Flat Tire Beer Bread and Cardiology Poetry

Finally I have a day off tomorrow. The definition of “over-tired” is when you come home after a long day, set about make some simple snack, like a piece of peanut butter toast, and while waiting for the toaster, watch some late night sketch like Nonsense Karaoke and laugh so hard you have to lie down, […]

Ontbijtkoek and Kruidkoek

Who wouldn’t want to make breads with names like Ontbijtkoek or Kruidkoek? While watching Starwars. Or Lord of the Rings. I feel like these are words which better suit Orks, rather than Christmas ginger breads, but then again, I am not Dutch. To be honest, they were a little dry for my liking, which could […]

Pumpkin Bread for a Graveyard Smash

Well, we finally had a graveyard smash at Fuchsia and Lime. Izzy really got into character as Beast when a long haired dachshund showed up unannounced as a guest’s costume accessory. KP, dashing in gold lamé, was the perfect Lumiere to welcome the masses…”Be our Guest, be our guest…” The winners of our costume contest […]

Walnut Oatmeal Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and hello Sourdough Surprises! I am desperate to return to New Orleans to spend this evening with old friends at Finn MaCool’s pub. Since I can’t be with my favorite Irish people, at least I can cook up the aroma of an Irish kitchen—this bread is great with a little maple […]

Mexican Mocha Zucchini Bread

So I absolutely loved psychiatry. It was my favorite shelf exam to study for because of questions like: “A nun is found in a distant city working in a cabaret. She is unable to remember anything about her previous life.” No joke, a real question stem. Don’t you want to know this ex-nun? The problem […]

Xichuan Garlic Bread

This morning I am shindigging and James Brown-sliding in socks across the kitchen floor. Celebrate! Finished up another shelf exam yesterday afternoon! As I dance, the instrumental percussion through my speakers is being audibly supplemented by none other than my cervical and thoracic vertebrae—clicking and hissing after having been locked tight in study-mode.  This week […]

Sweet Persian Bread

Hopped off the plane last night in Savannah, Georgia and went straight to the Pirate’s House to get me some low country cooking—Andouille Jambalaya. It shivered my timbers. Arrrgh, I have missed southern cuisine. The College English Association Conference is gearing up today, I’m polishing off my presentation for Saturday. The only literary tie-in I’ve […]

American-Style Soda Bread with Raisins and Caraway Seeds

Today, in 1955, something happened that would alter the course of human history (or at least Hammer history) for the nerdier. Scrabble was invented! This is the last soda bread in the book before I start the muffin series (yes!) I had never put caraway in anything before, and to a non-foodie like me it […]

Oatmeal Soda Bread

You could throw a loaf of Irish soda bread through a sheet-rocked wall. Easily. I’m thinking about using the last two loaves for discus training. Heavy and dense, this bread seems best with soup or saucy dishes. I was going to quit halfway through the soda bread marathon, but then I saw that the next […]

Irish Brown Soda Bread

I am old enough to understand that hope takes naps. Hope can grow quiet, dormant in darkness, beneath immovable blankets. You cannot wake it up; you just have to wait for the season of night to pass. This is something I found today in a journal I kept in New Orleans. The Irish Pub I […]