View from the North 40: Modern cooking redefines the modern meal

I made bread pudding yesterday — I know it’s not the rocket-science of baking and it’s not fancy, but I wanted to treat myself to one of my favorite foods.

It was made extra-special because I used real-vanilla extract, and the bread pudding smelled divine.

And when I say divine, I mean irresistible.

While it was cooling on the counter I would actually pause in whatever I was doing, close my eyes, tilt my nose to the air a bit and inhale deeply, letting my breath out with a satisfied, “mmmmm.” It’s the human dessert hunters equivalent to a hound dog catching a scent and baying...