Woodworth: How to avoid lugging home leftovers from next reunion

On July 23, the sun enters the late summer sign of Leo. Lunar perigee on June 21 is likely to increase stress in folks and animals. The Blackberry Moon is new on June 23, bringing an increased likelihood of storms.

There is an upside to the demise of Kroger Senior Day. There is no reason to wait until Thursday to get groceries. When I start out the door and the heavens open, I can turn around and wait for the rain/thunder/lightning to go away. Or I can just put the list back on the table and go the next day.

I have heard or read several things that have left me puzzled or amused. I understand organic tea. But organic honey? How do you keep a bee from a flower that has not been certified organic? I talked to some bee people who don't think honey can be certified organic. If you put a fine mesh over your yard and grow your own flowers, then maybe your honey can be organic. That would be lots of work, and I don't know if one can grow enough flowers to keep even one hive alive.

The Relish magazine says that you shouldn't run out of food or lug home loads of leftovers at your next reunion. Use this portion-planner: dish per guest. Boneless chicken or pork chops, 4-5 oz., burgers, 6 oz., ribs, 12 oz. Potato salad, coleslaw or baked beans, 1/3 cup. Really, no one I know ever takes only 1/3 cup of any of those. Well, maybe coleslaw.

Raw veggies, 1 lb./12 guests, dip or hummus, 1 cup/6 guests. I first though this was too little, but who fills up on veggies and dip at a reunion when there is so much other good stuff to eat? Nothing was said about bags of chips, which are a must with hot dogs, also not mentioned, and burgers. Ice cream, 5 oz. I haven't weighed that, but it doesn't seem like enough, especially if it is homemade.

Cookies, two. That is amusing! The Boy and my mom thought you had to have four cookies, no matter the size. When they said, "Can we have a cookie?" they meant and expected four. If you follow these guidelines, you won't have leftovers; you will have healthier guests and probably ones who are still hungry.

Rib quantities, baby backs, three to four per person or spareribs, six or half a rack per person. I woke up with ribs on my mind, went to Sloan Street Market and bought some. I had made potato salad. Don't know why, because it is never as good as the neighbor's. I don't understand why hers is to die for and mine is ho-hum, eat it because that is all there is. Four ribs and ½ cup of potato salad later, I was stuffed. So, probably, the reunion food list is right. Who would have thought it? Now I am a believer.

There is a company in Hebron, Connecticut, that makes post and beam carriage houses, garden sheds and country barns. Nice, if you live in Connecticut. The ad goes on to say that they are shipped nationwide. Does it come in a semi, some assembly required? Does it come in pieces like a modular home? I can't imagine that it comes assembled. It would never get through the interstate highway system, across the Shawneetown bridge and up Route 13.

Does the company send someone to assemble the building? No one I know would want to put a barn together by himself or herself. Maybe you hire some Amish men to do it for you. I wonder what it would cost to buy a small garden shed. And would the shipping be free?

A furniture maker in Gloucester, Massachusetts, makes comfort seats to fit your body with your choice of wood and upholstery, chairs, rockers, recliners, sofas. Nothing about shipping. I wonder how many times you have to go to the factory for a fitting. I am going to have to stop reading ads, but they are more interesting than the articles.

I understand the lure of running with the bulls in Pamplona. I know what they are bred to do, and that is not to play nice with people. They may look like and live like Ferdinand, but Ferdinand they are not. Nine men already gored, five of them Americans. When I was younger, if women were allowed to run and I hadn't had a small child, I would have been tempted. Sometimes fate looks after the stupid.

If you have not yet eaten at East Side School, you have a few weeks to show your support for the summer lunch program. It takes numbers, so get counted. As always, Thursday is soup day!

"I cannot claim to be a feminist, but do rather enjoy seeing women tackling all kinds of new problems." (Amelia Earhart)