Jesse should come have lunch with me.

That I could do.

they have them in the stores here (!!!) but they are shelf-stable tortillas that never go stale, and they taste a little like nickels.

I know your pain. My handmade tortillas always come out more like flatbread than tortillas. I can't get them thin enough. And they always look more like Maine.

You have a very nice sister.

I'm thinking I should ask my parents to schlep out some green chile when they come in two weeks, except they are going to be in Birmingham for a week first and I don't think the frozen stuff would survive that many re-freezings. I can get the canned ortega/el paso stuff, but at ridiculous markup. I need to go down to the Fells Point area and see if the grocerias there have it.

I have a homeowner-type question. If I get a contractor to come out and look at my gutters and front stoop, and he promises to drop off a written estimate "soon" and a week goes by and no estimate, does that mean he doesn't want the job or else he's just forgotten and it's a good idea to give him a call?

I can't believe there's no cilantro in Greece! Though they probably call it coriander.

Theo - I had to follow-up like an insane person to get anything from contractors. I say call them.

The name coriander does not signify one thing -- it represents a seed, a leaf and a powder used in Central America, South America, all of Asia, the Mediterranean basin, the Southwest of the United States, and in any menu that replicates the flavors of one or all of these regions. Coriander-the-leaf is also known as Cilantro and Chinese Parsley. The profusion of names and forms are replicated in the range of flavors created by this coriander: the whole dried seeds are nutty and warm, the powder intense, the leaf vibrant or soapy -- depending on what camp the taster is in. In any form, though, when coriander is present, it is known.

All Raquel probably needs is the Greek name for it.

Theo - I had to follow-up like an insane person to get anything from contractors

This is leading me to believe that any person who does home-like repair or construction work is constitutionally unable to let the resident know what the hell is going on. I swear, maybe I ought to go into the contractor-customer liason business.

(Can you tell I'm irritated this morning? I am. Why the fuck should I have to do so much work for a service you are supposed to be providing?)

Coriander has been used by people for thousands of years and has been found in ancient Egyptian tombs dating back 3000 years. The Hebrews of biblical times used cilantro as the bitter herb in the Passover meal. The Roman soldiers under the reign of Julius Caesar took coriander with them, using it as a meat preservative and to flavor food. Coriander is also mentioned in The Tales of the Arabian Nights. Sugarplums as referred to in the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, were actually a treat made of sugar coated coriander. Coriander was introduced into the Americas around 1670 and was one of the first herbs grown by the colonists. This herb was believed to have a variety of medicinal uses and was thought to alleviate abdominal pains. Today the only medicinal use of coriander is as flavoring for certain prescription medicines to mask their taste and odor.

AhA! Google finally comes through:

Ko = N70 in Lin.B. The fruit of coriander. Ko-liandros = coriander.

[link]

Yes, "Lin.B." is Linear B. Boy, cilantro turns out to be complicated.

“Your phone lines are like a car. Every once in a while, they need service.”

This isn't a lie. They get staticky over time.