I like reading newspapers, watching sports and television shows involving cooking. I know it might not sound “manly” to some, but, I enjoy cooking.
Much like gardening in the summer, cooking in the winter is therapeutic. I find solace in the preparation — chopping onions, garlic, peppers, celery, carrots (the whole shabang), seasoning, cooking, tasting and seasoning again. During this time, my thoughts are just on whatever my hands are doing and not on whatever is happening in and round the world.
Don’t care what the president is doing.
Don’t give a hoot what congress is doing.
Don’t care about Russians, Chinese, Canadians, socialist conspiracy theories, cancel culture, social unrest, the weather, deadlines or taxes. I just wanna’ chop and cut, taste and cook. It’s a way to unwind and not to take myself too seriously.
I recommend it to everyone or anyone who finds themselves angry all the time. And, just for funsies, this week’s dish I am trying to nail down is stir-fry with Ramen noodles versus rice (I can never get rice done correctly. It’s either too smooshy or under-cooked). Of course, this means every day for the week I have to hone my stir-fry skills until I get it good enough to serve to others.
If you care, here are the ingredients I’m using:
Steak, eggs, onion, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, minced ginger, the noodles and seasoning (ground black pepper, sweet chili sauce and spicy Teriyaki sauce).
Give it a whirl, let me know how it goes.

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And, now from ye ol’ email box . . .
Don, Are you trying to find out how many will notice your column is a repeat?
I’ve never written The Clarkston News, but I’ve been meaning to for a few weeks. My husband and I love The Clarkston News and especially your column. I have Clarkston News pictures and articles in my children’s scrapbooks. They graduated from Clarkston High School in 2001, ’03 and ’05.
We appreciate our hometown paper!
Keep up the good work. I know it takes a lot of work. — Ann T.
Thanks for the kind words, Ann and to answer your question: I ran it twice, because I received a request to run it again in our “super news” edition so everyone would have a chance to read it versus just subscribers. To those who didn’t read the column she wrote about, it was headlined A town without its own newspaper?
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Don, Really enjoyed (?) your heartfelt article on Mark Kelly. He was one of our precinct chairs on election day(s). I found him nice to work with on those occasions. Sincere condolences to all family and friends. Thanks for what you do. — Nedra
Thanks, Nedra. Mark was truly a good dude.
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And, in regards to last week’s commentary on reporters editorializing in news stories . . .
Don, I just read your column and I agree with your thoughts about the news reporters. Unfortunately for this industry the reporters no longer report any news. They seem to think it is their duty to create the news. This is why many people have turned away from the print and TV news sources. — Ron P.
Don, read your 2/16/22 column in The Clarkston News wherein you give your industry some great advice: I think news editors and news reporters would do themselves and our industry a favor by leaving the opinions for the editorial pages and out of their news stories. No one I know wants the reporter’s opinions. We want the facts. There are entire news networks and newspapers that we ignore because there is way too much opinion. Give us the facts. We will form our own opinions around the facts we acquire. Thank you, Don, for helping to keep The Clarkston News from blurring the line between facts and opinion. . . It would seem to me that your job has gotten tougher with all the deeply polarizing opinions out there and the curious need of many to force you to change your mind on issues and see things THEIR way. Oddly, I have zero need to change other people’s minds to my way of thinking — if they see it differently that is OK with me. No need to get angry. — Ron D.
Hi Don, couldn’t agree with you more concerning reporting vs opinion! It must be painful for someone that defines themselves as the “original” definition of a journalist to witness the bastardization of a profession they honor and continue to practice. As a consumer of the “news” business, I typically read the byline/source of the article before I actually read the article. If I see certain organizations known to lean in a particular political direction, I “go in” fully prepared to take all the “information” provided with a grain of salt/healthy skepticism. Unfortunately, this has led to a distrust of virtually everything reported — from human caused climate change to how many deaths are REALLY a result of COVID! In short, there is no “gold standard” available to sort the wheat from the chafe so I just presume it is ALL suspect! Of one thing I am still certain. A strongly held opinion….is still “just” an opinion. Thanks for expressing yours. — Steve S.

  don rush, don’t rush me, ramen