Blog entry

Another Soup of the Evening

I haven't been blogging in quite a while, being busy with other things, like making up stories to tell. But I kind of miss blogging, and since I spent many years writing a cooking column, I thought I might do some of my blogging about food. After all, no matter how involved I get in writing, I still have to eat—and so does my family.

Noah's Pudding, an Ancient Recipe

Have you ever made dinner using up whatever was left in the refrigerator? You might end up with a soup or a casserole or a pasta dish, and sometimes it even ends up delicious. People have been doing this since time immemorial, and one of them may have been Mrs. Noah.

Quick and Easy Recipes for Harried Authors (and others)

Confession: In an earlier life, I used to write a weekly cooking column. This was the fun part of my job, since I actually like to cook. However, at times there are just too many other things going on in your life. Like looming deadlines.

These are recipes for the harried author (or anyone else) whose family insists on eating dinner when she doesn’t have time to cook and nobody can face another slice of pizza.

Pamper Me With Possets

Have you ever had a posset? It's a classic comfort food. Soft and gentle, like something that would pamper and console you. And we all have times when we need comfort food. (I certainly do.)

Scones and Jane Austen

Did Jane Austen enjoy an occasional scone with her tea? 

I seriously doubt it, for the simple reason that baking powder had not yet been invented.

A-Banting We Will Go

William Banting was huffing and puffing by the time he reached the top of the first flight of stairs, or so the story goes. He said to himself, “I need to lose some weight.”

He was probably right about that.

At five feet five inches, Banting was not a tall man—but in his mid-60s he weighed in at about 200 pounds.

Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

After the marathon of cooking and eating last week, soup has tremendous appeal.

Ortolans: A 19th Century Delicacy—or Excess

 


There was a story last week in The New York Times about some French chefs who want to return ortolans to the traditional menu. Ortolans are small songbirds, and they have been banned from restaurant menus since 1999. The ban may have been a conservation measure to keep the tiny birds from being hunted out of existence, or it may have been a reaction to the way the birds is prepared and eaten.

A peachy combination

This post has nothing to do with history or writing. It’s about cooking, another love of mine.

Or rather, in honor of a recent spell of miserably hot, humid weather, about not cooking, as in salad.

Syndicate content