Monthly Archive for August, 2009

Page 2 of 2

From The French Chef to the Iron Chef

The New York Times has an interesting interactive feature called “The Origins of the Cooking Show.” It starts with Betty Crocker’s radio program, and continues to the Top Chefs and No Reservations of today.

The feature accompanies a new article by food writer Michael Pollan, who ponders the question “How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves?” The article is very interesting…although long. And in exactly the kind of ADHD moment that Pollan rails against, I haven’t quite finished it. Sometimes I feel like Mr. Pollan is the strict parent I will never please.

A Proliferation of Jellies

I’ve been recently inundated with Jelly.
My mom gave a sampler set of jellies from the historic Knott’s Berry Farm, which has been famous for their jellies since the 1920s and is now some sort of Cedar Point-style amusement park…it’s all very confusing and odd.
So far, I’ve had the apple cinnamon and the strawberry; both were excellent.
My friend Mark, who has shared my recent interest in foraging, harvested mulberries off a tree in his yard. On the occasion of my last visit, he presented me with a jar of mulberry jam.
My friend Ryan just returned from a two-month bike trip around Finland. Before he left, I asked him to bring me back something typically Finnish. He gifted me this package of jelly, made from some mysterious albino berry.

I’m not quite sure what to do with them all, except maybe have a toast party.