By Helen Labun Jordan

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Cooking and the Classroom

January 14, 2016 by helenlabunjordan

This blog post originally appeared on the Bear Pond Books’ Educators Resources Page – if you’re in the Montpelier area next Saturday, January 23rd, stop by Bear Pond Books for the workshop, it’s part of the Author-Educator series (but you don’t have to be an educator to enjoy it). January 23rd, at 11:00 am in the Children’s Room, Helen Labun kicks off the 2016 Author-Educator workshops with Cooking Experiments – a look at recent cookbooks for kids, the range of topics classes […]

Categories: Miscellaneous

Discovering Flavor Publication!

September 1, 2015 by helenlabunjordan

It’s the official publication date for Discovering Flavor (which you can order from Bear Pond Books at this link. . . you can order it from a certain other online retailer too). If you order the book now, you can receive it, read it, and start to play around with the food ideas it contains well before Halloween. Since many of the flavor examples involve candy and other junk food, getting this research phase completed before Halloween is a good idea. Because we (I) are […]

Categories: Miscellaneous

Preface to Discovering Flavor

August 16, 2015 by helenlabunjordan

The books are in! I’ve got my box of Discovering Flavor books ready to go for the August 25th launch party at Bear Pond Books. As a sneak peak, here is the preface (linked as a PDF document): Discovering Flavor – Preface

Categories: Miscellaneous, Recommended Reading

Cookbook Tour of NYC – Part 2

June 21, 2015 by helenlabunjordan

Cookbook Tour of NYC continued. . . the books and the places.  Prune – This cookbook is designed to mimic the kitchen binder used by staff in the restaurant. The recipes are minimalist and they offer a look inside the chef’s personal flavor sensibilities, producing dishes that could be called “in the Prune style” without a feeling of being constrained by it (at least, I don’t feel constrained as a non-staff member – staff presumably feel constrained). It succeeds in capturing […]

Categories: Miscellaneous

Cookbook Tour of NYC – Part 1

June 21, 2015 by helenlabunjordan

I remember decades ago ordering the Union Square Cafe cookbook from one of those discount book selling deals (“sign up and get a 10 books for a penny!”) that used to come in the mail in with the discount magazine subscription and discount music casette subscription notices. I didn’t know much about this cafe, but I knew it was in New York City and I thought that 1. New York City was sophisticated and 2. probably the closest I’d come […]

Categories: Miscellaneous

Discovering Flavor – Out and About in Minneapolis

April 11, 2015 by helenlabunjordan

Here it is – DISCOVERING FLAVOR out and about in the world, at the 99: The Press table at the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) conference in Minneapolis. DISCOVERING FLAVOR is an introduction to food appreciation for the average eater. It takes a commonsense approach to explaining flavor using everyday foods, like coffee, bacon, and pie. The leap from understanding your favorite cookies to understanding why some people are euphoric about high end Champagne is not as great […]

Categories: Miscellaneous

Otter Creek Copper Ale

Changing Tastes and America’s Beer

March 24, 2015 by helenlabunjordan

When I was doing research to write Discovering Flavor, Lawrence and I talked about Americans’ changing tastes in beer as an example of how our idea about what is “normal” in food can shift dramatically over a short period of time. Lawrence founded Otter Creek Brewing company back in 1990 when it took a lot of work to convince folks to try something deviating from the Budweiser, Coors type of flavor profile. He sold the brewery in 2002. By that time, craft […]

Categories: Miscellaneous

Mexico: The Cookbook

March 6, 2015 by helenlabunjordan

Lawrence and I recently hosted a Oaxacan dinner because (and this should be obvious) we got our hands on a large container of dehydrated grasshoppers – or Chapulines. Having a big batch, seasoned to be super tart and salty, meant we could add them to dishes at will (or not, as was the case for most of our guests). You know how in some southeast Asian cuisines chopped up peanuts taste good on everything? Well. Salty, crunchy, tangy, protein-y grasshoppers […]

Categories: Miscellaneous

Correct Flavors

March 6, 2015 by helenlabunjordan

We all have weird things that we enjoy, and a minority of other people enjoy, and most people think is gross. I mush corn Chex into Cream of Wheat. I drink Orleans Bitters (which is, as the name implies, bitters) straight not as a mixer. It’s bitter. I like raw bread dough (and realize that eating a bunch of it would make me sick, so I don’t) and I like unsweetened baking chocolate. It’s tempting, and fundamentally correct, to look […]

Categories: Miscellaneous

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