So what’s winter butter? That’s a good question, and the answer is pretty much what you’d think: butter that’s produced in the wintertime. However it isn’t just cold weather that effects the texture of butter, it’s the winter diet of the dairy cows who give the milk. On a traditional farms, cows graze in the […]
READ ONReader Giovanni asks: Would you be able to explain how gluten affects dogs? I’ve heard that it is not great for their digestive system but am skeptical to believe that it’s true for all breeds. Thanks Giovanni! Having consulted the joepastry.com house veterinarian, Dr. Amanda Rizner, I have been authorized to say that while some […]
READ ONAren’t dogs carnivores? And if they are, why do we feed them grain and vegetables? A very interesting question, reader Dianne, I’ll do my best. Though dogs are natural hunters, they aren’t strictly speaking carnivores. Sometimes they’re classified as omnivores, but that doesn’t quite capture it either, since dogs can’t make a living eating shoots […]
READ ONLondon. That’s where they were supposedly invented by accident, sometime in the 1880’s. A popular myth has it that they were invented at a butcher shop, one whose owner was experimenting with a savory biscuit recipe (for humans). The biscuits were so bad, it’s said, he was forced to feed them to his customers’ dogs, […]
READ ONGood question, reader Bob! A soaker is pretty much what it sounds like: whole grains, flour, or a combination thereof that’s mixed with water or milk and left to steep for as little as a few hours, or as much as a few days. I suppose the real question is: what’s the purpose of a […]
READ ONReader Jacquie asks: Is there another dietary source of iodine other than salt? I tend not to add salt to things – mostly because I don’t care for the “saltiness” and I think as a culture foods are over-salted. (In part to mask the lack of taste from being grown in soilds lacking nutrients – […]
READ ONNow me, I don’t think you have to be a re-enactor to be fascinated by the American Civil War. I may not relish the thought of spooning with a bunch of unwashed men in a cold tent, but there are other ways to indulge an interest in history. Like, say, digging up answers to questions […]
READ ONI know, I know, it’s not normal for most of us in this day and age to leave dairy products sitting out at room temperature. Most of our kitchen devices are designed to prevent spoilage, which — let’s face it — is pretty much what fermentation is. It’s therefore not surprising that so many of […]
READ ONWhat an anticlimax this is going to be after all this talk — just a lot of shots of white things. But that’s the reality of fermentation: all the really sexy stuff is happening on scale that’s far too small to see. Hmm…maybe I should buy a microscope and become a lactic acid bacteria voyeur. […]
READ ONReader Theresa from Bangalore, India, offer this: I have been making New York style cheesecakes for a while. And been getting extremely good feedback on the lightness of my creations. Well, my method is to use a mix of yogurt and cream. The yogurt is hung till it has absolutely no water content. Mix this […]
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