the problem with whoopie pies, a plea for help

Something amazing happened.

For my darling Joe's birthday I gave him a beautiful French film poster. An enormous red one sheet, 63 " x 47", from a film by his favorite director. But that's not the amazing thing. I discovered that framing would cost at least twice what the poster did (and it wasn't cheap either), so I would have to save up for the framing; hanging the poster would be a gift for another occasion. That was last April.

Along comes our two year anniversary and I decide the occasion has arrived, but I still can't afford the price quoted me by the framers. I bring the poster to work and my boss suggests we ask the installers for advice. (I should mention that I work for an organization that houses one of the largest archives of film print materials in the world, if not THE largest--I assume the Library of Congress has a sizable stock--and the task of framing and hanging of said collection falls to this group of guys.) I show them my poster and ask for their advice. They confirm that the job costs about $600, and that I'll want it mounted on an archival-quality board. And then the amazing thing: they said they'd frame it for me, FOR FREE! They don't normally do this, it just so happened that they had a frame, a board, and plexiglass the size of my poster, all of which they planned to throw away because of a few scuffs.

I am so incredibly grateful, and so inexcusably clueless as to how to thank them that I baked them whoopie pies, which seemed like a good start, but proved problematic for storage and transportation. See, the top of a cake is the smoothest and most delicate. Most people have experienced what happens when icing a cake that hasn't adequately cooled: the fragile crust peels a bit, getting crumbs mixed in with the icing. Well imagine that the fragile upper crust, the delicate cake top serves as both the top and bottom of the dessert. Even when cooled to past the point of most normal cakes, the bottom of the pie (the lower upper crust) would stick to the plate, creating a big old hole, ruining the aesthetic.

I'll consider that perhaps this is a sign that whoopie pies are not the best way to thank my framer friends, nevertheless, this is a problem with whoopie pies that needs solving. Does anyone know how to prevent it? Do I need to wait longer? Freeze the cakes? Use a cooling rack? A little help would be greatly appreciated.

Sweetish, like from Sweeten.

Salta Katten, The salty cat, and other edible Swedish novelties, via Poppytalk.

Deserves further investigation, methinks.

whoopie pies!

My friend Ryan gave me a whoopie pie pan for Christmas. Essentially, it's a normal nonstick cookie sheet with shallow circular grooves in which to spoon batter--very exciting. I bet they make perfect muffin tops, my #3 fave baked good.

This is my first draft. They were made from a mix and I don't think they're technically whoopie pies, more like chocolate sandwich cookies. Still, mega tasty.

anyone can cook

Maxim of the fictional Chef Gusteau in Pixar's "Ratatouille," the encapsulated message of the film, conveyed lovingly and convincingly throughout its course, then unpacked with unapologetic overstatement in its final scenes. "Not everyone can become a great artist," explains the converted food critic, Anton Ego, "but a great artist can come from anywhere."

This post is not about "Ratatouille," or artistry at all for that matter. Quite the opposite. I write this post because the event which prompted it struck me in a way that recalled the line with the most perfect, happy irony that I wanted to share.

The event was this: last month, my friend Nathan (pictured) came home from a two week holiday with The Trader Joe's Cookbook and began to cook from it.

I should explain that Nathan is a PA for a reality TV show, which, at times, is literally the shittiest job in Hollywood. (Once, my boyfriend had to clean up dog shit and then spread it around a lawn in a "more random distribution" so that the shows producers could film a midget cleaning it up.) The days are long, the pay sucks, and there's little mobility.

Before the book, my friend was a burger and pizza kind of guy, when my friend he said that he was making dinner it usually meant that he was heating up a bag of frozen orange chicken from the market. Of course, there's nothing wrong with this for the poor and overworked, such as we are, other than a general lack of nutrition. At the end of a 12-hour day, the time and energy of shopping and cooking, and the cost of fresh ingredients, often make preparing a meal much too great of an undertaking.

Then came the book, to which I'm reluctant to attribute Nathan's change; it seems oddly religious, in a 12-step program way. But the results speak for themselves: first, he made pesto pita pizzas and monkey bread, then rice pudding, then macadamia-crusted mahi mahi with mango salsa and coconut rice. And oh such coconut rice!

Again, this is not to imply that The Trader Joe's Cookbook has transformed my friend into a gourmet. Rather, the philosophy of the book seems to be that anyone can combine ingredients in a prescribed order, "anyone can cook." And that works for Nathan.

The TJC offers a nice assortment of recipes, with all the ingredients available at a single store. Most take about 15 minutes to prepare, and none involve anything resembling technique. Rereading this I realize it sounds like a small ploy to get people to buy the Trader Joe's cookbook, but I assure you I am not getting paid to write this. If I were, I could probably afford to shop elsewhere. And again, I assure you I cannot. (Reese's Puffs Cereal is a huge splurge for me.)

Below is a picture of Nathan's mahi mahi. It looks tasty, and it was. I think, actually that that was the happy ironic experience that prompted this post, actually tasting Nathan's food. Because we were all skeptical, and the fish was so thoroughly edible, we all had a simultaneous ah ha moment: Nathan can cook. ANYONE can cook.

two new posts

Top 10 Sakuma Drops, Or, Food in the Future: Your Dinner in Tablet Form


Bourdain to Attend San Diego Comic-Con to Promote His New Graphic Novel

I've been assigned to cover Anthony Bourdain's upcoming comic, Get Jiro!, so today I emailed who I hope is the head of PR for DC coimcs. Pretty excited.