Maybe I should get out more

I have several friends who read all the time.  My usual reading consist of blogs and magazines, but because of all the trips we have been on recently, I had time to read a bunch, and be a little freaked out by how much all the reading was intersecting. 

I started out reading My Life in France, by Julia Child.  It was wonderful.  In it she write about the perfecting of her french baguette recipe, because the art form was disappearing in France.  Which was also mentioned in the next book I read.

It must have been something I ate, by Jeffrey Steingarten.  I must admit that I really only know of him as a judge on Iron Chef America.  He's also the food editor at Vogue and seems to know everyone in the food world, including Harold McGee, who wrote the dad's very favorite food book, On Food and Cooking.

Jeffrey also wrote about trying to find and make the definitive Turducken recipe.  In his quest he visited Herbert's in Louisiana, which was also visited by Andrew Zimmern on a recent episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.  Andrew lives in Minnesota and wrote an article for the most recent issue of Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine which the dad was reading at the kitchen island yesteday, about strange food in Minnesota, including lutefisk, which we will be eating this weekend.  Not me - one of the advantages of being a vegetarian when you move into an extended family, is that no one tries to bug you into trying gross disgusting family dishes.

Comments

[Becca Nelson]

This last comment about lutefisk makes me giggle. My husband's family also eats it during the holidays. Unfortunately I'm not a vegetarian, so I am expected to eat it. I'm not allowed to open my presents until I eat a small bite. As the clear, jiggly stuff is passed around the table I put a small spoonful on my plate and mix it into my mashed potatoes and gravy. The first Christmas I spent with them when we were first engaged I made the mistake of taking an actual bit of it. Never again. From that moment on I decided it deserved to be drowned in the mashed potatoes.

It was good to finally meet you last month! I think I'm finally ready for some help. I'll email you.