Hi everybody. It’s me Andrew, Kelly’s husband. I made a recipe for the blog. With holidays coming up I’ve been thinking about Christmases past. My family moved to Pennsylvania when I was a little kid, but we drove back to Schenectady, NY for a week every Christmas. My Grandpa Corty and Grandma Margo’s house was…
The Brozynas’ Central Market
By Andrew Brozyna I was talking to a friend recently when she mentioned that her grandmother was a butcher. My grandfather was a butcher, and his father was too. Since this is food-related I thought it might be an interesting story to post on The Spunky Coconut. My family is not exactly sure when my…
Farm Anatomy by Julia Rothman
Andrew and I both are both so impressed with Julia Rothman’s new book Farm Anatomy that we thought we’d each write our own review. We’re hosting a giveaway too, so check the bottom of the post for details. Kelly’s Review This book is so deliciously beautiful, you don’t need to have any interest in farming…
Ivan Day’s Ice Cream
You might think that a review of Ice Cream by Ivan Day is an inappropriate choice for this blog, considering we don’t eat cow’s milk. However, much of the book is devoted to the history of dairy-free flavored ices. And although we might not eat it now, nearly all of us grew up with ice…
The Medieval History of Bean Bread
Image at left: A stitched depiction of two cooks on the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry. One of my favorite gluten free baked goods made by my wife is her Vanilla Bean Cake. Or maybe you’ve tried her garbanzo bean flatbread. Making a cake and bread with beans is an innovative way to to replicate the spongy…
Tea and Tea Drinking by Claire Masset book review
When I was in elementary school I checked out every one of my library’s books about the Loch Ness monster. The most fascinating anecdote came from the 1930s and was about a English couple on holiday in Scotland. While the couple were enjoying tea time the monster was spotted by another hotel guest. Rather than…
Ancient Dairy
The casein and lactose intolerant among us are unable to comfortably consume cows’ milk. This restriction makes some feel that their cow dairy-free diet is strange. Yet, until very recent historic times it was the milk drinkers who were odd. Prehistory Humans are the only mammals that continue to drink milk into adult life. After…
Ancient Grains : a history of wheat
Six years ago when my my wife first approached me with the idea that we should stop eating wheat I was incredulous. “But, society was built on grains!” was my response. I thought back to my history lessons of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations as a defense for eating wheat. If it weren’t for the…