Finished reading The Book Lover’s Cookbook 
I’ve long thought about cookbooks and recipe files to go with different books….part of the
you are what you eat – especially if you’re fiction
thinking.
Erle Stanley Gardner and Perry Mason…steak, Scotch and baked potatoes
This might be a good place to start, even if no actual goose is involved.
There are over 80 volumes in the series, so it could take a while, reading them, collecting the references, looking up appropriate period recipes, testing them…..
Totally random bit : Erle Stanley Gardner was born in Malden Massachusetts in 1889.
And he really was a lawyer, in California.
Erle is an odd ball enough spelling of his name to keep him as a crossword puzzle clue for generations.
Laura ‘Half-Pint’ Ingalls Wilder from the Little House on the Prairie is mentioned .She already has a cookbook of her own.
Almond macaroons – the Italian ones, made of almonds, (not French one O macaron or the coconut ones, which are good) ….are a very good thing.
Easy Almond Macaroons by Caterina Borg, Good Food Gourmet on January 13, 2013
Almond macaroons are also known as ‘squishy cookies’ (at least in my family) Here’s a link to a recipe or find a good Italian baker.
Family party which include my mother and her cousins discussing the best sfogliatella…..
Sfoglitella – flaky pastry from southern Italy
Evidently the best these days is in San Diego or Naples….again, a treat you buy and don’t make at home. There are a number of videos on YouTube, but once you start calling them ‘Lobster Tails’ you’re already too far from the source to be taken too seriously. And none of them are being done by home cooks or Nonnas.
What do Italians talk about when they sit at the table with food?
Other food.
Food we have had, food we remember, food we would like to make or eat or improve. Who made it, who else was there, who ate with us. Before there were foodies, there were Italians.
I’ve also been watching Bluebloods. Almost every episode has at least one scene of the whole family, all four generations, seated around a totally enormous table.
Everyone gathered. Everyone talking. But this is an Irish family, not an Italian one.
Bluebloods, the Regan clan gathered round the dinner table
What do the Irish talk about around the table? Politics. Work.
Not so much food, except to pass the dish or clear off at the end of the meal.Also pretty true.
And last but not least, a piece of Birthday Cake, for the family June birthdays.
A piece of cake
