Did you want fries with that?

What to make of a food product no one knows how to spell, and whose every pronounciation sounds like a sneeze? Ketchup! Catsup! Catchup! Kitchup!
Bless You!
Seemingly as American as hot dogs or apple pie, the slow, sweet, red sauce we grew up on reveals origins murky as mud.
British explorers first encountered ketchup in Southeast Asia [...]

Here we go . . . another month!

North Dakota became the 39th state, November 2, 1889.
Otto I born November 23, 912. German king (936-73), Holy Roman emperor (962-73).

Velvet Revolution, which saw the overthrow of the Communist government in Czechoslovakia, began November 16, 1989.
Edmund Fitzgerald, ore-hauling ship, sank in Lake Superior, November 10, 1975.
Mickey Mouse’s Birthday, November 18, 1928.
Benjamin Franklin wrote in a [...]

Recycling, Texas Style

Last weekend I attended a family wedding in Houston, Texas. In between wedding related activities, a few of us took time to visit one of Houston’s artistic treasures, The Beer Can House.

The Beer Can House, “Aluminum Siding, Twelve Ounces at a Time!”, is the work of John Milkovisch (1912-1988), who turned his bungalow and yard into a glittering, jingling, recycler’s [...]

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human

Watching over a kettle of simmering chili sauce for three hours last weekend provided plenty of time to ponder the nature of cooking — how far removed modern life usually feels from actual fire, and how dependent we remain on its heat.
These musings were inspired by the recently published Catching Fire, authored by biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham. In 207 pages, [...]

Cooking by Hand

During these last days of summer, take it slow and local. Wander through a farmer’s market. Bring the harvest home. Mince fresh garlic. Brine pickles. Pot up outdoor herbs and place on a sunny indoor window ledge. Explore cooking from scratch and its satisfying rewards. Knead some dough, and let the smell of baking bread lead you [...]

This Summer’s Bummer Crop

A headline in the dining section of the New York Times two weeks ago shouted, “Northeast Tomatoes Lost, and Potatoes May Follow.” My heart sank as I read, “Every state in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic has confirmed recent cases of late blight.” I wondered, does that include Pittsburgh?
 
Last Sunday brought more bad news. First, the Times [...]

Rip Van Winkle, Dormez-vous?

Today is National Sleepyhead Day.
National, that is, in Finland, where the day is known as Unikeonpäivä.
On Unikeonpäivä sleepyheads suffer. The town of Naantali, in southern Finland, celebrates by choosing a well known town resident, called Unikeko (Sleepyhead of the Year), who is awakened, carried from bed in a sheet, and thrown into the sea. 
Naantali’s Sleepyhead Day celebration traces its origins [...]

Help Solve a Mystery

It was a ___ and ___ night. A shot ___ out. The butler said, “I know who ___ it.”
You can probably fill in the missing words that complete the familiar lines above. But the bigger problem that needs solving is titled The Mystery of the Shrinking Mystery Budget.
I’m the librarian in charge of the mystery collection at Main. I [...]

What David McCullough Said

If learning to use the library were the only thing students learned in school, they’d be far ahead. College isn’t necessary when one has access to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. You could turn students loose here for four years, with librarians’ help, and they’d learn more, maybe better, than they’d learn in college.
Historian, author, David McCullough . . [...]

Birding by Music

As I walked to the library through the lush woods of Schenley Park on a bright day last month, I stopped to listen to a singing bird. The unseen bird sang from a nearby tree. Mid morning car traffic didn’t dominate the soundscape, and I was able to hear a clear, silver fluted melody no human virtuoso could have matched. [...]