Multicultural

You might have to click on this picture to see what's going on. This is the kefir section at Key Foods, which is a pretty regular-sized grocery store with a parking lot. It's a place that stupidly sells a lot of fresh produce packaged on Styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic, but it is thoughtful enough to carry Itallian "00" flour, fresh yeast, shmancy D'Artagnan products, and all the flavors of cheap, big-bottled fruit syrups. What I just learned though, is that it also carries a ridiculous line of cultured dairy products. In this line up you will see the common:

-Strawberry/Banana
-Raspberry
-Strawberry
-Apricot

But you can also choose from:

-Classic
-Original
-Plain
-Apollo
-Mountain ("Drincable")

All have distinct labels, but no real clues (minus "Mountain") as to where they fall in the spectrum, if indeed there is one. Getting all of them at once for a taste-test seems very unlikely.

The December Sun Times

Last week was when it really started hitting me about Gourmet being gone. There was a flurry of turkey imagery around, and grocery stores filled with people who were intent on actually cooking food. My last issue arrived in its bodybag and stayed unmoving on the kitchen table, wrapped up with a full piece of paper that appeared to be some kind of wasteful, mean joke. Last chance offer, yes, ha ha.

Is that a bullet hole?


Flipping through the consolation prize Bon Appetit subscription cards I started to get that creeping Sunday-night feeling of...oh no, we are nearing the end of the weekend and there will be no December issue. The cookie issue.

That would have been a special treat for me, since I have a particular interest in cookies, but I realize now that its nearly a new year, and one I am looking forward to. Change is good and moves things around in ways you hadn't expected. I loved the photography in Gourmet, the colors, the cool lighting, the straightforward recipes and text, the eclectic tableware, and the wide range of subjects. I still like a print magazine in general; I can carry it, work from it, file it and return to it later. That one has taught me a lot, and I will miss it.

What a wonderful surprise to see my ironwork cookies this week on the cover of my other favorite magazine, Edible Brooklyn. EB and I arrived in Brooklyn around the same time, and I thought, "man, I really moved to the right place!" I love the photography, the matte finish, the clean high-content layout, the relevant ads, and the quarterly portrait of this diverse place. Community, culture, and visual and physical experience is what drives me to food in the first place (and to Edible Brooklyn). Making cookies is a way for me to contribute, translate and share things that fascinate me and distribute that in something that fits in your hand and doesn't last forever. I made those ironwork cookies because I love looking at the fences everyday in my neighborhood, I love how they were made and that they were made here, and there ended up being a cookie issue after all.