Columns

Food On The Hill: Honey/Lemon Verbena Poached Pears

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Honey and Lemon Verbena Poached Pears. Photo by Felicia Orth

Food On The Hil

By FELICIA ORTH
Los Alamos
 
Honey And Lemon Verbena Poached Pears

My friend Kok Heong McNaughton grows an extraordinary variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers in her yard.

She recently gave me part of her harvest of lemon verbena leaves. I considered tea or other infusions before settling on a recipe for poached pears, adapted from a recipe by Daniel Orr to reduce sweetness. The recipe does not call for any alcohol in the poaching liquid, and is easily made ahead to be chilled before serving.

Served with berries Read More

Column: How To Get Your Spouse To Stop Working, A LANL Story

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By LEE MUNSON
Albuquerque

Nothing is better than driving up N.M. 4 early in the morning several times a year to visit my clients in Los Alamos.

My ritual includes putting on a pair of red Pillotti driving shoes and driving my four door daddy car like it is a mid-life crisis two door convertible up the hill. It’s a lifestyle thing. Yes, my mom lives up in Los Alamos and a decent chunk of clients worked there for years. So, I have a reason to go up there anyway, but I still choose the take the extra time and enjoy the scenery unknown to rat-race city dwellers. Who can resist posting a Facebook page of my morning Read More

Smart Design With Suzette: Weekend Projects – DIY Ideas That Make A Big Impact

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Before and after bookcases. Courtesy photo
 
Smart Design With Suzette
By SUZETTE FOX
 
Weekend Projects: DIY Ideas That Make a Big Impact

Well, it’s Labor Day weekend. I’m excited to work on projects around the house that will make a big impact. While my husband is off golfing (I’m a golf widow), I’ll have a few extra days this weekend to tackle a DIY project or two.

I’ve gathered some of my favorite projects that take an afternoon to a full weekend to complete. One might possibly inspire a room makeover this weekend for you!

 

An inviting entrance. Courtesy photo
 
Read More

Snodgrass: Why Can’t We Get Over The Civil War

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By ROGER SNODGRASS
Los Alamos Daily Post

The story of the South depicted in the Santa Fe Opera’s world premiere production of Cold Mountain this season, was predominantly a product of old-school thinking about the South and the aftermath of the Civil War.

As a story of an epic journey of a man trying to return home after a pitiless military campaign, the plot of Charles Frazier’s novel Cold Mountain provides a timeless theme that soars above the harsh details of its historical context. That is traditional and appropriate for an opera and certainly well within a novelist’s prerogative, but also Read More

Griggs: Dateline Virginia September 2015

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Author David Griggs and Gunther Hoyt sit in front of Gun’s 1937 Packard Super Eight. They are about to set off on a beautiful May afternoon drive from Salem to Roanoke on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Cpourtesy photo

 

By DAVID H. GRIGGS
Formerly of Los Alamos

The Crescent From New Orleans To Virginia, With A Side Trip To The World Of Ibn Battuta

One of the joys of retirement is the opportunity to visit family and old friends (and make new ones). I saw Gunther in Kent at our high school reunion a few years ago (our 45th, for those of you who like numbers). But I had not seen his lovely wife Hetty since my Read More

Classical Music World: Sight Vs. Sound

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By ANN MCLAUGHLIN, Artistic Director
Los Alamos Concert Association

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences isn’t an obvious place to find interesting articles about music. But a recent article written by psychologist and Juilliard-trained pianist Chia-Jung Tsay, caught my attention. 

In a series of experiments, Tsay showed 185 non-musicians video clips of competitors as they performed in 10 international music competitions. One group both viewed and heard the competitors.  A second group heard the audio, but didn’t see the performers and the third group watched Read More

This Week At The Reel Deal

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By JIM O’DONNELL
Reel Deal Theater

This Friday we are opening Straight Outta Compton and Mistress America. The Gift, and Love and Mercy will end Thursday. Shaun the Sheep and No Escape will hold for another week.

Movie poster for ‘Mistress America.’ Courtesy Reel Deal Theater.

Mistress America: Tracy (Lola Kirke) is a lonely college freshman in New York, having neither the exciting university experience nor the glamorous metropolitan lifestyle she envisioned. But when she is taken in by her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke (Greta Gerwig) – a resident of Times Square Read More

Pegg: Fibromyalgia And Exercise

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By KEN PEGG
Los Alamos

Fibromyalgia is a physical condition that causes pain in a person’s muscle tissue and joints. The condition affects between 2 and 4 percen of the population and is seen more often in women than men. Individuals affected by fibromyalgia experience muscle stiffness and pain, headaches and difficulty sleeping.

While there are many mysteries about the causes and treatment of fibromyalgia, exercise is, more and more, becoming one of the most recommended treatment options. Traditionally, light cardiovascular exercise and stretching have been thought to be the best exercise Read More

‘To Catch A Thief’ Opens Library Film Series Thursday

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Movie poster for ‘To Catch a Thief.’ Courtesy photo

Review By KELLY DOLEJSI

It begins! The 2015-2016 season of Mesa Public Library’s Free Film Series charges out of the pen this week with Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “To Catch a Thief” (1955, rated PG).

The movie screens at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the upstairs meeting room theater. In this jewel of a movie, Cary Grant plays John Robie, aka “the Cat,” a retired burglar renowned for his silence on rooftops and his fine choice in purloined gems. After serving six years in World War II, hisRead More

Yang: Ashley Who?

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By ELENA YANG
Los Alamos

Summer is ending – if we go by the school calendar; so ends my occasional “summer lite” writing with today’s piece.

From certain perspectives, “Ashley Madison Hack” (link) story highlights depressing aspects of human nature and behavior: infidelity/cheating, disregard for innocents’ lives, sneaky attacks (illegal and, more so, unethical), executives’ unapologetic digging in, lying. I am sure there are other dimensions I haven’t thought of, but do we need more?

Yet, those of us who hadn’t even known about the existence of Ashley Madison before it was hacked can’t Read More