Can Spring Come to My Street?

Rhubarb Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake

Can sunny days sweep the clouds away on the way to where the air is sweet? I’m thinking about sunny days to the tune of Sesame Street’s theme song. The few warm days we’re granted this Spring are greeted with relief only to be disappointed with cooler days to follow. As May is coming to an end without a sign of consistent warm weather, at least rhubarb arrived on time for an upside-down cornmeal cake.  Read more

Chicken Thighs with Ginger Rhubarb Sauce

Baked Chicken Thighs with Ginger Rhubarb Sauce over Brown and Wild Rice

One of the initial plans when returning back to a full-time career was to immediately start saving for a washer and dryer for our apartment. There were few times in my early life I remember going with Mom to the laundromat. As a young child, laundry day was dreaded. It’s a boring place. The afternoons were worst, because the televisions only ran soap operas. Back then, there were only a few channels. The wash and spin sound was irritating. The combination of various dryers turning consistently was boisterously loud. As a young family working hard to better our lives, we eventually moved out of apartment living into a newly constructed house with our own laundry room. Even in college, I would come home on weekends to do laundry to avoid the school’s laundromat. Today, using a public laundromat at my age is beyond the farthest imagination of how I was going to live as an adult. Read more