Thursday, November 24

Limited Edition Figgy Pudding Spam – I tried it, so you don’t have to

Home for the holidays. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Hot chocolate spiked with rum. And now Figgy Pudding Spam. Ho ho ho. A friend sent me a Washington Post article about the Hormel Corporation’s limited edition Spam flavor. (“A hot dog fruitcake”) I was mildly intrigued. An odd choice, figgy pudding. We eat it, British-style fruit cake flambéed with brandy at Christmas but how many in the US do? And what’s that got to

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Thursday, January 06

Food Writing Returns to Gateway Community College Feb. 2, 2022

Food Writing Books for 2022

Have you been tempted to tell your food story?  Has your pandemic reading included a deep dive into contemporary cookbooks? Do you follow the food news as closely as some watch MSNBC or CNN? Addicted to The Great British Bake Off? Active in the food justice movement? If any of these describe your interest in food, consider joining me at Gateway Community College this semester. Our 2022 Food Writing Class at Gateway in New Haven

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Tuesday, November 02

Baking with Dorie Book Talk

Baking with Dorie

One of life’s great pleasures is meeting inspired and inspiring people.  Among them in my life is Dorie Greenspan, Connecticut neighbor, friend, baker, cook and writer extraordinaire.  This is why I was so pleased to be invited to interview Dorie for a Baking with Dorie Book Talk at the Essex, Connecticut Public Library in November of 2021. Although we met Dorie and Michael Greenspan decades ago, its only been in the past 7 or 8

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Saturday, August 28

Glossary of Italian American Bakery Specialties

A box of Italian cookies from NY Old World Italian Bakery tour

Pignoli, amaretti, sfogliatelle.  Oh My! Are you as mad for Italian cookies and pastries as I am?   If so, you might enjoy this Glossary of Italian American Bakery Specialties that I put together for armchair or genuine travel. Growing up in New England, where a sizeable percent of the population claims Italian heritage, I was exposed to Italian sweets from a young age. My appetite for nutty things comes from eating Jordan almonds, biscotti and

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Monday, August 30

Old World Italian Bakeries of New York

Old World Italian Bakeries of New York

You’ve nibbled a pignoli and perhaps tasted a zeppole at an Italian street fair. And I know you’ve ordered cannoli at least once. (I have.) But have you really experienced the array of sweets that fill a typical Italian bakery in a city where many have been in business for more than 100 years? What keeps generation after generation of customers coming back? To help you find out, I created a map of some of

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"Let no man fancy he knows how to dine
Till he has learnt how taste and taste combine."

-Horace, Satires, 2.4

They're here!

 

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