Birthday Cake

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/6057300779/" title="DSC_0007 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0007" height="428" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6090/6057300779_103761ee3f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> <br /> <br /><div>Alice, beginning to make frosting for her cake...</div><div> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/6057849650/" title="DSC_0015 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0015" height="428" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6188/6057849650_3eafabdd3e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> <br /> <br /></div><div>... and adding the moulded chocolate letters and decorations.</div><div> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/6057304251/" title="DSC_0042 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0042" height="428" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6076/6057304251_e1688691ed_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> <br /> <br /></div><div>Miriam adding decorations to the cake she baked.</div><div> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/6057842676/" title="DSC_6034 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_6034" height="428" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6210/6057842676_e423d1fdc0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> <br /> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/6057844560/" title="DSC_6035 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_6035" height="428" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6076/6057844560_a9529cae90_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> <br /> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/6057299183/" title="DSC_6061 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_6061" height="428" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6207/6057299183_653daba39c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> <br /> <br /></div><div>The cake table with 4 of the 5 cakes, including one of Tom's two roulade cakes, our friend Elaine's lemon-poppyseed cake, and Miriam and Alice's decorated cakes.</div><div> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/6057852392/" title="IMG_1277 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1277" height="480" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6200/6057852392_ffc4d5e907_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div> <br /></div><div>After the party: cakes almost entirely gone!</div>

Birthday Cake

Alice, beginning to make frosting for her cake... ... and adding the moulded chocolate letters and decorations. Miriam adding decora...

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Art as Food

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlB-FK9lmh_rwmMalSFM-0V0-Qd2qPckH6CkVy_xb-1IUwf4PgmsAqlILB3GzErbxuGHmiu5n63rSl2w8HUY2Vfb2_aan1RE5f8P3KolcdHXrW45xL515agXxwzqKmPZPhRxorON45ZgiF/s1600/shoppingcart.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638966904001390018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlB-FK9lmh_rwmMalSFM-0V0-Qd2qPckH6CkVy_xb-1IUwf4PgmsAqlILB3GzErbxuGHmiu5n63rSl2w8HUY2Vfb2_aan1RE5f8P3KolcdHXrW45xL515agXxwzqKmPZPhRxorON45ZgiF/s400/shoppingcart.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>From the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-affordable-art-20110806,0,6328319.story">L.A.Times: Affordable art is the new reality</a>. <br /> <br />According to the article, people in these impoverished times love to buy inexpensive -- but original -- prints and paintings. Their cravings are being addressed by warehouse-style galleries in L.A. (or online). If you like to treat your purchases as commodities like groceries, they will even let you pile them into a shopping cart.

Art as Food

From the L.A.Times: Affordable art is the new reality . According to the article, people in these impoverished times love to buy inexpensiv...

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Eggs, $8 a dozen

Are organically grown foods too expensive to be a normal alternate to industrially produced foods? I think most people accept that there's some premium, often high, to be paid for organic food. And a little research tells us that a portion of that increase in price is due to government subsidies to the large-scale, environmentally unfriendly agriculture -- and no subsidies at all to the small-scale farmers who can behave more responsibly. <br /> <br />A farmer in New York -- <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/08/how-8-a-dozen-eggs-threaten-real-food-reforms/243276/">written up in the Atlantic </a>-- charges $8 per dozen for eggs: "each morning, the chickens are fed organic grain, then moved to fresh pasture in a specially made chicken mobile ... the process is so labor-intensive that bringing down the price would be near impossible." Further, bringing food into New York is itself a costly process. <br /> <br />The big question: will organic food ever be affordable to a reasonable percent of the population? The author of the article lists some possible reforms that could at least make the choice more plausible, but I wonder if any of those ideas are viable. The government is really out to lunch, and their lunch is not environmentally friendly or free of toxins and antibiotic resistant organisms. The industrial farmers and food processors don't bear the burden for the costs that result from their irresponsibility. And they have the money to influence the legislators. Alas!

Eggs, $8 a dozen

Are organically grown foods too expensive to be a normal alternate to industrially produced foods? I think most people accept that there'...

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Food Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum

The curator of the Norton Simon museum offers tours of food-themed paintings, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-norton-simon-museum-food-tour-pictures,0,5886074.photogallery">as documented by the L.A.Times</a>. This is a fascinating collection of images. I remarked on the large number of food paintings when I was at the museum earlier this summer: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2011/05/food-in-art-norton-simon-museum.html" style="color: rgb(85, 136, 170); text-decoration: none; ">Food in Art: the Norton Simon Museum</a>.</span> However, I chose mainly different pictures, like this one:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5744880867/" title="norton-simon1414 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="norton-simon1414" height="401" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5223/5744880867_8424e53062_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>

Food Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum

The curator of the Norton Simon museum offers tours of food-themed paintings, as documented by the L.A.Times . This is a fascinating collect...

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Time for a New Mona Lisa

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_gEzViA-yRI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Love that M&M character!

Time for a New Mona Lisa

Love that M&M character!

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Two-fisted Taste Test

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLfYtDK286cJx9PtDKCiZfsiPuSviAKh3rZmQjc-jfJ9TP_U1GcgudSR_Fqz6q7CL3Cz0GPhbnGp1qTToyf5ltzWLvv5zfww7Jt_PPoG13t48F6_4oq7gMXf1XbEeQiapnaJDA-bkwO-x/s1600/biscuits7559.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636436564871222994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLfYtDK286cJx9PtDKCiZfsiPuSviAKh3rZmQjc-jfJ9TP_U1GcgudSR_Fqz6q7CL3Cz0GPhbnGp1qTToyf5ltzWLvv5zfww7Jt_PPoG13t48F6_4oq7gMXf1XbEeQiapnaJDA-bkwO-x/s400/biscuits7559.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 207px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Trader Joe now sells "Bistro Biscuits" very similar to the Biscoff cookies served on some Delta Airlines flights, and available randomly at some stores. These are justifiably popular cookies, maybe even a cult item, and I'm really glad that TJ has come through. <br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRCS5A5mbxdqdIYm6WV9I4dOPmhXjm_5792O-q0G08sJH8tHdJoOhi_XCeit4Sh-XiZrfifWFx6qQ0oDc_BAlr9r2oWrtcpwXeDwlzVOiGxmGAiI34DITvKkTCONcTJu7eByEwjsBX9cNR/s1600/biscuits7562.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636436562212662866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRCS5A5mbxdqdIYm6WV9I4dOPmhXjm_5792O-q0G08sJH8tHdJoOhi_XCeit4Sh-XiZrfifWFx6qQ0oDc_BAlr9r2oWrtcpwXeDwlzVOiGxmGAiI34DITvKkTCONcTJu7eByEwjsBX9cNR/s400/biscuits7562.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>We did the two-fisted cookie challenge, taking bites from a TJ cookie and one of the two Delta Lotus Biscoff cookies that a friend thoughtfully saved for me from a flight she was on. The TJ version might be just a tiny bit sweeter, but the taste is almost identical. The TJ cookies are slightly smaller, measuring approximately 3 inches. I ate the Delta cookie before I thought of measuring it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQzzPR6BXk3Fo-fW3MACheOsu8IPXfLt4Pq_49NNaZz3tLs1rCSSEnUMrCT_-SAwzqO-2bfSps7TL2T2fBCM5_aJMiZ2BPOh-OY4lkn9np2xNR91zog_c1VhvLZ5EBPlcGSJWNJTzh-fGH/s1600/delta-cookies.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582615469194454338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQzzPR6BXk3Fo-fW3MACheOsu8IPXfLt4Pq_49NNaZz3tLs1rCSSEnUMrCT_-SAwzqO-2bfSps7TL2T2fBCM5_aJMiZ2BPOh-OY4lkn9np2xNR91zog_c1VhvLZ5EBPlcGSJWNJTzh-fGH/s400/delta-cookies.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Above are the Lotus Biscoff cookies that I bought from amazon.com a few months ago (eaten up long ago of course -- see <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2011/03/delta-cookies-hard-to-find-on-delta.html" style="color: #5588aa; text-decoration: none;">Delta Cookies -- Hard to find on Delta flights</a>). </span>As it happens, amazon.com now sells two kinds of Biscoff cookies, one from Lotus and another from "Gourmet Center" and the cost of the Lotus original has nearly doubled since I bought them. Lucky thing I can now get Trader Joe's Bistro Biscuits!</div>

Two-fisted Taste Test

Trader Joe now sells "Bistro Biscuits" very similar to the Biscoff cookies served on some Delta Airlines flights, and available ra...

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Chinese Woodblock Prints

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZdi2qguIJeYhFTrw_VhRrCtQQ0AijTjMY3KclA1ry8gpJhPLuumqapBGWMFwI7qu-qsmnK0eUFFBGmLcVejZLV5-y4SQUphAVG86mMXygSHo5_AL2FZg2v5QjFNIWc3WwEhD5bOtUY7S/s1600/chinese-woodblock7558.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635640558475605986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZdi2qguIJeYhFTrw_VhRrCtQQ0AijTjMY3KclA1ry8gpJhPLuumqapBGWMFwI7qu-qsmnK0eUFFBGmLcVejZLV5-y4SQUphAVG86mMXygSHo5_AL2FZg2v5QjFNIWc3WwEhD5bOtUY7S/s400/chinese-woodblock7558.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 390px;" /></a><br />This afternoon we saw a remarkable exhibit of Chinese woodblock prints all dating to the past decade. I was especially impressed by this image of a family eating dinner, reflected in a spoon. I loved the detailed imagery of dishes and foods, and the suggestion of family life. My photo isn't good at all: the print is around 6 feet tall, so I took it from across the room.<br /><br />We also heard a fascinating lecture about the meaning of the prints, especially about a conceptual artist, Xu Bing, who used to work in New York but is now in China.

Chinese Woodblock Prints

This afternoon we saw a remarkable exhibit of Chinese woodblock prints all dating to the past decade. I was especially impressed by this ima...

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