In a clear victory for the processed food industry, Republicans in Congress prevented the USDA from toughening standards for school lunches. Among other things, school districts would still be able to classify pizza sauce as a serving of vegetables.
I’m not even sure where to begin with this. First of all, the GOP clearly put corporate interests (under the guise of “less government regulation”) ahead of concerns for childhood health. Hell, they put those interests ahead of science. Common sense even!
I could go on for pages over the insidious influence of corporate food in our public school systems, but I’ll spare you my rant. Suffice it to say that this is a step backward for childhood nutrition, and I can only hope that parents out there speak up at the local level to make sure their kids are getting a lunch that is actually healthy.
Read the full article at Time.com here:
By night I inhabit the glamorous, fast-paced world of food blogging, but by day I’m just an ordinary cheese maker. Ok, ordinary isn’t an accurate word, because making cheese for a living is actually pretty cool. I get tons of questions, but perhaps the thing that people are most interested in is learning how to make cheese in their own kitchens.
Some of the basic cheeses (think ricotta, paneer, mozzarella) are really quite easy to make, and with the right equipment the home cook can easily make more involved cheeses like cheddar, Camembert, or Gouda.
Cheese making at its core is a science, and before you get started I highly recommend reading up on the topic. We have a mini-library of cheese making books at work, and I’ve done a fair amount of research myself. I’ve listed below some of what I believe to be the most helpful books for the home cook looking to branch out into cheese making.
- American Farmstead Cheese, by Paul Kindsedt – this is one of the most well-written, informative books on cheese making that I’ve come across. It reads like a text book, and you should treat is as such. Take notes, highlight, go chapter-by-chapter. With input from the Vermont Cheese Council, Kindsedt’s book covers everything from the history of American cheese making to the chemistry behind the process, and (most importantly) troubleshooting when things go wrong. The only thing it doesn’t have is actual recipes; those you’ll have to find elsewhere (there are some books listed below with great recipes). Even though this book is geared more to those interested in setting up a commercial operation, I would consider a must-have for anyone interested in making cheese.
- Home Cheese Making, by Ricki Carroll – the undeniable Queen of home cheese making brings us a book that is specifically designed for the hobbyist cheese maker. These recipes are designed for your kitchen, to be made with your pots and pans and as little specialty equipment as possible. Additionally, Carroll provides a source list for things like molds, cultures, kits, and further literature (many of which can be purchased through her company, ). While not as scientifically thorough as American Farmstead Cheese, this book is perfect for beginners.
- Cheese Primer, by Steven Jenkins – this book is the encyclopedia of cheese. Even though it was written in 1996, virtually all of the basic information still holds true today. You won’t learn much about how to actually make cheese, but you will learn a ton about the history of cheese and the myriad of different cheeses made throughout the world. This is the book you take with you to the cheese counter as a reference. No more confusion as to what valencay is, and you can wow your friends by pointing out that there is indeed a difference between brie and camembert (hint: its in the size). This book is the perfect gift for the cheese aficionado in the family, and it really does make for a great read.
- The Cheesemaker’s Manual, by Margaret Peters-Morris – this is the recipe book. This is the book you consult when something goes wrong. This is the book that becomes so dog-eared and worn you end up duct-taping it back together. In short, this is a book that you need to have. This book is geared more towards folks looking to get into the cheese making business, but it is also an invaluable tool for the home cook. We use this book on an almost daily basis; you won’t regret this purchase.
Hello, my name is Matthew and I am an addict. It has been less than 24 hours since my last purchase of a vintage cookbook. Ok…cookbooks. It seems that no matter how hard I try, I just keep falling off the wagon.
It all started innocently enough. Like most young people, I experimented with my mother’s dog-eared copy of The Joy of Cooking. It wasn’t anything serious, just a recipe here or there. I could stop whenever I wanted. Then a few years later I found a 1967 edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking on eBay, and of course I had to have it. Looking back I can see that Julia Child was my gateway drug.
I quickly moved on from the kiddie books to the hard stuff. The original 1982 edition of The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook. The Chinese Cookbook by Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee (1972) and Bill Neal’s Southern Cooking (1985). I couldn’t stop, each new book was like a rush. I would spend hours pouring over eBay and rummaging through the shelves of used book stores, antique shops, and thrift stores. I needed that high, and it became more and more difficult to attain. Sure an original Moosewood Cookbook is great, and my Marion Cunningham phase was a blast, but I needed more!
I turned to the obscure stuff, searching for the kind of high you get from something cooked up in the bathtub of a backwoods double-wide. Regional cooking became my specialty, and in short order I blasted through The Mystic Seaport Cookbook (1970), The Finnish Cookbook (1964), and The New England Yankee Cookbook (1939). Finding an original copy of Southern Cooking by Mrs. S.R. Dull (1928) provided for a few hours of fun, and All About Home Baking (1933) was not only exciting, but it had a plaid cover. Plaid!
So here I sit, all shaky hands and darting eyes, telling myself that I need to stop while at the same time looking forward to my next fix. I’ll be playing around with the copy of Pates & Other Marvelous Meat Loaves (1972) later today, and maybe I’ll even stop by the used bookstore for a little “browsing”. I know I have a problem, but it just feels too damn good to stop!
Anyways, I’m still in search of the holy grail, the ultimate high: a original, French-language printing of Larousse Gastronomique. I know there is one out there and I will find it, even though I know that will be the day I finally overdose.
Much to Ben Franklin’s consternation, the turkey enjoys center stage on the Thanksgiving table. Well, maybe we enjoy the turkey being center stage; the deal isn’t so great for the turkey itself. Regardless, if you took a poll I’m willing to bet most people would say that its not Thanksgiving if you don’t serve turkey. [Note: This is where I insert myself and say that you can in fact have a wonderful Turkey Day without the turkey, and I'll be sharing some of my favorite turkey-less mains in a later post.]
For many folks their Thanksgiving turkey recipe has been passed down from generations; for others its a last-minute mish-mash of magazine recipes. Much like chicken, there are a thousand ways to roast a turkey (and no, I won’t get into frying), most all of them delicious. Below I’ve compiled a few of the more drool-inducing turkey recipes I’ve found. Feel free to try something new this year, or take a bit from a few different recipes and come up with your own creation!
- – The Runaway Spoon
- – Bon Appétit, Nov. 2010
- – Molly O’Neil, NYTimes, Nov. 12, 1995
- – Gourmet, Nov. 2008
- – Bon Appétit, Nov. 2007
- – Bon Appétit, Nov. 2011
Roast Turkey with Black-Truffle Butter and White Wine Gravy. Photograph by John Kernick
In case you haven’t wandered over to my blogroll lately, here are a few blogs & businesses I’ve added over the past couple of weeks. Check ‘em out!
- – wonderful recipes and photos, and a local!
- – ditto on the recipes & photos, plus she has hilarious videos and she’s too darn cute not to like.
- – a newlywed, a southern gal, a food blog.
- – great business out of Chapel Hill that delivers fresh NC seafood!
- – the hubby, ’nuff said.
The number one reaction I got from people when I told them I was catering my own wedding was, “Are you crazy!?” The image that was conjured was one of me, rushing back and forth to serve people, sweating through my nice clothes, and never getting to enjoy my big day. Well, alleged insanity aside, I forged ahead, catered my own wedding, and had a great time! I planned ahead, made LOTS of lists, and learned a few things, which I’ll share below. If you’re up to the challenge, catering your own wedding can save you money and lend a personal touch to your wedding day. Also, your guests will be super impressed! [Note: This list is NOT comprehensive. I would recommend consulting some of the other sources I've listed at the bottom of this post for additional advice.]
Cheesecake trio
Do’s
- DO plan ahead – way ahead. We had two receptions for our wedding, in different states, and I started planning menus seven or eight months in advance for both events. Clip recipes, lean on family and friends for favorite dishes, and keep copious amounts of notes.
- DO plan for a buffet-style meal. Sit-down dinners are nice, but unless you’re a catering pro or have the money to hire servers, you do not want to be serving your guests. They will feel awkward and you’ll miss out on your reception. Buffets please everyone; people can eat at their own pace and you can relax and enjoy yourself.
- DO consider dietary needs. I had vegetarians and former alcoholics, so I had be to make sure there was a meatless main, that the dishes cooked with alcohol were marked, etc. Don’t make people feel like they’re an imposition, but do accomodate all of your guests. A vegetarian dish can be just as tasty to meat eaters!
- DO make lists, lots of lists. Break down your recipes into ingredient lists, and then break down those lists into categories for grocery shopping (Dairy, Produce, Meats, etc). Make a list of serving platters and utensils you’ll need. Make a list of when you’ll cook each dish (two days ahead, day ahead, day of) and when and if it needs to be reheated.
- DO accept help. For our first reception I cooked virtually all of the food myself, but I accepted help from family members when it came to prep and day-of serving. For our second reception I enlisted the help of several culinary-minded friends to each bring a side dish, while I provided the main, some appetizers, and all the drinks.
- DO plan on leftovers. No matter what you think, people will never eat or drink as much as you think. That being said, there is nothing worse than running out of food or drinks during the reception. I ended up with lots of leftovers at both receptions, which is fine because after all that cooking the last thing I wanted to do was spend the next week cooking dinners.
- DO know when to splurge and when to save. I used disposable, compostable plates, utensils, and cups to save on renting dishes and cutlery. I searched thrift stores, vintage shops, and discount stores like Marshall’s for serving platters and decorations (and I started searching months in advance). Conversely, I spent good money on things like Prosciutto di Parma for the charcuterie plate, small-batch, organic coffee, and good liquor. By saving on things that people won’t remember (platters, utensils) you can splurge on the things they will (food, alcohol).
- DO go for no-cook, or low-cook appetizers and sides. I wanted to focus my efforts on my three main dishes (Pumpkin Stuffed with Sausage and Sourdough, Pulled Pork Sliders, and Mushroom & Barley Pie) and the desserts, so when it came to the appetizers I went the easy route. I bought olives, meats for the charcuterie plate, cheeses, and artisan crackers. I made three different types of hummus from canned chickpeas (in the food processor, takes minutes!) and instead of splurging for pre-made pita chips I bought packages of small pita rounds, cut them into quarters, and toasted them in the oven. By buying ready-to-eat, high-quality appetizers you’ll save yourself time (and money) to focus on your showstoppers.
Wedding appetizers
Don’ts
- DON’T try out a recipe you’ve never made before. This is a general rule of thumb for any dinner party or gathering, but it should be an iron-clad law for your wedding reception. Pick recipes you are comfortable with, and if there is a new recipe you’re dying to serve, try it out once (or better yet, twice) before the big day. You don’t want any surprises when it comes time to start cooking the real thing!
- DON’T serve items that can’t be enjoyed at room temperature. When the reception starts, the last thing you want to be doing is running back and forth to the kitchen to heat and reheat your dishes. I made sure anything that needed to be heated was put in a low oven an hour before the reception. After that it went on the table, and stayed there. The pulled pork was just as delicious lukewarm later in the day as it was when it come hot out of the oven!
- DON’T serve offal. I love beef tongue tacos as much as the next person, but most of your guests will probably not be as adventurous. Pick dishes that you know will be crowd-pleasers, and save the show-off recipes for later. (The only exception to this rule is pate – I served a pork liver & sweet potato pate that was a hit, I find that people are split pretty evenly when it comes to liver spreads)
- DON’T apologize for mistakes! If something doesn’t taste exactly the way you wanted, just pretend its perfect. Your guests won’t know the difference, and besides, they are here to celebrate you, not your food! If all else fails and your main dish is inedible, take a tip from Ina Garten and order Chinese takeout or pizza. Served on your finest china with a glass of champagne and a good laugh, a regular old slice of pizza will be transformed into a “remember when?” memory that you and your family can giggle about for years to come. And besides, there are always anniversaries to recapture your culinary glory.
Getting desserts ready, in a bowtie of course!
Now that the wedding insanity is over and I can actually spend some time cooking for myself and the husband, I’ve been collecting a couple recipes from a few of my favorite blogs that I am super excited to try. Give them a shot yourself and let me know what you think!
- –
- –
- –
- –
Pear & Almond Chocolate Cake with Cider Glaze - photo by Hannah Queen
”Cooking is like writing poetry, be careful in the choice of your ingredients and respectful of how they work together. That’s true of all the efforts in life.” – Maya Angelou
(Thanks to Kamran of for the quote)
The world of blogging is not bound by any code of ethics, ethos of good behavior, or even implication of honesty. Anyone can blog, which is both the egalitarian benefit and unfortunate bane of the 21st century’s most popular medium. Paid advertisements, free meals & products, and undisclosed financial connections are nothing new in the world of blogging, and unfortunately they won’t be going away any time soon.
Yesterday I read a great article by of . “” is a rundown of a recent exchange Hamilton had with an internet “marketing” (quotations implied) firm. The breakdown is this – the company offered to pay Mr. Nolan $175 per link that he would insert into his posts for Gawkers; the links would lead to clients of the company, . All of this was readily acknowledged to be less-than-legitimate, and Hamilton was told he could find a way to sneak it by his editors or he could just remove the links if they became obvious.
Now I see nothing wrong with getting paid to blog; isn’t that the dream of all bloggers? Most money is earned through advertisements, some is earned through writing, and unfortunately a growing number of bloggers are making money via under-the-table deals like the one 43a offered Hamilton. Nowhere is this more present and more insidious than in the world of food blogging. Food bloggers are offered free meals, free products, and generally treated like royalty in an attempt to earn a company/restaurant/item a good review. Many bloggers will disclose such connections, but I’m willing to bet a larger percentage keep it to themselves. For a lowly, unpaid blogger like myself, the idea of a free meal or free appliance is appealing. It means we must be important, someone must be reading, Kitchenaid wants to give us a blender so we must be doing something right!
At the end of the day I am not a trained journalist, so technically I am not bound by the same professional sense of ethics as say Kim Severson or Amanda Hesser. What I am bound by, however, is a sense of responsibility to my readers. If you check out my FAQ page you will see that I do not accept advertising or free gifts. I also do not review restaurants; not only do I spend a good deal of my day with people in the food industry, many of whom are good friends, I also do not pretend to have the depth of experience it takes to accurately review a restaurant’s performance. I have NEVER accepted a free meal in exchange for a review, nor have I linked to any product, company, restaurant, etc. for payment. There is a moral gray area that exists in the land of paid posts, and I am not willing to start down that slippery slope.
I am dismayed that many great bloggers and friends of mine choose not to disclose their financial connections to the products, businesses, or people they promote. It paints the entire blogging community as shady, illegitimate, and unreliable. Whether we went to j-school or not, we have a responsibility to the people who read our work, and we should we treat with respect rather than trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Is your integrity really worth $175?
UPDATE 10/28/11:
& Deirdre Reed pointed out in her comment below that the they have with products, companies, or services they are promoting. In light of disclosure being legal, do you think many bloggers will come forth about their financial connections?
This past summer, as cherries began to show up at the farmers’ market, I came across a recipe for Cherry Bounce. Cherries? Bourbon? Sugar? I was intrigued. The only downside was the recommendation of letting the concoction infuse for at least four months. Then I realized that the timing would be perfect for me to serve it at the wedding, so I bought a bag of cherries and a handle of bourbon and got to work.
In reality I should have put quotation marks around the word “work”, because the only time consuming part of the whole recipe is pitting the cherries, which you don’t even have to do but which makes it much easier to eat the boozy cherries when you finally crack into your bounce. [Side note: if you know me you know that I am not a fan of single-use gadgets, but I absolutely LOVE my . Plus you can pit olives, so I guess its technically dual-use.]
My guests raved about the drink; it was delicious as-is and perfect with some ginger-ale, but it really shone when I put a shot of the bounce and a single cherry in the bottom of a champagne flute and topped it off with some bubbly. I had people clamoring for the recipe, and my mother requested some for all of her friends for Christmas next year. If you are lucky enough to live in a place where you have access to cherries year-round its still not too late to make this as your holiday gift this year, just leave a note telling your guests not to open the jar until 2012!
Cherry Bounce
Recipe adapted from
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh red cherries, pitted (do NOT use canned)
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 cups bourbon
Directions
- Run a large jar or glass airtight container (I used a ) through the dishwasher to sterilize. Wash the cherries well and remove the stems. Discard any bruised fruit. Layer the cherries and the sugar in the jar and leave to sit for about an hour. Pour over the bourbon, seal the jar and shake occasionally to help dissolve the sugar. Some cherries will float in the beginning, but they will sink to the bottom. When the sugar is dissolved, leave the jar in a cool dark place for at least 4 months to infuse.
- When ready to use, you can simply pour out what you need of the liquor, or you can strain out the cherries and decant the bounce into decorative bottles. The cherries are edible. You can eat, them, use them to garnish a cocktail or spoon some bounce and cherries over ice cream for a boozy dessert.
(Photos taken by )
