Archive for November, 2009

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WND – Belated Birthday Wishes

November 19, 2009

As I beat several cups of cream into whipped cream this week I found myself wondering, not for the first time, about how people make culinary leaps of logic.  It doesn’t take all that much imagination to turn really heavy cream into whipped cream.  Really heavy cream practically whips itself, and only a little bit more agitation will turn it into butter, and I can see how it might have accidentally happened the first time.  Egg whites, on the other hand, are a lot less obvious.  Who decided to stand around and beat those vigorously until they turned into a meringue the first time around?  It takes a lot of beating to take egg whites from something that’s kind of slimy to something that’s fluffy and white, and I can’t say that I think it’s a logical transition. Read the rest of this entry ?

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WND – Revenge of the Florets

November 12, 2009

apricots + cinnamon

Variety is the spice of life, and a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.  These are both useful and true statements, and yet, when I go out for Thai food I always order the Pad Thai, and if I’m out to dinner and there’s duck or lamb on the menu that’s what I’ll be having – in the event that both duck and lamb are on offer I’ll order the one that comes with a fruit sauce.  Given a choice of desserts I’ll always pick the crème brulee, and in an ice cream parlor four times out of five I’ll get the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Read the rest of this entry ?

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WND – Millions of pumpkins, pumpkins for me . . .

November 5, 2009

pumpkins

After a rocky start – I was not emotionally prepared for the snow in early October – Massachusetts is gracing us with a lovely Fall. The trees are crimson and gold. The weather is crisp, but not freezing. The skies are clear blue and cloudless. The markets are filled with autumn vegetables – piles of chard and beets, baskets full of every kind of apple you can imagine, and small mountains of pumpkin and squash. Read the rest of this entry ?

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