19.7.08 Manish Water

What is manish water, you ask?

For full details and a picture you can go here. But I'm warning you...it's graphic and no ethical vegetarians need apply.

I didn't have the manish water when we went to get some take-away from the Jamaican place on the main street near the house. As you'll read in the article, I really have no need of it. Probably tasty, but I'm not convinced. The "stew beef" and rice was very tasty indeed and although it did nothing for my libido, it was a fun food foray into a new cuisine. The only downside is that the flavor in Jamaican food often comes from lashing of MSG, which always makes me feel like I'm this close to losing control of my limbs and makes my brain wobbly as well.

The borough of Hackney in London where we live is well populated with multi-generation Jamaican immigrants. Theirs is a fascinating history, which we just learned more about at the Hackney Museum.

4.7.08 Independence from Guilt

Being American by birth, I get to participate in Independence Day even as I live an ex-pat life. You know us Americans, we're nothing if not entitled...

I declare my independence from guilt at not writing for so long. It's been a rocky road at work for these past few weeks and I simply haven't felt very sociable. I'm still eating and it still tastes good, so all is not lost. I could go for some rocky road ice cream right now, as a matter of fact.

Instead, I'll have muesli with a handful of these beautiful babies (above) from the garden. Turns out they aren't raspberries, but rather, loganberries.

The loganberry is generally thought to be derived from a cross between the European red raspberry cultivar 'Red Antwerp' and the American blackberry cultivar 'Aughinburgh'. It was accidentally created in 1880 or 1881 in Santa Cruz, California, by the American lawyer and horticulturist James Harvey Logan (1841-1928). In the 1880s, berry growers began to cross varieties to obtain better commercial varieties. Logan was unsatisfied with the existing varieties of blackberries and tried to cross two varieties of blackberries to produce a superior cultivar.
While attempting to cross two varieties of blackberries, Logan accidentally planted them next to an old variety of red raspberry, all of which flowered and fruited together.