Food Links for a Monday

Almost 10 years ago, the oldest known cookbook written (in 1866) by a free black woman was unearthed at University of Michigan. The next oldest Black cookbook that historians know of wasn’t published for another fifteen years, in 1881. That historical rareness, it turns out, isn’t merely an artifact of earlier times. It’s the norm; very few cookbooks written by black authors have been published over the years. Making the past two months (Sept and Oct) “anomalous” in having six cookbooks released by black women in that time. This link is an interesting one that discusses such history in greater depth, and touches on current reality, including mentioning my perennial favorite, Angela Davis of Kitchenista Diaries.

“Ecosystems all around the world are warming up due to global climate change, says Pershing, but the Gulf of Maine is ahead of the curve.… Continue reading →

The MetaCookbook Challenge

Yesterday, my friend Corrine said to me, “So, you’re not a foodie anymore?” It was only half a question. When I asked what in the world she was talking about, she pointed out that the posts on this blog these days are often about beer, less so about food. She’s not wrong, but the food stuff isn’t going away entirely.

Bill and I launched this blog back in June 2010 to be a mutual project of cooking out of our many1 cookbooks. After a great start in 2010 for cooking and blogging, this space nearly died in 2011 and in 2012 came back sputtering, then roaring, back, but with a rather different focus. We launched a new (and substantially more attractive) design, by Angelique Weger, showcasing this new focus in 0ctober 2012.… Continue reading →