Ron in Grand Rapids, Michigan, grew up hearing relatives ask for a receipt when they wanted a recipe, as in getting the instructions for a good cake. That usage is old-fashioned but well established. Both receipt and recipe go back to Latin...
Restekuchen, or baked goods made with leftover ingredients, are popular in Germany, where their name translates as “scrap cake.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “German Scrap Cake” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Mary...
Well, look what the cat dragged in! It’s another newsletter from A Way with Words. Given how often we talk about food words, we should write a cookbook. For example, this past weekend’s show was a leftover — a rebroadcast, a rerun, a re-airing...
Blueberry buckle is a dessert with cake batter, fruit, and a streussel topping. What does that have to do with buckles? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Buckle Desserts” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Ellen Johnson...
Carol in Hamden, Connecticut, grew up hearing her Tennessee stepfather use unthaw to mean thaw, then saw a cornbread recipe calling for frozen corn kernels, “unthawed.” The verb unthaw is a dialectal form found in parts of the United States...
If a restaurant menu states, “We cook off our potatoes,” what in the heck does that mean? A truck driver who encountered such an announcement at a roadside cafe is still puzzling over what it means to “cook off” a tuber. He phones in to hash it out.