shaeconnorwrites

The New York Public Library has a Tumblr, in case you didn’t know, and that’s how I found out about the What’s On the Menu project. The NYPL has a collection of about 40,000 historical menus, and they’re recruiting help from the general public to transcribe the dishes listed on these menus to make them searchable.

You can help by going to the site and picking from the available menus to transcribe. You can also search through the site, or download the current list of data that’s been transcribed, if you’re interested in what would’ve been served at, say, a 25th anniversary celebration for a journalist at the New York Press Club in 1987. Authors of historicals, take note! 🙂

One of the best things about living in the South in the summer is the produce. Produce stands litter the landscape, offering up fresh summer tomatoes, peaches, corn, and a wealth of other bounty.

I love all kind of summer fruit, but for my mom, summer means one thing: WATERMELON. She’d eat it for every meal if she could get away with it. It’s almost a running joke, with every grocery list ending with “watermelon!”

For me, watermelon is as much about memory as taste. For as long as I can remember, my extended family has had a Fourth of July cookout, with the men spending the day guarding the grill, the women setting things up in the kitchen, and the kids staying cool in the pool. (Yes, traditional gender roles abound in the South. What a shocker!) And what else stayed cool in the pool? The watermelon! The kids would play around with it for most of the day in the water, and once the meal was over, it would be perfectly chilled to slice and eat for dessert.

Of course, there’s only one proper way to eat a watermelon like that: cut into slices, add a dash of salt if you like, and stick your face right in! Seed-spitting contests optional but encouraged. 🙂

Image: piyato / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I mentioned to D.M. Grace yesterday that I needed a food post for today, and she linked me here: Food Porn Daily. OMG, it’s a foodie’s dream! I scrolled through the gallery thinking, “I want that, and that, and OH YES THAT!!” Cupcakes, mac and cheese, beef, pancakes, seafood—you name it; they have it. I think I gained 10 pounds just looking. Totally worth it. 🙂