Springlerles are Not Just For Christmas anymore

The years end has bought with it a bit more steam to our blog. Could this be an indication that we will post more often in 2008? Just before Christmas, Dieter remembered the Springerle cookie mold his mother had. It is a mold dating back to the 1800's and came from Germany with the German side of his family. Dieter's mom Elsie, told us her mother made the cookies and laid them out on a sheet covered ironing board to dry overnight before baking. We pulled out the antique ironing board and set out to duplicate the family tradition that until now had been set aside for more than half a century.

According to Wikipedia, Springerle is a type of cookie from Baden-Württemberg, Germany with an embossed design made by pressing a mold onto rolled dough and allowing the impression to dry before cooking. The cookies are traditionally white and anise-flavored. Molds are traditionally carved from wood, although plastic molds are also available. The name springerle means "little knights," and their origin can be traced back to the 14th century.

Above is a close up of the antique metal mold and the resulting cookie. We baked two versions of the cookie, one with anise oil and seed the other with only the seed. We sprinkled the mold with powdered sugar before pressing it into the dough as you can see in the image. The first recipe came from "Modern Baking" a trade magazine. Klaus Tenbergen, a master baker in Germany, South African and the United states gives this recipe:

Springerle
2 Lbs baking flour
0.125 crushed aniseed (about two rounded tea spoons, up to one tablespoon if you want
a stronger aniseed flavor)
14 whole eggs
2 Lbs granulated sugar

We halved the recipe above. The combination of the two recipes yielded over 100 cookies.

Method: Sift flour three times, add the aniseed. Beat the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the flour to the egg mixture, a small amount at a time, blending after each addition. Mix until smooth after the lst addition. Roll the dough on a lightly floured board, press into the moulds, remove, and place the cookies on pans to dry overnight. Bake in a slow oven at 250 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

The second recipe came from a blog called "A Geezer's Corner". It sounds like Springerles are a passion for this man. He adds butter, baking powder and lemon oil extract. We didn't have the lemon extract, but added i heaping tablespoon lemon zest instead. He has very strict directions "add the flavoring oils, and cream together for 10 to 15 minutes. yeah, that's what i said. if you don't, the cookies won't have the right consistency." We being law abiding citizens did just what he said.

In the end both cookies are delicious. You must be an anise lover or these cookies will be too strong for you.

According to ” Mr. Geezer"
House on the Hill is the best source for springerle moulds.

The High Art of Toasting/New Years Greetings

We like to wish all food enthusiasts a very happy new year and may your plate be filled with flavor. This painting came to my from my cousin Paul and his wife Else who live in Amsterdam. We thank them for adding a great year end image for our anthropomorphic gallery.

Rosemary Rising

Pictured above is an amazing "Orange + Chocolate" bread and a Pumpkin Seed Bread. Dieter baked these along with ”French Country White“, ”Caraway Molasses Rye”, “Caraway Anise Cumin Rye”, “Course Grain Mustard Rye” and “Chocolate Chip Cherry” loaves for the annual Rosemary Rising event in Sarasota. If you were one of the people who picked up a loaf of bread from the little salon, please let us know how you liked it.

Latest Additions to the Anthropormorphic Library

My darling cousin Carolien, from Holland, sent me this quintessentially Dutch image from the municipality of Tiel, known for it metal and fruit industry. Flipje is the mascot of Tiel, I quote from the information sent to me, “When you think of Tiel you immediately think of the yearly fruit festival and the cartoon character Flipje which has been an advertising icon for young and old for over 65 years.” As an anthropomorphic character, Flipje appears to me as a person dressed in a grape costume, a parade outfit perhaps. I am not sure if it is a true anthropomorphic character. I have included it as a marginal example in the same category as the green giant.

This iconic candy was invented in 1962, a movie theatre standard that was sold in a little box. Take a virtual tour of the Lemon head factory.

A hand painted sitting hamburger character. I believe this sign was the marque for a motel that occupied the location where the bar now stands. Highway 301 in Oneco Florida

Destination Beer: Bisbee Arizona

To quote from the ”Discover Bisbee“ web site, “Brewery Gulch, which in its heyday boasted upwards of 47 saloons and was considered the "liveliest spot between El Paso and San Francisco”. Apparently the brewery gulch street in Bisbee wet a lot of whistles and still does today as I discovered. Much to my delight I spied a beer unknown to me “Dave's Electric Lager”, went for it and then went for a few more. Clean and refreshing and beautifully hopped. I enjoyed it so much that I made excuses to drop in various establishments to enjoy as many as I could squeeze into our three days in and around Bisbee. On our last evening during a visit to St. Elmos (a colorful watering hole) I struck gold. I was introduced to Dave by a jolly fellow by the name of Hector (howdy Hector I shall not forget your kindness) anyway Dave is as cool as you might expect, a humble guy who casually mention that he welded up his own brewery, the man can do! I might also mention that Dave was the first person in Arizona to receive a brewer’s license since Prohibition. Dave's Electric, from what I understand can only be found in and around the Bisbee area, the only reason you need to visit historic Bisbee. Dave and his beer reflect what is great about America, believe in yourself, have a dream, live it.....that is how the west was won. Don’t miss quaffing a few of Dave's Electric beers, it is desert gold.

dave's electric brewpub

Destination Food: Bisbee Breakfast Club

The Bisbee Breakfast Club , in southern Arizona, is a place that will make you happy and full, glad that you're on the green side of the grass. This restaurant is a stand out, stylized much like a diner with a counter, no booths, plenty of tables and bustling atmosphere. The coffee is right and comes often. Your breakfast is in front of you before you have a chance to look the place over. Eyes bigger then your belly, some how that side of pancakes manages to disappear. I must also mention a professional and polite staff. If “Loren” should wait on you her smile will make you understand why the sky is blue, your day will be that much brighter.

The Bisbee Breakfast Club is located in the town of Lowell, well, about half of what's left of Lowell. Let me explain. At the western end of Bisbee is a mammoth size hole in the earth called the lavender pit, a defunct coper strip mine, operations shut down sometime in the seventies. Lowell is located a short drive around the pit, what you see is about half of main street, the rest has vanished into the lavender abyss. A goggle search of Lowell brought up two sights listing it as a ghost town.

http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/lowell.htm

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/lowell.html

Now that we have established the location and credentials of this culinary oasis, let me say that Bisbee’s rich heritage is being carefully looked after by a citizenry that is as liberal minded as it is creative. This is a town not to be missed if the old west appeals to you and your western size appetite.

Friends with Hamburgers

In their own words:
FriendsWithYou is an art collective founded by the Miami-based artists, Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval. Since its conception in 2002, FriendsWithYou has continued to promote the two artists' common message of Magic • Luck • Friendship through its various means of creative expression and commercial activity.

I just read a rant on designobserver.com. The author of the post was disappointed with the representation of contemporary design works included in the show “Design Life Now”, an exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City. He metioned some designers he thought were more worthy of inclusion in the show than some that were exhibited, so i decided to take a look at one of them called ”Friends With You“ and who did I see? MR. TTT hamburger and friends. It is refreshing to see designers who don't take themselves too seriously.

Chicago “Anthropomo”

At the Hot Doug‘s website I see
DUCK FAT FRIES ..... $3.50 (Friday & Saturday only). Chris ate them and said they were amazing. Down with medical science, up with duck fat.

See more visual representations of the shapeless gyro form than you though imaginable at the Gyros Project website.

Thanks to Chris and Joe we now have anthropomorphic signs from Chicago. Thank you!

Why Octodog?

Anna from Chile emailed us a link to the “Octodog” Frankfurter Converter site. Visit their site and ponder the very good question “why Octodog?”. Thank you again Anna. The device slips over the hot dog to create the blank expressioned “Octodog“ below. It might be good for a party. I'm not sure. Serve in a pool of ketchup?

A Hot Dog Drinking Coffee and a Corny Driver

Hi Polly and Dieter,
I'm glad you responded so quickly to my comment! I saw this sign in a window of a butcher shop over the weekend, and took a photo thinking of your blog.

It appears to be a car windshield shade. It's advertising for "AgroSuper", a conglomerate here that sells pork (Super Cerdo), chicken (Super Pollo) and other foods. Nearly all their advertising has one or more of these characters. The chicken is wearing traditional Chilean dress. I have no idea why the hot dog has legs!!!

Best,
Anna

Anna graciously sent this photo to us from Chile, her home. Having a submission from a distant land is exciting for us and we encourage anyone who enjoys the family of anthropomorphic food characters to join us by sending sightings from wherever you are. For more information on "AgroSuper Pollo" click here. See the entire anthropomorphic food and kitchen gallery!

Anthropomorphic Skin

We could not believe our eyes when we saw this. We just can't resist adding these images to the "anthropo" gallery. We found the hotdog image on LTHForum.The dish and spoon came from the New York Times article about chefs and tatoos. The chef who sports this tatoo, Rick Tramonto, partner and executive chef at Tru in Chicago, said "The spoon is running, the fork is stressed out, the knife is excited and they're all going after the plate. The plate is in the weeds; he's got the lobster but he dropped the lemon"