Herb Week: Chive Me To The Moon

As we walk down the stone path in the LipsYard Garden, our next featured plant in Herb Week is: Chives (Allium schoenoprasum.)

We use the chive leaves for flavoring, eggs, soups, salads, butter, cheese, dips, spreads, etc. They are especially nice mixed with sour cream on a baked potato.

Chives are part of the Onion family, and as you peel away each thin layer on Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, you find that there's just another thin layer. John McCain’s campaign is putting pressure on the organizers of the vice-presidential debate tomorrow night to go easy on Sarah amid growing alarm that faltering performances in recent days have made her an object of public ridicule (not to mention a great ratings asset for Saturday Night Live!)

For the last three days she's been at Mr. McCain’s ranch in Arizona (house number??) with some of his most senior advisers (Bush campaign thugs,) undergoing an intensive program of preparation (memorizing policy slogans) for the televised clash with her Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

Nancy Pfotenhauer, a senior campaign strategist for McCain, has asked for fewer questions than might be expected on foreign policy in the debate ("Will this be on the test?) Pointing out that Mr. Biden – chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations – would have an advantage on such issues, she said that the clash should at least be evenly balanced with domestic concerns.

“The moderators will have some questions to answer themselves if they do go so heavy on foreign policy.”

Perhaps there should be a lightning round on "The End Times" and "The Rapture?"

Privately, strategists said that at least expectations have been lowered for the debate. Mrs. Palin breezily insisted that she looked forward to going into battle with Mr. Biden, who seemed “pretty doggone confident – like he’s sure he’s going to win.” She emphasised how long he had been a Washington insider, saying: “I’ve been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade.”

Good luck, Sarah.