Entries tagged as ‘food’
November 25, 2008 · 1 Comment
OK, here it is, the Thanksgiving recipe that makes grown men weep, children scream out for seconds, and women regard you a culinary god: Albany Eye’s Sweet Potato Crunch. When I first posted this recipe online in November 2006, I was shocked to learn that many people actually tried it. Several folks took the time to write that even though they still hated me, they loved the sweet potatoes.
Truth be told, recipes like this are a dime or dozen in the south, but it’s a dish that seems rare in these parts. When done right, it’s so creamy, fluffy, and delicious that you could just a well serve it with a big dollop of whipped cream as on the plate with your bird. I will repeat my warning here: do not make this with canned sweet potatoes. The only thing that should come out of a can on Thanksgiving are those onions you put on top of the green beans.
Categories: Home
Tagged: food
September 29, 2008 · 3 Comments
Leo’s Bakery in Albany closed a couple of years ago, so I was surprised to find it mentioned in the New York Times Diner’s Journal blog —and I was reminded of a memorable morning I spent at Leo’s 13 years ago.
Zack was being baptized and we were expecting a house full of people, so I showed up early to pick up our order: a big cross-shaped cake with white frosting. When I got Leo’s there were a hundred people lined up outside. That’s odd, I thought, a line outside the bakery? On a Sunday morning? What the hell? As I stood there waiting, person after person left the store with big brown bags. After almost an hour I could see what they were all buying: Challah bread. It turned out that Leo’s was not an Italian bakery, as Ann had told me, but a Jewish bakery —and Rosh Hashanah was to begin at sundown.
As I got to the front of the line , a local rabbi working the crowd grabbed my hand and heartily wished me, “Shana Tova Umetukah!” And then -almost simultaneously- the woman behind the counter held up my big cross shaped cake. Silence fell over the room. I pulled out my checkbook, because just as I’d been told Leo’s was an Italian bakery, I was also told they took checks. Wrong. So here I am in the Jewish bakery on Rosh Hashanah with my big cross-shaped cake —and after waiting on line for an hour I couldn’t pay for it. As I started backing out the door mumbling something about the ATM machine, no less than five people offered to front me the money. People were actually reaching into their wallets and pulling out $20 bills, but I was so confused and embarrassed that I kept going.
By the time I got back to Leo’s they’d been been cleaned out of challah, but there was my cake in the glass case. Later, stuffing my face with cross cake, I couldn’t forget all the people who practically fell over each other to try and help me —and I haven’t forgotten them since.
Categories: Religion
Tagged: food
Have you ever heard of methanethiol? It is a chemical compound found in in rotten eggs, onions, garlic, the secretions of skunks —and it’s also the stuff that makes some people’s pee smell after eating asparagus. There are several theories on this, but the one I like best is that everyone produces the odor, but only certain people can smell it.
That said, it turns out in our household that my son Zack and I can smell it while my wife Ann and son Alex can not. This has set up a very weird sort of bonding between us since it’s something unique we share together. I’ll serve asparagus at least once a week and we exchange a knowing glance, aware that an hour later we’ll both be enjoying the pungent odor of asparagus pee wafting up as we go to the bathroom.
Is it really true that everyone produces the odor but can’t smell it? I’m going to suggest that Zack do this as some sort of science project at school, but maybe we should start small at home.
Smelling Ann’s pee should be easy; getting her to smell ours? Not so much. That may require some trickery.
Categories: Home · Kids
Tagged: food, science
Home late from work one night, I was met at the door by two hungry boys. Instead of just running out to Wendy’s or ordering a pizza, I announced that it was hobo night. I started pulling cans out of the cabinet and putting them in a paper bag. What are you making they wanted to know. Nothing. Hobos don’t make dinner, they eat whatever they can find —or steal. Zack asks, “What did we steal?” We stole a bag of canned goods, I explained. From the food pantry. That cheered them up. We went out back and sat on the deck with our bag of stolen food pantry loot, a pocket knife, and three spoons.
I told hobo stories about jumping freight cars and being chased through rail yards by the bulls. We picked some hobo names: Rhode Island Rob, Screwdriver, and Patchy. We dug into our beans and SpagettiOs. Alex ate half a can of sauerkraut. Desert was a big can of peaches. The moon was out and it was getting dark and it was good to be a hobo.
Categories: Home · Kids
Tagged: cooking, family, food
