Some short random stuff--
If you are in southern Maine and in search of an excellent hot dog, go to Hot Dog Heaven in South Berwick. It's a tiny shop with great hot dogs from Chicago and New York (I think), tasty cheese fries and nice guys behind the counter. They had Stone Temple Pilots on the boom box the whole time we were there last time, which is just fine with me.

Got rhubarb? You should make this cake. Add one cup more of rhubarb than the recipe calls for. It's sooooooooo good.

Japanese vegetables we are going to plant in the garden: daikon, edamame, komatsuna, mizuna, Japanese eggplant, shiso, and gobo. Not sure how any of it will grow here but it's got to be better than the old stringy daikon I bought at the supermarket a few weeks back.

The other morning I finally got Shiro to come out to the yard to experience the fragrance of the lilac tree and his first comment was, "It smells like toilet deodorizer."