I’ve been receiving some complaints that the skin I put on the site last week hasn’t been behaving on some browsers. The (ehem) world’s leading expert on my current software is working on the problem as we speak. Thanks for your patience while things look a touch rough.
READ ONWhich is to say probably none at all. I’m driving to Chicago on a little business. I know, you’re wondering: “But Joe, don’t you make all the money you need and more doing this?” A fair question, because of course there’s no money like blogging money. Let’s just say the Lexus needs new floor mats, […]
READ ONSo what is it exactly about Vienna that made it the center of the baking universe for so much of the last century (and the one before that)? It may be nothing more than Vienna’s longstanding café culture, which dates back 300 years to the time of the Ottoman invasions and the Battle of Vienna, […]
READ ONHeavy reliance on cream cheese is also a way to spot a compromised baking operation. Lots of carrot cakes, thickly-layered bars and cupcakes piled high with star point-piped toppings are a good indicator that a bakery has gone over to cream cheese as a primary fat (or rather pseudo-fat). Cost is the main reason, since […]
READ ONSo alright, cream cheese may not be the working of the Devil. But it is the working of 19th century dairy farmers in upstate New York, which is, you know…close. These shadowy men, whose real names are unknown to us, spent years of their lives working in secret to create an inexpensive American version of […]
READ ONAha! I knew there had to be some kind of back woods edge to salt rising bread, that hill country delicacy I mentioned in a post last week. This highly unusual bread, as you may recall, is leavened with bacteria instead of yeast. Well it turns out the bacteria is nothing other than our old […]
READ ONGot those apple tarts made and baked off (the little one finally recovered and went to day care today). The results were good. Slicing the apples very, very thin makes for a better presentation, giving the surface a very nice scalloped effect. I used a 6-inch cutter for mine which is plenty big. Anything more […]
READ ONYou won’t be surprised to discover I have strong opinions on rolling pins. I have lots. But the two I turn to the most are my simple Chinese rolling pin (which looks like this only longer), and my big heavy conventional pin. The big one has a 15-inch cylinder which I really like for rolling […]
READ ONI’m in the process of transferring data from my previous host. It may take a couple of days for me to figure out which way is up with this new configuration, so please be patient. I’ll keep posting to the best of my ability. Joe
READ ONBoth of you guys. The site will be down for the next 48 hours while I switch hosts. Don’t despair though. There’ll be a weekend’s worth of baking nonsense come Sunday morning.
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