"shaker" news and stories

This week, NPR's Kitchen Window series gives us some insight into the simple, wholesome recipes of the Shaker culture, in which food is carefully used and never wasted. They grew and prepared their own food, which was nutritious and well-rounded, and sat down to meals with often 300 at a table, everyone sharing in the bounty.

Here we get a few recipes adapted from "The Best of Shaker Cooking," including Peas and Potatoes in New Cream, Cream of Asparagus soup, and the 5-ingredient Shaker Lemon Pie. One Shaker chef explains the pie like this: "You've got to watch it, take care of it, pamper it...you can taste the difference."

On the scale of all the things that need to be done when preparing food, like cleaning, chopping, roasting, etc., seasoning food with salt and pepper is low on my list of things that require effort. That said, it probably isn't surprising that I find Movers & Shakers, the self-shaking salt and pepper shakers, to be ridiculous. To operate the plastic shakers, you just have to pull the cord at the bottom of the shaker, invert over your plate and they vibrate, shaking out as much or as little seasoning as your taste buds desire. The only thing that they don't do is hold themselves over the plate, though I'm sure with a little creativity you could figure out a way to suspend them in the middle of the table. Of course, if you refill the shakers with Spepper, you'll really have reached the pinnacle of easy seasoning.

The shakers: $7.99. The cost of saving a second of actual effort? Priceless.

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