Scrapple is a great example of a polarizing food—people either love it or think it’s abominable. I happen to love it because it’s substantially similar to Panhas, a traditional Westphalian food that was one of my comfort dishes growing up. (The recipe for Panhas was imported by German immigrants, which is why it’s mostly…
Category: food and drink.
Po-tay-toes
All right, the All Dressed potato chip flavor is pretty damn good. I stocked up in Canada, and today I saw that our local grocery store carries at least one brand variety of All Dressed as well. (For the uninitiated, of which I was one until recently, All Dressed is a combination of ketchup,…
One of the top three American inventions
Why didn’t anyone inform me that licorice-flavored gum is a thing? (Today I learned that Black Jack has been around since 1884, that it was the first flavored gum in the United States, and that it was the first gum to be offered in sticks.)
Achtung! Kein Kinderlakritz!
“An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. It is the opposite of innate taste, which is the appreciation for things that are enjoyable by most persons without prior exposure to them.” –Wikipedia I explained the concept of acquired taste…
My morning brain fuel of choice
A lot of my writer friends basically live on coffee. I like it every now and then, but it’s not a daily thing for me. It’s what I get when I am grabbing breakfast while out and about, not what I make every morning to get going. At Castle Frostbite, we drink tea instead, and…
The highest and most noble use for potatoes
Every expat I know has a dietary vice they imported from their home country. It’s invariably something that is a.) bad for you, and b.) hard to obtain outside of its country of origin. Those two factors combine to make it far more desirable than it would be if you could walk down to the…
The Spirits of Christmas
Robin gave me a neat holiday gift this year: an advent calendar of cocktails. Each day, she handed me a little numbered and labeled bag with ingredients and a recipe for a different holiday-themed cocktail. If you’ve been following my instagram feed, I’ve documented most of them there. The one in the picture above was…
a wild blog update appears!
If I’m less active on social media at the moment, it’s because I am finishing up FIELDS OF FIRE, Frontlines #5, for delivery to my publisher. (FIELDS OF FIRE already has a pre-order page if you want to put your order in early, but be aware that the delivery date is provisional and can change.)…
frontlines: the cocktail.
Just in time for the upcoming Manticon (where I will be Guest of Honor), I present to you the first Frontlines-themed cocktail: the Shockfrost. Those of you who have read ANGLES OF ATTACK will know that the Shockfrost is featured in the novel as the specialty of the bars on the ice moon New Svalbard,…
german food favorites.
Food loves kindled or rekindled on our Germany trip: 1.) Ostfriesentee (East Frisian tea) Ostfriesentee is a very dark Assam blend, strong enough to keep its flavor when using cream and sugar in it like the East Frisians do. This is a real kick-in-the-pants blend that can hold its own against strong coffee when…