Tell Time By Dessert

Holiday traditions often involve food. Tastes on our tongues serve as a mnemonic device. Memories form in our mouths before our minds, and then we are transported to holidays of past. 

This year, as in years past (see my December 2011 post), I baked a cheesecake and a chocolate roll. This year, as in years past, I was ocularly addicted to the look of yellow yolks blending with black chocolate, and opaque whites whipped until stiff.

With the right light and wetness, all food can achieve the perfect holiday glisten. Having an annual baking tradition is just as much a blur as the blending of eggs. It's hard to discern yolk from chocolate after a while, and all the years of desserts blur together in one rich mouthful. 

My Grandmother's chocolate roll brings back memories of a long drive on roads that are no longer called "country," cousins in velvet, coyotes, beef and cream, my first Christmas with Craig, the first Christmas I prepared duck, and the desire to make meringue mushrooms and always falling short.

My Step-dad's mom's cheesecake, a recent addition to the Holiday roster, reminds me of a New York I've never visited, Tom's stories of Germany, walking through a snowstorm on Christmas Eve to hunt down cream cheese with Jeremy, my last Christmas with Matilda, the word "mouthfeel," and family.

Here was the dessert table this Christmas Eve: Chocolate roll (top), Cheesecake (left), and Dave's famous berry pie with a crust that would make your grandmother wonder butter! And when we look back at photos, if it weren't for this blog, would I think it was the Christmas of 2012, or of 2005?

How do the holidays land on your tongue?

~ Trilety

Random

There is so much going on with Two Birds lately that our heads are swirling with information. Meetings and advice and requirements and waivers. We're doing a great job, but it is a lot to take in. 

So this time I would like to write about nothing in relation to the bakery. Just for a break, right? Maybe something I learned recently... or something that I like. Something that brings me joy.

Have I talked about how much I love Saturday morning radio? Most people who know me have heard me say how much I enjoy working Saturday mornings. This is because I am able to listen to radio the whole time I work, and on Saturday mornings I listen to NPR. At 9am is Car Talk, at 10am is Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and at 11am is This American Life. That is a stellar lineup! Time goes by so quickly when I'm learning about cars, listening to interviews, and snickering at bantering hosts.

Car Talk has been around for as long as I can remember. My mom used to listen to it in the car when I was small, and she would tell me how much she liked the show. At the time I had little use or appreciation for it, but now I love it. Those guys, Ray and Tommy, are so silly and familiar. What is more entertaining than their quips and puns is that they are constantly laughing at themselves. Two distinct laughs, I can tell them apart. Sadly and also happily, they retired in October 2012. However, NPR is still airing previous recordings at the regular day and time. Although they are gone, they are not really gone, and I am glad.

Four or five years ago I started listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, not to be confused with What Do You Know (which I used to do since they both start with "W"). In my opinion, the former is hilarious and the latter is not so hilarious, but that depends on your humor I think. On Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Peter Sagal is the host, Carl Kasell is the judge/scorekeeper, and there is a rotating panel of contestants as well as one celebrity guest a week, who answer Sagal's questions about the prior week's news stories, big and small. They are all snarky and silly. Most if not all are comedians. Now that you know that, can't you just imagine the hilarity?! Huh. This paragraph really doesn't convey how fun the show is, but I think if you listen, you will be entertained!

This American Life consists of essays, some fiction, some non-fiction, from people all over the US. Whosever idea it was is brilliant. Stories range from suspenseful, to scary, to heartwarming, to odd. They are all interesting and lovely. 

Even if you don't work Saturday mornings, you can still listen to these shows at home. Yes you can! Or you can listen to podcasts of them. 

So, you might thing that this whole post has been a major plug but that's okay; it wasn't meant to be. It's just a little bit about me :)

Meg