"The Great Food Almanac" is a hard-to-describe but easy-to-like new book that deals with an enormous variety of foods and food issues, from facts about figs, to egg grading, to how to find a nutritionist, to pet food, to tofu. The large-format book, by food professional Irina Chalmers (HarperCollins, $25), is a smorgasbord of fact and fun. Under M, there's this on melons: "Half a 5-inch cantaloupe contains 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamins A and C; it is rich in beta carotene, has plenty of fiber, adds only 59 calories -- and tastes great too." Under O, there's this: "As a precaution against theft, valuable ostriches are being fitted with numbered implants. To check on a bird's identity, a scanner can be passed over the bird's neck and its owner's ID number appears on the screen."
The entries are sprinkled with tips, cartoons, recipes, association addresses and phone numbers. Whether you're a dedicated foodie or a person who gets dinner by telephoning for take-out Chinese (see the entry on MSG), "The Great Food Almanac" is a feast worth savoring.
Tours cum cookies
House tours are always fun, getting to see the ideas and energy that other people pour into their dwelling places, but the folks of Union Square have added an extra lure: At each of the two dozen or so houses open to the public, the hosts will be offering home-baked cookies to visitors. The ninth annual Union Square Christmas Cookie Tour takes place from noon to 5 p.m. this coming Sunday. Tours cost $10 per person. The houses will be decorated for the holiday, and some people will be displaying heirloom linens. Molly Neal, whose Hollins Street house is on the tour, will display quilts made by her grandmother and an African-American strip quilt dating to the 1920s or '30s. Ms. Neal's husband, Larry Blim, is the cookie baker; here's the recipe for his Danish Brune Kager (it means brown cookies).
Brune Kager
Makes about 8 dozen cookies
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
1/3 cup finely diced candied lemon peel
Combine butter, sugar and molasses in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Beat in eggs. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, almonds and candied lemon peel. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. Remove from fridge and divide dough into four portions. Roll each portion into an 8-inch-long cylinder. Wrap again and chill until firm. Heat oven to 400 degrees. With a sharp knife or automatic slicing machine, cut the cylinders into very thin slices -- 1/8 inch is fine. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Allow to cool completely.