Appetizing Muse

A few days ago I took the time to clean up my Blogroll section. I hadn't looked at the links for quite awhile, but was still surprised by the amount of dead links or latent posts I had to delete (the most recent dated 2006). There's nothing like a little bit of autumn housecleaning.

I've unpacked most of my kitchen gadgets, but have yet to use anything but my steamer so far. I don't count my electric kettle as part of the gadget collection, but consider it essential for a good cup of tea or hot cocoa.

I also managed to bring along most of my key spices, including my olive oils, vinegars and other sundry. It's odd how some belongings lose their meaning after so many moves – I found myself saying "The hell with it, I don't need it" many times during packing – but the food items came forthwith.

I discovered many of the "research" cookbooks I used to gather when I wrote the food culture articles for Savorys by Shenanchie (was it only two years ago I shut the web site down)? Some of the interesting titles include The Art of Polish Cooking by Alina Zeranska, The Scots Kitchen by F. Marian McNeill and Food & Feast in Tudor England by Alison Sim.

Speaking of articles, I have decided to take down most of my food dissertations after the end of the year. As it is now, I'm only linking to the seasonal bits I've written such as Graveyard Grub and The Pumpkin Patch.

In 2003, I wrote a piece about Thanksgiving that I never "aired" but may decide to display the article in time for the same-named holiday this year. It contains several traditional and not-so-traditional recipes, cooking hints and other tips.