American culture Archives - Page 8 of 11

Election Day Eve 2016

July 30, 2020November 7, 2016 by Lisa Johnson 2 Comments

Over the years, I’ve written about many elections. I was very excited about the election while I was supporting Bernie Sanders in the primary. After that, not so much.

Trump is an abomination and I will leave it at that. Since Massachusetts has early voting, I voted already for Hillary Clinton. I wasn’t particularly happy about voting for her, but she is the only sane choice. And again, I will leave it at that.

The campaigns have stressed me out and I’m horribly nervous about tomorrow. I have never felt worse about an election. Which is probably why this is my only real election post. And it’s still kind of not a real election post. But it’s all that I have in me to write.

The best thing that I can say about this election is the resurgence of election cakes. I baked one back in 2007 and blogged an election cake recipe on BoomerGirl.com. That blog exists in a different form now and my post is long gone. So much has changed since 2007!

Luckily, the Wayback Machine exists and I was able to find the archived version. The pictures of the cake aren’t there, but you can still read the post. I’m so glad to find my recipe, because I thought it was lost forever.

Maybe I’ll try adapting it again. Because as I recall, there was room for improvement. Assuming we survive the aftermath of this election. God help us all.

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Image: Screenshot Instagram #makeamericacakeagain

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It’s Massachusetts Farmers Market Week!

July 30, 2020August 7, 2016 by Lisa Johnson 2 Comments

It’s time to support our local farmers. Governor Charlie Baker proclaimed that this coming week, August 7 -13 is Farmers Market Week.

If you’re not here in the Bay State, it’s a national effort too! According to the USDA, there are over 8500 farmers markets across the country.

Here in Massachusetts, according to the press release, we have “approximately 248 summer and fall farmers’ markets and 40 winter farmers’ markets ….” There is an interactive map listing all the farmers market in the state, so you can find one near you.

Going to work I take the Red Line to South Station, so I pass the Dewey Square Farmers Market every Tuesday and Thursday. It couldn’t be any easier, so I have been buying fresh produce and flowers there on a regular basis. Also, on occasion, I stop by Hanson Farm in Bridgewater.

Maybe this week, I’ll buy something a bit different. What about you?

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Recipe: Double Berry Almond Breakfast Cookies

July 30, 2020July 25, 2016 by Lisa Johnson

Back in 2008, I posed the question, “Cupcake or muffin?” Is the only real difference that one we eat for breakfast or a snack and the other is dessert? Muffins sometimes have glaze, which is basically frosting.

Calorically there is not much difference either. I agree with a recent Vox article stating that we need to get real about our American breakfasts. They are basically dessert. Although an article found in Essence may help assuage our collective guilt. Eating dessert for breakfast may help us lose weight. Let’s go with that one!

If you ever think that I will discourage dessert, then you are ~~sadly~~ happily mistaken. I have a healthy (cough, cough) breakfast cookie recipe for you. It’s been a while since I blogged a recipe, so the time is right.

The only reason that I found this recipe is because another one of my favorite magazines abruptly stopped publication — More Magazine. It was a great magazine. Stylish, intelligent and thoughtful. Oh well. Seems that doesn’t sell. I still miss Whole Living. *sigh*

But I digress. For the remainder of my More subscription, I was given Shape Magazine. It’s not bad, but not a true replacement. Anyway, I did find this breakfast cookie recipe. It’s sweet, but uses maple syrup instead of sugar. I added honey and made a number of other changes based on the ingredients that I had at home, my particular tastes and knowing my oven.

As I always say, a recipe is just a starting point. Adapt away! Let me know if you try the recipe and what you think.

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Double Berry Almond Breakfast Cookies (Adapted from recipe on Shape Magazine)
(Makes a dozen)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup almond meal
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 T honey
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cup blueberries
1 cup cranberries (halved)
1/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/2 tsp. orange peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium to large bowl combine ingredients. Mix well. Use an ice cream scoop to put batter on baking sheet. Bake about 30 minutes. Remove cookies and let cool on a rack. Enjoy!

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The Resurgence of the Ice Cream Sandwich

July 30, 2020July 17, 2016 by Lisa Johnson

The ice cream sandwich never totally disappeared from the dessert scene. Vanilla ice cream between a chocolate cakey wafer is a classic American childhood summer treat.

It was good, but not that exciting. We grew up and the novelty wore off. But things have changed. There’s been a lot of innovation since we were kids.

A few months ago, I tried Stop & Shop’s Limoncello flavor and became rather obsessed with them. They are so good! But they are around for a limited time only. Sadly, I couldn’t find them the last time that I looked.

Ciao Bella makes Gelato Squares in flavors like Key Lime Graham and Sea Salt Caramel. A cold, creamy treat for those of us who have not seen our teen years in a while. Actually, some teens and younger might like these too.

Now for those of us in Massachusetts especially, Hood ice cream takes us back to our childhoods. Hood has stepped up their game with some new limited time only flavors as well.

Pictured above is S’mores. Which I ate right after photographing. Because it was melting. I couldn’t be wasteful could I?! 😋

I also bought the Cookies ‘n Cream, but haven’t tried them yet. Looking forward to it! July is National Ice Cream Month and we are now in the heart of summer. I’m looking forward to trying out more variations. Especially since it’s in the food blogger job description — that I just made up!

Today is also National Ice Cream Day, so you can get going on your summer consumption too!

Summer Bliss: Maxwell in Concert

July 30, 2020July 10, 2016 by Lisa Johnson 4 Comments

Friday night, I had the best time seeing Maxwell perform live at Foxwoods in Connecticut. Maxwell has been a favorite artist of mine for decades and I had never seen him before.

It had been a while since I had been to a concert at all. After Prince died, I resolved to attend more live shows. I will never regret seeing Prince in concert on the spur of the moment. There is nothing like a live performance.

I had to save and budget for this little trip. This week money will be very tight, because of course unexpected things always come up at the worst time. But I am so glad that I went.

A friend invited me to attend with a couple of her friends and I did not hesitate agreeing to go. We decided to stay overnight at a nearby hotel, Hilton Garden Inn Preston Casino Area, so we wouldn’t have to worry about driving back to Massachusetts the same night and just enjoy ourselves.

The Hilton Garden Inn is a nice hotel and in great location. On my drive down, I passed Mystic Pizza 2. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to go in and try their famous pizza. Ever since I saw the movie, one of my all-time favorites, I’ve always wanted to try it and visit the Mystic area.

Also, since I wrote my Craving Boston article about modern Native American food, I wanted to try the food at the Pequot Museum in Mashantucket, which is just minutes away from the hotel. So I already have a return trip in mind.

Back to Maxwell. Before the show, we had a quick dinner at Fuddruckers, because we were running late. The show was a real treat for all of us. I forgot just how much I love Maxwell’s music. He and his band were incredible. And Maxwell is sexy as hell! Go and see him if you can.

You can tell that Maxwell was truly grateful when he thanked us for supporting him for 20 years. He kept mentioning how old he is at 43 and how much he has learned along the way. He knows and respects his audience and we all felt it.

He spoke about the racial tension in this country after the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and the police officers in Dallas. The show was a momentary escape, but all that is going on right now was still not far from our minds. Before he sang Lifetime, Maxwell let us know that all our lives matter and yes, Black Lives Matter too.

By the way, I’m listening to his music as I write. If you have Amazon Prime, it appears that all his albums are available in the music library for free.

After the show, we stayed nearby in the casino area, had drinks, listened to music and danced. None of us are gamblers, but we still had a blast.

The next morning we had brunch at the hotel. It was good, reasonably priced and I’d recommend staying there and eating there too. Then we left.

It was a quick trip and I combined some additional freelance writing work with it as well. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I stopped in Tiverton, Rhode Island on the way back home. Tiverton is quintessential quaint New England. Such a beautiful area!

Milk & Honey is the cutest little store that I found. It has all sorts of local food products. I enjoyed the lemon Yacht Club soda. Delicious! Did you know that their brand is Rhode Island’s Official Soda? It is! I’m also looking forward to trying the Summertime Garden Honey that I bought. It’s from Sakonnet Seaside Bees at Hollygate Farm also in Tiverton. I could not find a website to link to for them unfortunately.

Anyway, while I was there I took many more pictures and did an interview for my next Craving Boston article. Stay tuned!

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