NPR's food blog gets wordy:
for the origins of "pie," look to the humble magpie. Though the
etymology of pie doesn't present one clear path, the possibilities are fascinating. English surnames point to pie and pye as a baked good in the 1300s, with
a Peter Piebakere in 1320 and Adam le Piemakere in 1332. Chaucer referred to "pye"
as both a baked good and a magpie (Google books). Or perhaps the fillings were like a magpie's collection of bits and bobs, similar to haggis. You know,
like the French "agace," or magpie (Gb), and similar to
chewets, those baked goods, or
another name for jackdaws (Gb),
relative of the magpie.
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posted by filthy light thief
on Nov 22, 2011 -
21 comments
19th-century newspaper ads for patented stomach cures and digestive aids [...] foregrounded mince pie as the K2 of digestive summits. But for every published warning on the dangers of mince, the newspapers published a poem, essay, or editorial praising it as a great symbol of American cultural heritage or a nostalgic reminder of mother love and better times bygone—or even, as the State of Columbia, South Carolina, asserted in 1901, a beneficial Darwinian instrument that had "thinned out the weak ones" among the pioneering generations.
So wrote Cliff Doerksen in his wonderful, James Beard award-winning article
Mince Pie: The Real American Pie. Doerksen not only gives the history of this once most American of foods, he also makes two mince pies from 19th Century recipes to see if they are indeed all that. This is but one of many great articles Doerksen wrote for The Chicago Reader in recent years (links to a selection below the cut). Sadly, Cliff Doerksen
passed at the age of 47 just before Christmas.
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posted by Kattullus
on Dec 29, 2010 -
73 comments
Bammi is an easy little distraction game I've had saved to my bookmarks bar for a couple years now. It just occurred to me that others might like it, too.
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posted by phunniemee
on Aug 16, 2010 -
50 comments
After nearly 21 months of hiatus, whimsical politics blog
Fafblog is back! And it's redesigned, too!
Right now I would ordinarily include a link to best posts of the past, but I would have to include
all of them.
posted by JHarris
on Apr 3, 2008 -
49 comments
Twin Peaks season 2 DVD is almost here ... finally! That leaves precious few days to get prepared:
bone up on cast and crew details,
argue about theories,
click your way through the townsfolk,
obsess over every itty bitty blessed detail,
buy a "best friends" necklace,
keep the faith about the deleted scenes,
see whether it makes any more sense in German than English,
put a poster on your wall that will give you nightmares,
explore the Lodges,
watch very bad things happen to Jenna Elfman,
walk with Coop through the Black Lodge (
part 2),
blow the rest of the day reading stuff. For the truly ambitious,
book a room in scenic Snoqualmie and watch the entire series there.
posted by jbickers
on Mar 23, 2007 -
43 comments
A Pie-cosahedron and instructions on how to make it. Hint: start with lots of Karo syrup, some sheet metal, and plenty of time. That's not good enough? Try the
fractal pie, baked in its own custom-made backyard oven! These both came from the wonderful site,
instructables, which will reward you with many fun projects that you might even be able to do yourself.
posted by math
on Dec 1, 2006 -
9 comments
"Al Pieda" Targets Ann Coulter
Members of the notorious culinary terrorist group "Al Pieda" launched an attack on Ann Coulter while she was speaking at the University of Arizona. The report says some pie got on her face but attendants were able to wipe it off before she received any nutrional value from the pie.
Not to be confused with the notorious math group
"Al Gebra", who would have probably thrown a slide rule at her.
posted by fenriq
on Oct 25, 2004 -
26 comments
