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	<title>Walbert's Compendium</title>
	<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com</link>
	<description>History, essay, fiction, education, recipes, instruction.</description>
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		<title>Candlemas</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Tomorrow is Candlemas: the midpoint of winter, halfway between the solstice and the equinox, in cultures unspoiled by scientifically rational astronomy the first day of spring, and in much of Western Europe traditionally the day to break ground for the first of the year&#8217;s crops. Pagans had astronomy plenty to mark the day, often (plausibly, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2012/02/01/candlemas/</link>
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		<title>White-people soul food</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I was intrigued by this article in today&#8217;s New York Times about &#8220;Mormon cuisine,&#8221; not because (as is the point of the article) it&#8217;s changing (what cuisine isn&#8217;t?) but because I had trouble seeing what was uniquely Mormon about any of it. Consider the two ne-plus-ultra examples of Mormon cooking offered by the author: &#8220;a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2012/01/26/white-people-soul-food/</link>
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		<title>Making fresh noodles</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A few years ago I bought some fresh pasta at the farmers market. (Well, frozen fresh pasta, anyway.) I asked how much it cost, and the lady said six dollars. Not cheap for plain noodles, I thought, but ok &#8212; let&#8217;s try the new business. I handed over six dollars. She handed me a six-ounce [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2012/01/24/making-fresh-noodles/</link>
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		<title>What you could grow (and when) in 1800</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson was a man of many interests, and being President of the United States doesn&#8217;t seem to have deterred him from pursuing them. If from the White House he couldn&#8217;t putter in his beloved garden at Monticello, he still managed to keep up with the business. During his eight years in Washington, he kept [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2012/01/18/what-you-could-grow-and-when-in-1800/</link>
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		<title>Tee-total barm</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Lest you think that the symbolic gesture of the self-righteous reformer is an invention of our own age, let me assure you that it has been with us for a good couple of centuries. Tonight I bring you conscientious consumption, 1830s-style! But first, as always, a little historical background. Until about the turn of the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2012/01/05/tee-total-barm/</link>
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		<title>Ye Olde Worcestershire: Eliza Leslie&#8217;s Scotch sauce, 1837</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For Christmas dinner I wanted to try something historical &#8212; besides the cookies, I mean, and other than a plum pudding, which nearly killed me the one time I tried to eat it after the full-on holiday feast. The centerpiece was roast beef (top sirloin, which is nearly as good as prime rib and about [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2011/12/27/ye-olde-worcestershire/</link>
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		<title>Have yourself a medieval Christmas</title>
		<description><![CDATA[My daughter, who is eight, tells me that her favorite Christmas carol is “Riu, Riu Chiu,” a half-millenium-old Spanish song about the perfection of the Virgin Mary and the birth of Jesus. With vivid lyrics about furious wolves and innocent lambs, accompanied by whatever handheld percussion happens to be available, it at once explains the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2011/12/18/have-yourself-a-medieval-christmas/</link>
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		<title>Enter the Belsnickel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The story of the Krampus has been making the rounds lately. For those who haven&#8217;t heard, he&#8217;s an old-world Germanic mythical creature who terrorizes naughty children at Christmas. Apparently pepper-spray-wielding shoppers at Target aren&#8217;t scary enough for Americans these days, because various cities are holding a Krampuslauf, or Krampus parade, this month. One of those [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2011/12/15/enter-the-belsnickel/</link>
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		<title>Christmas cookies: Speculaas</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Occasionally I get to bake cookies without a research agenda, to try something new just for fun. Since it&#8217;s St. Nicholas Day, Ivy and I baked speculaas cookies, which is what the Dutch traditionally bake for that festival. I&#8217;m not Dutch, I&#8217;ve never in my life celebrated St. Nicholas Day, and until today I&#8217;d never [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2011/12/06/christmas-cookies-speculaas/</link>
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		<title>The Thanksgiving issue: Gratitude and craft</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Time to get serious, now. Thanksgiving is only a day away, and if you haven&#8217;t started your preparations yet, you&#8217;d best get cracking. I don&#8217;t mean brining the turkey or kneading bread dough: I mean being thankful. The point of setting this day aside isn&#8217;t just to eat. And yet, of course, to show our [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.davidwalbert.com/2011/11/22/the-thanksgiving-issue-gratitude-and-craft/</link>
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