The Czarina’s mother is the one who called attention to the fact it was Pie Day, according to the American Pie Council. But then she asked a question for the ages: did I know that people debate cake versus pie like they debate dog versus cat?

Well, no…I didn’t.

So like any good blogger, I felt that I had to investigate this phenomenon. And always the good servant, Google informed me that not only is there a cake vs. pie debate, there is a debate about cake vs. pie on the World of Warcraft forum. I’m sure by saying this I’m totally and hopelessly ignorant of a game that has 10 million participants worldwide, but I was thinking that elves and orcs and wizards and such were more concerned about efficient ways to pillage a castle, how to cast idiosyncratic magic spells, inaccurate sexual dimorphism in game animals, and ridiculing idiot n00bs who cry over the vent after leaving their mikes on. All of those possible topics made sense to me but I never thought WoW peeps would concerned with cake versus pie.

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Created by the American Pie Council, National Pie Day is dedicated to the celebration of pie. As part of our American heritage, this day is a perfect opportunity to pass on the love and enjoyment of pie eating and pie making to future generations.

Each year the American Pie Council sponsors the National Pie Championships where some of the best pie makers in the United States and Canada enter their pies to compete for the “American Pie Council’s Best Pie in America” award.

– From the American Pie Council website

I am seriously thinking about entering some state fairs this year.

If you’re a foodie, chances are you care a good deal about the quality of the food you’re eating. Concern about quality bleeds seamlessly into concern about farming practices and food transportation. The Land Connection is an Illinois-based 501c3 (which means your donations are tax-deductible) whose vision and mission is as follows:

The Land Connection envisions community-based food systems in the Midwest, in which every farmer has the opportunity to grow food in a sustainable manner, and every person has the choice to enjoy local and organic foods.

The Land Connection works to establish successful farmers on healthy farmland, ensuring an abundance of delicious, local, and organic foods.

TLC is focused on increasing the reasonably priced, fresh and organic options for Chicagoans. Namely, they would like to increase the amount of produce grown locally and increase the number of selling venues such as farmers’ markets, thereby reducing transportation costs. This shift in food origin will in turn reduce gas consumption and pollution. Increased demand for local organic farming will give Downstate farmers (remember that Illinois has a Downstate, dear Citizens!) a revenue stream that may slow down the farm loss rate. Because Chicago gets so much of its produce from other states, we have lost farms at a rate of about 3,300 acres per year, according to TLC statistics.

So, in supporting the Land Connection, you will be working towards:

1. Preserving farmland
2. Increasing community economic health by supporting farmers markets and other venues for consumers to obtain food directly from the farmer
3. Facilitating environmental health through reduced transportation costs from California and other states, and
4. Promoting fresh food consumption and seasonal eating.

The Czarina has fallen in love with the Green City Market and she definitely would support the expansion of farmer’s markets. Optimally one day we’d have what San Francisco has.

For those of you who are interested in more about TLC’s strategic planning, the 2007-2009 plan is available online.

If this sounds like a cause near and dear to your heart, begin to get involved by purchasing tickets to Rampfest 2008, which is being held on March 28, 2008. A celebration of the ramp (an onion relative that Chicago was originally named after), Rampfest is an annual gala that includes tastings from several local chefs, a silent and live auction, and music. The venue this year is Prairie Production, a beautiful loft space at 1314 Randolph St. Watch for specifics in the March Chicago Social, The Reader, Conscious Choice, and other periodicals.

If you have something you would like to donate to the live or silent auction, contact TLC directly. Your donation is tax-deductible.

If we care about what we eat, we need to change the way the food business operates and get back to community eating. In the Czarina’s view, this is an important group to support. See you at the Gala!

THE LAND CONNECTION
1227 Dodge Ave., Suite 200
Evanston, IL 60202
www.thelandconnection.org
Phone: (847) 570.0701
Fax: (847) 570.0711

猿も木から落ちる

(Even monkeys fall from trees)

- Japanese Proverb

The DeLonghi DSM 5 5-Quart stainless steel stand mixer has lived in the Czarina’s kitchen for a few months now, and she thought she would share her impressions with her Citizens in case they were looking for a stand mixer.

The Czarina chose this mixer after extensive research. She toasted her KitchenAid Classic 4-1/2-Quart mixer after…um…well, it wasn’t my fault really. Okay, so the block of chocolate should have been softer, my bad. But hey, what kind of mixer doesn’t have an automatic shut off if the motor starts straining? I mean, us Americans have warning labels on ridiculous things, like coffee (it’s hot, I’ll bet you didn’t know that), so you’d think the makers of KitchenAid would protect me from my own stupidity – and from my own torquemada tendencies.

So rule #1 was that the next mixer had to have an automatic shut off mechanism if the motor was straining too much. The lower end KitchenAids don’t have that feature. So the best contender in the KitchenAid world was the KitchenAid Professional 600 6-Quart Mixer. I admit I was biased towards KitchenAid because my last one was pretty good and was made at the time when Hobart was making them, although towards the end of its life it started bleeding lube out of its nose. Now, they’re made by Whirlpool.

After reading several of the comments on Amazon about the KitchenAid, the Czarina noticed several complaints, including some from engineers, about plastic gears. The gears were a weak point in this particular model, and, it appeared, in most of them.

Here’s my rant for today, directed towards Whirlpool and anyone who has the same mindset: Come on, people. You are talking about the difference of a dollar or two in manufacturing. Make these important gears out of metal, and stop with the crappy plastic gears already. People that buy these larger mixers are looking for workhorses that actually work, rather than one just stands there and looks pretty. We are going to BEAT these products. The animosity you generate in your consumers with cheaping out on something so dumb will come back to bite you eventually. I have no interest in calling your stupid consumer hotline only to be told that I have to SEND THE WHOLE THING IN for a replacement. I want it to work the FIRST TIME. JUST SHUT UP AND WHIP MY MERENGUE, KITCHEN ELF.

Anyway.

The other option was the DeLonghi. Being of Italian descent, it certainly has design panache. The other thing I like about it is that the attachments are non-stick, so they’re easy to clean. It’s also larger than my KitchenAid Classic, so that was good. It has a splash guard, which, depending on what I’m doing, can be great or annoying.

Here’s what I don’t like about it: I had to epoxy one rubber foot in because it kept popping out. And because it also has no neck, it is relatively difficult to fold in dry ingredients without spilling some. Otherwise, you have to raise the top, pause, fold in, and start again. Also, if you read the booklet, you do have to be sure to knead bread on a very low setting, otherwise you run the risk of burning out the motor, just like the KitchenAid.

That’s the worst of it, though. It is VERY easy to clean and I love that. It looks cool. There were fewer complaints about things burning out on the DeLonghi than on the KitchenAid, but who knows…that could just be a function of KitchenAid’s popularity. More units = more possibilities of malfunction. So ultimately, I’m sure you’d be fine with either…it just depends on what’s important to you. I just couldn’t go into a new purchase knowing that I was running the risk of having the same thing happen. I can handle kneading bread slowly, but I can’t handle my mixer getting all pissy about chocolate. Because that’s just wrong.

Product grade: B