Sheryl Julian, the Globe's Food Editor, writes regularly for the Food section.
Devra First is the Globe's food reporter and restaurant critic. Her
reviews appear weekly in Calendar.
Ann Cortissoz is on the staff of the Globe and writes the First Draft beer column for the Food section.
Stephen Meuse writes about wine for the Globe's Food section. His column on
Plonk ($12 and under wines) appears on the last Wednesday of the month.
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« October 1, 2006 - October 7, 2006 |
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| October 15, 2006 - October 21, 2006 »
October 13, 2006
A few days ago on boston.com, someone who worked there posted a recipe for pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies and it's been emailed many times since then. The recipe is from a 2004 Food section.
I went into the Boston Globe archives. The recipe title is "My mother's pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies" and it comes from "Too Busy To Cook?" (Volume Two). It came from Christine Merlo, who is a Globe contributor. She wrote up the cookies for the Food section because her mother invented this combination of canned pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and semisweet chips many years ago.
Here's how Christine explained it in her article: "One fall about 30 years ago, my mother made up this recipe to send a taste of New England to my sister, who was away at college in Pennsylvania. A decade later, my sister submitted the recipe to Bon Appetit, which published it, and then in 1988 published it again in their 'Too Busy To Cook?' volume."
She continued: "Everyone in my family still makes the cookies at this time of year, and those familiar scents bring back all kinds of memories."
Christine's mother's chocolate-chip cookies will be in many more cookie jars after this weekend.
Posted by Sheryl Julian at 05:45 PM
October 13, 2006
Joyce Maynard, the author who is probably most famous for a young dalliance with mega-star author J.D. Salinger, has another claim to fame, according to my colleague who interviewed her. She makes pies.
Maynard, who is reading from her latest book, "Internal Combustion: The Story of a Marriage and Murder in the Motor City" tomorrow in Plymouth and Sunday in Shrewsbury, bakes for friends, family, and colleagues. She even teaches classes in pie making and has pie parties. The crust is her favorite task.
Come to think of it, making a pie crust is analogous to outlining a plot. It starts out with measured steps: Begin with chilled ingredients, blend the fats and the flour, and then add the liquid. And just when you think this will never work, voila!! you've got pie crust. (Of course, then you still have to roll it out, which can be a thrilling novel in itself).
Posted by Alison Arnett at 05:39 PM
October 12, 2006
I just edited a recipe for scones from Haley House bakery and cafe for next week's Food section. It's the end of the day and how I would love a scone right now!
The Haley House version has a maple glaze. A recipe I've made for years, from the former Caffe Luna in Chestnut Hill, is a plain scone, barely sweetened, but I dust the top generously with granulated sugar before baking. For Thanksgiving, I omit the sugar topping and add a big handful of chopped rosemary.
Another scone recipe I make has dried cranberries and cream in the batter. The red fruits add a little sweetness, the cream a splendid richness.
Warm scones go onto the feast table and the following day they're perfect for turkey sandwiches.
Posted by Sheryl Julian at 06:11 PM
October 11, 2006
On October 28, I am joining a group of writers and scholars at Radcliffe Institute for a day-long seminar to celebrate Barbara Ketcham Wheaton's 75th birthday. I have known Barbara for many years and took several of her classes in French food history at Radcliffe.
Because of Barbara, I know that Catherine de Medici did not introduce fine cooking to France (a common myth), and I know how the French table evolved since the Middle Ages. Barbara is a fountain of knowledge, her voice is musical, and she is among the most charming people on Earth. When she taught, her students -- many well known in food circles -- sat mesmerized.
Barbara is the author of "Savoring the Past," which traces the French kitchen until 1789. She has won many prizes for it, including one that gave her and a guest a year of eating at almost every famous restaurant in France for free (she went abroad several times to do this with her husband Bob).
Historians are coming from around the country to join Barbara. The day is titled "The Cook's Oracle." Apt, I think, because everyone who knows her thinks the sun rises and sets on her.
Posted by Sheryl Julian at 09:33 PM
October 11, 2006
It's impossible to avoid Rachael Ray lately. She's got her TV show, her magazine, her appearances, magazine covers, newspaper stories, and much more. Now she's been declared "most popular" by a research marketing firm.
A little like a high school contest, the firm gave Ray No. 1 ranking for hosts, moderators, announcers, radio and television commentators, and other media commentators. She beat out the other Food Network hosts and Oprah Winfrey.
Of course, one problem with being No. 1 is that possibility of slipping before you reach long-lasting fame. Ray has a winning smile, and a breezy way of telling her viewers how easy it is to cook. But Julia Child and her "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" she is not.
Posted by Alison Arnett at 04:54 PM
October 10, 2006
You know how it is when a writer is so good that images stick in your mind? Well, right now I'm reading "Climbing the Mango Trees: A memoir of a childhood in India," by Madhur Jaffrey. Jaffrey is an amazing woman, who not only writes elegant cookbooks but is an acclaimed actress. She's coming here to read from her new book Oct. 20 at the Harvard Bookstore.
I'm a big fan and plan to interview her for a story, one of the pluses of my job (and you thought it was all about restaurant dining).
Her new volume tells of growing up in her grandfather's extended family where nightly dinner included 30 plus relatives and every excursion involved extensive planning. My favorite image so far is her description of packing two cars to go on picnics. Two cars for 30 people.
Here's how you do it, in her words: "The first layer consisted of alternating short ladies and teenage children, with the teenagers sitting perched on the edge of the backseat. On their laps went the slim ten-to-twelve-year-olds. The third layer, sitting on the laps of the second layer, consisted of those under ten. The tall men and servants sat in the front seat. On their laps sat the fat ten-to-twelve-year-olds, holding all the baskets and pots that could not be stuffed into the trunk."
Isn't that priceless?
Posted by Alison Arnett at 12:33 PM
October 9, 2006
A few weeks back, I blogged about my obsession with salty sweets, specifically fleur de sel caramels. No sooner did I make a batch than the Food section ran a story about salty sweets, mentioning salted caramel. It was a very strange coincidence.
Then, in yesterday's magazine, the New York Times ran a piece on ... salted caramel. (It even mentioned the ginger soda and salted caramel mousse that appears on the dessert menu at Dante. Like there aren't enough restaurants in New York to choose from?)
For whatever reason, salted caramel seems to be having a moment.
Posted by Devra First at 07:36 PM
October 9, 2006
At Wilson Farm yesterday, I found handsome heads of orange cauliflower. With their pale pumpkin hue, the florets boast one of the most beautiful colors of fall. My Sunday magazine food column coauthor Julie Riven and I are working on a simple soup recipe using the vegetable, which doesn't lose its pigment when cooked.
Here is the beginning:
And the divine end:
We ate it for lunch and supper -- though not for breakfast this morning.
Posted by Sheryl Julian at 06:01 PM
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