Six good things
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
3d ago
On mushroomsNo one in my family likes mushrooms except for me, but three times now, I’ve picked up a box of pre-sliced mushrooms from the store simply because I wanted them.  I saute them in butter, olive oil, and salt, and then store them in the fridge, ready to add to whatever I want: pizza, piled on top of a savory croissant, scrambled eggs.  They are so luxurious and delicious and cheap that I have to laugh at myself. How is it that I always pick up a big bag of tortilla chips for whatever-they-cost amount, yet I’ve always passed over cheap-and-convenient mushrooms because they s ..read more
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Doping
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
1w ago
The other day, I listened* to a Fresh Air interview with Derek Thompson, a journalist for The Atlantic, about the loneliness epidemic, except “loneliness” isn’t the right word, Thompson said. Loneliness is defined as the instinct to be around people, but what’s happening now is that people are losing that instinct — that drive — to be with other people. More and more, people are choosing to be alone, preferring an evening at home to going out with friends. There are a whole lot of reasons for this, and Thompson dug into all of it, but the part that stood out to me had to do with dopamine.  ..read more
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What we can do
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
2w ago
Sunday evening, one of my YouTube subscribers let me know that, as a result of the US’s tariffs on Canada, he was boycotting all things related to the US including his donation to US-based YouTube creators.  At first I didn’t know what to make of the comment. Part of me was hurt, like this was all a misunderstanding: I didn’t want these tariffs anymore than he did. What power did I have? And how would withholding a financial donation to me help anything? Wasn’t that just making the problem worse? And yet, I wasn’t really upset with him. I was bothered, sure, but in a way I couldn’t really ..read more
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Muesli rusks
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
2w ago
Slightly sweet and lightly crunchy, rusks are South Africa’s version of biscotti. What’s the difference between the two versions, you ask? I’m not exactly sure, but I think rusks are more tender, and less blatantly sweet, than biscotti. When we were staying at St. Benedict’s in Johannesburg, we sometimes (ie, not often enough) had rusks for breakfast. They were heaven with my morning coffee, but I could’ve eaten them all day long. Something about that subtle sweetness and starchy crunch, mmm. When my plan to buy a whole bunch of rusks before heading back to the states was foiled by my lack of ..read more
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The quotidian (1.27.25)
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
3w ago
Quotidian: daily, usual or customary;everyday; ordinary; commonplace Eat the rainbow. These crackers elicit strong opinions, from “salty wood chips” to “literally addictive.” Teriyaki something-or-other in the making. King cake in a bundt pan: negative 5 stars. (All the edges = painfully dry.) So glad I stockpiled my ice cream base. They say US folks consume 6.5# of butter/year: anyone else think that’s absurdly low? Fozen sunshine. He won’t make eye contact when he’s where he’s not supposed to be. Hello, Pittsburgh!photo credit: my sister-in-law Watercolor lessons from my aunt, and now I’m ev ..read more
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Cold plunge
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
1M ago
Yesterday afternoon after kickboxing class, I headed back to that pond.  When we’d ice skated, we’d had to skirt a hole where some teens had cut through for a plunge earlier in the day. The whole time I was out there, that hole called to me. I’d never done a plunge. What was it like? The next day, after playing Ultimate (and after learning that my older son and daughter-in-law had done the plunge on their way home from the game that afternoon), I texted the family chat: When the next cold snap comes this week, let’s do it! Half the family said yes, and we set the date. I was low-grade anx ..read more
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Winter, seriously
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
1M ago
After years without any real snow, last week’s little storm was such a delight.  Prior to the snowfall, I braced myself, not because of the storm, but because of the accompanying brutal — and lengthy — cold. The low temps, more than anything, were what made the whole storm so exciting: it was gonna snow, and then it was gonna STAY. And in Virginia, where most snow seems to disappear within 24 hours, a sticking snow felt like a major luxury.  So what were my preparations? Since we have a four-legged milk spigot out back (an opulence I still can’t really get over), there was no mad das ..read more
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Seed crackers
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
1M ago
The other day my sister-in-law stopped by with a box of crackers and a thank you note for the bottle of mead I’d given them for their anniversary. At first I thought the crackers were some sort of candy brittle — they were so dark and glossy — but no, she explained, they were homemade crackers. To eat with your cheese, she wrote in her note.  When I finally got around to tasting them, I was, to put it bluntly, stunned. They were amazing. Nutty, seedy, salty, and wonderfully crispy, they tasted outrageously expensive, like what you might find in the cracker display at Murray’s Cheese Shop ..read more
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Best damn pork butt roast
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
1M ago
Our pork roasts are stored in the barn freezer which means I keep forgetting to use them. But a couple weeks ago when we had friends coming for supper, I started remembering. I thawed the meat the night before but didn’t bother to look for a recipe until that morning, and then I regretted my last-minute tendencies because the recipes were all over the place: browning meat ahead of time, insta-potting it, marinating, etc, etc.  I finally found a recipe that seemed pretty straightforward — rub a spice blend all over the meat and then roast it low and slow — but then I didn’t get it in the o ..read more
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Cold weather, warm springs
Jennifer Murch
by Jennifer Jo
1M ago
A few weeks ago, one of my coworkers mentioned that she’d gone to some warm springs for a soak. We have hot springs around here? I asked. Oh yes, she said, and they’re amazing. I decided not to tell my husband about our conversation because maybe I’d want to take him there someday for a surprise.  That day came sooner than I expected. Saturday morning, what with a wide open weekend and the Sunday evening snowstorm bearing down on us full force, I decided to leap. After I made the reservations, I looked at a map and realized the springs were further than I thought. Oops and oh well! Looked ..read more
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