I am a Libra to the core, a woman who can spend 10 minutes in a supermarket aisle just trying to decide on the best bathroom cleaner to buy. However, with so many birthdays coming up, we have decided(!) to have a Libra birthday potluck this weekend (an event three years in the making). Everyone has to pick a dish to bring! There may also be fun party games, like choosing the best whiskey or deciding which movie to watch. The Virgos will referee. In a fit of bravery, I volunteered to bake the celebratory cake since I had so recently been schooled by Rebecca in the basic techniques of the process. I have to say, if I can get… Continue reading »
Fried Doughnuts Are Totally Good For You (Psychologically Speaking)
Rebecca risked a frying injury to once again make us the kind of home-made treats you almost forget can be made at home. We stayed out of the line of oil and kept our attention on the melting chocolate. Rebecca adds: These were too good to not try again, with chocolate. Also presented an opportunity for the culinary anthropologist in me to compare recipes old and new: one from the classic 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook handed down to our host Dayna, and one from a recent Better Homes and Gardens, based on a 1953 recipe. Each offers clues to shifting tastes and lifestyles. The 1950 Betty Crocker version calls only for shortening, no mention of butter at all, and has half the… Continue reading »
Good Clean Dirt
I don’t recall where it came from, but I loved this Alice Waters-ish anecdote I heard about a school kid on a farm visit refusing to eat a carrot pulled from the field because “it touched dirt.” Not that I mean to imply that I’m so much more salt of the earth. My suburban-raised self would have shuddered to feel something soft and feathery on the bottom of an egg while cracking a few open for a quick dinner frittata (making use of my roasted veggie leftovers–you taught me well, Rebecca!). These days, however, farm eggs so fresh they bring a bit of the nest along with them just feel so much cleaner somehow.
Thirty Days Hath September
Where I used to accent my food shopping list with a couple farmers’ market finds, this summer we joined a CSA and I’ve hauled home my allotment (and then some) of produce and dairy from Waverly Market every week. As a result, my daily trips to the Super Fresh have ceased, and we’ve fallen into a happy rhythm of eating whatever treats the harvest brings in each Saturday. Like the grasshopper, however, I have put up no stores for the winter, so we’re either going to endure some very long months of potatoes and cabbage, or endure grocery store tomatoes come January. Luckily, we really like potatoes and cabbage. It’s the bean stall that really seems to keep you on… Continue reading »
A Few Thoughts Regarding Seeding a Grape
The problem was this: When I decided to whip up* two of these compact, portable-looking focaccia breads to take along on a road trip as a gift to our hostess, I thought that the grapes I had in the fridge were seedless. So there I was, reading about how good these are with a nice wine, contemplating how much our friends enjoy wine and hoping the bread would keep all fresh and pretty until tomorrow when we arrived. After setting the dough out to rise on the counter, I read through the comments on the recipe page and felt a little sad for all the people who actually did not buy seedless grapes and had to stand at the kitchen… Continue reading »
You Can Fry What?: Maryland State Fair 2010
Didn’t it seem like this year the weird and wild arena of things you can fry but probably shouldn’t caught major headlines? Since it was such a lovely Sunday, I grabbed my camera, braved the Bieber fans, and did a little recreational reconnaissance re: what was cooking at the Maryland State Fair.
