I am reminded of a conversation about household labor saving machines with my mother and grandmother maybe 70 years ago. The most transformative, my grandmother said, was the washing machine. I am sure she was referring to the wringer type.
I've read Christine Frederick's notes on laundering clothes, and even she--a mistress of efficiency--made laundry time without a wringer/machine made it sound absolutely exhausting.
Eric, I grew up in my grandmother's house -- our family of 4 kids and parents lived above her. She had and used an old 1930 Maytag washer with the mangle or wringer in her kitchen. It eventually came to me, and having no use or room for a large relic, I sold it. The man who bought it said he was going to convert it to a gas motor instead of the electric. Apparently this model was offered both ways: If you didn't have electricity, you opted for gas (a one-lunger motor) unit. The machine would be wheeled over to a window to vent the exhaust gases, using a towel to seal up any openings in the windows.
He belonged to a club of collectors who restore and display old gas engines and the equipment they power. (Hey, there's a hobby for everyone, isn't there?) and was going to display it at their shows they put on.
NB: Marissa here: The recipe is adapted from the King Arthur Baking Company’s incredible recipe database. My tweaks are slight. More salt, more vanilla and chocolate chips.
What a fascinating essay—I’m pausing a moment to thank the generations of inventors whose work led to my Bosch dishwasher.
Re the Almond-Flour Brownies:
I thought that recipe looked familiar! I first found it during the pandemic at the King Arthur site, as you mention above, Marissa, and I’ve made many times…possibly TOO many times😬. It is indeed FANTASTIC, and other bakers might be interested in the zillions of comments about it at the site, including the useful suggestions from the KA staff for the (few) commenters who had problems with it.
Re your tweaks: I’m totally with you on doubling the vanilla; but personally feel no need for extra chocolate, as in the chips. VERY chocolately as is, IMO.
HOWEVER: I really wish the kosher salt thing would go away! You’ve changed the recipe to 1t of that damned kosher salt, rather than the .5t of regular (table) salt in the original, and I can’t see the utility of that. Instead, as seems to happen with every New York Times recipe calling for kosher salt, lots of people will just see “salt,” use a whole teaspoon of ordinary salt, and end up with salty brownies. If you could change it back to .5 tsp regular salt, that would be a kindness. And if not, it’d be good to 1. Put a flashing red ALERT on the “kosher”; and 2. specify which brand of kosher salt, since Diamond and Morton are not equally salty by volume (another reason to BANISH KOSHER SALT FROM NORMAL RECIPES!).
Delightful reading. I wonder how the recipe would work with less sugar. These days I find too many things are overly sugary (like in the past when recipes were overly salty) and I just know it's bad for me. In general we have taught our grandkids, who love cooking, to "scant the sugar." And they're happy with the result. I also agree with the kosher salt complaint. It's not useful here. I have a granola recipe where kosher granules are necessary and provide an occasional burst of salt - perfect place for it. But in a batter?? I think not.
I enjoyed reading this column. Especially since the medical center I worked at did those very same Taylor time studies on those of working at the bedside in critical care. I think that was in the 1990's.
Also, I have a guest coming later this week and she is gluten free! Now I know what I'll serve for dessert...probably with peanut butter frosting, yum! Thanks!
I am reminded of a conversation about household labor saving machines with my mother and grandmother maybe 70 years ago. The most transformative, my grandmother said, was the washing machine. I am sure she was referring to the wringer type.
I've read Christine Frederick's notes on laundering clothes, and even she--a mistress of efficiency--made laundry time without a wringer/machine made it sound absolutely exhausting.
Eric, I grew up in my grandmother's house -- our family of 4 kids and parents lived above her. She had and used an old 1930 Maytag washer with the mangle or wringer in her kitchen. It eventually came to me, and having no use or room for a large relic, I sold it. The man who bought it said he was going to convert it to a gas motor instead of the electric. Apparently this model was offered both ways: If you didn't have electricity, you opted for gas (a one-lunger motor) unit. The machine would be wheeled over to a window to vent the exhaust gases, using a towel to seal up any openings in the windows.
He belonged to a club of collectors who restore and display old gas engines and the equipment they power. (Hey, there's a hobby for everyone, isn't there?) and was going to display it at their shows they put on.
Thank you for a gluten free recipe. These are so appreciated by we who can't eat wheat.
NB: Marissa here: The recipe is adapted from the King Arthur Baking Company’s incredible recipe database. My tweaks are slight. More salt, more vanilla and chocolate chips.
What a fascinating essay—I’m pausing a moment to thank the generations of inventors whose work led to my Bosch dishwasher.
Re the Almond-Flour Brownies:
I thought that recipe looked familiar! I first found it during the pandemic at the King Arthur site, as you mention above, Marissa, and I’ve made many times…possibly TOO many times😬. It is indeed FANTASTIC, and other bakers might be interested in the zillions of comments about it at the site, including the useful suggestions from the KA staff for the (few) commenters who had problems with it.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/almond-flour-brownies-recipe
Re your tweaks: I’m totally with you on doubling the vanilla; but personally feel no need for extra chocolate, as in the chips. VERY chocolately as is, IMO.
HOWEVER: I really wish the kosher salt thing would go away! You’ve changed the recipe to 1t of that damned kosher salt, rather than the .5t of regular (table) salt in the original, and I can’t see the utility of that. Instead, as seems to happen with every New York Times recipe calling for kosher salt, lots of people will just see “salt,” use a whole teaspoon of ordinary salt, and end up with salty brownies. If you could change it back to .5 tsp regular salt, that would be a kindness. And if not, it’d be good to 1. Put a flashing red ALERT on the “kosher”; and 2. specify which brand of kosher salt, since Diamond and Morton are not equally salty by volume (another reason to BANISH KOSHER SALT FROM NORMAL RECIPES!).
Delightful reading. I wonder how the recipe would work with less sugar. These days I find too many things are overly sugary (like in the past when recipes were overly salty) and I just know it's bad for me. In general we have taught our grandkids, who love cooking, to "scant the sugar." And they're happy with the result. I also agree with the kosher salt complaint. It's not useful here. I have a granola recipe where kosher granules are necessary and provide an occasional burst of salt - perfect place for it. But in a batter?? I think not.
I enjoyed reading this column. Especially since the medical center I worked at did those very same Taylor time studies on those of working at the bedside in critical care. I think that was in the 1990's.
Also, I have a guest coming later this week and she is gluten free! Now I know what I'll serve for dessert...probably with peanut butter frosting, yum! Thanks!
Wonderful prose before a delicious looking recipe!
Thank you for the bit of history about the making of a housewife.👏👏🏽👏🏼👏🏾