“Nina Planck spreads the gospel of real food in her latest cookbook”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Nina Planck spreads the gospel of real food in her latest cookbook”
—The New York Times Book Review
I bring you the writing of two literary stars in the Planck-Kaufelt family. My father, Chip Planck, farmed vegetables on a large scale with my mother Susan for 35 years, and now has what I call a micro-farm, with teensy quantities of equipment, crops, and chickens. Many of those farm-years, Dad spent on a tractor. Sitting on a tractor for hours is a solitary sport. For the right mind, it’s meditative. Dad spent many of those thousands of tractor-hours writing poems. “Farm Boys,” which I offer today, is one of my favorites.
I got a sneaky feeling Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie would be a hit when I bought a ticket on opening weekend. An infrequent movie-goer, I am seldom attracted to mass pop culture, least of all when it’s fresh. This summer I saw four great movies: “The Last Picture Show”, “Five Easy Pieces”, “Goodfellas”, and “Terms of Endearment” – all for the first time. For me, it would have been more in character to watch “Barbie” from my couch in 2043.
Thanksgiving is bombastic. There is too much food. There is no thoughtful succession of courses to ease you through the feast; just one bulging buffet. There are too many unique must-have items on the table. Cousin Lucy loves parsnips and Marcy always brings green beans. There is repetition in flavor, texture, and plant-part. (Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, parsnips—three roots. Then, soft stuffing.)
Agave nectar. Barbados sugar. Barley malt. Barley malt syrup. Beet sugar. Brown sugar. Buttered syrup. Cane juice. Cane juice crystals. Cane sugar. Caramel…