It’s been a busy few days. Too busy for link sharing. Not that I could have anyway, as the net connection at work was out for the last day and a half. Someone in the building futzed with the phone line box (the one with the gazillion colored wires in it), trying to swap phones in their office, and blew out our DSL. It’s back now, after a lot of diagnosing. On the home front, my house is now heated again, after having no heat at all for almost a week. The propane in the big yard propane tank ran dry, and the gas company, true to form, messed up royally on delivery. Now that the tank is full, it’s clear that the tank is, in fact, leaking. By my estimate, about 50 gallons has hissed into the air since the gas man came yesterday (that’d be about $200 worth). There’s a part on top the tank that’s hissing, and the air around the tank smells like propane. You’d think that’s be a big deal, pretty important, especially if you read the warning on the tank that says to evacuate the property and call the authorities if you hear or smell gas. I didn’t evacuate, but I did call the gas company’s emergency number. The operator took my number and said the emergency people would be calling me right back. An hour later, after no word, I called again. The emergency person hadn’t returned the original page, I was told, and that I’d hear from them soon. I went to bed, and now, 16 hours later, there’s still been no call. I guess it’s not a big deal to the gas company. This morning I caled the Georgia Public Utility Commission to complain about the gas company, but found out that LP Gas companies aren’t regulated in Georgia (natural gas companies are). They transferred me to the state Fire Marshall. The woman there got real excited when I mentioned that the gas tank next to my house was hissing and smelled like gas. She took my name and number and said that a fire marshall would call me right back with instructions. That was five hours ago. I guess it’s not a big deal to the fire marshall. So, maybe it’s not a big deal. But if you come to visit me, don’t light up, okay?

I laughed out loud to this Iron Chef spoof, Lego Chef. Many thanks to the fine folks at randomWalks for this.

GardenDigest.com has about a gazillion gardening related links in its Garden Digest Directory.

The Complete Uncensored Unbelievably True Ren & Stimpy Story!

On Christmas morning, my parents and young nephew set off from Missouri to Texas in a new (to them) van. Their route was to take them through Arkansas and Texas. Christmas day, the huge ice storm hit Arkansas and Texas, and my family vanished into it without a trace. After three days, I was a tad bit worried (though not as fazed as some when I’d casually mention that my parents were missing). But all’s better. I just got an email that they’d made it safely to their destination, after having “a wild time.”

Noted for future reference is Georgia Organics, my states official organic farming trade group.

Tired of the processed chemicals found in today’s pre-packaged food products? Then maybe the paleolithic diet is for you. Eat what the hunter/gatherers ate! There’s actually a ton of wonderful links to be found here on foraging, ethnobotany, and natural eating.

The Butter-Margarine Chronicles is an interesting historical look at the Butter vs. Margaine debate put together by Don Payne of Iowa State’s Department of English. For example, did you know that the dairy industry successfully lobbied several states to require that margarine be tinted pink or green (“to clearly identify” the sticks, but also to make it rather unappetizing)? Iowa State is a great place for this archive, since in 1943 the chair of the Department of Economics and Sociology resigned after standing up to the national dairy industry who attacked him for printing a wartime dairy pamphlet that contained the phrase oleomargarine “compares favorably with butter both in nutritive value and palatability”. The president of the university bowed to the special interest groups, and the professor couldn’t stay in that environment. He later went on to win the Nobel Prize for economics.

Let’s say you were keenly interested in the nuitritional value of certain fats and oils. Like, for instance, you were concerned about the saturated fat levels in traditional cooking oils, such as butter, margarine, and olive oil, compared to an extremely tasty but unfamiliar oil such as goose fat. The first place you’d want to go on your quest for knowledge would be, of course, the internet. Specifically, CyberDiet’s fat and oils nutritional database. Turns out you could do a lot, lot worse than goose fat. Which is good to know, now that I’ve got over a quart in my fridge. (You can find nutritional information on any food you want here.)

Goose is good. I really don’t think you can find a better tasting poultry at the market. And it’s easy to cook. As easy as roast chicken. Easier by far than turkey, and only half the size. Did I mention it’s just good? Next time you’re in the market for a roasted bird, check your market’s freezer case for a goose.