Boo! Beer and Babies

Boo! Beer and Babies scares up creep, holidays, Oktoberfest brews, great reads, seasonal health help, and a great recipe for fish and chips

Good ale is meat, drink, and cloth. A Compleat Collection of English Proverbsby JOHN RAYEnglish naturalist and collector of proverbs1628—1705   Boo! Beer and Babies Musings For those parts of the world influenced by European conquest and culture, the calendar’s final three months are holiday central. From autumnal beer to Halloween to Christmas, this edition of […]

Election Cake

From “Party Like a Puritan!” to the more recent #MakeAmericaBakeAgain, politics and pastry may be a perfect pairing!

Election Cake of Days Gone By Three cups milk, two cups sugar, one cup yeast; stir to a batter and let stand over night; in the morning add two cups sugar, two cups butter, three eggs, half a nutmeg, one tablespoonful cinnamon, one pound raisins, a gill of brandy. Brown sugar is much better than […]

Lunch, Lattes, and a Touch of Tartrazine

Tartrazine, Doritos, pumpkins, coffee, great books and more

When in doubt, eat your neighbor’s lunch. KEVIN HEARNEAmerican fantasy author1970—Trapped: The Iron Druid Chronicles   As the school year and autumn begin in the northern hemisphere, musings keeps step with the season. This edition of musings looks at school lunches around the world and something to consider before putting those chips into your kiddo’s […]

Blowin’ Smoke—The Art of Trading Cards

The Art of Trading Cards: Nineteenth century tobacco companies used cigarette cards to sell their product

Blowin’ Smoke and Brushing Up on History It’s 1885 and you’re sitting in a marketing meeting at the Richmond, Virginia, offices of Allen & Ginter. The tobacco company needs to stand out from its U.S. competitors. But those Brits!—They are the real competition for you and your fellow American tobacconists. Allen & Ginter has already […]

Winner! Winner! Sunday Dinner!

Winner! Winner! Sunday Dinner! French baguette-scented stamps and Danish tax unlike any other

A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner. SAMUEL JOHNSONEnglish poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic,biographer,editor, lexicographer, and author1709—1784The Life of Samuel Johnson   Apparently Google agrees! Musings starts this edition with a look bread and cheese news from Europe then brings us to the 2024’s Google Doodle winner […]

Let Them Eat Cake!

Marie or Not Marie? Let them eat cake! Marie Antoinette never said. So why does she get credited with the quote?

Let them eat cake! MARIE ANTOINETTEAustrian archduchess and last queen of France1755—1793   Marie or Not Marie? That is the Question! To answer the question: Not Marie. First, there’s the questionable translation of what was a quote attributed to a variety of royals long before Marie Antoinette ascended to the throne: Qu’ils mangent de la brioche! […]

One More Drink …

Dorothy Parker and her legendary drinking buddies spawned many urban legends including her "One more drink" quote

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker, American poet, writer, critic, and satirist (1893—1967), was renowned for her sharp wit and often acerbic jibes—sometimes self-deprecating. Given the era and places in which she lived, the social dinner and party circuits were part of the package. Parker’s penchant for drinking in excess was not a secret. Her biographer, Marion […]

No Cleaner Than a Kitchen

How clean is your kitchen and the food you eat?

Such is life. It is no cleaner than a kitchen; it reeks of a kitchen; and if you mean to cook your dinner, you must expect to soil your hands; the real art is in getting them clean again, and therein lies the whole morality of our epoch. HONORÉ DE BALZACFrench novelist and playwright1799—1850Father Goriot […]