My mom likes to tell stories about how, when she was pregnant, she would always put her food in the microwave, press the "start" button, and run away as fast as she could so as to not irradiate the fetus.

Of course microwaves do not actually irradiate anything (even my mom knew that, on a rational level), but a lot of people still consider them vaguely evil. At the very least they don't enjoy the best reputation for producing healthy or delicious food.

But they may be better for the environment, at least in certain circumstances. As an interesting Slate story found, using a microwave for cooking small portions is much more energy efficient than using an oven. Making a single baked potato in an oven took 9.5 times as much energy as it did in a microwave; making four portions of baked potato in a microwave took 2.5 times the energy. The efficiency ratios are skewed depending on whether you have a gas or electric oven -- gas ovens produce fewer carbon emissions per units of heat than electric ovens.

Good to know, though until they make microwaves that can brown the top of a half-eaten casserole, I'm going to have to stick to my oven for certain reheating jobs.

How often do you use your microwave versus your oven?

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week.

Highlights from the San Francisco chocolate salon: bacon chocolate, a drink called "choffy," apple pie truffles.

Fashionable tips for the perfect party (think lots of glitter) from MTV's House of Style.

Celebu-chef Jean-George Vongerichten has plans for a worldwide empire of restaurants, with plans to open 50 in the next five years. Will they be the "Applebee's of haute cuisine"?

Are we in the middle of a food revolution? Examining the claims for the recent New York Times story.

What spring vegetable are you looking forward to most -- a quiz. Choices are artichokes, asparagus, carrots, peas and fennel.

How do you feel about mandatory coat checks? Apparently, Yumsugar readers do not like them so much.

Iron Chef, Times-style: Food section writers Kim Severson and Julia Moskin each make dinner for six for $50, and restaurant critic Frank Bruni judges.

Severson's menu, with recipes: Chili-spiced peanuts, carnitas tacos with cabbage-radish slaw and fresh tomatillo salsa, and dark molasses gingerbread with whipped cream.

Moskin's menu, with recipes: Cold tomato-cilantro soup, cheddar puffs, pasta with chicken, currants and pine nuts, tangerine-vanilla floats.

Will they ever allow wine sales in New York grocery stores, like they do in 35 other states? Eric Asimov discusses the upcoming vote.

Homemade sausages, no grinder or casings required. With several recipes.

The Minimalist's take on Asian-flavored noodle soup.

What's on the menu at the new Yankee Stadium? Noodle bowls, Cuban sandwiches and sushi. Oh yeah, and hot dogs.

Not to be outdone, Mets fans will get pulled-pork sandwiches on brioche buns, shrimp rolls and frozen custard with fresh blueberries at the new Citi Field.

I have to admit, I was a little put off by the greenish stuff oozing out of the side of these cupcakes. But once I heard it was mole, I was all about it.

Originating in Mexico, mole refers to a variety of sauces whose recipes vary but usually contain chiles, nuts of some sort, spices, and (often) chocolate. These vegan cupcakes, from Norwichnuts on the Slashfood Flickr pool, are filled with a rich mole made from mild chiles, ground sesame seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and cinnamon-spiced Mexican chocolate.

The cupcakes themselves are chocolate Devil's Food and the frosting is vegan pine nut "buttercream" with a sprinkling of brown sugar and nuts. Me gustan mucho!

I wrote yesterday about how food corporations are cynically marketing sugar-sweetened foods as "healthy," a totally bogus claim. Well, the New York Times' Room for Debate blog is taking apart that and other food myths, with commentary from a handful of food writers and experts.

First, nutrition epidemiologist Barry M. Popkin demolishes the myth that fruit juice and fruit-flavored antioxidant waters are healthy. Fruit juices, he says, have just as much sugar as soda -- you're much better off eating the fruit itself and drinking some water. And antioxidant waters (like Coca-Cola's Vitamin Water) have shown zero health benefit and are full of sugar.

Next, hot dog-maker Larry Bain explains why "kosher" does not necessarily mean higher quality.

Cathy Erway of the Not Eating Out in New York blog defends pale-colored veggies like cabbage and cauliflower from the "color equals vitamins" maxim.

>Brian Wansink of Cornell's Food and Brands Lab explains that we can't really tell when we're full as long as our eyes are receiving food-related stimuli.

Josh Ozersky, author of "The Hamburger: A History" makes us think twice about the idea that grass-fed beef is automatically good.

David Kamp, Vanity Fair food writer, explains how arugula, often used as a stand-in for "fancy-schmancy" is actually a humble weed from the Mediterranean.

[Via New York Times]

As someone who has never managed to make ravioli that didn't look like thin, lumpy pillows from some dystopian prison ward bunk bed, I'm completely and totally awed by these beauties, from Jezzfoodieme on Slashfood's Flickr pool.

They're filled with pumpkin and piave vecchio cheese, toasted in butter and topped with walnuts. There's a link to a recipe at Yum-O-Rama, with helpful photos -- unfortunately for me it calls for a ravioli mold.

Sugar, once demonized by parents and dentists alike, is back in style, this time as a selling point for food companies who want to broadcast that their products are free from high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the New York Times reports. HFCS, though believed by most scientists to be the same as sugar for your health, has become a whipping boy these days.

Log Cabin syrup recently announced that they've stopped using HFCS in their syrup; Pepsi has come out with new sugar-sweetened Pepsi and Mountain Dew; ConAgra uses only sugar or honey in its Healthy Choice All Natural frozen entrees.

"The argument about which is better for you, sucrose or HFCS, is garbage. Both are equally bad for your health," says Dr. Robert H. Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital.

"For consumers, perception is reality," says Jim Sieple, a senior vice president for Log Cabin syrup.

This seems like an incredibly cynical move, preying on people's misperceptions about HFCS to market products filled with equally obesity-promoting sugar as "healthy." It feels very wrong that a soda company or a frozen dinner company slaps the words "all natural" (a totally meaningless marketing phrase) on a piece of junk food to make people feel like it's wholesome.

The problem is not HFCS OR sugar, it's the fact that items like frozen dinners are larded with sweeteners to make them more appealing (I don't put sugar in my pot pie, do you?), and that we drink gallons of soda instead of water.

What do you think? Is it wrong for companies to promote sugar-sweetened foods as healthy alternatives?

[Via: New York Times]

Don't have an ice cream maker? No problem. You don't need one to make kulfi, a molded milk-based ice cream from India.

These beauties come from Nicisme on the Slashfood Flickr pool, from her Cherrapeno blog, adapted from Passionate About Baking. They're flavored with cardamom and frozen overnight in silicone molds, though you can use any kind of mold you have.

Kulfi is denser than ice cream, but since it's made with milk instead of cream, it's also less rich. The single serving size makes them perfect for an afternoon snack (heck, what with the fruit and nuts we might eat one for breakfast!).

On a recent trip to Singapore I fell hopelessly in love with the unholy, neon-colored love child of a Sno-Cone and a Jell-O salad, also known as the ais kacang.

The ais kacang is wildly popular in Singapore and Malaysia (where it's sometimes called an "ABC"), served in outdoor food centers and in mall food courts countrywide. In its most basic iteration, it consists of a scoop of roughly shaved ice drizzled with varicolored sugar syrups and evaporated or condensed milk sitting on a nest of corn kernels, red beans and cubes of herb jelly or gluey sago pearls.

It's the hyperstimulating carnival of desserts, with every texture -- Crunchy! Chewy! Icy! Glutinous! Creamy! -- and dozens of flavors exploding in your mouth all at once. Some versions even include a scoop of ice cream or a pile of fresh mango or (eeek!) durian. More is more, right?

Never mind that it's still 45 degrees and raining here; I've been craving ais kacang as if it's midsummer in Southeast Asia. So I decided to make my own. I simply ground up ice in my food processor and doused it with Torani raspberry syrup (the kind you use to make Italian soda) and a milk syrup I'd made by cooking evaporated milk with brown sugar. I omitted the corn and beans, but next time I'll try adding some sago pearls or chopped fresh berries.

Guess what this purple velvet torte doesn't contain? Flour. Guess what it does contain? Beets. That's right, this drool-worthy specimen from Elana's Pantry is not only gluten-free, but it actually gives you a dose of veg. Elana says this is her second attempt at "hiding" beets in treats, and that the torte passed her picky husband's taste test with flying colors. The torte is sweetened with agave nectar and moistened with grapeseed oil. As a mild beet-phobe myself, I'm desperately curious to see how well the beet-y taste is hidden.

Whoopie pie -- a regional Maine/Pennsylvania/Midwest cookie with two round cakes and a frosting center -- is having its moment in the sun. With recipe!

With restaurants closing left and right due to the economy, chef jobs are really, really hard to come by. Like, 300 people will apply to a single $25,000-a-year, no-benefits job.

Eric Asimov reviews the wines of Spain's Bierzo region.

The Temporary Vegetarian offers a recipe for cauliflower with raisins, almonds and capers guaranteed to woo even die-hard cauliflower haters. I happen to recall that Slashfood readers have a few cauliflower recipes up their sleeves too.

Recipe for a blood orange olive oil cake with yogurt.

The Minimalist tunnels through pork loins with a wooden spoon and stuffs them full of figs.

Eating "mountain oysters" at the International Comstock Mountain Oyster Fry. Hint: Mountain oysters are NOT oysters.

Way to give the much-smirked-about bran muffin a deserved makeover, ErinCooks! These elegantly proportioned muffins, adapted from Epicurious, eschew the sugary add-ons like chocolate chips that so often turn a healthy breakfast item into a 500-calorie monster. The recipes calls for nothing more than bran, flour, butter, brown sugar, one egg, sour cream, molasses, baking soda and salt. I can almost taste that nutty, lightly sweetened bran goodness. Now we just need to rehab the poor prune. ...

After college, I took a job bussing tables at a very high-end restaurant attached to a very expensive country inn near my hometown. It was the kind of place where you had to stand with your arms spread at the beginning of a shift and submit to having the maitre d' inspect your cuffs and the knot in your tie (even women had to wear ties).

I'd been working there for a few weeks when I noticed that employees were throwing away massive platters of food from the wedding buffets that took place nearly every weekend afternoon -- I'm talking untouched trays of smoked salmon, artichoke hearts, blinis with caviar and mini lemon souffles. I also noticed that the wait staff would pour the remaining pitchers of fresh-squeezed orange juice straight down the sink after brunch. Finally, I asked the head waiter why we didn't just save the food to eat at employee mealtime.

"Because, if we allowed employees to eat leftover food, pretty soon you'd all be eating whatever you wanted straight out of the fridge," he told me sniffily.

What, like untrained dogs?! I gave my two weeks notice the next day.

I was reminded of that incident when I read this New York Times post, about a man fired from Whole Foods for trying to save and eat a tuna fish sandwich that was about to be thrown away. Whole Foods claimed that the man's behavior was "misconduct," which means, in addition to having lost his job, he'd be denied unemployment benefits. The man, Ralph Reece, challenged the misconduct ruling and won.

Good for him, I say. Not only is keeping employees from eating leftover food degrading and wasteful, the "misconduct" charges were, according to Reece's lawyer, souped up in order to save Whole Foods money for not having to pay unemployment. And this from a company that is supposed to be one of the best places in America to work!

It looks like basil and smells like lemon, but this emerald green herb is actually a member of the buckwheat family. Native to Southeast Asia, Vietnamese coriander is used much like cilantro, its close cousin, flavor-wise. In Vietnam, it's used fresh in salads and summer rolls or cooked in soups and stews. In Singapore, it's is known as laksa leaf and is one of the main flavorings in a pungent curry noodle soup called laksa. You can find Vietnamese coriander in many Asian markets in the United States. Use it in stir fries, or try tearings bits of it into hot chicken soup with lime and chili for a pho-like flavor.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my top 10 favorite sandwiches in America, and asked you to share your picks. We got more than 50 responses, from shrimp po'boys in New Orleans to cheesesteaks in Philadelphia to Vietnamese bahn mi in Portland to something called the "Sloppy Irishman" in Ohio. I compiled the picks into this list, grouped very loosely by type (Italian next to Italian, seafood with seafood etc). So thanks for all the awesome suggestions! I don't know about you, but I feel a cross-country sandwich road trip coming on...

1. Cheesesteak from Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh, PA
2. Cheesesteak from Pat's King of Steaks in Philadelphia, PA
3. Steak Chacarero, spicy, at Chacarero in Boston, MA
4. Pambazo at Autentica in Portland, OR
5. Cemita at Cemitas Pueblo in Chicago, IL
6. Midnight Cuban at Paseo in Seattle, WA (two votes)
7. Cuban from Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville, MA
8. Milano from The Italian Store in Arlington, VA
9. The Otto at Fraboni's in Madison, WI (two votes)
10. Porchetta sandwich from Porchetta in New York, NY
11. Italian Beef, wet, at Al's Beef in Chicago, IL
12. Godmother from Bay Cities Italian Deli and Bakery in Santa Monica, CA
13. Veal and Pepper at California Sandwiches in Toronto, ON
14. The Special at Gandel's Liquors in Washington, DC
15. Muffaletta at Napoleon House in New Orleans, LA
16. Oyster or Shrimp (or Oyster and Shrimp) Po-Boy at Domilese's Po-Boys in New Orleans, LA
17. Shrimp Po-Boy at The Galley, Metairie, LA
18. Ipswich Clam Burger at Bigelow's in Rockville Centre, NY
19. Lobster Roll at The Red Barn in Ghent, NY (two votes, not counting mine)
20. Grilled Grouper at Harbor Docks in Destin, FL
21. Tuna Niçoise at the Bread Peddler in Olympia, WA
22. Jambon Beurre from Farmstead Lunch in Providence, RI
23. Monte Cristo from Milton's in Del Mar, CA
24. Monte Cristo from the HMS Bounty in Los Angeles, CA
25. Pork Bun from Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York, NY
26. Baoguette Bahn Mi at Baoguette in New York, NY
27. Saigon Bacon Banh Mi at Best Baguette in Portland, OR
28. BLT on Rye at Zingerman's Delicatessen in Ann Arbor, MI
29. BLB at Meat Cheese Bread in Portland, OR
30. The Fat Darrell, various locations around Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ
31. Sloppy Irishman at The Irish Pub in Massillon, OH
32. Parmageddon at Melt Bar and Grilled in Lakewood, OH
33. Beef on Weck at All Star Sandwich Bar, Cambridge, MA
34. Maid Rite at various locations in Wisconsin and Iowa
35. Roast Pork at DiNic's in Philadelphia, PA
36. Pork Shoulder at Smoky Jon's in Madison, WI
37. Pork and Fries at Earl's Sandwiches in Arlington, VA
38. Pork and Beef BBQ at LC's BBQ in Kansas City, MO
39. Burnt Ends at Blue Ribbon BBQ in Newton, MA
40. Garlic and Thyme Roasted Pork at Watershed in Decatur, GA
41. Fried Chicken Sandwich at Bakesale Betty in Oakland, CA
42. Coney Dog with cheese and onions at Skyline Chili in Cincinnati, OH
43. Patty Melt at Mic Duck's, Chicago, IL
44. Crown Burger at Crown Burgers in Salt Lake City, UT
45. Reuben Sliders at Kenny and Zuke's in Portland, OR
46. Pastrami on Rye at Katz's Delicatessen in New York, NY (four votes)
47. Jewish Hoagie at Koch's Deli in Philadelphia, PA
48. Corned Beef Special at Hymie's Deli in Philadelphia, PA
49. The Natte at Hungarian Deli in New York, NY
50. Market Fried Egg sandwich at Gateway Market in Des Moines, IA
51. Grilled Vegetable at Village Baker in Bend, OR
52. Five Easy Pieces at Littlejohn's in Charlottesville, VA
53. Chicken Salad Sandwich at Tomato Jam Cafe in Asheville, NC
54. Fern's Problem Solver at Hi Rise in Cambridge, MA