food museum blog

Happy Thanksgiving--Pray for Peace and Pass the Potatoes

"May the frost never afflict your spuds.
May the leaves of your cabbage always be free from worms. May the crows never pick your haystack.
If you inherit a donkey, may she be in foal. "Gaelic blessing p.s. May your mashies be rich with cream and butter, may your bird be moist, may your rutabaga leave them begging for more, may your pies be so superlative as to leave you and your guests lying  around the fire praising Demeter and her handmaidens, and, above all,  may your gratitude be boundless. ( Mashies from www.reluctantgourmet.com/mashed.htm)

Enough with the Pligrims---The Actual First Thanksgiving in North America

Those dour faced, black-wearing, black-hatted and white-bonneted intrepids, the Pilgrims, are sooo yesterday. The first multi-cultural Thanksgiving gathering in North America involved neither them, nor turkeys, as far as researchers know. It took place on the banks of the Rio Grande in April of 1598, and featured a rag tag group of soldiers, families, the Manso native people, priests, and over 7000 domestic animals. The southwest feast on the border of El Nuevo Mexico marked a key confluence of Spanish, Native, and Other ( Anglo) culture. That coming together formed the basis of the food heritage story that continues today in New Mexico.

Starving, without water, a group of about 500 Spanish and Mexican colonists, including women and children and their bedraggled animals, reached the waters of the Rio Grande ( near today's El Paso, Texas,) after an 86-day trip from Mexico. Led by Don Juan Onate, they were seeking to cross into El Nuevo Mexico.

Ten days after their arrival, grateful for their survival, on April 30 they were strong enough to hold a mass and also prepare a feast of the game they had shot--”many cranes, ducks and geese”--as well as the fish brought by the local Manso Indians. One of the party wrote later: “"We built a great bonfire and roasted the meat and fish, and then all sat down to a repast the like of which we had never enjoyed before. “

( For a full scholarly look at these events go here.)

The Indians most likely did not share in the gratitude fest for long--Onate, though himself a native of Mexico, and a descendant of a brief encounter between Hernan Cortes and Isabel Moctezuma, one of 150 children of the Aztec emperor, was not a cuddly guy towards the originals. Just ask the people of Acoma Pueblo, among others.

Even today, as this piece in Indian Country out of Gallup, New Mexico attests, antipathy among many natives towards Onate remains strong.

And yet,  New Mexico is a place where Hispanics, Indians and "Anglos," anyone not of the first two groups, live, work and dine together. After much discussion and dissent, a major sculptural work about the arrival of this band of colonists was installed in front of the Albuquerque Museum. It does not exalt Onate, though he is included.

Punkin Pizazz from All Over

"Ric Griffith is crazy about pumpkins. He has 2,400 in his yard, with 600 still to be delivered, " according to a brief note in The Washington Post. The neighbors look forward to the  Kenova, West Virginia punkin pasha's work every year, and probably partake of the pumpkin "meat" that results.

For all things pumpkin from The FOOD Museum, click here.

( Left)  Don't try this at home--the "cannibal pumpkin" from extremepumpkins.com

Best Ever Pumpkin Pie? Try this recipe from The Spice House. And for our vegan friends, this one.

Worst P.Pie ever? According to one blogger it's this one from epicurious.com, normally not the recipe source from hell.

And finally...According to consumeraffairs.com, Target stores is recalling $5 kits of Mr. Potato Head-type ( I assume these are not real licensed Mr. PH items)  stick-in ears, noses, eyes, etc., for use with PUMPKINS, a sacrilege right there, with the usual concerns about small children ingesting the parts.  Take the kits back to Target while your kids stay busy ingesting raw pumpkin seeds and wielding sharp knives.

Abundant Apples, No Labor Available

I have been musing on "labor," this Labor Day weekend in these USA. Our new neighbors have landed on a property that contains a peach, a pear and an apple tree. Said trees were lovingly tended by two owners prior, whom we knew somewhat. Never was there any unpicked fruit during their ownership.

Over the past two weeks we had walked or jogged past this garden, noting trees heavy with fruit. ( And as previously blogged, I gave a home to a few peaches that were hanging over the fence.) Soon we became concerned, nay perturbed/outraged/puzzled, as fruit was dropping into the yard but there was no sign of any human beings doing any picking. ( The birds were working on the bounty.) Finally, as the new owner was standing outside her door one day we engaged her in conversation.  We got to the point, eventually--'Um--will you be picking the fruit from your trees?"  "Oh, I don't know--you see we buy fruit at the store."

"Oh," we said.

She looked over at the apple tree, possibly wondering what evils might lie within its fruit.

"Well the man who originally tended them took very good care--their fruit is bound to be healthy and tasty," we said.

She graciously invited us to pick her  fruit, anytime, so we did one afternoon, using a step ladder to reach up against the fence to get two large bags of apples.  She saw us that day and assured us that her kids had relished the pears, and that the family was going to pick all the apples that evening.

A week later......apples are still in unpicked abundance on that tree, too far into the yard for us to reach, ladder or no. We pass by, our foodie hearts heavy at the potential waste.

So---is it the labor of getting the ladder, setting it up,  climbing it and picking? Is it the utter unfamiliarity with fruit arriving on trees in one's yard? What is it???????????????

Please advise.

( Apple pic from www.12frogs.com.)

Limited Edition Turkey for That Special Someone

Only 5000 of these 12-inch figures have been produced so you should act promptly to secure some for gift-giving this holiday season. These carefully crafted dolls allow you to reenact the food-historic 2003 Thanksgiving visit to the troops in Iraq made by President Bush, right down to the Army jacket he wears and the faux turkey he holds on a platter. While other dolls in this "animated" series ( Bill Clinton, Ann Coulter...) do talk, this one's lips are zipped.

The Glorious 4th, Cheese and Coolidge

Many people know that two of America's more distinguished presidents, Jefferson and John Adams, died on the Fourth of July. Fewer realize that a third somewhat less esteemed prez was born on the 4th. Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872 in the tiny rural hamlet of Plymouth Notch, Vermont. His father John was a dairy farmer and he and other farmers ( and their patient cows) provided the milk that was the basis of Plymouth Cheese. The Plymouth Cheese Factory began operating in 1891, producing a "granular curd" type cheese that originated in New England homes during colonial times. It was thriving when Coolidge succeeded Warren Harding as president in 1923. ( Harding died in California and Coolidge was sworn in as chief executive at the family homestead in Vermont.)

By 1934, a year after Coolidge's death, the cheese factory had closed due to a "milk shortage in Vermont." ( !) It was revived in 1960 by the president's son, John and was producing 200, 000 pounds of cheese a year at its peak. It went under again in 1998 when John Coolidge sold the factory to the state of Vermont.

The cheese was superlatively good, and many longtime fans of its qualities kept calling the Coolidge Site wanting to know when the cheese factory would be up and running again. Tom Gilbert, a cheesemaker with 20 years of experience, came to the rescue in 2004 and Plymouth Cheese is back. Gilbert and his crew, not finding any written down instructions for making the cheese, interviewed a few former cheesemakers and painstakingly reconstructed the "recipe." So head to Vermont, check out the appealing site where time has stopped at 1923, nibble some cheese and steel yourself for slurping down a Moxie, the President's favorite soda, one of the more repellent fizzy drinks we've ever tried. As Foodie has written elsewhere it goes some way to explain the pursed lip look often captured on Coolidge's face in official portraits. ( BTW, our beloved niece and nephew are Coolidges and we know that Cal was really OK, had a droll sense of humor, and was much beloved by his wife Grace, a woman of considerable charm, glamour and, dare we say, Moxie...) Happy 4th--we celebrate America's diversity ( Cal was part native American), inventiveness, creativity, verve, and the good intentions of most of its citizens.

( Photo: John Coolidge, ( left, ) offers Plymouth Cheese to an utterly blown away member of a Swiss delegation of cheesemakers.) 

A Riff on Memorial Day --or--How She Does Go On

Backyard grilling, potato salad and cole slaw,  the opening day of many community pools, the faux first day of summer,  America's Memorial Day today is far from its origins in an era when many more people had actually experienced the loss of friends and family to war.

It began semi officially in May of 1868  as  a way to honor the Civil War dead on the winning side of the conflict. General Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic was the prime mover behind the day  "designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.." Back then it was widely known as Decoration Day. Southerners on the losing side did not cotton to the fact that their war dead were overlooked, and held their own remembrances on other days. After World War I, the day was expanded to embrace those fallen soldiers as well. It became a national holiday in 1971.

This website  created by veteran David Merchant, who has several eclectic web offerings,  laments that Memorial Day has lost its sacred tone.

" Traditional observance of Memorial Day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country."

Merchant suggests that the seductive three day weekend aspect of Memorial Day has further diluted its impact...

According to one "holiday" website, many people evidently are confused as to the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day as both focus on the military. Carrying no culinary baggage we know of,  Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11. First established as Armistice Day to note the end of "the war to end all wars," WWI, it now embraces veterans of all kinds, some dead, some not. 

And then there's June 14, Flag Day. And the 4th of July, another picnic-y celebration.

Foodie recently met a very young woman whose husband, just out of high school, is an infantry soldier serving in Iraq. He joined "because after high school he didn't know what direction to go," she said. "He just figured maybe he could get money for college. He scored very well on all the tests and expected to be placed in Army intelligence. "

With the military honored appropriately, maybe it's time for a national holiday noting all the other people who serve America--teachers, plumbers, poets, oceanographers, social workers, arborists and nurserymen, cartographers, law enforcement and firefighters, cooks, medical researchers, painters, civil engineers, veterinarians, nannies and babysitters, farmers and gardeners, dock workers, techies of all stripes, librarians, public defenders, shrinks, truckers, musicians, satirists, mail carriers, Peace Corps volunteers, home health aids, historians, bloggers...

Yeah well, OK, come on, let's eat!  Back to the day's typical menu, this one from texascooking.com:

• Southwestern Barbecued Chicken
• Cowboy Pinto Beans
• Grilled Corn on the Cob
• Grandma's Cole Slaw
• Dish Bread
• Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
• Grandma's Sugar Cookies

Or this one:  Baked beans, grilled onions/eggplant/peppers/tomatoes/zucchini, spud salad, Belgian endive salad with walnuts, blue cheese and grapes, garlic bread, and grilled beets rolled in dill butter. Fudge cake.

    (Spud salad pic from http://www.bernhards.at/.  which makes the salad Austrian, probably served warm. Yum.   Check out Chef Bernhard's website:  "Learn how to cook Austrian food, detailed descriptions of Austrian recipes.  This website is made for all people in cyberland who want to learn about Austrian cuisine, Austrian cooking and the Austrian way; what do Austrians eat, Austrian dishes that you will meet on the menu of Austrian restaurants and many more mainly traditional food recipes.")

Year of the Dog

This evening we are heading to Chow's Asian Bistro, now on the westside of Albuquerque, thank you, for a feast that we hope will not actually feature the canine as cuisine.

Years ago in China, we were sitting at the veggie table at a final banquet--so many banquets during the Asian Potato Association Triennial--and Foodie noted a platter passing by ( thank Confucius ) adorned on top with what surely appeared to be, could it be? AAGH it is!, braised paw....

Happy New Year.

( Artwork featured on display at www.artpaw.com)

Post-Christmas Gluttony Confessional

In the past 72 hours or so, in between lavish spreads of shellfish, fish and veg, Foodie and family have partaken of the following:

pumpkin ricotta cheesecake
chocolate pecan pie
oatmeal chocolate cookies
lemon bars
apricot bars
pumpkin bread
blueberry pancakes
buckwheat crepes
key lime ice cream
peppermint stick ice cream with hot fudge
cappuccino, raspberry,hazelnut, mango, etc etc gelati
chocolate brownies
sugar cookies
cinnamon swirl coffee ring
chocolate cake with white icing
dark chocolates

With all best wishes to you and yours during the season of sweet eats!
(Come on, fess up, and deliver your own list in a Comment, fellow foodies.)

Eat Well and Be Well--Happy Thanksgiving!

Foodie is back from a Florida gambit--from now on we will be operating from both Florida and New Mexico--and we apologize for being out of computer range for so long.   

On this eve of Thanksgiving  we have been pondering a failed attempt to find real cream at the local supermarket.  Well--- Foodie held a small carton of something labeled whipping cream but when she scanned the list of  ingredients  "cream" was not high among them. The "food gum," carrageenan, a seaweedish item once only from Ireland but evidently now more likely to come from the Philippines or Chile,  was on the list--along with gelatin and diclycerides  and so on.  Stabilizers and emulsifiers rule in mass produced cream and other milk products. Foodie showed the carton listing to the guy refilling the dairy case, asking if there were any organic creams available. ( No.) He  shook his head as he read the ingredients--"Nothing's simple anymore, is it?"

The California company Straus Family Creamery sells its sublime yogurt in a few places in New Mexico, but not its cream--their website describes their whipping cream this way: " Close in flavor to the cream bottled by small dairies in Europe, our cream is pure and simple with NO EMULSIFIERS OR STABILIZERS and NOT ULTRAPASTEURIZED and that's a difference you can taste. 35% Butterfat. "   

Of course the yogurt ships well, the milk and cream does not.  Buying cream locally makes sense--no emulsifiers needed!  But from whom?  Bread, apples, goat's cheese and other cheeses, eggs and many veggies ( in season,)  are available locally. Foodie vows to look harder for a cream source. 

We wish you all a pure and simple Thanksgiving.