Late Post

The rain tonight has been dense and persistent, and very loud. The almost constant wind which accompanies it is loud, too, rising at times to a roar, and driving the raindrops to clatter against the window panes. I was fairly drenched (and half deafened) after walking forty feet to the driveway and back to fetch the newspaper. It is a truly splendid winter storm! The strongest gusts of wind rattle the windows and doors and boom in the chimney, and the unceasing rush of splashing raindrops is like listening a waterfall on some mountain stream, or the turbulent swirl and eddy of a whitewater river. Even standing in a sheltered corner of the porch, I can feel the icy sting of fine droplets carried by the wind. I could stand there for hours, did I not need to sleep now. Maybe, under the influence of the sound, I'll dream of rafting.

Meanwhile, on the Internet, at All Recipes (link courtesy of shane) I found a recipe for... Peppermint Ammonia Cookies! As far as I know, I've never eaten ammonia cookies, and I had no idea that there was something called baker's ammonia. Maybe I've been downing the stuff all my life in ignorance because I seldom bother to read lists of ingredients on the packaged comestibles I buy, and have often bought goods direct from bakeries, where no lists of ingredients are presented. Interesting. I know that I've eaten lime (the mineral, not the citrus fruit -- though I've consumed that as well, of course -- mmm, key lime pie) because I've had hominy, which is made by soaking corn in lime water. But ammonia in food is news to me. Though I suppose it isn't too surprising, since we all get chlorine, that other popular ingredient in bleach, in our water at one time or another. I'm not particularly worried about it -- I simply find it amusing that we can eat something so un-food-like.