cakewalk

I usually try not to snack late at night. However, I have been known to fail at that attempt. Often. And my favorite food to fail with, by far, is a pint of Haagen Das. Cherry Garcia, coffee and pistachio are among my favorites, but really almost any flavor will do. Ice cream and the internet seem to be made for each other.

The propaganda of the organic movement do just that. On the "Breaking the Chains" page of the Organic Consumers Association website, www.organicconsumers.org, there's a link to an article titled "Is Shopping at Wal-Mart Moral". (No prize for guessing what their answer is). Throughout the site, they use phrases like "ethically responsible" and "ethically conscious" to describe themselves. The OCA crusade reeks of moral superiority. Buying local and organic is a worthy goal. We can all do without the moral rhetoric. ← I think it's worthwhile to take that article a bit past its title: "Is Shopping at Wal-Mart Moral? The Christian Science Monitor May 28, 2005 Big discounters help the poor make ends meet, but they create more poverty when they pay low wages and force local stores to close. It's a conundrum facing investors and shoppers alike." This is not a flippant, judgemental article, and it is well worth reading. And I disagree, I do not think the site reeks of moral superiority, despite its use of the words you quote. As with the article headline, there is a larger context. It must be looked at as a whole, not in bits and pieces.

But that's precisely the point of contention. (Or one of them, at least.) Who is saying that shopping at WW/FM is a "virtue"? The argument is based on that claim, but I think the claim is false to beging with. Basing one's morality on where they shop for food? I might comment on their sense of taste based on where they shop for food (and be wrong, by the way), but their morality? Their virtue? I think that's completely off-base.

Even with all the choices in Manhattan, I'd give them all up for a Trader Joe's. (Well maybe not all, but certainly most.)

Hmmm. Well, what's a bit of quoting out of context among friends? I seem to remember reading many a thread on eGullet where people moan and groan about people who are rich and have cooks and maids and what-not, yet don't know anything about food. Remember that article about the wealthy woman who never cooked, ever, and barely knew how to boil water? And people went on and on about how awful this was, and how they knew so many people like that. Sheesh. All these wealthy people, and nary a farmer's market between them? What would Ms. Powell say? Her argument seems to take this form: wealthy people shop at farmer's markets; therefore, all people who shop at farmer's markets are wealthy. And for good measure, she adds that these wealthy people look down their noses at those less wealthy than themselves who, by definition, do not shop at farmer's markets. It's not just that the wealthy "buy better" than the poor -- they're judgemental about it to boot. And then she tells us about the poor Honduran family buying beans at Key Foods who are just as good as anybody buying at Whole Foods. It's a wonder she didn't think to mention the black family buying watermelon. She makes assumptions that are not necessarily true, and then bemoans those assumptions as being terrible truths. I certainly hope she did a better bit of work on her book.

Unfortunately, growing it is not an option for most city dwellers. Hence, Whole Foods and farmer's markets. Food Emporium, by the way, is ridiculously expensive and, at least judging by the one up the block from where I live, has possibly the worst produce I have ever tasted. When I lived in Astoria and shopped at what Julie deems in her article "low end" Key Food, I remember that their produce was way better, not to mention cheaper.

Ostensibly, it was developed by a Muslim baker in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of the Bronx (NYC). ← (Ahem) Brooklyn. <carry on> Edited to add: I've never heard of either bean pie or white potatoe pie, so, geography aside, I'm finding this thread quite fascinating. Thanks.

Never mind.

You answered the question right there. I think most people who use convenience foods love them. And so, let them enjoy.

I agree (mostly.) I was seriously annoyed by the article, and I very meanly felt that she wanted to see her name on the op-ed page of the Times more than she actually wanted to convey any serious ideas. (And the Times, of course, complied.) I also suspect that the author herself is the very snob that she discusses in the article. The produce at Union Square or Whole Foods might leave her "longing for the antiseptic but nonjudgemental aisles of low-end supermarkets like Key Food or Western Beef," but I note that she hasn't mentioned that she started shopping there and how much better it is. The availability of nutritious, local, good food to working people who have to seriously budget their money has been discussed often on eGullet, as has the general idea of educating people how to eat heathfully, how to shop, etc. It is a serious, seemingly unresolvable problem, and goes well beyond the author's fretting over those rich bohemian Union Sqare shoppers. I don't see anything "insidious" about the organic movement -- except maybe its takeover by big business, which was inevitable -- and I do not agree for one minute that it equates privilege with good ethics. Puh-leeze! If she thinks eating organic or buying local "wed money to decency," then I have to wonder who she's been hanging out with. Sorry for the rant (well, not really), but I thought this article was way out of kilter.

Thanks for that link re: sweet potatoes and yams. And for the recipe, which looks wonderful. I noticed on the other thread in the Southern forum that many of the recipes combined sweet potatoes with lime juice. It's a combination I never would have thought of, but now I have to try it. I usually just bake sweet potatoes and eat with salt and pepper, I rarely even put butter on it because it has such a distinctive and wonderful flavor of its own. I remember a while ago there was a recipe for sweet potato/parsnip latkes. I was too lazy to make latkes so I made a kugel out of it, and it really was wonderful. Great combination of flavors.

In another thread, Milagi said: "... in fact i wish there was a thread on sweet potato recipes..... i LOVE this root and all its savory / sweet and sour recipes ..." Well I couldn't agree more, and so I thought I'd start the thread (even though I don't have any recipes. ) I've read that sweet potatoes and yams are two completely different things nutrition-wise (although I always get confused which is which.) But are they interchangeable in recipes? Okay, let's have your best!! (Thank you.)

There's a recipe on epicurious called Quinoa with Mango and Curried Yogurt that I've made several times, and it is very good. It was mentioned first by someone on eGullet (but I don't remember who.)

Yes, especially since the implication behind all these names is that chocolate is not good for you. And we all know that that is not true.

Hmm...that's different from what I was thinking of, but I know this, too, and like it very much. I may be describing something that should be called by another name. ← Heh. Check my previous post--I found another picture that looked closer to my childhood memories of a foccacia-sized bialy-thang. Here it is again ... ← Yes, except I don't remember them being round. They were made in huge rectangular pans, and they cut off as much as you wanted. They were sold by weight. (Or maybe I'm imagining this? Does anyone else remember buying them in this form?) Well, whatever shape they were or are, they're darn good. The more onion the better, of course.

Just one more addition to the black and white description (I'm a New Yorker, I can't help it ): it's more like a cake than a cookie. In fact, I don't remember ever hearing it called a black and white cookie until the abovementioned Seinfeld episode. We just called it a black and white. (See how influential Seinfeld is?)

Yes, that would make sense. Also (and I guess this is for another thread perhaps), I realize the only kind of English muffin I've ever eaten is good old Thomas's. They're good, but I suspect they might not have anything to do with "real" English muffins (which is probably what the author is referring to in that quote.) In fact, I don't even know what a "real" English muffin is!!

How are bialys different, in flavor and texture, from bagels? I've eaten a bialy or two, but not enough to know how the recipes might differ, or if there's a difference in the cooking. And I can't really even get a good bagel around here, much less a bialy. ← Carrot Top's quote is excellent (although I have to admit the comparison of bialys to English muffins made me cringe a bit.) I've never baked either bialys or bagels, so I can't say anything about that end of it, but I've certainly eaten plenty of each. Bialys are of course much thinner than bagels, it can be problematic to slice them in half and I usually end up smearing butter on top after sticking them in the toaster oven for a couple of minutes. They're not as dense and chewy as bagels, they're somewhat more "airy." The ones made now seem to be much smaller in diameter than the ones I remember from childhood, and a bit thicker as well. In addition to onion in the center they often have garlic as well. Actually I haven't had a bialy in quite some time, and I suddenly feel that I need one! Well, I'm at work so I shall have to wait.

I was reading the mamaliga recipe, which sounds great, and then cracked up at the last sentence: "To serve, cut with dental floss." Is this a "chef's secret"?

Those flat disc things are called "kichel," which just means "cookie" in Yiddish. They're crisp and sprinkled with sugar and sometimes cinnamon, they're very good. I love Moishe's bakery, mostly because it's so nostalgic for me. It's just like the bakeries in the Bronx neighborhood I grew up in, walking in there is somewhat like being in a time warp. I always get a rye bread, no seeds, sliced please. The texture is not as firm as the breads I remember getting as a kid, but they are very good. And I still love to eat the end pieces. I've also had their black and whites, assorted cookies, bialeys, and God knows what else. I don't get there that often, but I've yet to come across something I don't enjoy.

Sounds great so far! I look forward to your "full disclosure" about the cheap but good restaurants in the East Village. I live in Manhattan, but the East Village is still pretty foreign to me. All those weird young people. I hope you enjoy writing this blog as much as I know I'll enjoy reading it!

My mother was not a particularly good cook (to say the least), but she made great soups. Thick, hearty vegetable soup with a meat base (my father was a butcher, everything had a meat base), and wonderful chicken soup were her specialties.

Wow. Talk about a theme for a movie. I agree with your assessment of Busboy's post. I was actually relieved to read it, there's really no other word for it.

It is???!!!?!?! Well now that I've calmed down , I second the Moist and Majestic Honey Cake. It does truly live up to its name.

Hmmm, we might have a winner. I love the clean flavors of buttermilk pie. It's a perfect summer dessert. ← This sounds interesting. I've never heard of buttermilk pie before. (Oh I am such a Yankee.) I just googled it and glanced at five recipes -- all of which are different, which is pretty much what I expected, except that buttermilk is just about the only thing in the filling. Is there any "history" behind this kind of pie? It seems like some poor person wanted to make a pie but didn't have anything (not even any custard) to put in it and -- voila! -- buttermilk pie was invented. Am I even close?