Dread to Delight • One Fruit & Veggie At A Time
I am not a baker, butcher or a candlestick maker but I’m about to become a drinker. Christmas cookies keep burning. Baking is more a science and not for one who has the attention of a mayfly. I’ll display the results in another post, provided I can stay in the kitchen for six minutes straight.
At this time of year, everyone is running around trying to find the right gift. Here’s mine to you. Maria Kalman and the Internet. All I know is: no one shall want to return it. Pass the link on. My thanks to “Brain Pickings”, another wondrous link btw (and recently discussed in NYTimes) for posting the link to this video. I was first introduced to Maria Kalman several years ago through a monthly illustrated column in the New York Times called “The Principles of Uncertainty”.
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Twinkies are about to disappear from the shelves because Hostess has shut down. Time to try Buddha’s Hand, a fruit that is sometimes used just as an ornament with a lovely lemony fragrance but also used for zest in soups and salads or a succade which is a process of making it a candied fruit. This candied fruit or fruit glacé has been around since the 14th century. Almost as long as Hostess made Twinkies.
I went to four stores in my town looking for “Twinkies” to photograph for this post. SOLD OUT. Bare shelves. Not one Hostess product, only Drakes.
Hostess, the company that makes Twinkies, Ring Dings, Cupcakes and may have indeed pioneered “snack food” in the US of A, has abruptly shut down. Thousands out of work and a Twinkie on Ebay is going to cost you some money. If I were a stock broker, I’d short “High Fructose Corn Syrup” and buy Drakes. But, I’m not so don’t listen to me about stock picks.
Each store manager or shop clerk had something to say about their empty shelves. “They’ll be back!” “Just a strategy to get someone to buy them!” My final stop was a desperate one-the gas station convenience store on a less traveled road. They had two packages of Cupcakes left but no more Twinkies. The clerk at this store did not know Hostess was going out of business. As she gave me my change, she said cheerily:
“My husband passed in September. He was diabetic. He just LOVED these things.”
There are not many contemporary quotes about gourds. They appear to be referred to in the Bible quite frequently as if they were common to every garden. My favorite quote comes from the Middle Ages, though. One, Desiderius Erasmus, who lived from 1469-1535:
“A man who sees a gourd and takes it for his wife is called insane because this happens to very few people.”
I love their shapes and textures and color but I agree with Mr. Erasmus. I mistake gourds for humans very rarely.
The Life of a Pear is about 10 minutes.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.” High Five, Ralph. I buy it. I put it out on a counter. I look at it. Each morning, I begin my day by looking at the color. Is it ripe, yet? I squeeze them which I’m not suppose to do, I know. It is a confounding fruit. But, yesterday, I had my ten minutes of bliss.
Sigh.
nor’easter from pat coakley on Vimeo.
Last week we had an historic hurricane, today it is a nor’easter, snowing, blowing 45+ mph. Seriously? Comment on our Facebook page(Click HERE) or enter below in comments section and describe a “comfort” food you use when the storm wind blows outside your house.
Brussels sprouts. Why don’t folks like us? We’re ancient, green and round. Ever trying cutting our stalk? Get a saw. Before steel, came spouts.
Wait. Perhaps, if you use our sprouts-stalk as a sword first, your kids would try them.
An apple worth sinning over. It is large. You could knit it a hat. If it appeared on my tree one day in paradise, I’d have taken a bite, too.
I am not a baker, butcher or a candlestick maker but I’m about to become a drinker. Christmas cookies keep burning. Baking is more a science and not for one who has the attention of a mayfly. I’ll display the results in another post, provided I can stay in the kitchen for six minutes straight. [...]
