Todd Parry shares that, thanks to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, “in US law, Latinos are legally white.” And Todd adds that “the treaty was never ratified by the Mexican government, so technically is invalid.”
Kisha Tracy passes along one of the newest finds from the Slate Vault, this mid-20th
century map of American folklore.
Steve Edwards highlights Dr. Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori, “the first American woman to win the Nobel,” whom he “learned about
researching” his son’s “gastro issues & meds. Stories lurk around every
corner.”
Jeff
Renye shares this unsettling NPR
story on Facebook’s effects.
Susan Williams writes, “I have had a longstanding interest in Italian
American city gardens and in fig trees in particular. Italian immigrants grew
an amazing array of old world plants in their back yards to support their
cooking and eating traditions, including tomatoes (of course), basil, garlic,
other greens, peppers, eggplant, and lots of other stuff. Many (possibly most)
of them had a fig tree growing in the back corner. Because figs are fussy about
climate, preferring their native Mediterranean or California temperatures, they
are hard, but not impossible to grow in the Northeast. I've read numerous
stories about preparing the fig tree for winter, a procedure that typically
involved either burying the tree in a pit of mulch or taking it inside. So a
year ago, I ordered a little fig tree for myself from Logee Nursery to see what
all the fuss was about. I had eaten fresh figs in Italy and loved them, but
wanted to taste a fig right off the tree, my own tree. My little fig tree was
unfortunately left out a bit too long last fall and dropped all of its leaves.
At the time, I didn't realize that this was normal, but I didn't give up on my
little upright (now) stick. I nursed it along all winter, certain that it was
dead. Suddenly, with the return of light last spring, I noticed activity, buds
even. It leafed out and by late spring had even produced a tiny fig! The fig
has been growing all summer, turning a dark purple color, and I have been
watching carefully for signs of interest from my local chipmunk population,
gently squeezing the little fig and waiting for exactly the right degree of
softness. Today was the day. I picked the fig, halved it, and was thrilled to
see its interior pink figginess. I photographed it, quartered it, and ate it.
If I had been more patient, I would have paired it with some prosciutto and a
bit of homemade ricotta, drizzled with olive oil. But I wasn't. It was
delicious as is!
Now on to the learning part. The fig story continues because my sister just
presented me with another fig tree, a birthday gift, and it is much larger than
my original tree and has about ten little figs on it. So today, I spent the
morning searching for fig videos on YouTube to learn how best to care for this
addition to my fig family. I learned that dropping leaves is normal, and that
if you have a tree, you can even cut off the leaves to make your figs ripen
before frost. I also learned various ways of wrapping the tree for winter,
something any self-respecting Italian-American gardener already knows how to
do. Finally, I learned that there is a whole world of fig-growing folks out
there who have lots of advice for a fig newbie. I feel like I have just joined
a new community that has long roots in the foodie world. Maybe some day I will
even have figs to share!
Note: it always amazes me when my antennae are in tune with those of others. I
just realized that there was an article on figs in the NYT last Friday, the day
after my birthday fig tree arrived. Check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/dining/the-fig-now-yields-its-charms.html?smid=pl-share.”
Next series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. So what are you still studying?
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