I grew up in a house where, if something needed fixing, my mother called someone. My brother also grew up in the same house and, generally speaking, he didn’t learn how to fix things, either.

I went to college and majored in English. My brother went to MIT for undergraduate and a masters and Ph.D. in metallurgy at RPI.

I married a man who also majored in English (with a minor in philosophy) but he could fix anything. He could do plumbing, electrical wiring and built a three-car garage attached to our 17th century house whose second floor he turned into an apartment for my parents.

When my husband died, I was lost. I never learned how to fix things because Doug did everything. I remember asking him one night what to do if I lost power and didn’t know what to do with the electrical box in the basement. He said I should call Andy, our neighbor.

The only smart thing I ever did was to sell the house and buy a condo. Unfortunately, it isn’t like living in New York City where you just call the super. So a few weeks ago I fired up my Weber to grill a steak, It wouldn’t work. I looked at the propane tank and it looked like it was out of gas. I figured out how to drag it out of the grill, but it was so heavy I knew it still had fuel.

I went onto the Groton community page on Facebook asking for help. Within minutes, friends I knew and didn’t know said they could call and stop after work. I went back to the patio and noticed there was another electric cord. I picked up my handheld mixer and tried the socket. It didn’t work. I looked at the socket and saw two plugs and two little buttons. I think it knew what a reset button was, so I pushed it and the mixer turned on. I dragged the tank back, turned everything on, and it works (even though the gauge still says it is empty).

The next day I threw a New York strip onto the grill and had a nice dinner with peas and a big roasted sweet potato. More recently I made pork chops with a glaze of bourbon and mustard.

Bourbon- and Mustard-Glazed Pork Chops

From “Country Home Stay for Dinner” (Meredith Books, Des Moines, Iowa, 1993)

Serves 4

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (regular mustard will do, but not the yellow stuff)

2 tablespoons bourbon (or frozen orange juice concentrate)

2 tablespoons of molasses

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

4 pork loin chops, 1¼ inches thick.

For the glaze, in small mixing bowl stir together all the ingredients except the chops. Set aside.

In a covered grill, arrange coals around drip pan. To test for hotness, carefully hold hand over pan at the height food will be cooked. The coals are ready when you need to remove your hand after 5 minutes. Place chops on rack over pan but not over coals. Lower hood. Grill 40 to 45 minutes or until no pink remains, turning once. Brush chops with glaze during final 10 minutes of cooking. Crush with glaze before serving.

Cook’s Tip: If you are using a propane grill that has two or three heat knobs, turn the middle one to a lower heat. Also, this recipe came out nearly 30 years ago. I don’t think we need to worry about getting rid of the “pink.”

On the Side

I have always been vain about my nails. My fingers ended in long oval acrylic nails for almost 30 years. People wondered how I can use a keyboard, chop vegetables or text. It's sort of like this: my fingers know my nails and somehow it all works.

Here's the problem: Over the past almost three months, my acrylic nails have disappeared, leaving me with these little nubs. Working in the kitchen is a bit hazardous. So I went on the Internet and found TMR Sharpening.

Todd Roberts said, sure, drop them off. Now I look at these sharp, shiny and lethal babies and realize ripe tomatoes are not a problem anymore. You do know, don't you, that a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one? Best give him a call.

TMR Sharpening, based in North Franklin

(860) 334-5025

tmr5025@comcast.net

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.