Photo: clevercupcakes/Flickr
In honor of Mother’s Day, our neighbors at Here & Now asked listeners to share recipes that have been handed down over the generations. The response was overwhelming.
Here’s to our moms, the world over. Happy Mother’s Day!
Photo: ketrin1407/Flickr
LOCAL BITES
Tea, Anyone?
Well, not just anyone. Your mom, perhaps, in honor of Mother’s Day? Show you’re thinking ahead: Thursday, June 7, a proper Afternoon Tea will be served on vintage china at the Commander’s Mansion, Watertown, complete with imported clotted cream and jam. Tea will be followed by a book reading/ signing with local author Katrina Avila Munichiello, author of A Tea Reader: Living Life One Cup at a Time. Hats are encouraged, but not required. Guests to be welcomed by the Gilded Harps. Tickets $24/pp.
New Couple in Town
On May 15, Finale Desserts will host a Craft Beer Tasting at the Park Plaza Hotel, featuring a selection of beers paired with seasonal desserts. Bryan Green, representative from the Great Brewers Guild, will discuss the variety of beers and how they pair with each dessert created by Executive Pastry Chef Nicole Coady. Here’s one pairing, to whet your appetite: Duvel Golden Ale with Fresh Fruit Tart. Tickets: $19.99/pp. To make a reservation, call 617.623.3233.
A Watershed Moment
Whole Foods continues with “Do Something Reel,” a monthly series of provocative documentaries about food and environmental issues. “The Apple Pushers” inaugurated the series in April. This month’s film is Watershed: Exploring a New Water Ethic for the New West, directed by Mark Decena, narrated by Robert Redford and produced by his son, James Redford. Watershed is available for viewing at the festival’s website and on Whole Foods’ Facebook page. $5.99/viewing through the end of May. Continue reading
Photo: GlennFleishman/Flickr
Today’s food therapy takes us further afield than the Boston region. Much further, actually, to Chicago. But a virtual journey there will be well rewarded with a bit of nostalgia and forward-thinking in honor of Mother’s Day, plus the recipe for a sumptuous-looking pound cake.
I hear you. Pound cake is perhaps the most ‘vanilla’ of desserts out there. But this version from Some Kitchen Stories nears exquisite. It’s got a surprising twist: rosemary, with fresh lemon. It’s also calls for a whole lot of eggs, and buttermilk and sugar, which makes for the “sumptuous” profile of this oh-so-not-vanilla Rosemary Buttermilk Pound Cake.
Judi, the ‘words’ person in this two-person blog, writes a beautiful intro to the recipe that has everything to do with her mom, and not at all with the cake. We’re left to ponder the impact our own moms have had on our lives, and asked to share.
The choice of a pound cake to accompany Judi’s thought piece about a mom’s love is up to each of us to decipher. But my own guess is that simple elegance, warmth and sweetness have a lot to do with tying the two together.
Photo: uhltank/Flickr
On this day in…
1886
Coca-Cola is first sold to the public at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, GA.
The Backstory
Perhaps this fact is less surprising than it appears on the face of it, but the history of Coca-Cola, the beverage, intersects with the history of Prohibition and that of soda fountains. But this needs explaining. Continue reading
Formalities aside (photo: Luigi Crespo Photography/Flickr)
Ever since the presidency of John F. Kennedy, America has gotten glimpses of life at the White House for a First Family with kids. Caroline and John Kennedy, Jr. were super young and left abruptly, as we well know. Amy Carter came with her parents to Pennsylvania Avenue a decade later, followed by Chelsea Clinton a decade after that. With the Obama daughters Malia and Sasha, we’re back again with a First Family in residence at the White House.
There’s extraordinary privilege involved for the children of our presidents, but undeniable challenges as well — not simply for them, but also for the President and First Lady as they define together what family life will be like in that very particular setting.
Below, PRK contributor Anne Fishel speaks with reporter Jodi Kantor of the NY Times about the Obamas’ commitment to a perfunctory but increasingly challenging activity for many American families — eating dinner together. Continue reading
Photo: ktylerconk/Flickr
Food news at WBUR touched on some controversial issues today.
Tom Ashbrook of On Point hosted an hour-long conversation about the future of food with Josh Schonwald, a journalist, indoor aquaponic farmer in Chicago, and author of The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches From the Future of Food.
Schonwald’s main thrust is that science shouldn’t be considered a ‘dirty’ word when applied to food production, especially if we plan on adequately feeding the 9 billion mouths (estimated) that will eventually grace our planet. We’ll need a changed palate and a changed attitude towards food — especially as it relates to genetically-modifed agriculture.
Is this alarmist? Is this necessary, even — meaning, will we need to enhance our food with nutrients in order to ensure enough nutrition for everyone? Listen to the conversation here.
Next up, Robin Young of Here & Now spoke with Gene Logsdon, long-time farmer and author of Holy **: Managing Manure to Save Mankind. As unpalatable as it may sound to some, Logsdon reminds us that the pitchfork-wielding farmer takes animal waste and turns it into the food that sustains us. That virtuous cycle — grazing animals and letting them fertilize the land for more crops — makes manure our greatest and most misunderstood natural resource. Finding ways to turn all our waste into fertilizer is crucial to our survival, Logsdon argues, and he sees a future when companies might actually pick up refuse from homes and sell it to farmers. Listen to the interview here.
Less controversial than enthralling, oyster farms in Duxbury, MA, pump out fabulous-tasting, environmentally-friendly bivalves. Radio Boston co-host Meghna Chakrabarti visits Island Creek Oysters with chef Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 in the latest installment of the show’s “Farm to Fork” series.
Cardamom pods for Chai (photo: Steven Jackson Photography/Flickr)
Ready to ring yourself out yet? Feel like you’re growing moss?
Let’s face it: it’s been a damp, dark week. And we have one more day to get through til we see that gorgeous orb, the sun. Somerville-based Cooking The Seasons has posted what may be the best form of food therapy — and heat — you could hope for while we wait out the wet stuff: tea.
Here’s a recipe for homemade Chai, “one of those things that smells amazing and tastes even better than it smells.” The line-up of spices is tantalizing, and the method of cooking so, so easy.
Thanks, Cooking The Seasons, and hold tight, everyone. Before you know it, the sun’ll be back.
Photo: Lobster aromatherapy (all photos: Kathy Gunst)
Lobster tails, poached in butter and then thinly sliced, are placed atop perfect segments of pink grapefruit. Tiny microgreens are scattered on top, followed by coconut foam.
Three tall, young male chefs dressed in starched whites, their faces in deep concentration, meticulously arrange these ingredients in small bowls. The entire dish is then nestled in an oversized white bowl filled with sprigs of freshly-harvested rosemary, thyme and shaved dry ice. Just before the lobster is served, boiling water is poured over the herbs in the outer bowl, creating a bubbling aromatherapy bath for the seafood. The swirling vapor produces an herbal cloud intended to heighten the enjoyment of the dish.
This bit of over-the-top gastronomy is not to be found in Paris, Barcelona or any other culinary capital. No, we are in Dover, New Hampshire, where the best food you normally can hope for is a decent bowl of chowder, mediocre Chinese food and a slice of so-so pizza. That is, until Evan Hennessey and his team opened Stages at One Washington in an old mill building on the banks of the Cocheco River. Continue reading
Photo: SheriW/Flickr
LOCAL BITES
A Mother’s Day Tea
Starting with a selection of recipes from Barre, MA, that date from the turn of the last century, the ONCE kitchen kids are going to recreate a classic afternoon tea. This means cakes, cookies, sherbet, tisanes and finger sandwiches — of course! — all served on Mother’s Day, May 13, 4-6pm at Naga in Cambridge. Tickets are $45/person for treats, beverages and a hand letter-pressed card on which to create your personal culinary heirloom to share with a loved one far away.
A Quiet Brunch, Kids in Tow
Aura Restaurant at the Seaport Hotel, which specializes in elegant dining for moms and dads with structured activities for the waynes, has it in spades this Mother’s Day if brunch (11-3pm) is what you’re after. The Kids Place 4 Fun will help kids of all ages make special Mother’s Day crafts, and Jewelry by Karel will be on site if more gifts are needed. Tickets are $55/adult; kids under 12 eat for free. To reserve call 617.385.4300, or go to OpenTable.com. Read the details and menu here.
Food Hugs
The tagline of Eat Boutique is “Food That Hugs You Back.” For Mother’s Day, they’ve got a box of handmade goodies that your mom savor in her own sweet time, hand-written card, included. Here’s a hug, Mom! Continue reading
Photo: GranniesKitchen/Flickr
On this day in…
1885
Good Housekeeping begins publication.
The Backstory
We in New England can proudly claim Good Housekeeping, that icon of a women’s interests magazine, as our own. The magazine was founded May 2, 1885, by Clark W. Bryan in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
In 1910, the headquarters of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute (GHRI) formally opened. This included the Model Kitchen, the Domestic Science Laboratory and the Testing Station for Household Devices, where those products vying for the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval (with its 2-year limited warranty) met their glory or their doom. Continue reading