Posted in Gardening, Recipes, Uncategorized on Jul 29th, 2008
Weeds. They spring up in sidewalk cracks, between rows of your favorite garden veggie, and everywhere else they’re not wanted. But as more and more gardeners know and I’m realizing little by little, they’re not all bad. A recent epiphany came from a line on my CSA’s blackboard in the pick-your-own list:
Pig weed (callaloo)
Now, I’d [...]
Posted in Current events on Jul 24th, 2008
It seems that investigators looking at the salmonella outbreak had jumped into the right party dip, but landed a few centimeters off. While the first supposed culprit was Mexican tomatoes, the discovery of a contaminated jalapeno pepper has them looking at a slicker, spicier suspect. I’m not clear on how one contaminated veggie can change [...]
Posted in Aminals on Jul 23rd, 2008
Easter Bunny Syndrome is what one rabbit breader calls the aversion to seeing those furry, long-eared creatures on the menu. It turns out a lot of people (even those who happily eat other meat) have it. To me, this condition is as silly as it sounds. Why object to a meat just because the animal [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 22nd, 2008
Check ‘em out! A chef uses her CSA “take” each week.
So far she’s done some interesting things with squash and blackberries in Week 1, and rejoiced over herbs, potatoes, onions, and green beans in Week 2.
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 18th, 2008
Preservative. It’s the 12-letter 4-letter word of the food world. You’ve got your more innocuous ones, like lemon juice, but most sound like a chemical used to clean industrial machinery (as in “Jennings! Can you grab that can of butylated hydroxytoluene? The gear’s all gunked up again!”) Not very appetizing.
In a report on food additives from the Center for [...]
Posted in Belly laugh on Jul 10th, 2008
The notion of eating locally and seasonally isn’t for everyone. Take Stephen Colbert , urging us (albeit with tongue fused solidly to inner cheek), to “thirst locally, drink globally.”
Warning: The wonderland of the recipe I’m about to give you lies just a degree or two from that kind of global eating territory. If it weren’t for fossil fuels and [...]
Posted in Current events on Jul 8th, 2008
Wondering what’s up with the global food crisis? Hint: According to at least one NGO, it was avoidable, and those eight leaders hanging out in Toyako had a lot to do with it. For more, check out Cereal Offenders, fresh from ActionAid.
Sitting in a wooden cabin with rain falling outside, we didn’t feel much like making sparks on the Fourth. On top of that, the closest our little group got to discussing patriotism this past weekend was when we noted our lack of it on our trips abroad. One of us found it hard to argue when [...]
Posted in Philosophizing, Reviews on Jul 3rd, 2008
Skimming recent issues of Elle, you can find plenty of interviews with iconic women doing their own iconoclastic thing. And reading along, you can see one defining experience usually pushed them out to uncharted waters. Mary Kate Olsen was surrounded by kooky show biz people from the age of nine months. After a series of [...]
Posted in Reviews on Jul 1st, 2008
You don’t always have to be #1. In fact, I’m happy to barely hang on to the top 10 in the City Paper’s neighborhood rankings. Two weeks ago, the CP ran the much-touted and talked-about Hoods & Services feature. And this week’s print issue sums up the City Desk blog chatter (think letters to the [...]
