It's a predicament almost as old as alcohol itself. In fact, in Macbeth, Shakespeare wrote of partaking in alcoholic beverages: "It provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance." Well, maybe if Shakespeare had spent more time drinking in moderation...
NewScientist reports that a recent Australian study found that moderate drinking can actually reduce the chances of developing erectile dysfunction by 25% - 30% compared to people who don't drink at all, even after accounting for additional risk factors such as age, smoking and heart disease.
Sounds counterintuitive compared to the old adage, right? But it seems more and more, scientists are identifying the health benefits of drinking in moderation. (Plus drinking in moderation can provide you the benefits of not looking like an idiot at family gatherings!) To your health!
Paranoia is pretty rampant in the kitchen these days, so just about any common-sense thinking is a nice surprise. If you were ever wondering about what the deal is behind expiration dates, or have ever found yourself throwing food out the minute that date comes, I beg you to read Culinate's Expiration Dates: They're Helpful -- and Confusing.
Rather than weighing itself down with fear, it gives a good and honest guide to how expiration dates work. They note how expiration dates are more often an indication of best quality than of something going bad, the differences in terms, and even what issues expiration dates lead to -- like fresh food going to the dumpster because its shelf life isn't long enough to travel, and leading to the world of dumpster diving.
Make the most of your food, and bite your thumb at the paranoia!
We all know the horrors of plane food. Personally, I don't even know how many times I've ridden on a plane, but only once -- just once -- did I get a meal worth remembering. Even so, it never inspired me to do something about it. Like many others, I sucked it up, or stuffed my bag with bagels and tasty things pre-flight.
But not everyone can take it lying down, and there's an excellent new passenger letter swimming its way across the internet, which you can read over at the Telegraph. Basically, the anonymous writer calls Richard Branson out on the food served during Virgin flights. And I must say, it's pretty terrible-looking food (look up, that's mustard slopped over most of the middle). These pictures are so bad, they make those chewy, plasticy microwaved pizzas look delectable.
You better think twice next time you bite into what appears to be a nutritious Luna bar. The Los Angeles Times recently had an article stating that Clif Bar and Co. announced a recall of Clif and Luna brand bars that contain peanut butter. The decision was based on the FDA's announcement that traces of Salmonella Typhimurium contamination have been found in a plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America. The plant which manufactures peanut butter and peanut paste supplies companies nationwide. To find out what other food products have been affected, you can view an online list put together by the FDA.
While food shopping yesterday, I noticed a shelf full of Luna bars. I can't help but to feel mildly skeptical of the FDA. Just how seriously should we take this Salmonella scare? After doing some online research yesterday, I found out that there are approximately 40,000 cases of Salmonella infection reported every year in the U.S. In the summer of 2008, there was a Salmonella outbreak that seemed to have been caused by fresh jalapeño and serrano peppers from Mexico, raw tomatoes, and fresh cilantro. The highest amount of cases occured in Texas and New Mexico.
Originally, I thought that Salmonella was only present in raw meat, in particular poultry. In turns out that any foods that have been in contact with raw meat could also contain the bacteria. I'm just perplexed as to how it could have ended up in this peanut butter plant. Does it say something about the sanitary conditions of the plant or could it have happened anywhere?
Thats right! As fellow blog The Consumerist states,"no, not that kind. Coca-Cola." Earlier this week, a local newspaper of Sweden reported that a woman (who wishes to remain anonymous) living in Malmö will be seeking inpatient treatment for her addiction to the Coca-Cola beverage. Her addiction has caused a variety of health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Momlogic, another blog, states that originally local health authorities recognized her health problem but did not think it was appropriate for her to receive inpatient treatment. Recently, the Administrative Court of Appeals ruled that the woman's addiction to the beverage should be treated at an inpatient facility.
I'm still wondering whether or not this is bogus. It seems to me that there could have been many other causes of this woman's poor health besides her Coca-Cola intake. For example, what else is she consuming and what is her medical history? Check out the poll below to let us know what you think.
There are few meals I make that don't in some way involve onions. I add red or sweet ones to salads for crunch. When I saute greens, I almost always start by softening slivered yellow onion in some olive oil, in order to give the chard or kale a flavor partner. They go in all my soups, stews, braises and roasts. And, when I want a real treat, I'll caramelize them down to a puddle of dark, sweet onion jam that goes amazingly well on sandwiches, pizzas or even just on top of a cracker.
Elise at Simply Recipes posted a tutorial yesterday on how to make caramelized onions that is helpful for the beginnger and a good reminder for those of us who have let caramelized onions slip off our mental food map. What's more, she created a time lapse video of the caramelization process that I've now watched four times, just for the pleasure of seeing those crispy raw onions melt down into a rich and mellow spread.
I've always had an appreciation for the history of logos. One is created and recognized, then societal pressures or eager marketers come in and attempt to modernize things, sometimes succeeding, and sometimes failing. Considering my recent post on Tropicana, I thought I'd share a new post up at Neatorama -- they've gone through and shared how different logos have morphed over the years.
Above, you can check out the Morton Salt girl. I picked her for this post because it confused me the most. Here you have a little tyke in 1914, with an umbrella so large that it pretty much dwarfs her as she stands there in her to-the-knee frock. But then, she gets older and skinnier, with her hemline rising until it's so flipping high that if you saw the 1968 girl from a different angle, you'd know what her underwear would look like. Does someone say: "Hey, that dress is too long!"?
But Morton aside, you can check out everything from the morphing Aunt Jemima, to a company's notions on what a modern Betty Crocker would look like. Heck, you can even see what the Gerber baby grew into!
Last week, Edgar Allen Poe celebrated his 200th birthday. After attending the birthday festivities at Poe Cottage, which is located in my area of the Bronx, I thought that the Poe celebrations were over. After all, while the famous author of "Annabelle Lee" and "The Raven" is one of America's greatest writers, he isn't really that much of a cult hero nowadays.
Later, to my delight, I discovered that I wasn't the only one who geeked out at the bicentennial of old Edgar. Dewey's, a pizza chain, unveiled the Poe Pizza and, although I can't figure out what the dish has to do with Poe, I have to admit that it does sound good. Even better, Cake Wrecks put up a couple of truly fantastic Poe-themed confections . While the Tell-Tale Heart cake is fairly cool, the Nevermore cake sent me over the moon. Call me sick, but the image of a dead raven on a dessert plate brings a BIG smile to my face. For that matter, most of the other creations at Wild Cakes are amazing!
Chefs say that canned or boxed chicken stock is an abomination and that you're better off just substituting plain old water instead. However, what's a home cook to do on those occasions when you want something more than water (even if it's fresh, nicely filtered H2O) and you used up the last of your frozen stock when you made risotto a week ago?
Over at Serious Eats, Michele Humes has done the research, tasting and testing every canned or boxed stock in her local market, trying to determine which are a doable substitute for the real thing and which are better left on the shelf. She found that the all-around winner was Kitchen Basics Natural Chicken Stock. To see all her winners and losers, check out the full post.
When I used to carry my lunch, it was a no-frills affair. I'd prepare the food, throw it in a bag, and be on my way. I'd see a fancy thermal bag or container here or there, but I never thought about making my eating experience a fancy one.
If you need to add a little spark to your lunch day, I'd suggest making a handy lunch bag, like the one above, courtesy of Design Sponge. The bag not only works as something to house your food, but it also contains straps to hold your cutlery (goodbye plastic!), and the bag that folds into a charming eating surface.
The monotony of the workday might be too much some days, so why not pep up one of your only breaks?
I've always been pretty good with leftovers. I always make soup out of roast chicken remains and I have a passing understanding of how to transform bits of one meal into something fresh and interesting for the next. However, at the end of each week, I still find myself throwing out more uneaten food than I'd like. In general, I dislike the waste but more poignantly, I regret depriving the ingredients of their potential (especially when I toss animal products).
However, this week, inspired by this post about food waste at the Non-Consumer Advocate, I managed to avoid waste where I might have otherwise tossed. I made a big pot of chicken soup, using up an aging hunk of red cabbage (once cooked, it was impossible to tell that it was a bit wilted), several bits of half-used onion and most happily, a painfully stale six-inch chunk of seeded baguette. I broke the bread into bits, placed some of it into the bottom of the bowls and ladled the soup on top. The once-stale bread became silky and tender, adding a lovely texture and taste to the meal.
As far as I'm concerned, a Caesar salad is one of the best salads going. Don't get me wrong, I do love salads that are heaped with a number of different veggies and topped with a simple vinaigrette. However, those many-ingredient salads are a lot of work and don't lend themselves to a quick weeknight dinner in the same way that a basic Caesar does.
There's but one drawback to the classic Caesar and that is that the dressing contains raw eggs, a no-no for pregnant women, folks with suppressed immune systems and vegans. Happily, Divine Caroline recently posted a recipe for Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing with Meyer Lemon that sounds good enough to spoon straight from the mixing bowl (not that I would ever do something like that) as if it were soup.
If you can't find Meyer Lemons (although I'm still seeing them in my local market in the Philadelphia area), you can substitute regular lemon juice, sweetened with a bit of orange juice.
Back in the early seventies, my parents lived a necessarily frugal lifestyle. They had a vast garden and kept chickens in the backyard of their little Santa Cruz house. When it came to interior decor, their style was thrift store chic. The light fixture in the dining room of that little house a bare bulb and so, in order to conceal it a bit, they crafted a chandelier out of styrofoam cups. It did the job and looked pretty cool (although one questions the ecological sustainability of the medium now).
However, if they had been thinking more creatively, maybe they would have hit upon the idea of using edible gummy bears (did they even exist in the seventies?) in their light fixture construction. Artist YaYa Chou determined recently that gummy bears would make an excellent chandelier and crafted the truly impressive one that you see above. It is also made of beads, monofilament, plastic, metal and light bulbs. Looks good, and in a pinch, could be quite delicious.
Every time I see a truffle in the store, I stop and ponder buying one. Then I convince myself to hold off -- rationalizing that I should have a killer recipe to use it in first, and some people to share the flavor experience with. It's just too pricey to throw into my basket all willy nilly.
Which is why I'm sharing this foodie dream: MarxFoods.com is having a contest where you can win fresh truffles -- a whopping 1/4 lb. of truffles, to be exact. Better yet, all you have to do is leave a comment on the website's blog by noon on January 26th to be eligible. This is one of those "Why the hell not?" sort of contests. How could you really miss a chance to get free truffles?
Oh yes -- I guess I should share the type of truffles they're giving away: Black Winter Truffles, which you can see in the image above. How appropriate is that!? Good luck, and if you happen to win, I'd love you forever if you invited me over for dinner. *flutters eyelashes*
*EDIT: You must comment on the MARXFOODS website. This is not a Slashfood contest.
I've long fantasized about stirring up a throat and soul warming Theraflutini -- an ersatz cold medicine and bourbon toddy that thus far exists only in my (hack, hack, sniffle...) imagination. Turns out, I'm not the only one. Our sister blog Lemondrop has gathered up a medicine bag full of bars serving cocktails that are good for what ails you, plus recipes for a few you can administer at home.
For instance:
"C-creature: In Walnut Creek, Calif., the Spoontonic Lounge makes Emergen-C cocktails by request. The C-creature is a combination of Absolute Mandarin, a packet of Emergen-C (citrus flavor), soda water, fresh orange wedge and a splash of OJ. Add a shot of vodka to the Emergen-C and you've got yourself a B-12 Bomber."
In my mind, the Theraflutini is served with a crushed St. Joseph's baby aspirin rim. Anyone else entertain such multitasking cocktail notions? Share in the comments, why don'tcha?
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.
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Chefs say that canned or boxed chicken stock is an abomination and that you're better off just substituting plain old water instead. However, what's a home cook to do on those occasions when you want something more than water (even if it's fresh, nicely filtered H2O) and you used up the last of your frozen stock when you made risotto a week ago? 
When I used to carry my lunch, it was a no-frills affair. I'd prepare the food, throw it in a bag, and be on my way. I'd see a fancy thermal bag or container here or there, but I never thought about making my eating experience a fancy one.
I've long fantasized about stirring up a throat and soul warming Theraflutini -- an ersatz cold medicine and bourbon toddy that thus far exists only in my (hack, hack, sniffle...) imagination. Turns out, I'm not the only one. Our sister blog 
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
