When I’m quiet it generally means one of two things: I’m traveling or I’m having trouble with a recipe. Shoo-fly pie has turned out to be one of those problem children that I didn’t expect. It’s a really weird concoction, basically a thin mixture of water and molasses with some flour and soda stirred in. The idea is that the combination of the bubbles (from the soda) and gelatinizing flour thickens the filling during baking and the result is pie. I’ve mostly achieved that, the problem being that the filling so thin at the outset that it penetrates the crust before it can thicken, creating a sticky film that’s not only unappetizing to look at, it sticks the pie to the pan. So I’m chasing down some old recipes, the ones that have neither any added sugar or extra fat, which only seem to exacerbate the problem. I’m headed back to Amish country, in other words. See you back here shortly!

It’s getting to be that time of year. Time to throw out the holiday spices you used last year to make your panettone and gingerbread and buy new ones, especially if you bought them pre-ground. You need new cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, all of that. Expensive I know but you can buy the cheap […]

My bookshelf is getting crowded these days as the publishing world has started taking an interest in me. It’s nice. Though as an aside I have to say I feel conflicted when I get a book that I don’t especially like, since I don’t like to waste precious keyboard time writing negative reviews. It’s a waste of energy for everyone. So I just let those titles sit there…and later feel guilty about it.

That’s not the case with How to Be a Breadhead if you were wondering. It could be that I was inspired to write a few lines about guilt since I’m a Catholic and this book was written by a monk. The subconscious does weird things. I loved this little book. It’s a classic clerical project: full of rough edges like absent photos (for which there are apologies), but also good humor and refreshing humility.

…all you Americans. You know who you are.

The New York Times does an able job of showcasing some of the best cop stops in the state. I’d make one addition, the Midway School Bakery, whose made-from-scratch doughnuts might not be world class just yet, but are definitely on track for greatness! Thanks to the Times for shining a light on a great Kentucky tradition!

James Beard is a name hardly anyone knows anymore. Not really. Certainly every food enthusiast knows the name of the foundation that bears his name. We know the little gold seal that goes with the prize-winning cookbooks, best chef chef endorsements and glittering galas that are held each year at Lincoln Center. But few of us know much about the man. His cookbooks are little-known now, save perhaps for Beard on Bread, which for many years was the only really reliable guide for making decent bread at home. Today most of his 22 titles, including his famous American Cookery are considered quaint relics, even when they’re reissued with updated covers and introductions. It’s a shame.

Most people think sugar pies like treacle tart and shoofly pie are modern recipes, ultra-indulgences of the sweet tooth born in the industrial age. In fact they’re much older than that. Much. Sugar and molasses pies go back to the earliest days of sugar making in the Middle East. When sugar eventually spread to Europe, Europeans were only too happy to join the sugar pie party, and in time brought their ultra-sweet pastries to the New World.

Looking especially at the treacle tart recipe below you can see echoes of Renaissance cooking: far-eastern spice and a bread crumb binder/thickener. That general approach carries over to shoo-fly pie, though the Germans changed the crumbs to a streusel topping which works just the same or even a little better. Interestingly, it’s thought