© 2012 The Joy of Cooking Trust and the MRB Revocable Trust
recipes
Much is made of authenticity in food. We speak of "authentic" ethnic food as if we have some idea of what we're talking about--as if we could tell the difference between the real thing and an impostor if both were presented to us simultaneously. Has a blind taste test been conducted on authenticity? If so, I would like to know the results.
Our gluttonous ramp-age continues as we scramble to exploit our last locally-foraged (and free!) crop of fresh ramps before moving to the Northwest. Ramps are traditionally served with ham, potatoes, eggs, or a combination thereof.
One of my favorite things about the Joy of Cooking, even way before I became part of the family and started working on the book, is that the recipes are always a great place to start. Say you want to make a chicken casserole, but with your own touches. All you really need to do is find the basic recipe in JOY, then improvise a little.
Sadly, this is the last spring we will be within foraging-distance of ramps. This is a total bummer, as store-bought ramps have skyrocketed in price ($24/pound in NYC). Needless to say, in between packing boxes we have been plotting how to make the best use of our last local ramp harvest.
It seems like folks are always searching for hassle-free implements for their very much hassled lives. Wrinkle-free clothes, dish detergent that also softens your hands, thermostats you can control away from home...
I hope you're all planning to show your mom some love this weekend. Moms are probably one of the best things to befall mankind.
This has been one of the coolest, wettest springs on record in this area. We've had two good gully washers and a lot of small rain showers. The wildflowers rejoice. The trees, however, have been losing their footing.
We've been living as dictated by our calendar lately.
Of course, food writers tend to live by the calendar, but in a fast-forward kind of way. We have to start thinking about Christmas and Hanukkah in October, and we do our Fourth of July grilling in May. From what I understand, food writers for magazines think even further in advance.