This July, I had the opportunity to travel to Kenya to visit Lewa to conduct preliminary research at one of the world’s largest hand axe sites. The purpose of my visit was to become familiar with the archaeological resources there in order to develop a plan for future research that would identify, document and protect …
Art, Craft, and Design; Business Studies; Classical Studies; French; Home Economics; Materials Technology (Wood); Spanish; German; Music; and Technical Graphics – this was the list of subject choices Billy and Brianna got to select from when the entered The High School (yes, the name of their school was literally The High School) this year. It was a no-brainer …
This year we have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams with the opportunity to see the world. What we planned to simply be a year living abroad in Ireland while Bill wrote his food book and the kids became immersed in Irish schools and Irish sports turned into a world-wide adventure. Instead – using Ireland …
I have always been fascinated by the incredibly strange things that people have learned to eat through time in order to extract the maximum amount of nutrition from even the most desolate of environments. And, it has been rewarding to repeatedly attempt to shed myself of my inherent cultural biases that defines “normalcy” in …
THE YAK I am still in awe that one, single, well-placed strike with a sledge hammer had the power to drop the massive beast instantly to its knees…unconscious. It was the last time the animal moved. Certainly, it was not the first time this Mongolian herder had killed a yak, and his experience showed. As …
It started over a year ago, when Bill met Konrad on a plane from the States to Copenhagen. Who would have guessed that a foodie conversation about bone broth would have propelled us to visit Konrad in Germany this December, but guess what? When he told Bill to stop in if we are ever in …
Yep! That’s how it went . . . from a reputable magazine to FAKE NEWS! In the April 2017 issue of The Atlantic, Richard Schiffman detailed Bill’s unique approach to teaching in a piece he titled, “Professor Caveman.” I’ve got to admit that I definitely giggled when I saw that title and thought, “Man! That’s …
“No, I am putting my foot down on this one. No. No. No . . .You are not allowed to eat them.” What do you mean? Wait. Are you telling me what I can and cannot eat? I replied in disbelief. You don’t understand. I think there is something important in all of this, and, I don’t feel …
When the DJ asked me what song I wanted to end my surprise 40th birthday party with, I hesitated for just a moment and then this Jersey girl instantly yelled, “Living on a Prayer!” As we were dancing and singing at the top of our lungs, Brianna turned to me and said, “Mom – we …
For some father and sons, quality time means watching Sunday football games. For others, it might be heading to the park to throw the ball around. Where we live on the eastern shore of Maryland, typical father/son bonding moments occur in goose pits and tree stands in the wee hours of the morning or just …
Our school schedule & routine in Ireland is quite different from the States! Brianna and Billy leave the house at 8:10am, walk about 500m and board the LUAS (a public transportation train). They are on the LUAS for about seven minutes then hop off at Milltown where a High School bus is waiting to drive …
I can’t imagine planning a trip before the internet was born. The ease and convenience we now take for granted to price-check flights on countless search engines, take virtual tours of hotels and AirBnBs from the comfort of our living room, and read reviews for literally any restaurant around the world is staggering. All of these tools …
For my entire life, January 2nd has always signaled the “back to school” after Christmas break. As a student, I remember the dreaded morning wake-up call on January 2nd, just a mere week after playing with all my new Christmas toys and visiting with family and friends. Then fast forward to my 1st job teaching …
My family and I woke up that morning after spending 2 amazing and fantastic days in Berlin of walking around the Christmas markets and city. Now we left to go see (and eat) the second most bizarre cheese in the world. We got on the road and drove over a hundred miles an hour on …
IF YOU’VE EVER BEEN ON A PLANE, THEN YOU KNOW THERE ARE TYPICALLY THREE TYPES OF TRAVELERS. The Sleepers: Headphones on, pillow around neck, phone in airplane mode and are maximizing every minute aboard trying to catch-up on sleep, The Workers: Laptop posed to open as soon as the tray table can go up, and they are …
1 week ago, I was sitting in seat 21C on Ryanair flight FR8558 bound for Germany. Brianna was seated on my left and holding my hand as she said, “MOM – WE ARE GOING TO DO THIS. HIT POST!” I still remember the look of confidence on her face but meanwhile my hand was literally …
Almost exactly a year ago, I boarded a WOW Air flight in BWI bound for Reykjavik, Iceland. This was the first leg of an almost two-week long food research trip I had been anticipating for months. The first ten days were to be spent at the Italian Culinary Institute where I was enrolled in a Traditional Italian …
Thanksgiving for the Schindlers this year was not like any other –but it was still magical, nonetheless! Airfield gratefully allowed us to use one of their rooms inside their museum section of the Estate, and so we took full advantage. We entered the room, and we were delighted to see, that under the magnificent Christmas …
When in another country without family, routine and friends to lean on, it’s tough to know how to cope and grieve. We lost Bill’s Grandmother on October 20th and it was so difficult not being with our family for the funeral, but more emotional, was not having the chance to say goodbye. My Grandfather is …
We have so many pictures. How do I organize this journey? How do I highlight the crazy adventures we have already experienced? The Netherlands in 2013, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, England, Bill’s TV show, The Great Human Race? I have been rolling these concerns over and over in my mind and I think I have …
So there are two ways I can accomplish some really significant, deep conversations with my husband. Head to pub and order two Guinness (can’t accomplish this at home because the kids will interrupt and Guinness is not the same from a can) or Go for a run. Yesterday, we headed out for a 7-miler and …
As I sit here in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, the washing machine whirling in the background, I can’t help but have a smile spread across my face. We’ve done it! 3 months in and we are comfortably settled in our life in Ireland. I feel like our trip last week during mid-term break to …
Last year, I was trick or treating with my dad’s cousin and his wife. We were in our house in Maryland running around our neighborhood trying to get as much candy as we can. This was the only time of year where we truly had a lot of candy in the house and the only …
This year I not only had the chance to visit, but also the honor of presenting a paper on the incorporation of experimental archaeology into the Food Evolutions project and the development at the Eastern Shore Food Lab at the conference, Experimental Archaeology Conference: Making, Understanding, Storytelling at the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies. This was …
