
- we go out to be entertained
In honor and anticipation of Okrent's book, we've put together a collection of our favorite images of women during the Prohibition era, and their sneaky ways they found to enjoy the hard stuff:



on the guys behind The Butcher Blog.
We imagine that the writers of The Butcher Blog are burly urban woodsman types who know how to keep a girl warm at night (kind of like the plaid shirted hottie we saw so many years ago at the cheese counter of Stinky Brooklyn and have been thinking about ever since).
Since grilling season is gearing up, we caught up with the guys behind The Butcher Blog to get some practical tips on cooking in the urban environment. Now we’re just wondering when they’re inviting us over for some pork and Pork Slap…
Gastronomista: If you only have access to a fire escape, what do you need to cook well during grill season?
Butcher Blog: In
G: What are the must-have tools? What grill? What charcoal?
BB: We're big Weber fans—simple, classic and easy to use. They have a bunch of different sizes too, so you can find one that fits your needs. A pair of long handled tongs are also essential. At no time should the classic BBQ fork get near your grill—piercing the sear is sacrilege and we die a little inside every time we see somebody wielding one of those things. A note about charcoal: Kingsford is not charcoal. Their reconstituted bricks don't get the job done and should always be avoided. We're big fans of
G: What cookbook should you use to guide you?
BB: Pork & Sons by Stéphane Reynaud has everything you need to prepare every part of the pig in every single way (from making your own sausage and terrines to barbecuing a whole suckling pig -- you'll need a Bushwick backyard and some cinderblocks for that one).
G: What are you listening to while you cook (and for that matter, eat)?
BB: The Mets game. Creedence. Skynrd. Beach House. Tom Waits. Sonic Youth. Wooden Shjips.
G: What should be on the menu, including beverages?
BB: That suckling pig sounds pretty good right now. You'll want to ask your butcher to reserve the liver and heart for you, which you chop with some smoked bacon and mix with fresh bread crumbs, eggs, olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs (sage, parsley, rosemary, whatever looks good), and stuff that in the pig. This takes about three hours on a spit, which means you'll have plenty of time to down some Pork Slap to keep it thematic (plus beer in cans in a necessity when cooking outdoors).
Baste the suckling pig with a mixture of white wine (get something drinkable because you'll use about 4 cups and finish the rest; it'll mix fine with the Pork Slap), olive oil and a few dabs of
Stanford University has possession of Bucky's entire Dymaxion Chronofile, an artifact of Bucky's "Guinea Pig B" experiment, in which he chronologized every single aspect of his life for generations to come: notes, sketches, correspondence, hotel stationary, dry cleaning receipts.
As an undergrad, I was lucky enough to take a course in which we had access to the 270 linear feet of the Chronofile, and could also dig through thousands of models and videos. By far, the coolest artifact I ever found was a handwritten note from Yoko Ono to Bucky, asking for advice on how build their own geodesic dome.
"Now there is one outstanding important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it....
Our little Spaceship Earth is only eight thousand miles in diameter, which is almost a negligible dimension in the great vastness of space. Spaceship Earth was so extraordinarily well invented and designed that to our knowledge humans have been on board it for two million years not even knowing that they were on board a ship...Take the initiative. Go to work, and above all co-operate and don't hold back on one another or try to gain at the expense of another. Any success in such lopsidedness will be increasingly short-lived. These are the synergetic rules that evolution is employing and trying to make clear to us. They are not man-made laws. They are the infinitely accommodative laws of the intellectual integrity governing universe."- R. Buckminster Fuller, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, 1963
...
The lovely pre-owned vintage charm is crafted in genuine gold, signed 9 375 with British hallmarks. The charm has solid 3D construction with a movable handle that can rotate the rotisserie. It has been professionally polished and cleaned, and measures approximately 3/4" long by 1/2" tall without the rings, and weighs a good 3.40 grams.
Buy it now from jewels-n-tools on EBay for $119.99 plus shipping and handling.
Our neighbors at our communal table said that the beer back is standard practice in Wisconsin. Let's make it standard practice everywhere!
We took our beer-backed Bloody Mary with dried fig crumb cake and a cherry scone to start. Thereafter, scrapple with fried egg and sourdough (think cornmeal and pig part mash), a housemade pork roll sandwich, and a waffle with honey butter and market blueberries. We rounded out our brunch with a bowl of fresh made ricotta, poached cherries, pistachios and beer bread.