| I wonder how tulip trees survive outside of Eden
The calendar says March, and once again the tulip tree out by my mailbox is acting like a 4-year-old girl, eager to throw off her jacket and dress herself for spring in bright, frilly attire. She's putting on her lavender-pink blooms already, not even pausing to consider that one freezing March night will leave them in ugly black tatters. This happens every March, sometimes even in late February. The tulip tree is hungry for a taste of spring, so it dives in without thinking of the consequence. The consequence is that every year we watch the blooms die a horrid death just a day or two after their coming-out party. If the silly tree had only waited a couple of weeks, we could have enjoyed its finery for a good long time. In the back yard, the fig trees are more practical.
Thirty-one-derful flavors
FARMINGTON — When ice cream aficionado's step into Farmington's Baskin-Robbins store, chances are they'll order a single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. So says Ted Rohwer, who has owned the local franchise for 29 years. "Mint Chocolate Chip is by far the favorite flavor in Farmington," he said. "Then it's Chocolate Chip, Pralines and Cream and Strawberry." Throughout the franchise's history, Rohwer said employees have dished up more than 100,000 gallons of ice cream. When the store first opened, single-scoop ice cream cones held 2.5 ounces of the sweet treat. But that eventually increased to four ounces when the competition started offering larger portions. "We still sell the 2.5 ounce scoop," Rohwer said, "but it's a kids scoop. Most people who come into the store order a single scoop of ice cream, but we sell a lot of sundaes and ice cream cakes." "We also offer the best coffee drink on the market.
Cook more, take out less, chef's book advocates
``Kitchen Sense'' (Clarkson Potter, 528 pp., $35), his newest cookbook, is aimed at getting a generation of food-obsessed takeout junkies into the kitchen to create their own meals. It's an enthusiastic blend of cooking tips, food lore and recipes for everything from hard-boiled eggs to duck prosciutto -- all presented in terms that even novices who don't know the difference between a skillet and a wok can understand. A trained chef and vice president and director of communications for the James Beard Foundation in New York, Davis recognizes that many Americans have developed more sophisticated tastes than their parents ever imagined. They eat out frequently and can discuss the differences in Chinese regional cuisines or the influence of experimental Spanish chefs on American menus.
Hot Stuff: Food Blog Round Up
YummySF makes us feel all warm and happy about the Chinese New Year. Check out some yummy (indeed!) dim sum pics from a Tai Wu Restaurant outing. Eating dim sum seems like a perfect way to celebrate. In other traditions -- mainly Lent -- World On A Plate has some drool worthy dets on buns, including items from Iceland, of all places. You've seen the photos, now do the reading. One intersting historical note: poor King Frederick of Sweden loved his buns so much, he died from gorging on fourteen of them (preceded by a feast). Traditions can be tricky. Not everyone loves Valentine's Day, for example. Word Eater is a bit scarred from a past Valentine heart break. His solution? Prepare and eat anti-depressant foods. The menu is lovely: King salmon, walnuts, beets, and walnuts.
Reader recipe: Red, White and Blue Stuffed French Toast
At the Crop-A-Doodle-Do Inn in Arcadia, guests combine a country-farmhouse stay with spa treatments and, in a surprising twist, scrapbooking. A favorite for girls-only getaways, Crop-A-Doodle-Do serves up cozy comfort food in a one-giant-table-sits-all dining room. This patriotic-themed recipe from Brenda Webster -- one of the inn's three owners -- is a favorite even when July 4th is far on the horizon. .
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