Category Archives: General

Blue-ribbon Caramels

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Marty Ryan

After my mother passed away, my brother-in-law created a flipped-page collection of some of mom’s best/favorite recipes that she often made. I noticed a mistake in the recipe for caramels (Mom’s mistake, not Ron’s). I realized that instead of 325º … Continue reading →

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Every Thirty-two Years

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Marty Ryan

Traveling back to Des Moines from an event in Coon Rapids in late September, we came upon a deputy sheriff’s car sitting along side the road as we popped over a hill. I wasn’t worried. I had the cruise control … Continue reading →

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Satan’s in the Details

Posted on September 15, 2024 by Marty Ryan

On July 26 of this year, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS)[1] adopted a new policy in which anyone requesting a venue for an event in the Capitol or on the Capitol grounds may do so for only one … Continue reading →

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Hunger Pains Me

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Stephanie Fawkes-Lee

This is the same cocktail of emotions that lead so many to suicide attempts. Continue reading →

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Hot stuff!

Posted on August 15, 2024 by Marty Ryan

This year, we planted several varieties of hot peppers: habaneros; ghost peppers; super chili; Thai peppers; serrano; and Carolina reapers. We’re not going to mess around with those mild ones like jalapenos. Several of the pepper plants are beginning to … Continue reading →

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The only poll that counts is the election

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Marty Ryan

Previously published in the Des Moines Register, July 30, 2024, under the headline:  Trump-Harris polls? Wake me up after people actually vote. Results of political polls are jumping up and down like lines on a seismograph Velcroed to the side … Continue reading →

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