Got a short, terse email from a reader over the weekend saying she was glad I was “happy that the rest of the world is now poisoning itself with Western junk food”. This in reference to the Pass the Empanadas post I wrote Friday. That of course is nowhere near the point I was trying […]
READ ONThat post on ancient history made me hungry for Fig Newtons, which as it happens also employ the creaming method. The cookie dough is akin to a sablée crust (French for “sandy” or “crumbly”) which means it’s rich, delectable, and slightly hard to work with. Being very buttery it goes soft fast after chilling, and […]
READ ONYou can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a commercial pilot here in Louisville, a factor of UPS having built its hub here. They’re simply everywhere, maddeningly handsome in their uniforms (the women too), and brimming with tales of visits to exotic locales (which have a way of making you ruminate at length on how […]
READ ONOf the countless fig-related threats and insults that military leaders have hurled at one another over the course of human history, there’s one that really stands out for me. It was spoken by Xerxes the First, emperor of Persia, in about 480 BC, and was directed at the Athenians. It goes like this: I shan’t […]
READ ONThe world of fruit is divided up into nice friendly categories: stone fruits, pome fruits, berries, citrus fruits, ect.. And pretty much all the fruits we know and love find a happy home in one of them. Except for the fig, which exists on the margins of fruit society in the category known as “other”. […]
READ ONNifty how that works, isn’t it? And it just so happened there was a recipe for one in the very nifty Baking: From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Not shown is the honey, port wine & lemon sauce the recipe calls for, though I did in fact make it (as I understand, it […]
READ ONFans of literature like oh, say, the Bible probably already have a sense for how old the relationship between humans and figs is: at least as old as Adam and Eve, since fig leaves were supposedly used to make humankind’s first fashion statement. Some people in fact claim that the Tree of Knowledge was a […]
READ ONI do enjoy my Viking mixer, though it has some notable flaws. Oh it’s got a big 7-quart bowl and it bristles with muscle, perfect for big batches of bread dough. But it doesn’t do small quantities so well. In fact the implements don’t come within half an inch of the bottom of the bowl. […]
READ ONBeing a history buff I’ve been glued to The War, Ken Burns’ new 14-hour documentary on World War II currently airing on PBS. Though I have to say I’ve seen equally good documentary work on the Hitler, er…History Channel, there is something unique in the way Burns covers the home front and the sacrifices that […]
READ ON…multiple cutting boards are still the number one way to avoid foodbourne illness at home (which is where the vast majority of it occurs). Now all I need to know is how to pronounce that writer’s name…
READ ON