In the decades after the Revolutionary War, New York experienced a population (and economic) boom, which led to the building of numerous row homes.  Between the 1780s and 1830s, the red-brick Federal Style dominated the streets—it was a look greatly inspired by the English Georgian style, with nods to the classical tradition.  Between 1830 and 1850, Greek Revival architecture overtook the Federal style, not just in New York, but across the United States.  For row houses specifically, the movement was quite subtle—façades were still made of red brick, but Ionic and Doric columns adorned doorways, while ornamental work featured Greek motifs like the acanthus leaf.  While local brownstone was frequently used in New York construction before the 1850s—it was the material of choice for many churches, like the Gothic Revival Trinity Church, completed in 1846—it soon made the jump to residential dwellings.  But given the cramped streets, true Gothic Revival style never took hold with the row houses.  Instead, details were added through ironwork in fences, balconies, and stoop railings.  By the 1890s into the first two decades of the 20th century, architects were revisiting the earlier Federal style in what would be dubbed the Colonial Revival (a misnomer, since the Federal style postdated American independence), in part inspired by the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia.  As such, brick took priority over brownstone, limestone, and granite on façades.  After the turn of the 20th century, row homes began to fade in popularity, as apartment buildings were on the rise.  Stefanie Waldek  See wonderful pictures at https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/stunning-photographic-timeline-of-new-york-citys-iconic-brownstones  

Every year at Christmastime, I delight in promoting a Book on Every Bed.  I do so in memory of my mother, Jane, who raised her children to understand that if you have a book, you are never alone.  The idea originally came from historian David McCollough, who recounted the Christmas mornings of his youth, when the very first thing he woke up to was a wrapped book at the base of his bed, left there by Santa.  The most important part is what happens next:  Family members reading together.  That’s it!  That’s the whole idea!  Find recommendations from Amy Dickinson for gift books with descriptive notes and categorized by age at https://amydickinson.com/post/637493081987497984/this-year-put-a-book-on-every-bed 

Before nachos became one of the most beloved snack foods in North America and beyond, they were invented on a whim by a maître d' working in Piedras Negras, Mexico.  Even if you've never heard Ignacio Anaya García's full name, you've certainly seen his nickname, "Nacho," in the appetizer sections of countless restaurant menus.  García was born in Mexico on August 15, 1895.  His proper first name was Ignacio, but he went by the shortened version Nacho—a word that was not yet synonymous with tortilla chips covered in cheese.  In 1943, García conceived the dish that made his name famous.  He was working at the popular restaurant Club Victoria near the Texas-Mexico border when a group of soldiers' wives from a nearby U.S. Army base came in to order a snack.  The chef was nowhere to be found, so García temporarily abandoned his post to whip up something himself.  His recipe—tortilla chips topped with grated Wisconsin cheese and sliced jalapeños—was dubbed Nachos especiales.  The creation was an immediate hit.  Neighboring restaurants added their own versions of Nachos especiales to menus, and as early as 1949, a recipe for the snack appeared in an American cookbook.  García never claimed legal rights to the dish, and it's still in the public domain today.  But the Nacho behind nachos wasn't forgotten.  Within 17 years of serving the first platter, he opened his own restaurant called El Nacho.  Michele Debczak  https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/596365/nachos-inventor-ignacio-anaya-gets-google-doodle 

Even though most Danish families no longer live on farms, the tradition of leaving an offering to the nisse continues today.  Just as American children might leave cookies and milk for Santa Claus, many Danish children leave a bowl of risengrød, a type of sweet porridge (or rice pudding), for the nisse.  While the tradition endures, though, the nisse himself has changed.  The historic nisse was a powerful supernatural being, but modern depictions have reduced him to something of a jolly Christmas elf.  The nisser (nisse, plural) that beam out from holiday cards today are a far cry from the dangerous nisser of Christmas past.  While the nisse has lost his edge, the tradition of paying delicious tribute to him with porridge remains.  Families still enjoy some risengrød on December 23 or 24, often pairing it with a Christmas ale (a type of very light seasonal beer that often features nisser on its label) or blackcurrant juice.  As they eat, the children might sing “The Nisse in the Barn,” a popular Christmas song.  It tells the story of a nisse who’s trying to keep rats from stealing his porridge:  The nisse sits in the loft with his Christmas porridge, his Christmas porridge, so good and sweet.  He nods and he eats and he is so happy,because Christmas porridge is his favorite food.  Sam O’Brien  Find recipe at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-risengrod 

In Praise of Feast of the Seven Fishes:  Many dishes of fishes are delicious, delicious, delicious.  Your wishes for dishes of fishes will be satisfied, and you will be gratified when you dig in.  

Each of Italy’s 20 regions has a different culinary tradition for the cena della Vigilia, or Christmas Eve dinner.  It was the early 1900s when the official "Feast of the Seven Fishes" first emerged.  Italian-American families rekindled the Old Country's Christmas Eve tradition by preparing a seven-course seafood meal (hence the name of the newly found tradition) that both made them feel close to their homes, while celebrating the sea, a major connection in Italy.  Today, it's considered one of the oldest Italian traditions—but we give America credit for that!  Explore the seafood  recipes:  Acciughe Marinate alla Ligure (Marinated Anchovies), Brodetto di Branzino (Wild Sea Bass Soup), Crudo di Pesce (Fish Tartare), Paccheri con Sugo di Mare (Seafood Pasta), Pesce al Forno (Baked Fish), Pesce alla Griglia (Grilled Fish), and Pesce in Umido (Fish with Roasted Fennel and Taggiasca Olives). 
https://www.eataly.com/us_en/magazine/culture/origin-feast-seven-fishes/ 

After a volcano exploded on Long Island 400 years ago (in the South Pacific, not New York), killing almost everything on it and ejecting a Hungary-sized cloud of debris over New Guinea, the animals that successfully recolonized it included birds, bats, dragonflies, and, somehow, cuscuses.  Today, cuscuses range from Sulawesi in the west to the Solomon Islands in the east—a latitudinal stretch that exceeds the distance between Austria and China and, excluding possums introduced to New Zealand, is the greatest of any group of marsupials.  In fact, it is because their distribution is so broad that cuscuses—rather than koalas or kangaroos—were the first Australasian marsupials encountered by Europeans.  How did cuscuses become so far-flung?  Some researchers suspected human involvement, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the story started to crystallize.  On island after island, archaeologists discovered that cuscuses were newcomers, their arrival coinciding with human occupation.  They got to the Solomon Islands roughly 8,500 years ago.  They got to Timor about 3,000 years ago.  Thousands of years before plants were domesticated in New Guinea, people were managing cuscus populations.  Cuscus translocation is arguably the oldest-known example of animal management in history, preceding not only the Agricultural Revolution, but the earliest evidence of pig, cow, and sheep cultivation, as well.  Manvir Singh  See pictures at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-was-first-domesticated-animal 

Remember the quiet wonders.  The world has more need of them than it has for warriors. - Charles de Lint, writer (b. 22 Dec 1951)

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2301  December 22, 2020