Friday, December 15, 2023

Crazy for Cardamom

This is likely my favorite of spices. It has often been a conundrum of CardamoM vs CardamoN; but it turns out either is correct as a result of Nordic translation. What is also a bit bizarre to me, is that it is so prevalent in Scandanavian baking, but it is actually grown from large bushes in Sri Lanka or Guatemala. So how the hell did it migrate all the way to Sweden? I also was not aware there are two varieties, the common black cardamom and also the very expensive and rare green cardamom.

Since I am heavy into my holiday baking, one of my traditions to roll out is my braided Cardamom bread. It takes hours to raise, divide and swirl, but it is always a mastery of baking and tastes incredible. I will take it on sometime after the Christmas Cookies. 


I am basing this post off a wonderful BBC offering talking about 'Fika' or a Swedish coffee break. The article talks about Lucia buns, just celebrated on Dec. 13th made with saffron, raisins and almonds. It also makes reference to Semlor buns which feature caraway. But the ultimate favorite flavor is cardamom which has evolved into fine Scandinavian pastries. 

It refers to a craze over the last 30 years, where bakeries are outputting huge numbers of pastries on a daily basis rather than consumers baking at home. I would guess this is because of the time and effort needed for this craft. It then notes a plethora of other uses for it in certainly cookies & spice cakes, but also in porridge (who knew anyone really ate that?) as well as wines & ales. As I pointed out above - it is the third most expensive spice globally so there is that. Thank goodness locally for Penzeys spices.

The heart of this conversation is the or kardemummabulle  (Cardmamom Bun.) They talk about it being a parallel to what would be a croissant in France. Layers of butter and yeast that rise, a crust of caramelized sugar and the airy and fragrant spice of warm cardamom. The recipe listed sounds just as laborious, with a bread, a filling, a glaze and much time spent allowing it to raise between. But the pictures and recipe included are piquing my interest and I'm now wondering if I should maybe make a slight baking detour this year???

BBC: Sweden's enduring Love

Monday, November 20, 2023

"Bundt" Beautiful

A few years back I started hitching a ride on the Bundt cake brigade. I think it started with a purchase of a small pan at a garage sale. In always see them as a Baking Category at the MN State Fair. I don't think they were a staple of my childhood. We always had square tin Chocolate cakes or a tall, circular Carrot or German Chocolate. 


Somewhere along the line, I found the Nordicware factory a few miles from my house and was drawn to the bargain outlet in the back with dented wonders and out-of-season cookie cutters among other treasures. Their birthday club coupons continued to bring me back annually.

But the last year has upped it a notch. With fabulous cookie stamps in Honeycombs and snowflakes, a decadent lattice bread pan and other things that cannot be found elsewhere. Last August I caught a glance of their signature cookbook at the cashier and decided I should peruse it. I did purchase one, but found it used on line for half the cost.


It was only on reading the first chapters that I came to understand the impact of this small MN family and their simple creation that took the baking industry by storm in the late 1950's. It came from a German cake called a Gugelhupf. Basically a round coffee cake with a hole in the middle. Nordicware came up with the name Bundt based on bundkuchen which meant a cake for gatherings. He simply added the consonant T to pronounce the sound of the word with a German dialect.



A recent feature on CBS Sunday morning explores both the history and science of the pans. The concept of a hole in the center has less to do with visual and more about making it easier to bake thick cakes more evenly by allowing the center cone to heat more of the surface area. The cake pan really came to fashion after the National Pillsbury Bake Off in 1966. The Tunnel of Fudge Cake did not even win but was the 2nd place recipe and ignited a craze that propelled Nordicware into fame.

CBS Sunday: Origin of the Bundt Pan

They now come in so many variations of the original mold. I have a collection of 3 right now which seems plenty. They are pretty fool-proof; other than making sure those intricate pans are greased well to they release with all the beautiful patterns. The cakes are always moist, rich and with that Bundt Collection book - there are enough to impress every season. You may not need to go out and buy one. But if see one at a garage sale or a thrift store - grab it and give an easy recipe a try. You won't regret it.

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Mácnas Mania for Halloween

I can't speak from personal viewing, but there is this bizarre Halloween parade in Ireland that seems to be where Day of the Dead collides with Mardis Gras and a bit of Macy's Thanksgiving thrown in for sparkle.

 

Here in Minneapolis we have a puppet theater company called Barebones that does something community on a much smaller scale. When I first started digging into this, I couldn't quite grasp what Mácnas was? They began back in 1986 as a performance company that put its effort into creating public events in open & undefined spaces. The term itself is an Irish slang term meaning "frolicking." They attempt to make theater that is pioneering, inventive and radical. Their arenas branch internationally into so many tangents, including touring with U2 in 1993 and also anchoring at the SXSW Music Festival.

 

Their parades became a staple at the turn of the century. Again, they were community based events and all had an element of storytelling & folk tales, usually during a summer Festival in Galway where they are located. At some point they landed onto the calendar during Halloween which has roots as an Irish Pagan festival in itself. The Parade has been an off/ on happening in recent years but this year has returned in full regalia. So much so, that it is occurring in both Galway and Dublin on consecutive nights. The parade is an hour and a half in length, but because the story unfolds in real time, every spectator along the route takes in a different part of the telling.

Mácnas offices are spread across two locations in the city. Administration and rehearsals mainly take place in Fisheries Field. Large-scale construction primarily takes place at a warehouse in Liosban. The cast consists of company members and expands to engage community members with various talents. I cannot even imagine the designers and visual artists that create the elements of the puppets and floats.

For 2023 they are drawing on a Mexican Folk tale of La Lobo who is a half-wolf woman who ravages the streets on the eve of Halloween to collect bones of the dead. At midnight she sings to the bones of these lost souls and brings them back to life for a brief moment to reflect on their past.

So this magical team of 200 creates music, soundscapes, costumes and live art to weave this magical dark tale as the parade watchers join in the revelry and frolicking. Wanna go next year?!


 

Friday, October 13, 2023

Dog Whistle

I am very proud of the work we do at Animal Humane Society. There are always the cute and cuddly pictures of the animals we help. But I am more inspired by the true work we do. We are constantly thinking outside the box with the human-animal bond to solve problems.

Since there is a nationwide shortage of vet techs, we created our own Rachael Ray Vet Tech Program. If they are not graduating from vet school and we cannot find them - let's train them ourselves in exchange for a commitment to serve us after certification. If our community is stressed at not being able to find housing, let's create a Temporary Housing Program to assist with foster care while those severely unfortunate get a chance to get on their feet again until they can be reunited with their pet.

This week our Shelter Behavioral Team briefed us on a new housing study we are undertaking. Any Dog coming into our care is going to be stressed. We are a large clinical setting, many other dogs barking or setting boundaries, strange vet staff handle them, public crowds approaching them 6 days a week. Over the last few years, we are digging deeper into finding what type of housing situations can alleviate that stress.

It can be different for each Dog. Some prefer a quiet, safe sanctuary space. Others may want something that gives them more interaction and free space. We have been gifted a fabulous new technology tool called a Whistle App.

Whistle is available commercially as a Tracking device. But it has many more capabilities. Think of it as a Fit Bit for dogs. When it is attached to their collar, it keeps track of so much more than just activity. Of course, we want to know how much time they spend sleeping vs. how much time they are active. This can be an insight into what may be depression in shelter vs. anxiety. They are also capable of tracing other biological levels very helpful to us. We are ultimately using these devices on a case study of 12 dogs at a time in different living situations with our next transport of dogs in from out of state. This will give us glimpses into adaptation of the new dogs and figure out what might work best on a dog:dog basis. Overall, this will impact what "housing" means at AHS. What can we build to better serve these large dogs who are so much in need? Thinking Outside the Box as noted above.

Whistle App

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Glamping - Glam Camping

It seems another Minnesota summer has come and gone, and I have again missed my chance for camping. I suppose there is still a possible Fall getaway in the weeks to come. But every year we vow to pack up the tent and head to a State Park for a night or two under the stars. We have gotten to the parks, seen the Lakes, hit the breweries. I even got the kayak out on the Lake last weekend for some quiet time bobbing on the waves. But the camping experience seems to be aloof.

In all honesty, I am not a true camper. I would say "rustic" fits me better. We did spend our Labor Day weekend out in Waconia in a dandy old cabin. It is actually an old farmhouse on my friend Stephanie & Scott's property. There are gracious fields, lightning bugs and giant porch swings. But there is also running water with a shower, an AC unit in the window and even an old pinball machine. So this does not constitute roughing it by any means.


Which brings me to the concept of #Glamping which is a distant cousin of camping in the wild. Something cozy in the middle of the woods so you get that experience of being one with nature. But plenty of comfort so your idea of relaxing is simply lighting a bonfire with S'mores. No pitching tents or inflating air mattresses. We have had these sort of outings in Duluth, Battle Lake and Lanesboro. The particular destination I am featuring is in Nevis MN.

The tiny residence is a refurbished Train car and can be rented via an app called HipCamp. Think of it as a kitschy version of AirBnB or Vrbo. Some other choices are a Yurt on a Blueberry farm in the Catskills. Or a canvas pod treehouse above the forest with access from two suspended walking bridges in North Carolina.

This campsite is called Goldie the Caboose, nestled on 2 acres. Goldie herself is a 1905 railroad car that worked the Iron Range in Ely. She was in use for over 50 years until she was retired in 1968. The current owners bought the caboose in 2019 where they had it transported (how does one do that?) and spent time renovating & converting it. It has showers and a small kitchen nook. It also needs a 2 night minimum as most campgrounds expect. It is small but that is part of the experience. Unfortunately for us, it is not pet friendly which is a deal breaker for our travels. It also does not come cheap at $160/ night with service charges in addition. So if you are thinking of budget camping, this may not be the fit for you.

Still the idea of a cozy getaway remains appealing. Call it glamping, whatever.

 Booking Goldie; via HipCamp

other rustic adventures via the Dyrt


 

Saturday, July 15, 2023

Synesthesia - Tasting Sound

Synesthesia - is a weird scientific term I first heard two years ago. In regard to our 5 senses - it is the odd instance where the sense of sound/ hearing somehow triggers a taste response in addition. It is almost like a short circuit of your senses where an external response, a word or even a sound, unleashes a natural response and you notice a quick reflex of taste in your mouth. Sometimes it is merely a thought of a certain taste in your brain. Nonetheless, it is a scientific phenomenon where a stimulus triggers the wrong sense in your brain.


I bring this post up right now for two reasons. I know I do not exhibit Synesthesia, but my morning coffee has recently been tasting like soap. Possibly in the same way some people get that response from cilantro. Something is misfiring. It could be that my Keurig needs a good vinegar rinse. Or maybe our dish soap is extremely pervasive.

A second thought on my brain are the concepts of current drum corps shows this summer. Totally Disconnected. But the marching community loves to come up with bizarre concepts based on a weird word association, so they create these non-words, that are supposed to create some magical response just like the Synthesia noted above. However, it is usually lost on the other 99% of the population that remains perplexed at said concept. For example this year we have In Absintheia, symbio.sys, Exogenesis and others. In drum corps, sometimes there is an aesthetic approach to a show design instead of something either logical or emotional. In these cases, there is also the risk that they are so far off base that the audiences are not in on the gig. It becomes a Master's Thesis project the staffs are left pandering to the judges in hopes of being rewarded. You can guess how I feel about most of these designs.

But back to the concept at hand. Synesthesia affects a mere percentage of the population and is hardly a quantifiable science. It comes in countless forms. It can arise from hearing words that trigger a taste. It can come from a word/ taste association going back to your childhood. (Much like a certain song can trigger a time sensitive memory from your past.) Some people state it doesn't come as a taste, but a feeling of a texture in your mouth. This one seems hard for me to fathom. Others maintain it is not words, but specific sounds from the environment that bring it on. Some of us might remember that when we were young and forced to eat a food we did not like. if you plugged your nose while chewing, supposedly it diminished the taste in your mouth. I do not doubt that all our main senses are somehow correlated. I also have always wondered about vision - if what I see is blue is the same color sensation as you would see it.

The scientific reality is that the taste buds on the tip of our tongue are highly sensitive and organized into different groups of sweet, bitter, acid et al. And with all the circuitry of our neurology, it is easy to see how misfiring could happen in 1% of the population. All of this means absolutely nothing in the big picture. It is just one of those thoughts that popped up in my mind again today, Inquiring Minds Want to Know.



Saturday, June 17, 2023

Danny Fitzgerald - the Brooklyn Boys

For Pride month, I wanted to script a few blog posts that are connected, but also their own small detours from the chosen features we usually see in the media. We are in an era of incessant cancel culture over everything Gay Pride, So I found this artist takes us out of the present and into something that is more nostaligia.

Johnny New York 1962
Even then, in the 1960's, there has always been tension between what is creative photography vs. what is perceived as erotic art. It goes back centuries! What is the distinction between a naked Greek statue in marble vs. a Black & White photo capturing a silhouette in an alluring pose? We can all argue over the term "tasteful", but it still remains a creative art form. It just becomes a matter of if you are willing to buy or appreciate.

Danny Fitzgerald was a New York City photographer who captured the streets of the city in much the same way that Vivian Maier did. She has become renowned in the last decade; Fitzgerald remains more of a casualty that is dismissed. His genre were the street gang punks and cruisers of Brooklyn. He called them his "demi-gods." He started by capturing their images on the streets and parks of Brooklyn, New Jersey and even in the nearby woods of PA. Over time he "upgraded" and persuaded them into his studio space in Carroll Gardens which he dubbed Le Demi Dieux. There was also his sexy and younger partner, Richard Bennett, they would entice the young men into settings that were more glamorous and pushed them towards more erotic poses. No one is aware that sexual favors were exchanged, but the gushing over their sensuality certainly made a dent in their blue-collar egos. At the time in the early 1960's it was considered Beefcake vintage and only appeared in seedy rags like Muscles a Go Go and The Young Physique. It has taken a full 50 years to resurface and be viewed in an entirely different light.

Stef, New York 1963

Somehow photos were found and curated for a first-time exhibition by Steven Kasher Gallery in New York back in 2014. It sounds as if enough interest came of it that they are also published into a coffee table book of full-page photographs.

Tommy, 1964


I find that the pictures have both an innocence and an inherent sensuality. I am guessing most of the models were late teens and maybe early 20s, but not much older than that. In spite of being street toughs, I assume most of them are only discovering whatever their sexuality is. None of it feels manufactured. It's as if the boys from West Side Story were given a magazine feature in Life! Fascinating.

Here is a link to the original blog article where I found them:

Alain Truong: Photography



Richard Bennet, Danny's partner 1962

Anthony, 1963

Orest, New York 1960