When Breakfast Is the Best Way to Start a Day

Start with something forgotten: a distant friend's Christmas gift with a name that makes two insider insights at one and the same time -- a reference to my favorite I-always-cry-when-it-happens line from my favorite movie (think Scout/aka Mary Badham saying "Hey, Boo" upon seeing Boo Radley/aka Robert Duvall in Jem's/aka Phillip Alford's bedroom in a great scene from To Kill a Mockingbird) and a reference to a favorite Sewanee friend whose nickname is Boo and whom my friend met when she visited Sewanee; then make sure that that something forgotten is as delicious as this Indonesian "jam," a delicious riff on curd that I could love on anything, even just a spoon.

They All Grow Up

Dear J,

What a surprise! 

I picked up my holiday mail from the post office first thing this morning and found your box of gifts. 

The cat magnet is already on the fridge door and two cookies (one from each packet) have been sampled. I am at this moment sipping a sample of this:

How lovely to share interests (in this case, bourbon) as grown-ups, no longer just student and teacher.

Thank you for thinking of me in this holiday season!

Fondly,
Robley

Sweet Tooth

Danger ahead: my first-ever box of macarons!

Here's the bad news:

the instructions say they last only a week in the fridge.

Here's the fantastic news:

that means I have to eat more than one a day!