Spider Cake (1895); "JFK" Googles ADS-L; Ski Butler

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SPIDER CAKE
    
   "Spider cake" is in this Sunday's NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE.  "Bannock" was 
mentioned on rec.food.historic.  Again, I don't know what DARE has for "spider 
cake," but I supplied a few posts.  Below is one from 1895.
  
  
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/07/magazine/07FOOD.html?pagewanted=2
Easier to realize in your own kitchen is a creamy, corny skillet preparation 
from New England called spider cake, which has delighted roomfuls of people 
every time I've served it. So-called because of the veins created by the cream 
in its vortex, which separates the crumb during baking, this substantial 
one-skillet meal will get your kids to school happier than they've ever been, and 
you happy only if they've left some behind. As my recipe tester, Alice Thompson, 
responded: ''Spider cake rules! How has this escaped the culinary radar so 
far? Where has it been all my life?'
  
For a visually splendid accompaniment to the spider cake (also delectable 
standing alone), I stumbled across a feather-light balloon of eggs during a 
snowbound weekend at Wheatleigh, the exclusive hotel in Lenox, Mass. The chef J. 
Bryce Whittlesey's souffle omelet with goat cheese sent me back the next day for 
the one with wild mushrooms, and the next for the one with the house-smoked 
salmon. The ingredients were first-rate, but most unusual was the technique, 
and it's quite simple: separate the eggs, whisk the whites to soft peaks, fold 
them back together with seasoning and bake. Yes, bake. Timed right, this runny 
amalgam can then encompass any filling -- not just goat cheese or mushrooms. 
(But don't add the filling before cooking or the omelet may be too heavy to 
rise.) 

Whittlesey also simmers dried Turkish apricots in water, creating a sweet 
(but not jam-sweet) sauce that is just as delicious straight from the spoon as it 
is atop silver dollar pancakes, toast, yogurt or just about anything but 
chipped beef. 

And if you're too harried to make your own, there are so many fine 
breakfasting places in New York that any list must be anecdotal, and none could be 
comprehensive. If there are lines for the power breakfasts at the Regency, who 
wants power anyway -- too many responsibilities, too much envy. Go north to the 
Mark for gentility; west to the Fairway Cafe for the nicely scrambled eggs with 
chorizo and jalapeno and a side of perfect bacon -- not exactly a calming 
experience but certainly a New York one; south from there to Norma's in the 
Parker-Meridien for the berry-oatmeal risotto; downtown to Elephant & Castle for 
consistent invention, most recently the poached eggs under a woody sweet 
cremini-and-Madeira sauce; go around the corner with your laptop to Doma on Waverly 
and Perry for a treat called babichka -- French toast with cream cheese between 
the slices (much better than it sounds; it had better be, the word means 
''grandma'' in Czech); go Midtown to Popeye's for the redders and rice. (Actually, 
do that at any time of day.) 

Breakfast is also the best meal to have alone, accompanied by your favorite 
reading matter, comic book to Tolstoy in the original. Mine? (Present newsprint 
excluded, of course.) Anything that says ''Breakfast served all day.'' 

New England Spider Cake 
2 cups milk 
4 teaspoons white vinegar 
1 cup all-purpose flour 
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal 
3/4 cup sugar 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 eggs 
2 tablespoons butter 
1 cup heavy cream. 


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine milk and vinegar in a bowl and set 
aside to sour. In another bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and 
salt. Whisk eggs into the soured milk. Stir into dry ingredients and set 
batter aside. 

2. Melt butter in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Pour in the batter. Pour cream 
into the center, slide skillet into the oven and bake until golden brown on 
top, about 45 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve warm. 

Yield: 8 servings. 
  
  
(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
Denton Journal - 6/29/1895  
...This is the real old-fashioned New England SPIDER CAKE, the direct 
deccndant of the old.....3Ir. W. I. Norris is now 3fr. II. A. Roo's book-keeper. SIO 
to Mnciira Fulls. In all the.....breaking them, lluve ready n thick iron 
SPIDER or old-fashioned frying pan.....found a table well spread with ice cream, 
CAKE and other refreshments. Those present..
Denton, Maryland Saturday, June 29, 1895  808 k   
Pg. 3, col. 7:
   _Huckleberry Bannock._
   This is the real old-fahsioned New England spider cake, the direct 
descendant of the old English griddle cake.  The fruit best suited to the bannock is 
the firm, small black huckleberry.  The large, blue juicy berry is apt to 
crush in the mixing with the spoon.  Carefully pick over the firm, black 
huckleberries, a quart to a bannock, wash them and lay them on a towel to dry, making 
the dough as follows: Sift a pint of flour with a teaspoonful of salt and two 
heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder; chop into the flour two large 
tablespoonfuls of butter and mix in about a pint of water--enough to make a soft dough 
which will receive the berries without breaking them.  Have ready a thick iron 
spider or old-fashioned frying pan, moderately heated and containing about a 
teaspoonful of melted butter.  Mix the huckleberries through the dough without 
crushing them, press the dough gently over the bottom of the spider and smooth 
the top by wetting it with a blade of a bread, flat knife.  Make sure there 
is plenty of butter to brown the bottom of the bannock.  If there is not it 
will burn.  If the pan is kept over a moderate heat for about twenty to thirty 
minutes, and not allowed to become charred for lack of the drying medium, the 
cooking will be successfully accomplished.  The bannock is eaten hot with butter 
and sometimes iwth sugar and cream.  It is one of the most delicious of all 
the breakfast breads.

 
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"JFK" GOOGLES ADS-L
  
JUST FOR KERRY--456 Google hits, 99 Google Groups hits
    
  
   Just a month ago, on 8 February 2004, I posted this:
  
  This one has been making the rounds recently.  It was used in a NEW YORK 
POST story about "The Real Kerry."JFK "
JUST FOR KERRY--57 Google hits, 49 Google Groups hits   
    
  
   The hits have grown since then.  Interestingly, these are the first two 
Google results for "Just For Kerry":
    
(GOOGLE)
ADS-L archives -- February 2004, week 2
... JFK' in other langs (was: 'JFK: Just For Kerry'): Re: 'JFK' in other 
langs (was:
'JFK: Just For Kerry') (36 lines) From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
; ... 
listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/ wa?A1=ind0402b&L=ads-l - 43k - Mar 4, 2004 
- Cached - Similar pages 
  
New York Post Online Edition: postopinion
... His initials are JFK," longtime state Senate President William M.
Bulger used to muse on St. Patrick's Day, "Just for Kerry. He's ... 
nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/17337.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar 
pages 
  
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SKI BUTLER
  
   This was in the WALL STREET JOURNAL two days ago.  "Ski butlers" deliver 
warm boots, among other things.  There are only 17 Google hits for "ski 
butlers."  ("Ski Butler" gives you hits for Butler, Kentucky.)   Don't more people 
need warm boots??
    
 
(GOOGLE)
Ski Property for Sale Real Estate Chalet Home News Properties ...
... In the ever glitzier world of ski resorts (one hotel at Beaver Creek 
offers "ski
butlers" who deliver warmed boots each morning) there always have been a few 
... 
skiresorthome.com/ - 33k - Mar 4, 2004 - Cached - Similar pages 
   
DallasNews.com | News for Dallas, Texas | Travel: United States
... Tap the Ski Butlers in the hotel lobby each morning for information on 
the latest
weather and snow conditions, plus tips on powder stashes, the best-groomed 
... 
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/travel/unitedstates/ 
stories/122103dntranufantasies.99e1.html - 88k - Cached - Similar pages 
  
Concierge.com: Condé Nast Traveler: Lists
... TRAILS Beginner: 0% Intermediate: 48% Advanced: 52%. WHAT STANDS OUT Ski
butlers handle rentals, lift tickets, and even spa appointments. ... 
www.concierge.com/cntraveler/lists/skipoll02/detail/9 - 39k - Mar 5, 2004 - 
Cached - Similar pages 
  
The St. Regis, Aspen - Aspen Hotels - CO
... Lounge. Whiskey Rocks provides the après-ski scene. Skiers appreciate
the ski butlers and shuttles to nearby mountains. Insider ... 
www.expedia.co.uk/pub/agent.dll/qscr=dspv/htid=5594 - 43k - Cached - Similar 
pages 
  
The Timeshare Beat: Boomers Are Buying In At The "Mountain ...
... Village at Telluride in southwestern Colorado will feature not only 
heated cobblestone
walks and luxury cabins, but will include personal ski butlers to carry ... 
www.thetimesharebeat.com/archives/ts/tsdec24.htm - 6k - Cached - Similar 
pages 
  
The Timeshare Beat: New Luxury Resort in Telluride to be Managed ...> 
> ... Our services will be extraordinary, including ski butlers and personal
vacation planners,'' Gamache added. Wyndham International, Inc. ... 
www.thetimesharebeat.com/archives/htl/htloct79.htm - 6k - Cached - Similar 
pages 
  
The St. Regis Aspen - Cheap hotels in Aspen
... Lounge. Whiskey Rocks provides the après ski scene. Skiers appreciate
the ski butlers and shuttles to nearby mountains. Insider ... 
www.cheephotels.co.uk/Aspen/The-St-Regis-Aspen.htm - 22k - Cached - Similar 
pages