Trees of the Mind
Jodi Kasten
- Location
- Jacksonville, Florida, USA
- Birthday
- October 27
- Bio
- Professional Mommy, Professional Food Writer at EatJax.com, Non-committal Paranormal Investigator, Folklorist, All Around Nice Girl
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “Kathy - Mrs. Beeton is
one of those "5 Famous Dead
People I'd
Invite to My
F…”
9:27AM - “Recedite, plebes!
Gero rem
imperialem!
Speci
al thanks to Barry & Ann
for never…”
9:10AM - “Robin - It's not top
rated, it's most viewed. It's
a joke
post I did over a
year…”
11:15PM - “Eek!
Thanks for the
love, guys!
For the
record, my "not cool" was
aimed a…”
9:18PM - “Trig, look on the bright
side. Victorian omelets are
not
going to make the
cut.”
5:44PM
Jodi Kasten's Links
Jodi vs. Mrs. Beeton - Failure Tastes Victorian

Long before Martha frenched her first standing rib roast or Rachel Ray opened her first tin of Rotel, there was Mrs. Beeton.
In the 185os, at the ripe old age of 21, Isabella Mary Beeton began contributing household and cookery articles to one of her husband’s many publication/…

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not something most Americans think about. When I was in Britain five years ago, every other story on the news was about the dangers of GMOs and how they were sneaking into the food supply. GMOs sounded like a very bad thing according to the folks… Read full post »

I strive to be an extremely polite person. Really, I do. The last thing I want to do is hurt anyone's feelings. But, I suppose that I was born lacking the gene that allows me to enjoy talking on the phone. I love whiling away twenty or thirty minutes giggling with/…
Resuscitating Dignity

Why, as Americans, are we so unhappy and hostile? We’re better off than ever before in terms of equality and freedom. Racism, sexism and other “isms” aren’t gone, but we have a black president and a female Secretary of State. The economy may be in the toilet, but/… Read full post »
In July, I wrote a post that involved pho. I was asked by EatJax.com (my “real” job) to review a pho place called “Bowl of Pho” this past week. There had been a great deal of confusion on that past post about exactly what pho is and how it is prepared, so/… Read full post »
I would like to face the fact that summer is over. In fact, fall is my favorite season in places that actually have an autumn. It may not have been 88° on Halloween where you live, but you can still enjoy a taste of summer. I suggest serving this with your… Read full post »
I have often been accused of defending some of the most vile
things in the world - Wal-Mart, racist costumes... once, I
even appeared to defend men! (What the hell was
I thinking?)
It should come as no surprise that I've decided to throw caution to
the wind yet again. After all, today's subj… Read full post »
No Balloons - Missing Child In Jacksonville (UPDATED)

UPDATE:
The body of a small child has been found in a landfill in Folkston,
Georgia. It is being assumed that it is the body of Somer
Thompson by the media here in Jacksonville. My thoughts and prayers
are with Somer's family.
Somer Renee Thompson disappeared yesterday near h/… Read full post »
I have freely
admitted in the past that I am the product of illegal
immigrants. I don’t mean that in the “I am white,
liberal and guilty because I'm not Native American” sort of
way. I mean that in the past 100 or so years, one (or more?) of the
people/… Read full post »

I’m sick. I’m not sure if this is, as we call it in our house, The Mexican Piggy Clap or not. (Remember back in the spring when it was supposed to have come…
Long before I was a food writer, I was a writer and a food lover. These were separate things until the food revolution of the past decade occurred. That revolution has been led by people just like me who took their craft and married it to another to produce the new… Read full post »
When I moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 1999 my two oldest
children were two and three years old. I had researched the schools
in the area and the neighborhood elementary school had an
“A” rating from the state. I was just 23, but I was
thinking ahead. After they started school,/… Read full post »

There are things I deeply believe. I’m not sure about the nature of God or the lives of saints and I still don’t have complete clarity on the curvy-bumpy-arrow-line-thingy they say is some sort of front on the weather map. But, there are some things which I do believe wi/… Read full post »

Other than the addition of some pumpkins and hay bales, the produce purveyors here in Florida don’t look much differently than they did two months ago in the heat of summer. I’m looking forward to that first whiff of autumn – the one you get unexpectedly one morni… Read full post »
As the fall decorations begin to trickle into the stores, it still
feels like summer in Jacksonville, Florida...
The summer of 1959, maybe.
Long before State Senator Jim King died as a result of pancreatic
cancer, John Thrasher had his eye on his seat. Thrasher had
announced this past spring/… Read full post »
Jodi vs. 1_Irritated_Mother: Pumpkin Muffins(Foodie Tuesday)
Today, I am proud to present a recipe from my best friend Ann - you know her as 1_Irritated_Mother. In addition to being a freelance griper and mother to five incredible kids, she also bakes professionally.
She shared “The Best Recipe EVER” for pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling wi/… Read full post »
First Day of School
This is the story of how the sweet baby girl above was
recently indoctrinated into homophobia.
When my first two children were in elementary school, they
were haunted by my bad decisions. Well, really ONE bad decision
- I homeschooled them/… Read full post »
I chose to pick on Martha Stewart for a reason. Sure, you can make fun of her for doing time in the clink and knitting her own Volvo warmer. You can giggle about her barely contained bitchitude or even her penchant for remembering the “little people” by backing over them with her/… Read full post »
Turning Away (Repost 9/11/2008)
Ten years ago, I started a little piece on my… Read full post »
For eight years my taxes funded a war I opposed which was fought under false pretenses, begun with false information and driven by false motivations. Never once did someone scream, “LIAR!” at the President of the United States during a Congressional address.
I watched as my last president/… Read full post »

The Man is accident prone. I’ll admit that “accident prone” is a charitable phrase. From the moment he could crawl he was getting hurt. His mother has told me stories that leave me amazed that he is alive at all. She has actually said to me (with all the love
… Read full post »
Today I would like to share a selection from The Man which involves
no cream, no butter and no bacon. Please try to contain your shock.
His workplace often has days in which employees bring
food. One of his co-workers is from the Philippines and they shared
this lumpia /… Read full post »

I first heard of this recipe through SeriousEats.com. Martha's Mac & Cheese has almost hall of fame status amongst foodies. SmittenKitchen, copykat, Bitten and just about every food blog on earth not morally opposed to the consumption of cheese (?!?) has prepared and/… Read full post »
An organization called “Patients First” organized a “Hands-Off My Healthcare” rally here in Jacksonville yesterday afternoon. The standing-room-only crowd was primarily comprised of seniors who had been cold-called by the organization. Here’s the video clip… Read full post »
Where I've Been
7:14 a.m. There is something wet on my arm. I am asleep.
Why is my arm wet and cold? Crack open an eyelid. Baby hair, soft
curly blonde sweet smell. Wet arm. The baby is leaking.
7:16 a.m. Change the diaper. SmallGirlChild wants
waffles.
7:18 a.m. There are no waffles. There should/… Read full post »
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