Fork & Spoon with Jonathan Bloom

Spork & Foon

2008-05-20T23:00:00.009-05:00

I think the Fork & Spoon blog just found a new header image. Or perhaps a new raison d'etre. Maybe both.

Either way, I'm impressed by this fine piece of design from Masami Takahashi. It's only available at the MOMA store.

Best of all, this piece of flatware was designed for Ramen, an old source of joy here at Fork & Spoon. The price of bliss: $12.

Zagnabbit!

2008-05-14T13:58:00.026-05:00

Since I've started working a regular old 9 to 5, the posts here have, ahem, slowed down. OK, slowed to a crawl. Anyway, I've been thinking of ways to reinvent the Fork & Spoon blog. Here's one approach:

Consider this the first in a series on vending machine snacks. I'm at work, you're at work (hopefully not), there's vending machines around. Let's talk about them. Every so often (probably weekly), I'll discuss one snack machine item. Basically, work food reviews for working stiffs.

I should say that the vending machine in my office is a non-traditional one, in that it's not a machine. It's a cardboard display with a rotating stock and an honor system coin boxes.

While I appreciate the trust (I think my company pays the difference between what's paid and owed), I also like being able to read the ingredients. It keeps me from eating too many snacks.

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The Zagnut bar, launched in 1930, is a real throwback. As you can see on the right, the bar's no-frills red and yellow wrapper communicates its vintage. Bought by Hershey's in the '90s, the bar remains more cult classic than blockbuster. It may have appeared in more movies than store shelves.

After its design got my attention, the Zagnut wrapper promised: "crunchy peanut butter, toasted coconut." It was a combination I couldn't resist.

So what does a Zagnut taste like? Kind of like a Butterfinger, minus the chocolate and with a toasted coconut aftertaste. There are very few candy bars not coated in chocolate. And while cocoa is listed as an ingredient in the "contains 2% or less" category, I didn't see or taste it.

As seen in the photo to the left (and yes, that's a manila folder background), the Zagnut has two distinct layers. There's the toasted coconut shell, which features coconut sprinkled onto a sugary coating (corn syrup?). And then there's the peanut butter interior which has an almost pop-rockish texture (minus the crackling).

Personally, I'd prefer more coconut, as the peanut butter dominates. Still, it's not a bad candy bar. In fact, I'd take it over a Butterfinger any day.

Then again, my vending machine doesn't usually have Butterfingers. Every week, though, the vending guy collects the money and changes the stock. What'll next week bring??

Note: No paper cuts were suffered in the writing of this post.

Victual Voting

2008-04-17T13:16:00.017-05:00

What will those tricky political pollsters do next? It turns out they can tell a good deal about your political leanings based on your cupboard contents. Political strategists have begun targeting voters based on their food preferences.

I've read about what Hilary eats and heard from her former White House chef. I would guess Cindy McCain isn't much for cooking. Yet I didn't know that our food choices could be linked to our political ones.

It's worth reading the findings to see whether the microtrenders have you pegged correctly. Among other things, Hilarians are likely to shop at Whole Foods. Obamaphiles, meanwhile, favor farmer's markets. And McCainiacs go to a regular supermarket.

From comparing my food and political preferences, I'd say the forecasting is fairly accurate. As for my preferred candidate, I wouldn't want to broadcast my choice. Besides, I gotta run--the farmer's market closes soon.

Top This: Bottomings!

2008-03-28T11:03:00.009-05:00

Hey there, Forkosphere.

Sorry about that delay--the real world intervened and the ol' Forkster now finds himself working 9 to 5 (ahem, 8:30 to 5:30) with a commute and everything. Food fun has taken a backseat for a while, but Fork & Spoon should resume service now on a somewhat regular basis.

On that note...As part of my ongoing though somewhat-less-exuberant dalliance with Trader Joe's, I've been using their dough to make pizza most weeks. Well, I've been spending my own money, but you knew what I meant.

The other night, in making the standard mushroom and olive, a little black pearl somehow ended up underneath. Well you've all heard of toppings, but what about "Bottomings?!"

This blessing from the Food Gods came about through chance. The olive slice probably fell off when I was shoveling the first pie onto the pizza stone and was baked into the underside of the second pizza. It was quite a novelty and made for quite a bite.

If you're in the Pizza Hut corporate office and are reading this, let's talk. There are only so many pizza innovations left, and I'm ready to make a package deal for Bottomings and the Falzone/Calzinger.

Might this fluke be the start of something big (a la Mr. Reese and his peanut butter and chocolate mishap)? I'm sure The Beard Foundation is on the edge of their seats. As am I.

What's a Falzone?

2008-01-15T21:57:00.000-05:00

It's usually necessity that's the mother of invention. Tonight it was excess. Excess pizza dough, that is.

I was rolling out the dough (thanks Trader Joe!) and got close to something resembling a circle except for a little extra bit. I trimmed that off and threw the pizza in the oven. Then I thought about what to do with that six-inch excess.

With a little the cheese, tomato sauce, mushrooms and olives still out, I thought about making a mini-pizza. Kinda like a silver dollar pancake, but more savory. But I realized that if I made a calzone, I could fit it on the pizza stone along with the real pizza.

I rolled it up, pinched it shut and popped it in the oven.

Only after taking it out of the oven did I realize that I may have invented something new: the finger calzone. Or, as I like to call it, the Falzone (which sounded better than the Calzinger, Fingone or Finzone).

In the calzone family, the Falzone is the opposite of the mammoth P'zone. It's more like a stuffed breadstick. For me, that's a plus, as I often think calzones have too much squirty, scalding sauce.

The only factor holding back the Falzone's widespread adoption is that it's pretty labor intensive for a hand-held item. Yet if the Pizza Powers That Be can create a crust that folds over the pizza, I'm optimistic they'll figure out a way. Maybe they can talk to the Twinkie people.

Stick a Fork in it...

2007-12-19T11:38:00.000-05:00

...this column's done.

My Trader Joe's column is now online, and you can check out my take on the store with the Joefficial Forkster review.

If you do go to the 3-week-old Chapel Hill store, save some Mango Passion Granola for me!

You Want Answers?

2007-12-17T15:07:00.000-05:00

I'm busy ~~whipping out~~ crafting the upcoming column for Wednesday, but here are few quick answers to the last post's questions.

Q: Can Granny's Apple Granola unseat its cousin, Mango Passion Granola, from the top of my list? Grandmas are seldom wrong...
A: I'd sell my grandma down the river for a case of Mango Passion Granola. (Just kidding, grandma! Besides, I meant the other grandma). In any case, I'll stick with the Mango version.

Q: Why did I buy banana granola bars? What made me think these would be anything but odd?
A: Because I'm a sucker for unusual flavors and products.

Q: Which of their frozen treats is the best: Mandarin Orange Chicken, Gyoza Chicken Potstickers, a Pizza 4 Formaggi , Chile Verde Chicken Burritos and Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches?
A: Probably the potstickers, followed by the burritos.

I'd say that all of the above frozen foods are about 2/3 as tasty as ones you'd get in a restaurant at about 1/3 the price. I suppose that's a fair tradeoff. I certainly made short work of the Orange Chicken!

Joe Report--Part 3

2007-12-14T16:07:00.000-05:00

In case you hadn't guessed, I'm writing my next column--out Wednesday--on the Trader Joe's that just opened in my town. Then again, maybe that's just a convenient way to cover up my complete addiction to the store's cereal.

Either way, I made my third real visit there yesterday. After a relatively restrained shopping run, I'm left with these questions:

Can Granny's Apple Granola unseat its cousin, Mango Passion Granola, from the bottom of my heart? Grandmas are seldom wrong...

Which of their frozen treats is the best? The Spoonstress and I will have to consume Mandarin Orange Chicken, Gyoza Chicken Potstickers, a Pizza 4 Formaggi , Chile Verde Chicken Burritos and Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches by Tuesday so that I can write about them for the column. By then, we'll either be TJ addicts or never want to set foot in the store again.

Why did I buy banana granola bars? What made me think these would be anything but odd?

What's wrong with their peanut butter? I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich yesterday and the taste was a bit off. Since I couldn't put my finger on it, I compared its label to our last jar of organic peanut butter. The answer is an easy fix: not enough salt. That raises another question: Will I really salt my next PB & J?

Check back later for some answers...

Joe Report--Part 2

2007-12-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

When I visited Trader Joe's one night shortly after it opened, I was shocked by the abundance of bare shelves. Last night, I returned at the same time to see how the store was adjusting to consumer demand.

Rejoice, Joe Folks, the shelves were mostly full. The ones that weren't were being restocked by smiling employees (Joe must either pay well or provide a nice discount). Best of all, the frozen aisle wasn't completely empty.

Now this was just a quick drop-in, but I couldn't resist another box of Organic Mango Passion Granola. I'd hoped the name implied passionfruit, but sadly it doesn't. I'm not sure I've developed a mango passion, but I do have a passion for this cereal.

The granola is litered with bits of fruit that remind me of "sugar cereal" marshmallows. Luckily, though, instead of "pink hearts" or "yellow moons," they're just freeze-dried mango. Color me charmed.

Joe Report--Part 1

2007-12-05T15:08:00.000-05:00

Consider Trader Joe's visited. I made my maiden shopping run to the store recently and have been enjoying its results.

I arrived at 7:50 p.m., which was my first mistake. I was shocked to see many empty shelves. It was as if I'd entered a Soviet grocery store or a pre-blizzard American one. I expected to see snow when I exited.

I'm not complaining, mind you, as I understand the store is just working out the kinks and the staff was quite apologetic.

Not surprisingly, the bare shelves were a topic of conversation between shoppers and employees. The guy stocking the nut aisle joked, "Welcome to Trader Joe's, we've got nothing to sell ya."

The employees restocking the cereal aisle didn't have any favorite cereals to recommend, but they were happy to open up the cases of both Maple Pecan Clusters and Mango Passionfruit Granola. I'm sure glad they did. I have a hunch cereal will be a main reason for shopping at Joe's.

I haven't had a chance to eat too many of the other delights and pretty much the entire frozen dinner aisle was sold out. But I'll return to the store. When I do, I'll follow the nut guy's advice: "Get here at 9 in the morning."

Joe's Open

2007-12-03T13:27:00.000-05:00

The Chapel Hill Trader Joe's opened Friday. I swung by there in the afternoon and now feel a kinship sardines. What a zoo!

I went to TJ's mostly out of curiosity, which I satisfied by elbowing my way through the aisles.

First impressions: I'm psyched about the prices, variety and emphasis on taste. Food doesn't feel like a commodity there, as it does at most supermarkets. Not psyched about the lack of unwrapped produce. I don't want to buy a bag of four avocados--I want to buy one.

I would have bought a box of their awesome Joe-Joe's cookies (Candy Cane flavor!), but then I took a crowd at the front of the store. I would have paid not to wait in those lines.

After my brief reconnaissance mission, I'm excited to return when I'm in full shopping mode and the crowds have hopefully died down. I'll let you know how it goes.

Wednesday Miscellany

2007-11-28T12:07:00.000-05:00

I attended my friend Murro's (fifth?) annual turkey dunk this weekend. Fun times. If you think deep frying a turkey sounds delicious, try doing a whole duck! Decadent.

The turkey and sweet potato fries were great, too. The one sad part: we never got around to deep frying pumpkin pie, as was threatened at about 11 p.m.

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Another thing I wish I'd thought of: Car-B-Que.

This idea of cooking food from an engine's heat is a great use for excess engine warmth, provided your meals don't spill out and ruin your engine. It brings the Hot Dogger idea to the masses by expanding from snowmobiles to cars.

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Local update: The grand opening of the Chapel Hill Trader Joe's will begin with a ceremonial lei cutting at 8:45 a.m. Bet they'll sell a lot of coffee.

Thank Goodness for Cookbooks

2007-11-21T11:14:00.000-05:00

I couldn't believe my eyes. There I was, flipping through a random cookbook yesterday and I came to this picture.

How did I not think of serving soup from a pumpkin in my Practical Pumpkin column? Maybe I would have if my research for the column involved more cookbooks and fewer séances in pumpkin patches.

In fairness, I had envisioned using smaller pumpkins as individual soup bowls. But I never made the leap to using a pumpkin as the serving vessel.

Anyway, the recipe came from the book to the right. In case it's not in your library (and why would it be?), you can check out the recipe here.

I have no idea if it's any good--I got the book at a garage sale--but I know a cool way to serve it that would make a nice addition to your Thanksgiving dinner.

Have a great, gravy-filled Thanksgiving!

Monday Links

2007-11-15T23:48:00.000-05:00

What to make of the Pizzacone? The invention features a dough-like cone filled with pizza ingredients that supposedly allows you to eat pizza on the go. I guess that's better than ice cream pizza.

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In honor of yesterday's Po-Boy fest, check out this history of the fabulous New Orleans sandwich. Seems the original Po-Boy purveyors--Martin Brothers Restaurant--sold their sandwiches in 15 and 20-inch varieties. And you thought the foot-longs at Subway were hefty!

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Good on this Irish food writer for taking a shot at Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, she gets a few things hilariously wrong. Check out step four on the turkey and the dessert choice.

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Finally, after seeing these funky new toasters, your beat-up old one may be, well, toast. There's the transparent toaster, not to be outdone by the gliding toaster. And in an age of instant messaging, why not toast messaging?

Trading Up

2007-11-15T11:35:00.002-05:00

In the coming weeks, my humble home of Chapel Hill will be trading an empty storefront for a Trader Joe's. Yup, the aloha-shirted ones will be putting another dot on the map.

In truth, the swap was an Earth Fare for a T.J., but the location has been empty for so long I can barely remember that former tenant.

As a full-fledged Foodster, I peek at the site every time I drive by the shopping center. I keep hoping for a sign that it'll be closer to completion. This week, I spoke with a woman at the company's California headquarters and it sounds like they'll be opening before the end of the year.

That means I'll be writing about Trader Joe's in the near future. So all you T.J. veterans, please let me know what you do and don't like about the place. I'm curious to hear why you shop there and what you buy.

In the meantime, I'm off to dig out my Hawaiian shirt.

Birthday Bites

2007-11-07T11:42:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, yesterday was my birthday. Kind soul that she is, the Spoonstress made sure it was filled with fun, food and fun food.

I awoke to the spoils of a Foster's Market run. Our special birthday plate held a chocolate chip scone, a slice of apple bread and a slice of pumpkin gingerbread, which the Spoonstress admitted she couldn't resist after my the pumpkin rant in my last column. Served on our special birthday plate, it looked something like the picture above.

To wash it all down, there was a steaming cuppa joe and a yummy blueberry banana juice thingy. Topping it all off, a new discsang from the CD player (remember those, you iPodders?).

Throughout the day, the Spoonstress kept e-mailing me with the location of hidden treats. My favorite store-bought cookie, Foster's Chocolate Whoppers, was in a cupboard. A serial saver, I promptly ate half, leaving the rest for today. Sigh.

Then, the Spoonstress alerted me that my favorite candies--raspberry and blackberry gumdrops--were inches away in a desk drawer. Sneaky.

I've always liked these berries, perhaps because they remind me of past checkers glory. Yet, I've never been clear on what to call them. Some ignore the blackberry factor altogether.

That may make sense because there doesn't seem to be much attention given to the blackberry flavor. The only taste distinction is that the black ones aren't as sweet as the red.

Smoke before fire. Works in both checkers and candy.

Spork Notes: Aw, Nuts!

2007-11-02T14:51:00.001-05:00

A recent rave at the Forkquarters has been walnuts. While they're not exactly an unheard of item, I've been enjoying them in some unusual ways.

Pasta with broccoli, edamame and walnuts sparked this walnut renaissance. This tasty, easy recipe (see below) comes from the friendly folks in the Moosewood Restaurant empire.

From this recipe in Moosewood Simple Suppers, I gleaned that the reason I hadn't loved walnuts before was that they weren't toasted. I should have realized this sooner, as the toasted almond is a real Forkster fave.

Since that moment, I've been wearing out the toaster. I'm having walnuts in my cereal with sliced banana every morning. They've enhanced instant oatmeal and yogurt snacks. Finally, they're really awesome in a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream, where the chocolate and walnut combo impersonates a sundae.

I'd have to guess that the reason I'm so fond of the toasted walnut is that it evokes that fresh-from-the-oven oatmeal cookie. And who wouldn't want that spicing up their breakfast?
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Pasta with Broccoli, Edamame and Walnuts

3/4 lb. chunky pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

3 cups bite-sized pieces of broccoli

1 cup frozed, shelled edamame

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, oregano, thyme or marjoram (dried herbs work, too)

1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

salt and pepper

grated Parmesan or Pecorino Roman cheese

Cook pasta until al dente, saving 1/2 cup of the water. Warm 2 T olive oil in a skillet on low heat. Add garlic and cook for a few seconds. Add the broccoli and that 1/2 cup of hot pasta-cooking water, turn heat on high for 2 minutes. Add edamame, salt and herbs. Cook until water evaporates or about 5 minutes. Toss past with the vegetable mixture, the remaining 2 T of olive oil and the walnuts. Top with grated cheese. Yum.

recipe courtesty of Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers.

Pumpkin Wrap

2007-10-26T11:03:00.000-05:00

I'm just about ready to put the pumpkin days behind me, but I thought I'd share a few tidbits before I do.

The most useful item that I didn't have room for in the column came from April McGreger, the former pastry chef at Lantern Restaurant. Now selling goodies under the Farmer's Daughter label, McGreger said she's often substitutes sweet potatoes for pumpkins when baking. Of course, she admits she is a bit biased--her dad is a sweet potato farmer.

McGreger sometimes turns to squash, instead of pumpkin, prefering hubbard, butternut or the Japanese kabocha varieties. When she does bake with pumpkin, she loves the heirloom Long Island cheese pumpkin or those really ugly, pimply kind. I had no idea there were so many pumpkin varieties!

One of the occupational hazards of being the Forkster is taking a nice sip of cider only to find a matchstick-size piece of pumpkin in your mouth. Hey, someone has to do it. I suppose, and in fairness, I was drinking from a pumpkin punchbowl.

Finally, you can't do anything with pumpkins without amassing a bunch of seeds. And you can't be serious if you don't roast them.

Instead of my usual toaster oven and oil combo, I slow-roasted them (90 minutes at 250 degrees) in the oven after sprinkling them with melted butter. The former worked better than the latter. There was no burning, but they didn't quite have the taste I'd hoped they would.

Stick a Fork in it...

2007-10-23T23:30:00.000-05:00

...this column's done. You can read all about finding fun uses for pumpkins in today's Chapel Hill News or right here online.

While this column wasn't about baking, you can find a delicious pumpkin bread recipe in the last post. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to try to get a trademark on "pumpcan holder."

Pumpkin Precursor

2007-10-23T07:42:00.000-05:00

The next Fork & Spoon column comes out tomorrow. I just put the finishing touches on the fun-filled piece on pumpkins. As soon as it's online, I'll post a link.

I didn't bake anything for the column. Instead, I wrote about non-edible culinary uses for pumpkins. Had I made anything, though, the first thing on my list would be this yummy quick bread that I got from the talented April McGreger, the former pastry chef at Lantern Restaurant, who now sells jam, pickles and baked goods under the Farmer's Daughter name.

Pumpkin Bread

1 2/3 cups all purpose or pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin or winter squash puree
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons safflower oil (or other vegetable oil)
1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for topping
3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (green, hulled), for topping

1. Preheat oven to 325°; lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into a mixing bowl; set aside.
3. In another bowl beat together the pumpkin puree, oil, sugar, and salt with the whisk attachment of an electric mixer on medium speed, or by hand, until well mixed.
4. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition until incorporated before adding the next egg.
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
6. On low speed, add in the flour mixture and beat just until combined and the batter is smooth.
7. Transfer batter into loaf pan and smooth the surface.
8. Sprinkle top evenly with turbinado sugar and pumpkin seeds.
9. Bake about 1 hour, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, and then invert onto the rack, turn right side up, and let cool completely before serving.

Recipe courtesy of Farmer’s Daughter.

You can also check out April's attention-getting muscadine meringue tart recipe here.

column in progress

2007-10-22T00:47:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before, I'm writing this upcoming column on pumpkins. But despite Melicious' delicious ideas, this column won't be about pumpkin treats.

I toyed with the idea of planning a day of pumpkin meals, kind of like "Ramania," an earlier column where I made a three-course meal from Ramen-based recipes. Then I realized that I don't like pumpkin nearly as much as Ramen noodles.

Knowing I wanted to write about pumpkins, I kept drifting back towards this other idea: non-edible culinary uses. The column will provide some food ideas, just not the kind you can eat. I know this sounds a bit odd, but I hope it'll all make sense on Wednesday, when the column comes out. I hope.

Anyway, just know that I spent the first few innings of Sunday night's glorious baseball game in front of the TV trying to fit a soda can into a pumpkin. Fun times!

Falling into place?

2007-10-16T22:11:00.000-05:00

Cider's in the supermarkets, it's dark by 7 p.m. and the baseball playoffs are in full swing (unfortunately for the Red Sox). It must be fall.

As I try to figure out the direction of my next column, I'm in an autumnal mood. And the first thing that comes to mind are pumpkins. While I'm drawn to the idea of cooking with pumpkins, the best things I've created from these orange globes are usually roasted seeds and funny faces (mine's on the left, the Spoonstress' on the right).

So help me out. If you have any ideas, success stories or recipes, send them this way. Conversely, if you have a cooking with pumpkin horror story, tell me all about it.

On a separate note, late fall and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. That's why it's never too early to start thinking about Turducken food safety.

Lettuce Pray...for more lettuce recipes

2007-10-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

After reading my post about lettuce soup, reader "greenhorn" challenged me to "stretch" his or her thinking on lettuce past salads and sandwich toppings.

I love a good challenge, which is another way of saying I take requests. Channeling my inner rabbit, let's get to it:

The first thing that came to mind was using lettuce as a wrap or a bread substitute. I first experienced this usage at Chinese restaurants that use crisp leaves of iceberg as a vessel for minced chicken and pine nuts instead of wrapping and frying it like an egg or spring roll. You can find this appetizer homogenized, er, franchised at P.F. Chang's.

Over the years, I've adopted the lettuce wrap method as a substitute for pita bread (or when I'm still hungry, but don't want to eat another pita's worth). Usually, this means enveloping chicken or egg salad in greenery. And no, I'm not sure which one came first.

I haven't gone so far as to replace tortillas with a lettuce taco or burrito. While it can be done, I just can't support that move. I like tortillas too much. And you can keep your spinach tortillas

On the side dish front, pickled lettuce sounds fun. I can't say I've tried it, but at least it's kosher! On a similar vibe, how about lettuce hamburger relish, with the world's simplest recipe instructions: "Mix ingredients together thoroughly. Spread on top of hamburgers."

Back to Chinese food, this fried lettuce dish looks tasty. Again, I don't speak from experience, but it seems like it would change how you think of lettuce.

As for lettuce dessert--you're on your own. Well, you and the rabbits.

Raspberry Ruminations

2007-10-05T10:46:00.000-05:00

The lastest rave in the Forkquarters is Raspberry Sherbet. This pinkish treat has been a real novelty.

Don't get me wrong, it's not the sherbet that's new--I've been enjoying sherbet since the days when I added a second 'r' to the name. But it was always orange "sherbert" I craved, often with Oreos.

I recently returned from the supermarket with a container of raspberry. Far surpassing my modest hopes, the sherbet has subdued my perpetual yen for black raspberry ice cream. In fact, you could probably get away with calling it black raspberry sherbet.

Alas, there's no joy in Forkville--we're almost out.

A Culinary Library

2007-10-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

On a recent trip to California, I met an older woman named Jean Fortenbery, who introduced herself as a Culinary Librarian. She had me at 'culinary.'

When she gave me a business card with "It's All About Food"--the name of her library--prominently displayed, I had to check it out. Her culinary collection is housed in a stand-alone building on the site of her daughter's bed and breakfast in Watsonville, Calif.

After she gave me a very thorough tour of her books, her husband Kenneth showed me around the beautiful Victorian house he redid after the 1989 Earthquake (you can view virtual tours of both the library and the house).

Jean, 84, began amassing cookbooks while traveling around the country in her job transforming traditional recipes for microwave cooking. Today, she writes about food for the Register-Pajaronian and her collection has swelled to more than 20,000 books. The variety is impressive, ranging from wild foods to cooking for wild animals (she's holding one on feeding birds that she finds amusing).

Her library has sections with labels like "Nitty Gritty" and an abundance of Italian and French cookbooks. "I swear every person in Italy and France has written a cookbook," Fortenbery told me.

My favorite part was the closet of older cookbooks dating back to 1835 that I wish I'd had more time to peruse. But I also enjoyed seeing someone so proud of a life's work.

Not to say that she's done. There are stacks of books to be sorted and she's culling all her "doubles." She sent me home with an extra copy of The Thrifty Cook (1974).

If you're ever in Watsonville (between San Francisco and Monterey), stop on by. Just don't come hungry.