Breakfast with the Murder Demon: the Last Meal of H.H. Holmes, America's First Serial Killer {Serial Killer Supper Series, Part IV}

Choosing the final killer for my Serial Killer Supper series - at least for October; frankly, I'm having too much fun to stop forever - was no easy task. I don't know if you've noticed, but there is no shortage of crazed murderers in this world. That said, how could I resist featuring Herman Webster Mudgett, aka Dr. Henry Howard Holmes aka H.H. Holmes,  the man billed as "America's First Serial Killer?"

Pungent Pretty Things: Wild Garlic (Ramp) Hazlenut Pesto from "Garlic" by Jenny Linford

The Guardian recently ran a piece with which I wholeheartedly concur: "The Book is Back: Only the Technodazzled Thought They Would Go Away."  Ebook sales are on the way down, and people are discovering (or rediscovering) what I knew all along -- there is no replacement for the tactile pleasure of holding a real, solid, crispy-paged, yummy-smelling book in your hand.

Though I don't have the data to back it up, I think the over-saturation of food blogs -- combined with, let's face it, the many blogs of ... erm, dubious ... quality -- has probably helped boost hard copy cookbook sales as well. Even the most lush, gorgeous, recipe-tested blog or Web site can't (in my mind) hold a candle to the visceral pleasure of paging through a beautifully-photographed cookbook.

The Count of Monte Pancake: A Sweet and Savory Treat for National Pancake Day (and a Hungry Jack/T-Fal Giveaway)

I was compensated with product for this post, though the views expressed are all my own

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, Jackie! 

It seems as if there's a food holiday for everything. If, say, you want to take off work to observe National Wiener Schnitzel Day, then please mark your calendars for September 9. Or if you'd like to arrange your next vacation around a month-long celebration of salad, vinegar, or hamburgers, make sure to request your paid time off for the month of May.

Meanwhile, I am considering declaring my adherence to a pancake religion of some kind (it's as good as any) as this February 17 is National Pancake Day and I could really use a day off. Mind you, I have no quibble with a pancake holiday whatsoever, especially given the fact that I've been invited to celebrate it - and T-Fal's 60th anniversary - by the folks at Hungry Jack and T-Fal.

Spiced Spatchcoked Cornish Game Hens (Ground 2 Table Sponsored Post) ... and a mea culpa

This post is sponsored by Ground 2 Table, though the views expressed herein are entirely my own

 I suck. That's not really the recommended way to begin a sponsored post, but the fact is I am shockingly late in posting this. The Ground 2 Table people contancted me months - months! - ago and I dutifully promised that I would post about their product (though I did not make any promises as to what I would say) in exchange for product samples.

And I made a lovely roast chicken with the fresh single-use packet of herbs they sent me. And it was very pretty and the herbs were lovely and ...