Roundup: Letters from my love edition

Feelin' sneezy? Get some local honey! (Full disclosure: I rely solely on pharmaceuticals for my allergy relief. But I do like a squeeze of honey on toast or in tea.)

Have you read this story on ways to save money in your food budget? Did that first piece tick you off a little bit? I love the person who wrote this response (third letter down). Really, I do. He's my favorite person.

Homophobic douchebaggery, or "science?" The President of Bolivia thinks hormone-laden chicken is making men "deviate from their manhood."

I'd love to try some raw milk. It's supposed to have amazing nutritional properties, despite the fact that the FDA hates it. I happen to have an iron stomach made entirely of acid, so I think I could handle a little "danger with my cookies."

Despite my interest in raw milk, I don't think I have what it takes to become a raw foodist. From a WaPo article on the subject: "Fruitarians are among the more extreme raw-foodism groups. They eat only uncooked food that has fallen to the ground." I am totally picturing a bunch of dudes in a rainstorm, huddled under trees in an orchard, waiting to be conked on the head with an apple like Isaac Newton. 

A mango thumbs up to Christopher Kimball (of America's Test Kitchen fame), whose e-newsletter I subscribe to . He informed me that his maple-sugaring has produced the worst crop in 40 years! Bummer! But the mango thumb is for this bizarre tidbit (and no, I don't know what it has to do with food either, but it cracked me up nonetheless):

Back in Vermont, here is a recent story that sounds completely made up. A resident of a nearby town is very well liked but more than a little crazy and a bit of a drinker—you never know what he will do next. His wife came home one day and noticed that he looked a bit shaken. He said, “I caught a troll!” and proceeded to lead her upstairs. When they got to the bedroom, she heard a voice from the closet shouting, “Let me out! Let me out!” Well, he had all sorts of furniture stacked up against the door to keep the troll in. Once the way was cleared, she found a very pleasant, rather short gentleman in disarray, shaken after having spent a few hours locked up inside. He was working for the U.S. Census, had rung the bell, and, as soon as the door had opened, the husband had somehow mistaken him for a troll, spiriting him upstairs. No word yet on the impending lawsuit.

Even though I usually do a thumbs down item, this week I'm doing another thumbs up - to ramps! Thank you, delicious wild leek, for making it feel like spring. That's a photo of the little fellers up at the top there.