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Unfortunately, I don't think that the poem Beowulf mentions any food. The warriors seem to spend on all of their time in Heorot drinking mead/beer/wine and getting feasted upon by Grendel. This is a web page that lists food found at archeological digs of Viking sites: Viking Age Foodstuffs King Hrothgar's people were Danes, so perhaps Danish recipes would be a place to start. April

Thanks! That's a very cool site. I'm a gardening nut and I love to grow vegetables that are heirlooms or that are unusual in color. April

I'm fond of all types of tiny legumes. Right now, in my garden, I'm growing "Rice" garden beans, "Rice" cowpeas, and "Tarahumara" garbanzos. All of the dried seeds are much smaller than their more common counterparts. I'm envisioning a tiny bowl of soup this fall. . . April

It's more likely that your cucumbers are misshapen due to poor pollination. Each female flower needs multiple visits from a pollinating insect for the fruit to set and develop normally. Bad weather, such as rain or high humidity, can reduce pollen transfer as well. If you cut into the misshapen spot on one of your cucumbers, the seeds will be tiny or absent in that spot. Skin color in cucumbers is less important (unless the fruit is turning colors because of over-ripeness). If your cucumbers taste good to you, they are fine to harvest. April

Regarding poultry, don't give up on it too soon. It takes practice and experience. It does eventually get easier. Having a another person to help out makes everything more efficient. April

I eat at Red Lobster on occasion, as it's a favorite with some of my family and friends. Sure, I'd love to convince everybody to eat someplace that I consider more worthwhile. But, these meals are as much about honoring someone else's preferences, and making them happy and comfortable, as it is about eating good food. I can live with that. As for the menu, I'm generally not happy with the regular selection, for the usual reasons mentioned above. I've had better luck with seasonal/chefs specials/daily fish specials. I had an herb-crusted salmon several years ago that was quite tasty. And as long as the server keeps the cheese biscuits coming, I've got no complaints at all! April

Yeah...shoes in the kitchen are a good idea. I spilled hot oil once all over my shoes and thought about the times I didn't have them. ← Not just shoes, but ones that provide adequate protection. I spilled boiling water on one foot while wearing canvas shoes that were open on the top. It raised a blister several inches across. I left for a vacation in Florida two days later. I got to spend the next week as an already pale, pasty tourist wearing sandals (the only footwear that didn't touch the burn) with socks (to keep the dressing covered.) The embarrassment lasted longer than the pain. I keep forgetting that lesson, though. April

Everyone seems to do this in South Dakota (myself included). We are very particular about our sweet corn. Why would anyone want to purchase wormy ears or ears with shriveled kernels? Add me to the list of picky people out there smelling, poking, and thumping the produce. I've gotten worse since I started growing my own vegetables. April

I'm now going to have to modify my cranberry custard recipe! April

Here in South Dakota, we make a rhubarb-custard pie, although it's baked in a regular pie plate. I've also used fresh cranberries in place of the rhubarb. I had no idea that it was so similar to a clafoutis! I enjoyed your tale of the "proper" way to kill a crab. I can't imagine how hard a person would have to whack the poor thing to make its innards fly out! April

These vegetables were modified through selection for type, and by cross-breeding, in-breeding and hybridization. These processes mimic the way plants and animals evolve in nature. The only difference is that humans are choosing which progeny survive to reproduce. Genetic modification, on the other hand, involves direct manipulation of the genetic code. It involves splicing genes from one cell into another. You now have transgenic organisms--corn that carries genes from bacteria, plants that contain genes of animal origin, etc. They are not at all the same. No, gene splicing doesn't make them inherently dangerous. Some might be, most probably aren't. But, unless these products are provided to me for free, I reserve the right to choose for myself and to make an informed decision. April

Wow! Did you notice that they were pouring syrup into the engine to simulate oil/transmission fluid? Now that's attention to detail. And they were using fresh ingredients in the cake. I wonder who got to eat it? I think that the rice krispies panels are a brilliant idea. Did anybody write down the recipe that they provided? April

14. a meal au naturel Edouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass springs to mind. April

According to gardening websites that sell Italian seed, the plant is Silene inflata. You can order seed for Scuplit here. I've also seen it called sculpit. I think the confusion stems from all the various spellings for it. I keep intending to try some in my garden. April

Right on! I've never liked those combinations, either. Other dislikes: Tuna sushi, caviar, canned olives, saffron, cooked carrots, any canned vegetable Former dislikes: cilantro (it still tastes and smells like soap to me, but it seems to add necessary flavor notes to salsas), mushrooms, baked potatoes, squash, and raw onions Also, as I've gotten older, I've started to like bitter flavors more and more. April

I grew up in Iowa, and most of our homemade gravy was a hybrid between the two types that you have defined. My mother would make gravy from the drippings, most commonly from either fried chicken or fried pork chops. She always added flour and milk. I believe that the milk was primarily used to increase the volume of the gravy. Mom just called it "pan gravy". Straight white gravy, made with only milk and flour, was strictly for sausage gravy over biscuits (breakfast), or for chipped beef gravy over potatoes and bread (for dinner). Just this past weekend, I made pan gravy under the watchful eyes of both my mother and my aunt. I'm proud to report that I passed the test with flying colors. Brown gravy was never homemade. Mom used packets of Frenchs gravy mix. It was served with roasts and with turkey (especially at the holidays), over mashed potatoes, stuffing, and slices of meat. Gravies/sauces thickened with cornstarch were strictly reserved for my parents' forays into Asian cuisine via the "Better Homes and Gardens Oriental Cook Book". I now live on an acreage in eastern South Dakota. It seems that my neighbors mostly make white gravy. However, one neighbor recently revealed that she made her family's favorite hamburger-noodle dish with brown, instead of white, gravy. Apparently, her husband and children now prefer the dish made the new way. Perhaps a revolution is coming. April

This must be "The Green Mile". April

Can you contact the gift-giver for more information on your bowls? Unless your bowls are a borosilicate glass like Pyrex, I would not consider them oven-safe. They might survive a few trips through the oven, but they would eventually crack or even shatter. April

Animal House! April

YES! Such a silly movie, but cooking scene scandalized me when I was a child. You're now my hero, Varmint! April

Sorry, I missed this reply yesterday. But I wasn't thinking of Tampopo. Further clues to this movie: A cook making horrible pancakes and fried eggs while the dancing dishwasher flings plates at him; and eating popcorn while watching the movie Dumbo. April (I guess my tastes are too lowbrow!)

Raiders of the Lost Ark!

Let me also add "apples" to this puzzle. There's another clue that's a dead giveaway but I'll hold off on it for now. So it'd be: Crullers, apples & a hot dog (or sausage). And there's a trivia bonus for behind the scenes of the film ("How'd they do that?") involving Jello ← Wizard of Oz? All I can think of is that the Horse of Many Colors was painted with powdered Jello. And. . .how about egg yolk, a turkey drumstick, and birthday cake? April

Mmmm! I love cumin rubbed on a steak. April

Raw, not just fresh, beans contain lectins which can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. I haven't found any website that says whether fresh beans contain more of the compounds than dried beans. Thorough soaking and cooking takes care of the problem. The site that I linked to refers to "red kidney beans", but I think that they mean all types of common garden beans, in the genus Phaseolus vulgaris. I've always had the habit of snacking on fresh shelly beans in my garden, and the small amounts I've consumed haven't caused any problems for me. Sigh. It'll be another nine months before I get fresh beans from my garden again. April