i was able to find a larger one from gloria’s treasures. here’s an example. i’ve been poking around this online store and loving all this classic dinnerware. yes, it’s true. i also like how gloria describes so many of her products as “SHINY IN AND OUT.” that’s exactly what i like to hear when buying some vintage stuff.

anyway, all this excitement got my mom and me talking about old pre-WWII era fannie farmer cookbooks. my mom’s mom had one from about 1936 and learned most of her cooking from it. i never knew my grandmother and i’ve been subsequently learning about her through her cooking. i guess she wasn’t a very good cook (“couldn’t cook her way out of a wet paper bag!” says my mom) because she roasted meat til it tasted like shoe leather and steamed veggies til they were mushy. but she did make a mean fresh orange icing (butter and powdered sugar, creamed, plus orange rind and fresh orange juice).

fannie farmer

(she was an aries)

our fannie farmer cookbook is from the 70′s or 80′s and you can tell which recipes are good cause those are the messiest pages (brownies, for sure). i guess what’s important about the pre-WWII era cookbooks is that they were published before rationing went into effect, which drastically changed how america cooked. there was also food rationing in WWI but mostly on meat and sugar. i wonder whether the u.s. would do well to ration now, to curb over-consumption of junky and high-calorie foods by the people who need them the least. rationing gas might also be a good idea, or taxing gas and using the tax to pay for public transportation development.

anyway, i’m on the hunt. and it’s really not that easy to find a fannie farmer cookbook from this particular time period. there’s a bunch from the 1990′s & after, and there’s a bunch of the original 1896 boston cooking-school cookbooks. fannie farmer was a graduate of the school and later published a collection of recipes she learned and perfected there. in this book she stressed the importance of exact measurements. no more of this “pinch” and “handful” business. she was called “the mother of level measurements” according to wikipedia, anyway.

farmer considered her most important work food and cookery for the sick and convalescent.

Overall, the book reveals Farmer‘s touching intimacy and sympathy for the invalid’s needs -something she knew firsthand. The invalid’s tray should be orderly, cheerful, with small portions in dainty china. A heart-shaped bread and butter sandwich will be eaten when the slice of bread and ball of butter would not. She writes: “Men and women are certainly but children of an older growth, which fact is especially emphasized during times of sickness and suffering.”

i like cookbooks from the early-to-mid 1900′s because there’s only about 50 ingredients used to make everything, there’s a focus on seasonable cooking, and i guess it reminds me of everything i’ve learned about cooking from my mom (never wash out a sifter, paprika goes rancid, iron frying pans are essential, never soak wood in water, how to “cut in” butter with two knives, real baking requires serious elbow grease…)

elbow grease–

humorous.

Vigorous rubbing, proverbially referred to as the best unguent for polishing furniture. Hence allusively, energetic labour of any kind.

1672 MARVELL Reh. Transp. I. 5 Two or three brawny Fellows in a Corner, with meer Ink and Elbow-grease, do more Harm than an Hundred systematical Divines with their sweaty Preaching.

(thanks, OED! you’re the best!)

i was totally appalled at first.

like–just the use of the word “virgin”–bk’s big dick popping burger cherries around the globe. considering what crap is used in fast food, the environmental impacts of bk’s expansion, the economic impacts around the globe. one requirement of the taste test was that there would have to be a mcdonalds and bk close enough so the burgers would be the absolute “freshest.” clearly, these fast food chains have already taken over the whole fucking world so why root out the few people who haven’t been tainted by icky american food?

then i took a step back…

what if the folks in romania, greenland and thailand find it super exciting/intriguing to see how enthusiastic some americans are about getting them to try a few burgers? i wonder how much they get compensated?

and hey–some people do find hamburgers extremely tasty. what’s wrong with feeding some people, compensating them (i’m sure) and wrapping it up into a neat little video to display on the internet?

at least it’s an interesting ad campaign…

not so fast! this whole thing is a lesson in anthropology –how one people from one culture view another culture and bring back what they’ve “learned.” this is no independent film here folks. these bk guys are in search of people who “really live outside of things” and they are “really curious to see their expressions” when faced with a whopper. like here we are–aren’t we americans great? we are saving these poor (backwards?) disconnected people from a lifetime of wondering what the hell a “sándwich americán” tastes like.

furthermore, what about all those people who said a big mac is better? (the majority is not always correct)

i don’t know. this all just doesn’t sit right with me.

what about a third option: a homemade, grass-fed, free range burger with ripe tomatoes, non-shitty lettuce and fresh baked bread (or even designed with consideration for the individual’s traditional diet). which one do you think would win?

i have only shared this with a few people, and i’m hesitant to share it now. i don’t want anyone to steal my idea. but perhaps one day, when i have some capital and some inspiration, i want to open a diner/luncheonette that is all about grilled cheese. now before you go scoffing “oh, what a limited and unimaginative idea for a restaurant,” hear me out…

there are so many things one can do with bread and cheese and a cast-iron skillet! the key is versatility to suit all tastes/notions!

challa bread! rye & pumpernickel! white bread (gross)! whole grain! focaccia!
muenster! swiss! cheddar! american (gross)! cheez whiz (i know it sounds gross, but it’s grandma’s style)! plus!–tomatoes, pickles, hummus (yes!), onions, bacon, “fake-on,” olives, greens! and then! if we’re going to have a G.C. we need soup (pref. tomato, but you can get creative here too) and salads, and spicy things! (i’m a ketchup fan) and we must have dessert-y things too like GOOD root beer floats and egg creams and chocolate malts.

this place would be open for lunch and then host radical community events in the evenings. maybe a small book store? now i just need a name…

——–

update: i discovered something truly amazing: the grilled cheese invitational held in california. these are my people! this picture is captioned “grilled cheese wins at life”
and it does. it fucking does.

p.s. i promise i will NEVER be as creepy about grilled cheese as this cold war era freak show advertisement.

in 93 days her modest house used 700 cubic feet of water with an average daily consumption of 7 cubic feet. total use in gallons in 93 days is 5,000 with an average usage of 56 gallons per day!!

guess how much the bill was for?

only $12.60!!

can you imagine going into a store and buying 56 gallons of water each day? (and then transporting it to your house, no less) you might be able to find a gallon of water for $2 so we’re talking about $112 a day to buy water from a store. that’s $10,416 in 93 days!

i know we both live near the chesapeake watershed area which is the largest (?) in the U.S. but i was just listening to Peter Singer on the radio today talk about his new book/campaign. here’s a quote from the website:

For the first time in history, it is now within our reach to eradicate world poverty and the suffering it brings. Yet around the world, a billion people struggle to live each day on less than many of us pay for bottled water. And though the number of deaths attributable to poverty worldwide has fallen dramatically in the past half-century, nearly ten million children still die unnecessarily each year.

Singer was explaining to Diane Rhem (LOVE her!) how a large part of what all these kids (age 5 and under) are suffering dying from is diarrhea from unsafe drinking water.

america’s water usage (and over-consumption in general) affects everyone in the world. people are dying because they can’t access the water we use to hose out our assholes or whatever. water is NOT FREE. it is NOT CHEAP! maybe if gas & electric bills were made lower (so, you know, people don’t freeze in the winter time) and we made water bills higher (FUCK LAWNS!) then some of these water-consumption issues would be drastically reduced and people would think twice about taking a half-an-hour shower or fixing a leaky toilet.

have you heard what’s going on in california? by the time winter rolls around you might be hard-pressed to find an out-of-season fruit or vegetable. (buy local and can your shit!)

my high school environment science teacher theorized that the next world war will be over water and food. i don’t doubt it.

9:45 pm thursday night i was called downstairs to “help!”

a bat was circling around our dining room! it landed on the breakfast table in the kitchen and emitted the angriest metallic buzzing sound when we poked a broom at it. the cat was totally disinterested when it dropped to the floor. eventually my dad chased it out of the house with a broom.

proof!

i realize this is kind of like a big foot photo cause all you can see of the bat is a little brown blur in the center foreground.

*little brown bat

after forking some air into the compost (and letting some funky smells waft up) i noticed a litte–wait–no!–really? green! a full-formed if droopy little green plant with a white flower on the end. i pushed back the insulating leaves and checked around some more. sure enough a handful of little greens poking their ways up out of the ground. turning over more leaves i found a fat worm, some pillbugs and a couple blades of grass.

excitedly, i checked the other beds where i had planted bulbs before the ground froze over. one little blade poking up on the side of the garage. nothing yet by the side of the house.

so cute!

after that, my dad and i raised up the bird feeder so the deer can’t keep stealing the seeds. not 15 minutes later the usual pack of deer came bolting into our backyard. they stayed pretty far back.

then we searched some wildflower books to figure out just what was growing already. my dad’s initial thought was: “snowdrops!” (Galanthus) here’s a picture:

yep i think so too!

i like this official description:

There are 75 different species and varieties of snowdrops. They are all white. Isn’t that boring? This is probably why only two species are commonly cultivated.

so i filled up the bird feeder with about 6-7 cups of feed about a week ago. a couple days later it was practically empty. strange! my dad filled it again last night and tonight…we caught our feed thieves [NOT BIRDS!] in the act.

after capturing these bold deer on camera i started toward them. they watched me but felt barely threatened. i chucked a fluffy snowball at them. they barely moved. i got closer and then ran after them in my slippers in the snow. they still clung to the edge of my backyard. i mean, i like deer but, shit…

my job tomorrow is to raise this feeder up higher.

on second thought–it is really freaking cool how one of the deer takes it upon themself (i know, i know, but i really didn’t want to gender the deer) to step up and nudge the seed mix out of the feeder. smart little buggers.

————–

sidebar: last week my dad and i saw a red-tailed hawk perched on our garage. big bird! we were watching out my bedroom window.  it swooped to the maple tree. it looked at the ground in between some bushes right behind our back door and then swooped down to the ground to tget at that spot. apparently, the cat had caught a mouse the day before and my dad flung it between the bushes.

sidebar #2: the roofers seemed to have fixed our squirrel problem by first installing molding around the underneath of the roof where it had previously been open to the wind and rodents. then they installed a squirrel-sized one-way door out from the attic to the roof. i haven’t heard any midnight scratches since then.

i get that PETA is trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator for a good cause (people should really eat less meat from questionable, if not, horrifying sources) but, really? this is the second(?) PETA ad connecting eating meat with impotence/bad sex. i don’t know what sources hint that eating meat is responsible for impotence but maybe it’s slightly better than the stereotype that all veggie men are crunchy fags. maybe it’s sexy these days to be a vegetarian?

i mean, vegetables are sexy, but–it seems PETA has their campaign all wrong. for example, i can’t believe PETA ‘s “chew on this” video lists the #3 reason to be a vegetarian: “because eating meat and dairy makes you FAT.” and why are they trying to get yet another ad featuring mostly naked women in sexy poses to play during the superbowl? isn’t that the exploitation of human animals? (zing!)

however, what is hilarious is NBC’s list of images is would cut from the ad:

* licking pumpkin
* touching her breast with her hand while eating broccoli
* pumpkin from behind between legs
* rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin
* screwing herself with broccoli (fuzzy)
* asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into vagina
* licking eggplant
* rubbing asparagus on breast

glad they didn’t mince words! NBC says the ad “depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards.” well, that’s not very hard.

Dear PETA,

I read one of your pamphlets in 9th grade and turned veggie shortly thereafter. So thanks. But seriously–WTF?

(also–check out this recent absurdity from PETA)

um…yes! i think i found a new personal role model.

then! at that precise second i was reading the description, my dad came upstairs with a book he found for me in south carolina. (my parents were away for a week visiting the area where my mom’s mom grew up). the book was none other than farmer john’s cookbook: the real dirt on vegetables: seasonal recipes and stories from a community supported farm! i cannot wait to make a chocolate beet cake.

in related news, i submitted my resumé and a cover letter to a community supported farm near york, pennsylvania. (i wont give the name just yet since i don’t want to jinx myself). but it seems so cool and i really want this internship that spans the whole growing season. (oh, please!!)

i’ve been hibernating to some extent, dreaming of the spring instead of focusing on now. the cat’s got the same idea. now that his thyroid isn’t freaking out, he doesn’t pee on my stuff anymore. we’ve been keeping each other warm at night.

child care is hard work, but rewarding. i’m trying to influence their little brains about reading, using one’s imagination, and trying non-chemically foods.

i just read in defense of food: an eater’s manifesto by michael pollan. he spends a lot of time defining just what the hell food is not (factory-produced chemical garbage that makes “healthful” claims according to the current nutrition fad, for example) and gives a seemingly-simple strategy for making good food choices:

eat food. not too much. mostly plants.

i will include a few choice quotes from his book. note his oh-so-dry wit:

[A]s a general rule it’s a whole lot easier to slap a health claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a raw potato or a carrot, with the perverse result that the most healthful foods in the supermarket sit there quietly in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over in Cereal the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms are screaming their newfound “whole-grain goodness” to the rafters. (Pollan 39-40)

quoting Weston Price (b. 1870), a dentist concerned with the rise of tooth decay:

“The dinner we have eaten tonight,” [Price] told his audience in a 1928 lecture, “was a part of the sun but a few months ago.” (99)

think about it! eating real food is like eating the sun! but it’s more than that–it’s connecting what one eats (which, when put through the mostly-perfect machine that is the human body, gives life) to the people who grow the food, to the sun and the water and the soil that produced the food, to the process of evolution…i mean, it gets really big.

in the chapter “eat food: food defined” one of pollan’s food-choice rules to follow is “don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” he elaborates:

Is a product like Go-Gurt Portable Yogurt still a whole food?…There are in fact hundreds of foodish products in the supermarket that your ancestors simply wouldn’t recognize as food: breakfast cereal bars transected by bright white veins representing, but in reality having nothing to do with, milk; “protein waters” and” nondairy creamer”; cheeselike foodstuffs equally innocent of any bovine contribution; cakelike cylinders (with creamlike fillings) called Twinkies that never grow stale. Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting is another personal policy you might consider adopting.

now–i enjoy a moon pie as much as the next junk-eating american but the man has a point.

[side-bar: in searching for a link about moon pies, i discovered the official website with a "moon pie memory" contest. this piece won "most unusual":

My favorite Moon Pie memory is one of the most bizzare experiences I've ever had. I was driving my squad car one Summer night, eating a Moon Pie, I received a call of a man walking down the highway, in the nude. I arrived to find one of our local eccentrics (actually bi-polar) named Jack *Smith* walking down the side of the road without any clothes, carrying a box of Moon Pies in his left hand & eating one with his right. As I approached him, he said to me "Here, ya' want one?", and I haven't been able to eat one since. As a joke, some of my co-workers will put a Moon Pie on my desk. I probably need counseling.

W.D.

enough said.]

aren’t there foods that “bring you back?”