Free Republic

The trial in Sweden of Hamid Noury, an agent of the Iranian regime, ended on May 5th. The prosecutor told the court that there was plenty of evidence to show that Hamid Noury committed the crimes he had been charged with and she asked for him to be sentenced to life imprisonment. The verdict is expected later. The court case in Stockholm has been a direct embarrassment to Iran’s executioner president, Ebrahim Raisi, dubbed ‘The Butcher of Tehran’ for his hands-on role in the killing of thousands of political prisoners, including teenagers and even pregnant women, during a notorious massacre...

While enduring a ‘bug’ this week that left me unable to do much but sleep or sit in front of the TV, I happened upon Clarissa Dickson Wright’s series, ‘Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner’, which you can find on YouTube, and which is a really interesting history of how our 'three squares', and the ways we partake of them, have evolved over time. In the Lunch episode, she featured a pasty (yes, no 'r') crust design, executed by food scholar Ivan Day. This was so beautiful, I had to find the design, and know more about it. On the way, I...

it turns out the cake pie isn't a lie after all. After being accused of using a stock photo of a pecan pie by journalist April Ryan (in what was dubbed "piegate" and likely resulted in Ryan not being invited to the White House Christmas party), Sanders proved once and for all that yes, she can actually bake. Pretty well, as it turns out. In case you missed it, here was the original exchange, where Ryan insisted that the pie Sanders tweeted was not made by her.  Show it to us on a table. https://t.co/ifeSBlSZW7— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) November 24, 2017 Golly. In the...

Weeks after Mic published its first report on sexual harassment allegations against pastry chef and TV host Johnny Iuzzini, four more women have come forward to Mic to allege sexual harassment and abuse — and they say management at Jean-Georges, the acclaimed New York City restaurant where the abuse took place, was aware of Iuzzini’s inappropriate behavior as early as 2004. Mic obtained documentation that supports claims that Jean-Georges knew of some of the allegations against Iuzzini. The documentation includes reports one source filed to management in 2010, after Iuzzini allegedly physically threatened her, as well as a lawsuit filed...

Caneles (or Canneles) de Bordeaux are a traditional French pastry, soft and custardy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and flavored with rum. Traditionally, these are made with a special mold; and you can still do them this way, or make them in simpler, modern variations. Some sources indicate that the best molds to use for this are copper ones; but you can buy them now in other materials. Amazon has the traditional copper: as well as carbon-steel and silicone molds. You can also use small, oven-safe custard cups. For authentic canneles, the inside of the mold is coated...

The legend of how the croissant came to be is that in 1683, the Turkish Empire laid siege on Vienna, Austria. The Turks made several attempts to conquer the city by force, but were unsuccessful, so decided to try underground tunnels. The bakers of Vienna, who worked in the basement storerooms, heard the sound of digging and alerted the cities army. For their vigilance, the bakers received high honors and thanks for their assistance in outwitting the Turks. In celebration, they baked their bread in the shape of a crescent moon—the symbol of the Ottoman Empire. After the Turks were...

Pastry shop apologises, insists it has utmost respect for morals policeA pastry shop in Saudi Arabia has offered its apologies after one of its employees made a cake that reportedly denigrated the moral police for tailing an open truck driven by a woman and transporting women. Social media in Saudi Arabia, where women are banned from driving, promptly decried the cake and users said that “it was making fun of the highly respected members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice who were depicted as using a van to chase the all women truck.”...

There's been an ongoing movement to combine desserts. And now, there's a new one for you. You may remember the wildly popular cronut, which is a combination of a croissant and donut. Now a new creation is flying off the shelves of a New Jersey supermarket.

White House executive pastry chef Bill Yosses is resigning after First Lady Michelle Obama fundamentally changed his job duties to focus on healthier food. Yosses is leaving the White House in June to work on a new project focusing on “food literacy” and The New York Times says Michelle is “partly to blame.” The openly gay chef was hired by Laura Bush in 2007 to make his trademark cookie plates and sugar sculptures. Mrs. Obama took over in 2009 and ordered Yosses to make healthier plates in smaller portions. Yosses began replacing butter with fruit puree and sugar with honey...

This week brought more bad news for Joshua Welch, the Baltimore-area second-grader who was suspended for two days because his teacher thought he shaped a breakfast pastry into something resembling a gun. School officials have denied an appeal to have the suspension expunged from the boy’s permanent record, reports The Baltimore Sun. Robin Ficker, the attorney representing Welch and his family, said he will now take the matter to the Anne Arundel County school board. Under local regulations, he has 30 days to do so. “If this school can’t educate a seven-year-old without putting him out of school, how are...

Angelo Colapicchinoi presents one of his Colomba cakes at his bakery. Credit: Estefania Aguirre/CNA. Rome, Italy, Mar 30, 2013 / 08:24 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Italians are known for their food, and at Easter time one Roman baker is putting his craft on display by making cakes to commemorate Saint Peter’s Basilica and remind people of the Holy Spirit. “We call it ‘Cupolone’ (dome) to recall Catholicism and the Holy Spirit,” said Angelo Colapicchioni, an Italian baker who grew up next to the Vatican. The big sweet cakes have a similar texture to bread but with a faint taste of...

By now, Americans may be numb to such imbecilities committed by the government institutions to which they entrust their children for instruction. Nothing surprises after that 5-year-old Pennsylvania girl was labeled a “terroristic threat,” suspended from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation because she talked about shooting herself and others with her Hello Kitty gun that shoots bubbles. But looking on the bright side, perhaps we should welcome these multiplying episodes as tutorials about the nature of the regulatory state that swaddles us ever more snuggly with its caring. If so, give thanks for the four Minnesota state...

<p>A Maryland lawmaker has introduced legislation after a 7-year-old boy in his district was suspended for shaping a pastry into what his teacher thought looked like a gun.</p> <p>The Star Democrat reports that Republican Sen. J.B. Jennings introduced a bill that would prohibit schools from suspending students for seemingly harmless childish acts, such as playing games with fingers pointed like guns or chewing food into the shape of a firearm.</p>

<p>Children at Park Elementary School went home with a letter today explaining there was a disruption in school. Seven year old Josh Welch, and his father, say the disruption lead to a two day suspension for the second grader in Brooklyn Park.</p>

Who would have guessed that, with just a tin of evaporated milk, twelves ounces of muscovada sugar and a bit of shortcrust pastry you would be able to transport yourself a few decades back to those days in school when you had no greater concern than working out some excuse for not doing the maths homework and/or worrying about your spots.

A Boynton Beach man was arrested after apparently needing to satisfy his sweet tooth by stealing a pastry from Walgreens. According to Boynton Beach police on July 25, 49-year-old James Gomperts stole a packaged danish from the Walgreens located at 1634 S. Federal Highway. The store clerk watched Gomperts select the danish from the food aisle, but a few minutes later it was no longer in his hands. The clerk said she noticed his right front pants pocket bulging. Gomperts paid for other items and on the way out was approached by store employees about the danish. That is when...

Fell for the 'French bread which is so delicious that it will make you cry' scamA Taiwanese man reportedly paid about $400,000 for a croissant he never got to eat. The man, only identified by his last name, Chiu, reportedly fell for an Internet scam that promoted, "French bread which is so delicious that it will make you cry," reported Apple Daily. Chui reportedly saw the photograph of the alleged croissant and proceeded to transmit 99 Taiwan dollars to the bakery through an ATM. Someone from the company then called him to say there was a mistake and he had...

A delicious Gluten Free sweet pastry for pies and slices Ingredients: 250g butter 250g castor/super fine sugar 2 eggs - lightly whisked in small jug 40gms GF Self Raising flour 60gms GF custard powder mix

Oh man. Marxism is alive and well with the First Lady of the Obamanation… Most Americans, she said, don’t want much. “They don’t want the whole pie,” she told the women. “There are some who do, but most Americans feel blessed just being able to thrive a little bit. But that is becoming even more out of reach.”… “If we don’t wake up as a nation with a new kind of leadership…for how we want this country to work, then we won’t get universal health care,” she said. “The truth is, in order to get things like universal health...

If you spend any time in the cereal aisle, I don't have to tell you that the folks who make Pop-Tarts are always coming up with crazy new combinations of flavors. But you may not realize that for every new variety of toaster pastry that makes it to the greengrocer's shelves, there are dozens of experimental flavors that don't make the cut. Here are some concepts that were rejected, for one reason or another. THERE ARE MORE! Please see More rejected Pop-Tart flavors.