A cornucopica, if you will...

Oh, for heaven's sake, you guys!  I was having such a lovely, relaxing - albeit, cold - weekend...and when I sit down to my computer on Sunday night, I find that you all have been busy posting all kinds of awesomeness.  On one hand, it makes for fascinating reading and I'm always for that.  However, it means that I have all kinds of thoughts I want to blog so now I have to do that.  And I worry about some of you not having a life away from the computer...but I suppose that's your business...and I don't really know most of you on a personal level.

ANYWAY, here are some of my favorites:

1. The gals at Haphazard Gourmet Girls have started an off-shoot blog: Obama Foodorama.  Naturally, anyone interested in food and its policies is curious to see what impact our President-Elect will have on our future...on the food revolution.  So the Girls are now tracking it.  As I've said, I don't always agree with the Haphazard Gourmet Girls but, to their credit, they always get me thinking and mulling.  Let's hope the upcoming administation can actually enact some CHANGE on agricultural policy in the U.S.

2. Chicken Spaghetti has a post up about the movement of Slow Blogging, as reported by the New York Times.  Curiously, I get the weekend Times and somehow missed this article!  Naturally, the movement of Slow Blogging is inspired by the Slow Food movement*.  I love the idea, of course, of both slow food and slow blogging...however, especially in the U.S., I wonder how much of it is a trend and just paying lip service.  As a country, are we really committed to slowing down?  To doing less?  To turning off the world for awhile?  To being more intimate?  I'd like to think so, but the skeptic in me is doubtful.  The NY Times article quotes Todd Sieling as saying that "slow blogging is a rejection of immediacy...It is an affirmation that not all things worth reading are written quickly."  Okay, I get it.  I do.  But isn't that the point of blogs?  Immediate information?  Having your finger on the pulse?  If I want something contemplative, something poetic, something life-affirming...well, I certainly don't reach for the blogs.  That's what books are for, n'est-ce pas?  But ignore me.  I'm just posting on my blog.  Thanks, Susan, for the link - it gave me food for thought on a Sunday evening!

3.  This is for all you New York foodies out there: Sustainable Table has linked to information about a "Food Wheel" that helps you ascertain which foods are in season when in New York state.  This is going to be incredibly helpful to me because, like most Americans, I've become so accustomed to having year-round access to all foods that I have ceased to understand the seasonality of my local area.  Hint: if you're living in NYC, this is NOT the time of year for asparagus...even though my nearest grocer recently had it on sale.  Don't even get me started...  Additionally, I have a copy of the Field Guide to Produce: How to Identify, Select, and Prepare Virtually Every Fruit and Vegetable at the Market by Aliza Green (which I named on my list of Top 10 Cooking Books) and I find it enormously helpful for determining the seasonality of different produce (though it doesn't help with NY specific).  It also identifies what to look for in ripe produce and various suggestions (no recipes) for preparations.  

4. Pink Me has the Cybils' graphic novels list up.  I'm pulling for Mo and Jo: Fighting Together Forever by Jay Lynch and illustrated by Dean Haspiel.  It's a huge hit with Kiddo, and it truly nails the sibling relationship...at least, the one I had as a kid with my brother.  I love Jellaby by Kean Soo.  Really, I looooved it - the spread where Jellaby is kicking the leaves is joy personified.  But I found the ending SO abrupt.  I can't get past it.  It was a needle-scratching-across-the-record sort of ending.

5. This didn't come to me via Bloglines but, rather, through Facebook.  My new friend, Ariel from Sesame Workshop, just handed over a recipe for "hot apple butterbeer."  No measurements so apologies to you more exact baking-type people.  But here's what she said: "apple cider, lemon, rum, maple syrup, butter, allspice, cloves, cinnamon.  Just add all the other stuff to the cider and keep tasting".  She also added that you need to "serve it HOT" or the butter starts solidifying.  It's Sunday night so I'm not quite in the mood for this drink, but you can bet your arse I'll be whipping it up come this weekend when my Soul Twin and her husband come from North Carolina for the holiday!

Eat, drink, and enjoy all the warm alcoholic drinks that winter brings!

* Ironically, I'm on the mailing list for Slow Food NYC...but never have time to go to any of their events.