They opened in Charlottesville in 1974. We visited soon after and have been returning for nearly 50 years. But in a few weeks, Anna’s Pizza will shutter their shingles and say goodbye. “It was time,” said the two sisters who have baked tens of thousands of great pies. Maria Buzzetta, 65, and her sister Marta Grado, 69, will soon retire and a great Charlottesville institution will be no … [Read more...]
My Three Crows
I don’t know if they are the same crows that have been hanging out behind my house for years, or a new trio, but I have and have had three crows to visit my yard for a number of years. I like crows. They keep the hawks at bay, they harass grackles and eat their young, and they don’t seem to bother our plantings. I enjoy feeding them bits of cracked corn and especially stale bread ends. We save … [Read more...]
Oh, Deer!
It’s hard to drive 5 miles without seeing a crumpled up, dead deer along the side of the road. That’s because we are in peak season - the deer are in rut. Bucks are chasing does and they run across roads after the enticing females and worry about cars and trucks later. Some say to watch out for deer in the headlights, but I say just watch out. Recent studies say that Virginia is now the 11th … [Read more...]
Janice’s Chicken Lombardy
My long-time friend, Janice Kaltenbach (Aunt Remus), is one of the best cooks I’ve ever been around. Her fried chicken is second to none, nobody makes better potato salad, and her pralines are so yummy they should be illegal. When Janice shares a recipe or says something she made was good, I pay attention. So, when she told me that she had a delicious chicken recipe. I begged her for it and … [Read more...]
What’s A Saugeye?
A piece of sausage with a bad eye? Of course not. Sausages don’t have eyes. A saugeye is a fish, a member of the perch family and a Virginia state record saugeye was recently caught by Michael Miller from Nathalie, Virginia. Miller’s 6-pounder caught on a crankbait in the Staunton River on September 23. The fish measured 26 ¼ inches with a girth of 14 inches and was officially weighed at … [Read more...]
A Pile of Leaves
We had a bumper crop of leaves this fall, and for the most part, the foliage outdid itself in terms of beauty. Nancy and I made several trips to and from the Smith Mountain Lake area and were entertained thoroughly by the brilliant colors of the maples, beeches, dogwoods, and oaks. They brought back memories of our house on Court Street in Lewisburg, WV. There were two majestic maple trees in … [Read more...]
Signs of Our Times
A Flock of Cowbirds
I had some unusual visitors at my feeder this week. It was a small flock of blackbirds, and they were small – not nearly the size of a grackle and smaller still than a starling. They were brown headed cowbirds, but their heads weren’t dull brown as I remember from spring, but almost a burgundy. Their jet-black feathers shimmered with streaks of neon purple. They were quite lovely. I don’t … [Read more...]
Bulk Up to Fight Inflation
Chips that were $2.99 a bag are now $4.49. Eggs are precious commodities, approaching $2.50 a dozen. That’s 20 cents for a single egg! But we’re not going to take this lying down. The Inflation Fighter is on the job. We may not be able to buy a package of Lay’s Chips for a reasonable price, but we can offset some of these absurd price increases by buying in bulk – like at Costco and Sam’s Club. … [Read more...]
Frost on the Collard Patch
Finally, a good frost. It was halfway through November, but at last there was frost on the pumpkins, and on the collard patches as well. As every Southerner knows, you never eat collards until after the first frost. It’s something about that frost that brings out the sweetness in what are easily the best tasting greens on the planet. I once went through the line at Food Lion with a … [Read more...]
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