What I've been doing lately

1. Buying flowers at the farmer's market. The latest selection is tall, striking, and smells vaguely of skunk. Definitely not your average supermarket flower.

2. Working on the philosophy paper that won't ever be finished. My class has ended, but the professor believes in extensions. I am having trouble convincing him that the philosophy of quantum mechanics is not my new life's calling. He keeps singing, "We can publish," and I keep replying, "Not if I want to get my dissertation done."

3. Making an online cheese atlas. Doesn't that sound like the geekiest endeavor ever? I own a book listing artisanal cheese producers of the U.S. I'm inputting all the locations onto a Google map so that we can go visit one whenever we happen to be in the area. I promise to share it when it's done. (I bet you all can hardly wait.)

4. I've been making granola, lots of it.
It finally hit me that granola is one of those things you can make great batches of, and store in the freezer forever. Homemade granola tastes so much better that store bought to me, mainly because the homemade stuff is a lot less sweet.

I brought some when were camping last week, and it was a hit. (Truth be told, any food you bring camping will be a hit. I think spending all that time with the bugs and rain lowers your standards so much that Ragu turns into the finest marinara.) But the granola actually is terrific, and easy to make: 4 cups of oats on a cookie sheet mixed with one stick of melted butter and 1/3 cup maple syrup. 30-40 minutes in a 300F degree oven and you're set. (Full recipe here.)

5. Eating breakfast. I need an extra delicious breakfast every morning to convince myself to get out of bed. (When people say, "She's not a morning person," they're talking about me.) We've been eating homemade yogurt with fruit, a bit of granola, and toasted nuts every morning. Yum.