Picked These Chiles
Hatch chile farmworkers pick by hand through a sixteen-hour day for under $6,000 a year. A Labor Day essay about what my twenty-five pound box actually costs.
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Friday Roundup #37
An invasive grass has taken the back of the property, the collards are still not in the ground, and minor-league September is winding down at Gwinnett Field.
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The Hinge I Was Afraid Of (and the Grill Table That Actually Beat Me)
Kamado Joe spring hinge swap, start to finish: two hours, two tools, and you never touch the springs. The surprise was the new base not fitting the grill table.
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Carol’s Pineapple Carrot Cake
A sixty-year-old recipe that bakes at 360°F, sifted through a tin Androck nobody is allowed to wash. Carol’s cake, heavy with carrot, pineapple and pecan, and better on day two.
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The Kamado Joe Warranty Came Through (About That Cracked Dome)
Kamado Joe warranty, tested live: a cracked dome and base, a claim filed on July 4, and new ceramics in the driveway 19 days later. Here’s the whole timeline.
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The Barred Owl Didn’t Show Up to Be Photographed
A barred owl sat twenty yards off our deck for ten minutes and I had the wrong camera. Phone shots, a call I couldn’t place, and why this isn’t a yard, it’s habitat.
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Friday Roundup #36
Remy takes National Dog Day personally, the collard seeds arrive, Hatch chiles are inbound, and I fall down a Scottish hoof-trimming YouTube hole.
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Sun Tea: The Slowest, Easiest Iced Tea You’ll Ever Make
Sun tea is the easiest iced tea you’ll ever make: tea bags, water, and a few hours of sun. Get my Meemaw’s Texas method plus a simple syrup for sweetening.
