Ann Telnaes

Well, it's finally happened. I've given up reading the paper in paper; I now read it on-line. I've also become a big fan of the editorial video cartoons. Check out the Washington Post's Ann Telnaes:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/anntelnaes/archives.htm

Dining Out Despite Food Allergies: Paula Whyman in Today's Washington Post

"Check Please: When the Menu is a Minefield": My amiga "Curious Writer" Paula Whyman has a piece in today's Washington Post about dining out despite food allergies--- in which her P & J sandwich and Twizzles star. I don't have any food allergies myself (thank goodness) but several of my friends do, and so I know very well the rigamarole with the waiter... What I do not understand is why more restaurants don't make an effort to indicate those items on the menu that are safe for those with common food allergies-- so, boom, no more having to grill the waiter, a person can just order! OK, I'm off my soap box now.... Click here and read Paula Whyman's beautifully written, witty and informative piece, and check in again to the same at 12:30 EST today for her on-line Q & A.

P.S. Read Paula Whyman's guest-blog post for Madam Mayo on baking for writers.

More anon... later today I'll be posting the Wednesday guest-blog post...

Real Food

Here's the future of (real) food: Today in the Washington Post's Food section, an excellent article about the local food movement. Some relevant links:
*The Haul That Helps Small Farms by Emma Brown, Washington Post.
*To view the video that accompanies this story, click here.
*The Local Flavor, a farm buyers club (direct-to-consumer)
*James C. Hanson, UMD economist working on sustainable agriculture and small farms
*Polyface Farms (and be sure to read their story)
*Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omivore's Dilemma.
More anon.

Three Interesting Obituaries

-->Elizabeth A. "Betty" Burton, 89; Member of Washington Society
-->Ruedi Rymann; Yodeler Had Gold Record Hit
-->Charlotte Kolher, 99; Virginia Quarterly Review Editor

UPDATE October 28, 2010: The obituary for my my dad, Roger Mansell, is here.

Leslie Pietrzyk's Essay in the Washington Post

Well worth reading: The other day, my amiga novelist Leslie Pietrzyk published a thoughtful essay in the Washington Post (read it here). More anon.

Washington Post Endorses Obama

Here's why.

Break the Block and Get a Bread Book

Paula Whyman, aka "curious writer," who recently guest-blogged here and was featured in a very cool Washington Post article on bread, is running a "creative jump-start" contest on her brand new blog: check it out and enter to win a beginner's guide to bread baking. Here's my entry in the contest:

Wash something--- yourself, the dishes, the dog--- anything. The act of washing calms the mind so that creative ideas, no longer repelled by turbulence, float in... to glide.... swanlike... One then proceeds to the desk....

Breadhead Alert!

Paula Whyman, aka "curious writer," who guest-blogged here on Madam Mayo about baking for writers, is featured in David Hagedorn's "Chef on Call" column in the Washington Post:

Bethesda resident Paula Whyman calls herself a breadhead, meaning she takes, and bakes, the stuff seriously. The sight of artisanal bread packaged in plastic bags disturbs her. The 43-year-old writer owns a baking stone, a peel, a special tool for slashing dough, a gas range and an electric... READ MORE

Predatory Lenders

So who's "Brownie"? Scathing op-ed in today's Washington Post by Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer:

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.

Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers... READ MORE.

But over at Bank Lawyer's Blog, a whiplash-inducing 180.

Better yet: John Bird & John Fortune.

It's Called the Insectothopter: Insect-Like Drones To Watch You Here in the Homeland

Next time you go to a rally or any kind of protest, be sure to bring your sign--- and a net. Or maybe just a swatter. Or a big hobnailed boot. As reported in the Washington Post the other day, insect-robot drones have been spotted near the White House in downtown DC. Ain't swamp gas, hon. Or, are you going to drink the Kool-aid? Ask, who, really, are the terrorists?

Now She Cans: Leslie Pietrzyk in the Washington Post

My amiga and fellow blogista, novelist Leslie Pietrzyk, is featured in the Food section of today's Washington Post in an article by David Hagedorn about her adventures in canning! (A sure way to know where your food comes from--- a subject Madam Mayo is very interested in, thanks to Nina Planck's Real Food, Patricia Klindienst's The Earth Knows My Name, the DVD The Future of Food, and the recent pet food recall scandal, not to mention the absolutely luscious farmers markets all around DC.)