"carrot cake" news and stories

Well, the rest of my day is shot.

I came across this really cool web site, Retro-Housewife.com. It has a rather daring manifesto:

We spent the 80's and the 90's trying to do it all. Now we are tired, overworked and want to offer a different life plan. We want to stay home, take care of our kids, our husbands and give them the attention they deserve. This site may not be for everyone, but if you want to be a retro housewife, you have come to the right place!

Of course, if that's the only way you look at the site, you're missing out on some truly great content, including a Retro Housewife blog, sections on retro furniture and fashion, and, of course, recipes! After the jump, some cool-sounding meals you've got to try.

• What should your last meal of 2006 be? Why, french fries topped with cheese and gravy of course!
• Or maybe you'd like something a little more sophisticated.
• Don't just serve bread tonight, try some popovers.
• Yes, Boston has one of the top caviar producers in the country.
• 5 food critics pick their 5 favorite cookbooks of 2006.
• Spending New Year's Eve in Boston? The Globe has some ideas for First Night dining.
• This week's recipes: Candied Orange Rind, Crown Roast of Pork with Rice Pilaf, Carrot Cake, and Tourtiere.

Really now, is there a difference between a cupcake and a muffin? Isn't a muffin just a naked cupcake?!

I like to call these miniature muffins "inside-out cupcakes" because the traditional cream cheese frosting is inside, making them just as tasty as frosted cupcake, but much easier to transport. 

Imagine that you are considering dining at a restaurant you have never been to before. If all your friends like it and the professional critics like it, chances are reasonably good that so will you. When it comes down to it, though, your friends are not professional food critics. Whose advice do you place more weight on -- the friend's or the word of the person who gets paid to eat?

It is a difficult decision, because most people are inclined to trust the professional, the expert. As Sarah alluded to earlier, Jeffrey Steingarten said that he felt obligated to let go of his personal food preferences and hang-ups when he became a food critic. In order to see things from his perspective, to take from his reviews what he does, do we have to let go of our food preferences? Of course not. Everyone likes different things. The question is really why you would choose to take the "professional" recommendation. Their palate is likely to be different from your own, so why should it be a reliable source of advice for you?

Some drinks are just not meant to be. Witness the Carrot Cake Cappuccino. This drink, created by Bob Blumer of the Surreal Gourmet, is a combination of spiced, thickened carrot juice with sugar, oil and cream added to it and topped with foam. Very fortunately, Mr. Blumer did not combine cream cheese with the foam for some sort of frosting. Aside from appearing on the menu at Alinea for the sake of being innovative or just plain strange, I am not sure that there are too many venues for this particular beverage. I'd rather have a real cappuccino and a slice of carrot cake.

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