Shelley Sackier's Blog

“What do you know about rye grains?” This was a question from my boss at the distillery I worked at. “I know that we use them,” I’d answered. I’d been working for the company for what felt like mere minutes at that point. “Well, you’d better know a helluva lot more than that by tomorrow […]

I grew up in Wisconsin in a family that gardened. Correction—I grew up in Wisconsin, birthed by a woman who is a gardener but who did not have as many hours in the day to tend to the gardens she created and, therefore, I was compelled to garden like the rest of my siblings. It’s […]

It has been a crummy month. I have had more balls thrown at my head, more rugs pulled from beneath me, and more Charlie Brown and Lucy football moments in this short space of time than an Amazon warehouse has isles. One wretched thing after another has befallen where I find myself looking up into […]

There is nothing I love more than suddenly getting the undeniably gleeful itch to go on a trip, and then, just as suddenly, coming to my senses and feeling around on my head to see if I’ve developed a large lump that would suggest some sort of tumor or disease, or maybe even discover the […]

One of the best, most desired gifts I received this year during the holidays was a box to hold garbage. I know, you’re all wondering if I’ve accidentally held my head in the oven too long whilst last cleaning it or, if finally, all those heavily scented, potentially carcinogenic candles from Bath and Body Works […]

I know many people look at January as a fresh start—the beginnings of new habits, the shedding of old ones, and the promise of a brighter, shinier version of themselves—that is, if most things stick on the list of I’m-serious-about-it-this-year resolutions. But January has adopted a new meaning for me over the last couple of […]

Part 1 of The Wood Stove Chronicles can be found HERE. I fussed. I fretted. And I fumed over the few “inconsequential details” I’d just been given—rather last minute—by my new woodstove manufacturer’s salesman. Yes, of course, before we do the install, you must have an insurance approved, certified heat resistant hearth board for the […]

There are three introductory phrases I begin sentences with that truly define who I am: The First—I can’t believe I have to repeat this, but … The Second—If you truly want my opinion … And the Third—When I was growing up in Wisconsin … It’s the third, well-practiced utterance that we shall focus on today, […]

The moral of this story is that you should stop eating, and teeth are really just expensive chunks of enamel with an agenda of pure evil. Or possibly it’s Go slowly. Wait—no, it’s Research. I don’t know. Maybe you can figure it out by the end. That all withstanding: I love food. Except when food […]

There are a few words or phrases that universally send a shiver down the spine of most people. Examples like Internal Revenue Service, or gerrymandering, or even the never-appreciated advice to calm down. But I think this month I’ve got those entries trumped with two words I’ve had to utter with great frequency and usually […]