No one is certain why a Japanese diplomat risked his life to save thousands of Jews during World War II. Eight decades later, a choir from the USA attempted to solve the mystery with music.
Shimah vekoli! (Hear my voice!)
Rachem alai, Adonai! (Have mercy on me, O Lord!)
Hoshana! (Save us!)
— from Butterfly by I’lana S. Cotton
At some point, as he looked out the window of the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania, at the growing crowd of Jewish refugees begging for their lives, Chiune Sugihara made a choice. One that could cost him his career. Perhaps even his life.
It’s not clear precisely when Sugihara reached this decision. Sometime in the summer of 1940, this mid-level diplomat began approving travel documents for hundreds of refugees, most of them from Poland and most…
OK, all you coronavirus quarantine bread bakers out there. It’s time to get serious.
You’ve done banana breads, zucchini breads, blueberry muffins, and buttermilk biscuits.
You’ve tried your hand at pan loaves, hearth loaves, flatbreads, and tortillas.
You’ve launched into the adventure called sourdough, and maybe you’ve begun to coddle and coo over your starter like it’s a precious child. Or maybe you’ve decided you never really liked kids much and that finding the little no-maintenance yeast packets at the grocery store before the other hoarders do is all the challenge you need right now.
We bought our ceramic baking stone in the early 1990s–and it looks like it.
If those stains could talk, here is what they’d say about pizza:
The rise is worth the wait.
I totally get that our pizza cravings can be instantaneous and unexpected, which makes advance planning–and waiting–problematic. And if, like Chef Sin and me, your go-to pizza dough is Jim Lahey’s no-knead version, then spontaneity is out of the question; it requires an 18-hour head start. But short-cuts often give you a tough or brittle crust. And store-bought, pre-made pizza shells are … crap.
My suggestion: Find a…
Yes, the Boss’s one-man Broadway show was epic entertainment; it was also a case study in effective group communication
This is not a review. As a live performance and a cultural phenomenon, Springsteen on Broadway has received all the accolades it needs.
The show, a calm and introspective one-man concert residency amid NYC’s boisterous day-glo theatrical spectacle, was an unqualified hit. What was originally slated as a six-week run was extended to more than 14 months, five days a week, 236 performances, before finally closing in December 2018. …
What if you love the bar but hate the bartender? Hit the road.
I’m done.
I can no longer be part of an organization so clearly hostile to my own values.
Much as I love keeping in touch with all of you, I despise the proprietors of this place where we meet. I won’t support these monsters anymore.
Facebook is an amazing communication tool. World-changing. But the company behind this tool has used it in devious, greedy, and cynical ways. Repeatedly. And lied about it. Repeatedly.
Zuckerberg and Co. provided an open door for Russian election interference (affecting 126 million FB and 20 million Instagram users) and were a willing conduit for a…
Why the summer’s hottest viral recipe is totally worthy
My go-to sandwich when visiting an unfamiliar diner or lunch spot is usually a BLT. It’s hard to mess up bacon, lettuce, and tomato on bread — at least, not too badly. But a skilled cook, using the right ingredients, can transform the combination into something superb: salty bacon, crisp lettuce, sweet tomato, and a schmear of mayo all nestled within a couple of slices of perfectly toasted sourdough. The Cuisine Stupide BLT Index is not the sole measure of restaurant quality, but it’s a good initial yardstick.
Often what falls…
A No-Knead Bake-Off
A New Way to Bread
Of the many tens of thousands of words that food journalist Mark Bittman has written, perhaps none have had greater impact on how America cooks than an unassuming little installment of his New York Times column, The Minimalist, published on Nov. 8, 2006. Its headline read: “The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work.”
The column detailed an unusual bread-making technique developed by Jim Lahey at his Sullivan Street Bakery in Manhattan. …
In August of 1974, when I was 14 years old, my parents let me and my best friend, Rob Lichte, go on our first no-chaperone backpacking trip in the Sawtooth wilderness of central Idaho, miles from the nearest town, road, or telephone.
Mom dropped us off at the trailhead and said she’d be waiting for us with whatever a couple of hungry, tired teen-agers wanted after three days of gorp and freeze-dried chili. …
