Yummy

 

The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.

Julia Child

 

The US Department of Agriculture has released the 2026–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which emphasize the importance of protein, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The new inverted food pyramid structure places red meat and dairy products, such as cheese, near the top, while encouraging less consumption of highly processed foods, carbohydrates, and sugars. People who live to be at least 100 years old are looked to for their healthy lifestyles. They mostly eat a plant-based diet and don’t eat much dairy, red meat, or sugar. What does that look like?  Beans, leafy greens, nuts and seeds, sweet potatoes, whole grains, olive oil, and more. (more)

 

 

 

 

A tweet mentioning MTU's bid for the Leopards East.

Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine 

by Jessica B. Harris 

One of our preeminent culinary historians, Dr. Jessica B. Harris has conducted decades of research throughout the Americas, the Caribbean, and Africa. In this telling of the origins of American food, though, she gets more personal. As heritage is history, she intertwines the larger sweeping past with stories and recipes from friends she’s made over the years – friends from all three threads of the braid, descended from Native peoples, Europeans, and Africans, whose family dishes speak to the crucial era when each thread formed a trinity, and the origins of American food.

Through this mix, we learn that Clear Broth Clam Chowder has both Indigenous and European roots; the same, too, with Enchiladas Suizas, tomatillo-smothered tortillas made Swiss with cheese and dairy; and that the hallmarks of African American food through the centuries have been evolution based on region, migration, and innovation, resulting in classics like Red Beans and Rice and Peach Bread Pudding Cupcakes with Bourbon Glaze.

Note: see the fried chicken recipe on p. 217. This is the fried chicken I grew up with.

Cover of the book 'Yellow Wife' featuring a woman in a flowing yellow dress.

Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks

People are always surprised that Black people reside in the hills of Appalachia. Those not surprised that we were there, are surprised that we stayed.

Years ago, when O. Henry Prize-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson was baking a jam cake, she felt her late grandmother’s presence. She soon realized that she was not the only cook in her kitchen; her ancestors were stirring, measuring, and braising alongside her. These are her kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia and made a life, a legacy, and a cuisine.

An expert cook, Wilkinson shares nearly forty family recipes rooted deep in the past, full of flavor – delicious favorites including Corn Pudding, Chicken and Dumplings, Granny Christine’s Jam Cake, and Praisesong Biscuits, brought to vivid life through stunning photography. Together, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts honors the mothers who came before, the land that provided for generations of her family, and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia. (amazon.com)

Here are some of the best of the best cookbooks, from my bookshelf:

     
     

    Recipes by one of my favorite chefs, Dolester Miles

    A crumb-topped muffin with a dollop of creamy spread on a white plate.

    https://gardenandgun.com/recipe/sweet-potato-pie/embed/#?secret=Sk5GStRlZV#?secret=G2355SS4Pq

    https://dukesmayo.com/pages/dolester-miles

    https://patbranning.com/4-treasured-cookbooks/   Coconut pecan cake (AKA Slap Your Mama Cake)

    https://dukesmayo.com/blogs/recipes/chocolate-expresso-cake-with-caramel-chocolate-ganache-buttercream-frosting

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/dolester-miles-blueberry-cobbler/16656/  Blueberry Cobbler

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/pear-and-almond-tart/16657/?utm_term=.93743745b2b7&itid=lk_interstitial_manual_41   Pear and Almond Tart

    https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/recipes/ct-recipe-lemon-meringue-tart-20220803-nugmd3gqvrgelakahu2j6fxfee-list.html   Lemon Meringue Tart

    https://www.birminghamrestaurants.com/Reviews/EntryId/488/Rolling-Dough-with-Dolester-Miles  Strawberry Crostata

    https://blue-kitchen.com/2022/01/12/chocolate-bundt-cake-bourbon-glaze/  Dol’s Bourbon glaze

    https://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2016/04/16/when-life-gives-you-lemons-make-lemon-bars/   Lemon Bars

    https://www.bakefromscratch.com/bourbon-glazed-pound-cake/  Bourbon glazed pound cake  

     
     
     

     

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