advice
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Thanksgiving can reconnect families and revive traditions — like sweet potato rolls
Sweet potato rolls.Photos: April McGregerI remember the look on my grandfather’s face when I tried to politely explain that I couldn’t eat the giblet gravy or the dressing (known in other parts of the country as “stuffing”) that I had always relished. The reason, I informed him, was that I was a vegetarian; those old […]
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Umbra on holiday shopping
Hi Umbra, When it comes to holiday presents, does it really save energy and gas to order stuff online? Rick G. Manchester, N.H. Dearest Rick, Holiday gift time, everyone! Many of you have already begun shopping, I know, and I also know that my birthday, coming in early December as it does, adds to the […]
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A review of eco-minded feminine products, part two
Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on feminine products. The first column focused on sanitary pads. In a rant about her angry vagina, author Eve Ensler famously described tampons as “a dry wad of fucking cotton” — and she ain’t far from the truth. Unfortunately, she left out a key […]
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Was there another breathless announcement of another phony record, and another quiet retraction?
(Part of the How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic guide) Objection: In October 2008, Al Gore’s science adviser, James Hansen announced yet another “hottest” month on record. After all the alarmist banner headlines sank in, yet another “correction” quietly contradicted this, and October was not particularly warm after all. This is yet another example […]
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Umbra on winter biking
Dear Umbra, Here in Cleveland we recently endured the first snowstorm of winter. When I look out the window and see all that pretty white stuff, I can’t help but reach for my car keys instead of my bicycle helmet. Can you offer any suggestions for safe and warm winter riding? Jon B. Lakewood, Ohio […]
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In which an argument erupts over electronics disposal
Last night, my fella decided to replace his 15-year-old alarm clock. For the eight years I’ve known him, he’s had to fiddle with the dials and whack the speakers every night as he sets the alarm, so this is something of an overdue miracle. But then there was this: “What are you going to do […]
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To make the Thanksgiving centerpiece a sure triumph, go heritage — and reach for the deep-fryer
Fry ya later, alligator. In the 11 years between the Declaration of Independence and the ratification of the Constitution, arguments raged over the future of the nascent nation. One involved the naming of a National Bird. Writing to his daughter on the subject of his choice for the symbol in 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Eagles […]
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Umbra on cookbooks
Dear Umbra, I am trying to eat local foods within the seasons, but most of my cookbooks include ingredients from multiple seasons in a single recipe. Can you offer any cookbooks or advice for finding more seasonal recipes? Yours locally (and in season or preserved), Katie Somerville, Mass. Dearest Katie, Good for you — and […]
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How to green your bathroom
No need to go all ape sh*t, greening your bathroom is easy. Splish splash, I was takin’ a bathLong about a Saturday nightA-rub-dub, just relaxin’ in the tubThinkin’ everything was all right. Poor Bobby Darin — there he was, thinking everything was all right, when he really should have been taking a four-minute shower […]
