No. That’s not a typo. This is an aside about noodles and 1949. Yesterday evening Mr. Big Food an I were talking about the Fried Noodle Rings and Chow Mein recipes. We got to wondering just what, in 1949, were considered “fine dry noodles.” Those pictured look very fine. After some research, I bet they
Back in the crappy olden days, making a home for your family was not considered drudge work. At least that’s the belief Meredith Publishing, publishers of BH&G books, were selling to women. I am of two minds about this. Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, Meredith Publishing Company, Des Moines, Iowa, 1961. As person who
Image from Wikiart as in the crappy old book, Grandma Moses ( Otto Kallir, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, New York, 1973).
Did you see #10? Plug-in vision-phone. How cool would that be? What is the thing above #5 that has a line but no number? [Betty Jane has a Ph.D. by the way, so that’s Doctor Betty Jane to folks like you & I.] Crappy old books such as this are good for a laugh. How
Today is Washington’s birthday. Not last Monday. Today. And so, I’ll begin by cribbing a bit from Scott Johnson’s annual commemoration of the Indispensible Man over at Powerline (sorry link coming, I’m not fully coffeed yet). From the letter to Washington from America’s oldest Jewish congregation welcoming him to Newport, Rhode Island upon the ratification
Reposted from February 12, 2015. As I commented, I am not a huge fan of Lincoln (don’t like Douglas at all). That said, I’d rather recognize Lincoln on Lincoln’s birthday than recognize that amorphous groups, Presidents, next Monday. [From Illustrated Encyclopedia Book-of-the-Year 1960 Edition, Bobley Publishing Corp., Glen Cove, N.Y. 1960] I don’t generally comment on Lincoln’s
Remember this…? From the first post in January’s Crappy old Book of the Month series? The days of the cave man have passed. Physical strength no longer gives prowess to the individual. What the twentieth century demands is the trained intellect. The man who knows is the man of the hour. The Standard Question Book and Home
Let’s face it: I can extol the glories of homemade chicken and vegetable broths until Hades freezes over. In reality, the only people making their own broth are me and an eighty-year old women in Siberia. from The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper— a cookbook with great recipes! Here’s where we left off in
“American Landscape” by L. Whitney (ca. 1855) in The Beauty of America in Great American Art (1965)
At American Digest, Gerard Van der Leun has put up a truly beautiful music video, Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Kraus performing The Wexford Carol. It will move even the most unsentimental agnostic. To my mind, the cello is among the most lovely of instruments. Yes. I understand that ‘the most’ entails but one, but as
TV Guide ran a special “Closeup” feature to announce the debut of A Charlie Brown Christmas in December 1965. From A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition, Lee Mendelson, Harper Resource, New York, 2000 (p.25). This is a wonderful book. Every home– with or without children– should have it on the shelf. The first half
of a White Christmas, … .” As far as I’m concerned, white Christmases can stay in Vermont but I want you to have that tune in your head as I tell the story of little Israel Baline, and the man he came to be. Israel was born in Temun, Russia in 1888. His family was
It’s official. The Farm has entered the 21st century! A few months ago we kicked Verizon’s JetPack Mifi “unlimited” internet to the ditch (we don’t have curbs out here) and signed on for AT&T’s Fixed Wireless Internet. It’s faster, cheaper, and for all practical purposes really unlimited. And for that, we thank you! We could
We live in an amazing time. On my desk are my phone, my iPad, two portable batteries that combined will turbo charge four devises, two external hard drives for backup, my laptop, a printer that talks to my phone, iPad and MacBook Pro without having to be physically connected to them, and a 3x5x0.5 inch
What a beautiful morning! Warmish & sunny. Whiffs of leftover fireplace smoke in a slight breeze. Later on, one of the neighbors had a burn pile going. Fall. Breakfast. Fried leftover mashed potatoes with onions, and a fried egg. Chatted with the Thanksgiving Orphan about one of his favorite authors, Will Durant. Pie Brunch was
It’s quite stunning.
I will present this to you as it was presented to me– all at once with no warning. See the fellow in the blue shirt & red suspenders? He walked out from the kitchen with a cart of hot rolls and hollered to the crowd, “Who wants Hot Rolls?! Who wants Hot Rolls?!” At which
Originally posted October 12, 2015. “No other than Christopher Columbus himself.” [image downloaded from cartographic-images] A small map of the world showing Africa as far south as the Cape of Buena Esperansa, and a large map of Europe and Africa as far south as the Congo. The map is neither signed nor dated. But because
Again– reposting from October, 2013 The picture book is for the children. In reading about Columbus over the last few days, I’ve come across this sentiment more than once: Every school kid knows the story of Columbus. That got me to wondering what school children might really have known about Columbus back in the crappy
[Again, from when BigFoodetc was hosted by blogspot so excuse what need to be excused.] That’s correct. Herbert George Wells, the “Father of Science Fiction.” The Outline of History Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind was first published in 1920. (This is the revised edition of 1961. Both sub-titles are correct.) Reviews were