WAY TO GO, PAULA

We were very proud of our friend Paula Wolfert for her accomplishment. She has been a source of inspiration (and challenge) to us in developing pots that work with the exactness of the recipes she researches and writes about. If you haven't read any of her wonderful books, try ''Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco' or 'The Cooking of SW France'. They are as much histories and travelogues as cookbooks.
Sun Jun 8, 10:53 PM ET

Chef Jacques Pepin, left, congratulates Paula Wolfert, author of 'Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco,' for being entered into the Cookbook Hall of Fame at the 2008 James Beard Foundation Awards, Sunday, June 8, 2008 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York. The awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their field.(AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

(Story by AP)

I LOVE A PARADE!

We've had geese on the pond ever since the ponds were put in by Fish & Wildlife as part of the Wildlife Refuge Program, funded by Ducks Unlimited. Normally geese pick out a site as first yearlings, defend it for a year, and then come back the next year to nest. The year we seem to have 2 pair, one on the north pond, one on the south. On May 20th, a pair seemed to be nesting on the dike between the ponds.
Then on May 23rd we spotted the first goslings....first in the water then on the dike.

Then today, June 3rd, what should appear but a full bore goose parade. Once the goslings are born, the adults lose their flight feathers and are earthbound. Guess like all parents they might sometimes like to get away, but nature won't allow it. Now the danger starts. Snapping turtles, fox and coyote, raccoons, hawks and eagles....all looking for these tasty morsels. We count every time we see them to see how they're doing.

Note how much these little beggars have grown just in a couple of weeks. Soon they'll start to molt into their juvenile plummage. The parents have to walk them everywhere. From the ponds to the main lake a thousand feet away. Those little feet get a lot of exercise.