Neil Sedaka was rushed to the hospital yesterday morning with a sudden illness. We don’t yet know what it was, but he later died at the hospital.
His songs have been with us since the 1950’s. Some were sung by him. Some were hits by other well-known artists: Connie Francis, Jimmy Clanton, The Carpenters, Captain & Tennille.
I saw Neil in concert at Pine Knob Music Theater in the 1970’s. He sang this version of one of his best-known songs that night:
Day FOUR HUNDRED FIVE of Presidential recovery.
The latest in our series about making biscuits, from the YouTube home cook that I just recently discovered – Renee from Maine!
You don’t need Bakewell Cream to make these biscuits — it’s the technique that matters most. This method works with any biscuit recipe. That being said, this recipe always works when it comes to getting height and flake. You’ll learn how to make tall, buttery, flaky biscuits without buttermilk — and why most biscuit recipes fall flat.
I haven’t tried this – yet. On the other hand, don’t miss the recent post about making English muffins – which I did try, and very successfully!
Day FOUR HUNDRED FOUR of Presidential recovery.
On Feb 28, 2026, a “six-planet alignment” will be happening — but here’s what you can realistically see.
Most people will easily spot Venus (super bright) and Jupiter (bright and high). Saturn is usually doable too, but it can look faint in twilight. Mercury is the tricky one: it stays very low near the horizon and sets fast, so timing and a clear western view matter.
Uranus and Neptune are the “bonus level” planets — they’re much dimmer and usually need binoculars (and for Neptune, often a telescope + dark skies).
Best plan: start 30–60 minutes after local sunset. Look low in the west for Mercury, Venus, Saturn, then higher toward the southeast/east for Jupiter. 🌙✨
Want exact directions for your location in real time? Use Star Walk 2. 🔭
Day FOUR HUNDRED THREE of Presidential recovery.
I recently found this YouTube channel – Kitchen In the Shire, starring Renee!
Renee has some pretty terrific baking and cooking ideas and recipes, and this is one of them. I can attest to it, because I made these English muffins yesterday. They exceeded all expectations, and are at least ten times better than anything you can buy at the store.
I never made English muffins before yesterday afternoon.
I followed her instructions almost exactly, with two exceptions: I used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour, because I was low on the AP, and I used SAF brand Instant Gold package yeast, which is meant for use in enriched doughs (with sugar, eggs, milk etc.). As an aside, I bought this yeast (one pound bag) several years ago and keep it in the freezer. It is still very active!
IMPORTANT: I weighed my flour. If I measure, I have a tendency to use too much.
My results?
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