Instead of having to cut butter with a knife, you can use a butter dispenser (pictured to the right). Or, better yet, why not try out this new device that creates butter ribbons? You don't even have to exert energy to spread the butter on your toast. As ridiculous as this sounds and looks, how can you not be mildly intrigued?
Fellow blog Dvice explains that all you have to do is insert a stick of butter, twist the handle, and out comes a paper-thin ribbon of butter. Another blog, Bookofjoe boasts that it can turn each stick of butter into 10 feet of butter ribbon. But, don't fret, you don't have to use it all at once. You can leave the stick of butter in the dispenser and place it in your refrigerator.
The device also works with margarine. It's dishwasher safe, and it can be purchased from Amazon for just under $15. So, if you're concerned about accidentally cutting yourself when slicing butter, this is the perfect alternative. Forget sharp knives and decorate your toast in butter ribbons!
Without the watchful eye of an outsider (like a blog editor), I find it way too easy to push aside writing. There are always thoughts I mean to explore, memories I wish to record, and in the food realm, experiences I wish to document.
For the food -- I never really found a journaling process that appealed to me -- those pricey, carefully laid out books for travel and baking always seemed too rigid, and I never came up with an idea that would spur me into action -- until now. Head over to Serious Eats to Deb Harkness' story about receiving her aunt's book of wine labels. Over the course of the 1970s, this woman had carefully saved each wine label, pasted it into a simple book, and written notes alongside.
It's such a nice and simple way to record food experiences. Grabbing those labels might take some effort, but the same can easily be done electronically, if you take pictures of the label. Many of us get in the habit of recording our meals, but do we ever implement method to our madness, or focus on a theme or cohesive aspect? Quickly, some quick photographs can be turned into a book or file of memories, something to flip through, watching how times and tastes change, and something to pass on.
Do you log any food experiences like Harkness' aunt? Please share below!
Over the last few days I have been mulling over a post about my fridge-cleaning plan. Basically, I'm trying to only buy base necessities when I need them, and otherwise rely on the foods in my fridge, freezer, and pantry. The plan is to clear out as much as I can, by eating and not trashing, and then re-stock.
And it seems that I'm not the only one mulling over this plan, although my motivations are a wee bit different. Over at eGullet, there's a challenge to go without shopping for one week, and live on the food that's waiting to be eaten in your home. I'm right with Steven Shaw, the man behind the plan, that we so easily horde food without eating it, although I don't think it's as simple as: "If you spend $100 a week on groceries, this experiment will put $100 back in your pocket quicker than you can say stimulus." Should you have a pantry full of foods you've never touched for years, maybe. But otherwise, you'll need to replenish, which is my goal.
The more you love food, the easier it is to go nuts and pick up things that appeal to your foodie whims. As I see it, by using up that old horseradish dip, mustards, and frozen soups, the space is not only free for new flavors, but replenishing with a plan. By that I mean: a fridge and freezer full of the ingredients I especially like, want, and find useful, rather than the remnants of whims past.
So I dare you -- don't go out and shop! Discover all the tasty nibblets you have right at home.
When I first heard that the guys at Bacon Salt were turning their love of the smoky breakfast meat into a bacon-y spread (Baconnaise!), I wondered about the possibility of making homemade bacon mayonnaise. Sitting around with some friends, we speculated that if you were able to render off enough bacon fat, that it would be absolutely possible to use that in place of part of the oil in a batch of mayonnaise.
I never took the plan from theory into practice. However, Ryan Farr, of the blog Best By Farr has done what I could only postulate. He rendered out a couple of cups of fat from a batch of homemade bacon and, once it was strained and cool, whisked it together with two egg yolks, lemon juice, oil and water. From his pictures, it seems to have set up nicely and I can only imagine the amazing applications. I'm particularly interested in how it would taste as a dipping sauce for some homemade French fries.
Back in 2007, Low, the blogger behind the popular Rasa Malaysia food blog, posted a photo she'd taken of an elegantly plated sliver of miso-marinated black cod (pictured), which she'd made with a recipe from her Nobu cookbook.
Almost two years later, she spied the very same photo on the email advertisements of Florida-based Rosas Farms, advertising their sustainably farmed black cod. Low might have been surprised, but this was not the first time this had happened - she had discovered Rasa Malaysia photos and stories being passed off as other people's work everywhere from food blogs to eBay seller sites to the awning of a Malaysian cafe.
Neither Rosas Farms nor any of the other sites had credited Low as the creator of the photos, breaking the terms of her Creative Commons license. The photos, like the rest of Rasa Malaysia's content, are also protected with Copyscape, a service which helps prevent plagiarism by searching the web for sites that have been using your content.
So Low finally decided to fight back. Under a post titled "An Open Letter to My Thieves," she posted screenshots of the offenders. The topic clearly hit a nerve, with more than 60 commenters wring in to express sympathy and share their own plagiarism stories. One commenter even suggested starting a food bloggers union with a lawyer on retainer!
Washing dirt off mushrooms can be frustrating and challenging if all you have is a wash cloth. Instead, use a salad spinner to make cleaning and drying mushrooms an easy efficient task.
Untitled from Daniel Ahern on Vimeo. Often, when I'm feeling harried and in need of a little escape from the grind of my day-to-day working life, I'll pause for a moment and check in with a few blogs. I have a folder in my RSS reader labeled Food - Favorites that I turn to for particular inspiration and escape. One of the blogs that lives in that folder is Gluten-Free Girl, written by the buoyant Shauna James Ahern (her first book, which is based on the blog, was just released in paperback) and her husband, chef Danny Ahern.
Last night, as I was scrolling through those blogs, I discovered a video these two had made, in which Shauna filmed Danny making two different varieties of chicken stock. I was fascinated, not only because I saw the number of ways in which I could improve my own chicken stock by slowing the whole process down, but also because it gave me the opportunity to get a glimpse into their kitchen and thus, their lives.
Thanks Shauna and Danny for making this video. I'm looking forward to seeing more from your kitchen!
We all know that French ads are a bit more saucy and racy, but does this hilariously absurd one push the limit? Fellow blog Urlesque cries out, "Someone should probably be arrested for making this commercial featuring French kids and push pops." I'm wondering whether or not this push pop candy still exists. While I remember it from my childhood, I cannot recall any of its ads, certainly nothing like this.
Apart from the perhaps unintentional suggestions of the kids' gestures, the ad seems to promote the candy as a way to break up fights. Instead of fighting back after being incited, the boy tells him not to push him, but to push a push pop instead. Can candy breakup fights? How do you make sense of this wacky ad?
For about 3.7 seconds today, I was asking myself if I have, perchance, been spending a tad too much time on Twitter lately. But, seeing as how said dallying then led to a deftly jazzed-up ramen recipe, courtesy of the author of one of my favorite food memoirs of the recent past, I don't see how any of us could afford not to. Kathleen Flinn is no stranger to the tireless, if sometimes penniless, pursuit of the delicious; The Sharper Your Knife The Less You Cry chronicles her loss of a lucrative corporate lifestyle and subsequent savings investment in a degree program at Le Cordon Bleu. While the the corner shops of Gay Paree may not have been chock-a-block with student budget-friendly ramen bricks, Flinn picked up a flavor trick or ten between puff pastry and boning lessons and shares her method for infusing the noodles with the brightness of miso, green onions, fresh herbs, Sriracha and citrus, as well as other light-wallet recipes.
Clearly, at-home ramen can be a reward rather than a last resort. How are you gussying them up, or are you hooked on the packet? Please share with the rest of the (broke...oh, so painfully broke) class, why don'tcha?
Yesterday I wrote about Foodimentary, an award-winning Twitter which offers interesting food factoids every few hours. As a new Twitter user myself, I'm trying to find other good food-related Twitters to follow. Here are a few I've added so far. Please tell me your own favorites!
What food-related Twitters would you like to add to the list?
I have to admit, even after devouring all of Ruth Reichl's memoirs, it's pretty odd to read what's going on in her head moment-to-moment as she's walking around Paris with her husband. But odd in a good way, I think. Definitely feels like spying.
Food for thought: Bagels are the only bread product that is boiled before it is baked. "Lamb's Wool" was a drink popular from the 16th to the 19th century in England, made with hot beer, sweetened with baked apple pulp. American consumers average 10-12 pounds of chocolate a year, while in the UK they eat almost twice that amount. These are just a few of the random food facts I've learned in the past few days courtesy of Foodimentary, a Twitter created by Alabama-based blogger and programmer John-Bryan Hopkins. Hopkins, who at my last glance had 32,275 followers and counting, updates Foodimentary with a new 140-character food-related Tweet every few hours. He recently won the best food Twitter category at the Shorty Awards, which honor the best Twitterers.
As a brand-new Twitterer, I've been a bit skeptical about just how reading hundreds of random sentences a day would add value to my life. But Foodimentary is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to get out of Twitter - interesting info and factoids, condensed and packaged for easy consumption. You ignore what doesn't interest you and, perhaps, expand on what does - a recent Foodimentary Tweet on Seville Oranges inspired me to make my own marmelade. Read more about Foodimentary and Hopkins in this Q&A at Epicurious' Epi-Log blog.
I know some people roll their eyes at Facebook's current "25 Things About Me" meme, but I, for one, really enjoy reading them, even if I don't know the author. Sure, some of the facts are boring or creepily over-share-y or annoyingly self-aggrandizing. But others are really surprising or touching or insightful. They're like mini-memoirs, and I've always adored memoirs.
As a food-fan, I'm especially fond of food memoirs - Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone, Judith Jones' The Tenth Muse, Nigel Slater's Toast, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, anything by M.F.K. Fisher. Food is so much a part of our lives that sharing our food-related feelings and thoughts and memories says so much about who we are. So I thought I'd combine the two and try out "25 Things: A Foodie List." Here's mine - memories, factoids, favorites. I'd love to see yours!
As a kid, I truly believed the thing about the Bubble Yum and the spider eggs. If you came of age in the '80s, you know what I'm talking about. But I chewed it anyway!
Growing up Jewish in North Carolina, one of my favorite meals was hummus and stuffed grape leaves at a Lebanese cafe on Christmas morning. It was the only place that was open.
When my uncle from New York would visit, he'd always bring down stuff like kosher dills and chopped chicken liver and corned beef - all things my Yankee parents missed and couldn't get at the time in North Carolina. He'd bring cannolis for me, which I loved so much I hardly cared that they were completely soggy.
A man has vowed to eat nothing but bacon for the month of February. No other foods. No condiments. He's even limiting his drinks to water and booze. Crazy, eh? But this is not just any man. This is Michael J. Nelson, former writer and host of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
"Bacon" shall hereafter refer to the cured and smoked fatty cuts of pork, either back, side or belly. In other words "American bacon". No "Canadian bacon", which is really just lunchmeat. No pork chops. No turkey bacon. No "tofacon" or any such horror. Just bacon.
I'd beg to differ on the "Canadian bacon" thing since it's actually peameal back bacon, which does fit his rules. But still -- this is a true sign of bacon love. Forget bacon baking, bacon martinis, and all of the other strange forms of bacon that have popped up recently. This is hard-core love.
Just this week, Bravo announced the host and judges for the new series that's a Top Chef spin-off - Top Chef Masters. The host will be food journalist Kelly Choi and the judges will include restaurant critic Gael Greene (pictured on the right), culinary expert James Oseland, and food critic Jay Rayner. Unlike Top Chef, the show will feature 24 chefs that have already made it big.
These world-renowned chefs will compete against each other in a series of weekly challenges, and only one chef will win a prize for the charity of their choice. Their food will not only be tasted and evaluated by the judges, but also by a wide range of tasters for whom the challenge is aimed. This can include patrons at a five-star restaurant or a room full of hungry kids.
As exciting as it is to see Gael Greene, NYC food critic institution, star as one of the judges, I'm dying to know which chefs will be competing on the show. Entertainment Weekly predicts that the series will probably cast chefs, like Anthony Bourdain, who have guest-judged on Top Chef in the past. Who are some chefs that you'd like to see compete?
In honor of the upcoming Oscars, Cooksden has created its own Culinary Cinema awards. Categories include "Best On-Screen Feast," "Sexiest Food Movie," "Best Food Documentary," "Best Restaurant Industry Movie," "Funniest Food Movie," "Most Disturbing Food Movie," and "Best Leading Actor/Actress in a Food Movie." Nominees for the big award, "Best Food Movie," include Big Night, Chocolat, Eat Drink Man Woman, La Graine et le Mulet, Tampopo, Babette's Feast, Ratatouille, and The Scent of Green Papaya. Check out the site to see the results.
Personally, I think Like Water for Chocolate - the movie that had thousands of home cooks attempting to make quail in rose petal sauce - should have been in the running. What's your favorite food flick?
Instead of having to cut butter with a knife, you can use a butter dispenser (pictured to the right). Or, better yet, why not try out this new device that creates butter ribbons? You don't even have to exert energy to spread the butter on your toast. As ridiculous as this sounds and looks, how can you not be mildly intrigued?
Without the watchful eye of an outsider (like a blog editor), I find it way too easy to push aside writing. There are always thoughts I mean to explore, memories I wish to record, and in the food realm, experiences I wish to document.
Bee Yinn Low has something to say to 
Food for thought: 
I know some people roll their eyes at Facebook's current "25 Things About Me" meme, but I, for one, really enjoy reading them, even if I don't know the author. Sure, some of the facts are boring or creepily over-share-y or annoyingly self-aggrandizing. But others are really surprising or touching or insightful. They're like mini-memoirs, and I've always adored memoirs. 
A man has vowed to eat nothing but bacon for the month of February. No other foods. No condiments. He's even limiting his drinks to water and booze. Crazy, eh? But this is not just any man. This is 
What Can I Get You Folks? - Server Revenge
Reality-Show Celebrities Serve Up Chef Curtis Stone's 'Hundred-Dollar Burger'
Foods Celebrity Chefs Hate
