Lonely Cottage

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  “Among the few features of agricultural England which retain an appearance but little modified by the lapse of centuries, may be reckoned the high, grassy and furzy downs, coombs, or ewe-leases, as they are indifferently called, that fill a large area of certain counties in the south and south-west. If any mark of human occupation is met with hereon, it usually takes the form of the solitary cottage of some shepherd. Fifty years ago such a lonely cottage stood on such a down, and may possibly be standing there now. In spite of its loneliness, however, the spot, by actual measurement, was not more than five miles from a county-town. Yet that affected it little. Five miles of irregular upland, during the long inimical seasons, with their sleets, snows, rains, and mists, afford withdrawing space enough to isolate a Timon or a Nebuchadnezzar; much less, in fair weather, to please that less repellent tribe, the poets, philosophers, artists, and others who “conceive and meditate of ple...

Favorite Recipe

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Sitting here thinking about my favorite recipe and the first thing that pops into my mind are these chocolate cookies my wife makes. They are like little brownie bites covered in powered sugar. Not sure what they're called, but they are Crack. You can't eat just four. And milk is required.

So what is my favorite recipe? Hmmm. Seems we have our favorite dishes that find their way to the table, such as "Italian Steak" or Poached Eggs (yes, that's a recipe!). But my favorite? Is that like "comfort food?" Like chocolate? Or Ice Cream?

I think my favorite is the kind I "own." When you no longer have to look at the card or in the book. You just get ingredients, add a heaping helping of "creativity" and see what happens. Like my Cabbage recipe. May not sound like much but I sure hear a lot of "yum" around the table. Left-overs are rare.

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