Here is a follow-up to the Baton Rouge intruder case. The suspect is to turn himself in within the week.

Here is a soup recipe worth posting:

OYSTER AND ARTICHOKE SOUP

2 cans artichokes (not marinated), drained and coarsely chopped

8 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup finely minced onion

1 cup finely minced celery

2-3/4 cups chicken stock

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon each white, cayenne, and black pepper (may add more to taste)

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 gallon oysters, drained

LIGHT ROUX

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan. Add onions and celery. Cook until tender but not browned. Add artichoke pieces and cook, stirring, until well mixed and hot.

Stir in stock, salt and peppers, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes

Meanwhile, melt 1/3 butter in small saucepan. Add flour and cook, stirring continuously, until roux is smooth and golden.

Add the roux to the simmering soup and simmer for 5 minutes longer.

Add oysters and simmer until the edges of the oysters just curl. Don't overcook!

Remove from heat and gradually stir in the cream. Serve immediately.

This is a favorite recipe at our house. Served with hot french or Italian bread and a salad, it makes a meal. We usually halve the recipe, to serve three generously. A few dashes of Tabasco can be added to make a spicier dish, or Tabasco can be served on the side.

It's cool outside today, 72 degrees at 4 pm. Lyman and I are going to try a vegetable soup recipe from our copy of Louisiana Cookin' magazine.

Lyman and I have different approaches to new recipes. I prefer to stick strictly to the recipe the first time around, just to see what we're working with. Lyman tweaks from his first reading. Gentle arguments and sometime recriminations ensue.

If the recipe is as good as it's touted to be, I'll post it later.

LATER: As I told LittleA in the comments below, the soup was edible, but not worth posting.

The Jim Bowie Festival is going on this weekend, with a new addition -- a barbecue contest. I like this part:

The first contestant was 9-year-old John Roberts of Vidalia. He presented his ribs on a wooden pig platter.

"How long did you cook them? What temperature did you cook them at?" Gaschen asked Roberts and every contestant Friday night as he examined the ribs under flashlight.

Roberts secret is his "mopping sauce" and said he has been cooking since he can remember, entering the competition because, "I love to cook!" (Emphasis mine.)

That boy has a great future ahead of him.

Idiot kids. Last year there was a serial killer abroad. He has been apprehended. Now the girls are leaving their doors open.

See this story.

All right. I don't want to hear any more, Babs and Arianna. I just bought a Ford Escort wagon, 26-32 mpg. I can't afford a Prius. The municipality owns a hydroelectric dam on the Mississippi and buys power from nuclear plants up or down river when necessary. Two of the bedrooms in this 2,000 square foot house are closed up, and the thermostat is set to regulate the temperature at 76 degrees. So shut up already.

I will lie down for a nap now. I always need a nap when I write a check for more than five hundred dollars.

What happened to the economy in buying "economy-sized"?

Mr. Aardvark described a purchase of peanuts at Target (scroll down to September 23, archives not working) that reminded me of the dozens of times these days that I find that buying a larger size does not mean paying a smaller price per unit.

In his case, he found that two jars of peanuts packaged together cost more than two same-sized jars bought separately.

Just recently, I bought razor blades. Two packs of five were cheaper than one pack of ten.

A few weeks ago, Lyman bought pasta. Two eight-ounce packages were cheaper than one 16 ounce package.

When did that happen and why? Did sellers decide that we were well enough trained to buy larger sizes that we would overlook the price differences?

If you have a clue, please leave a note in the comments.

Indigo provides her Insights into the aftermath of hurricane Isabel in North Carolina. She is home now.

A romantic Wal-mart wedding in Houma doesn't sound auspicious to me, but others think differently:

However, to Lloyd and Mary, the retail chain serves as the backdrop to several milestones in their relationship. The pair became reacquainted after seven years when Lloyd returned a bicycle to Wal-Mart last December. Mary, then working in the toy department, helped him make the return. A couple of months later, Lloyd approached Mary at work to ask her on their first date. In July, Lloyd dropped to one knee in the hardware aisle and asked the Wal-Mart employee to be his wife.

I sound snotty. Actually, the story reads as a great community event.

Lucy's cage came from Daniel Chauvin's workshop at Feathers and Gems in Houma, LA. It's about 45 minutes west of New Orleans.

Recognition of Weevil State University certainly makes those e-mails about mail-order degree programs look silly.

Ah, the autumnal equinox is coming up on the 23rd. Now is the time to warm up your raw eggs and practice standing them up on their fat ends.

Achh, just legend, you say. Not at all. I can count seven people right now to bear witness that at this latitude -- 31.58 N -- you can, indeed, stand an egg up during the equinox. I've done it myself.

Make sure your egg is at room temperature so the yolk can settle naturally, and choose one that has a single yolk. Medium eggs work best. Local jumbos tend to have two yolks, which will cause your project to fail. Pick a level surface on a stable floor. The smallest vibration will cause it to fall. Balance the egg on its fat end with the slightest support of your two thumbs and forefingers. Steady the egg until you can take your fingers away and the egg remains standing.

That last step will take some time. You must make sure not to vibrate the chosen surface with your arms. But with some practice, the egg will stand. Not every egg works, so you might want to warm three or so to practice with.

This isn't a hoax. The first time I saw an egg standing, I thought it was a trick. It's just a question of balance. Why does this happen during the equinox? I don't know.

It will work two or so days on each side of the equinox in both spring and fall, but is easiest closest to the equinox.

Our eggs are warming right now.

LATER: My friend Glenda, the earth science teacher for sixth grade, is going to try this in her classes this week. Do you engineering types have an explanation?

LATER: This scientist has evidence that you can do it at any time. Has nothing to do with the equinox. Never tried that. I can have fun all year!

So, to correct my original post, it IS a legend that you can only stand an egg during an equinox. Experimentation proves that it can be done at ANY time you have the patience for the project. I'm still going to balance some eggs today.

Picture of standing eggs

I balanced these eggs at about 6:45 pm. At 7:19 they are still standing. Note the one on the left balanced on the small end.

J. Bowen has a post on this topic.

I must say, I'm terribly disappointed with this development. First there was Santa, then Prince Charming (sorry Lyman, love ya, but still), now this. I suppose the only mystery left is how to operate this new Garden Composer that came in several days ago.

For the first time this year, I'll watch football today. Game Day is at LSU this year, where we run the risk of having our lunches delivered to us by Georgia.

Our boys have tickets, and whatever happens, we'll be worn out by agitated reports. These kids spend most of their teenage years not talking to you, then turn around later and talk your ears off whenever they walk through the door.

Michael will be coming back to Vidalia after the game for a date with a woman in town tonight. How will I protect Lucy from Michael's language if they lose?

LATER: LSU 17-10 Dodged that bullet

Hurricane blogging:

Kathy Kinsley has links

Tony Hooker has links to the North State Blogs of North Carolina

Mike Trettel is watching for flooding

Jim Smith is out of touch. (Maybe he was called to the shelter to operate the ham radio.)

Meryl Yourish is hosting the Axis of Isabel

Fred First is catching some action

Here's a tasty little joke from Eugene Volokh:

Fish: I had some tasty fish for dinner tonight, here in Boston, and this reminded me of the old joke: A man is on his first visit to Boston, and he wants to try some of that delicious New England seafood that he'd long heard about. So he gets into a cab, and asks the driver, "Can you take me to where I can get scrod?" The driver replies, "I've heard that question a thousand times, but never in the pluperfect subjunctive."

Via Miss Susanna comes this little tale:

Police said: "Apparently, the argument began while the husband was watching football, and the wife was insisting he make hurricane preparations. He refused and said that he'd get to it at half-time.''

A spokeswoman said Harris then grabbed an eight-inch butcher's knife and chased her husband into a bedroom.

Lucy and I play a game. She makes a noise that I try to replicate. She'll run me through a few notes, then go on a trill that I can't possibly imitate. (Mind you, I am no one's singer.) Then she'll laugh at me. Wonder what the girl would have done with Sarah Vaughan?

So, I'm talking to my son about the Roomba, property values in Gulf Shores, Nick Saban, Johnny Cash and the Coors twins. As Lucy says, "What you doing?"

Southern Living. Not the magazine.

Here's a nugget about birds that you probably don't know. I know I didn't. Parrots can be potty-trained. No, no, Lucy doesn't flush, but she does try to confine her droppings to the paper at the bottom of the playtree. She will try to restrain herself until she gets into a potty area.

For example, yesterday Lucy accompanied me on a trip to the drive-through at the bank. It took a while at 3:30 in the afternoon. She sat on my shoulder patiently for about 15 minutes while we waited and did my transactions, with much admiration from the ladies at the window.

When I brought her home, she went directly to one of her perches and pottied.

A bird her size has a very short digestive system, and you do have to pay attention. But they are fastidious in much the way cats are.

I am looking right now at $30 worth of bad currency. I haven't watched my change, and I have a ten and a twenty where people have cut the corners from other bills and pasted them onto a one. Wouldn't you rather have a job, jerk?

LATER: A friend of the boys -- a favorite of Lucy's -- was here this weekend. He services video poker machines for a living and finds many of these bills. The machines can't distinguish them if they are done well enough.

In other culinary news, son Michael brought home a magazine that we were unfamiliar with, Louisiana Cookin'. We will subscribe.

There is an advertisement in it that we find curious, for Cajun Stuff-It Capsules. The little company, Tipsy Chicken, has put dehydrated Cajun spices into a pharmaceutical capsule which the cook inserts through slits into a piece of meat. The capsule dissolves during cooking, releasing the spices into the meat.

Lyman is skeptical. He prefers the Cajun Injector. Sure would be convenient on a camping trip, though.