Home Ecology

We’re not the first people to need a better daily bread. A loaf  that is 100% whole grain and suitable for both toast and sandwiches. A loaf that is anyone can make, easily. As World War II progressed, the quality of bread in England became a major issue. The ordinary people of Britain were subsisting, often, on little more than tea and bread and jam. They couldn’t get supplies of American wheat because the ships that crossed the Atlantic would loaded with war-related goods, but no one knew how to [...]

After I published the post "To Cook A Wolf - Baking with M F K Fisher," the cookbook platform ckbk suggested we collaborate in promoting an idea we both clearly believe: that home cooking can help us get through the COVID-19 crisis. I had picked up How to Cook a Wolf because it’s about eating during an emergency era, dealing with strained budgets and scarce provisions. M. F. K. Fisher tackled the challenge of hearing the wolf at the door with panache. It is true that, when the wolf first [...]

I’m in a war-time, Victory Garden frame of mind. There is no actual food shortage and no prospect, it seems, of running out of food. But going to the shops has left us shaken: the crowds, the lack of awareness of what social distancing means (the guys standing close together in the produce department at Guido’s, chatting about how their kids’ schools have been closed - guess why, fellas?), and even the presence of sick people (the woman coughing in the checkout line at the Berkshire Coop - seriously?). Add [...]