It’s been a relatively hectic late winter/early spring for me and that has meant a lot more meals eaten out or ordered in. This kind of eating really takes a toll on me, and after a month or two of it, I find myself craving a home-cooked, vegetable-heavy meal. I satisfied my most recent of [...]
Category Archive for 'Rants'
Thai Curry Noodles with Shrimp
Posted in Quick, Rants, Raves, Recipe, Tips, Vegetarian on Mar 31st, 2010
The world is flat, as Thomas Friedman regularly bloviates, and while I’m not going to ponder the larger implications of that on this blog (or anywhere else for that matter), I do believe that it means every home kitchen should be an international kitchen. Budding home cooks often start with “American” staples – spaghetti marinara, [...]
Them’s the Rules
Posted in Philosophy, Rants on Nov 11th, 2009
Food Junta only talks about the world of restaurants every now and again, but I think that a recent article deserves some discussion. The New York Times‘s “You’re the Boss” blog just ran a two-part feature called “100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do,” and it left me torn. On the one hand, there are [...]
Homemade Ricotta
Posted in Cheap, Quick, Rants, Recipe, Tips, Vegetarian on Jul 28th, 2009
This is incredible. It’s quick, it’s easy — it’s magic. It’s homemade ricotta cheese, using just whole milk, lemon juice (or vinegar), and a little salt, as well as a few pieces of equipment. It’s homemade ricotta cheese for less than the price of buying commercial ricotta. It’s homemade ricotta cheese that tastes fresh and [...]
Kettles and Hobs: A Dispatch from Across the Pond
Posted in Cheap, Food Junta, Philosophy, Quick, Rants, Recipe, Uncategorized, Vegetarian on Jan 29th, 2009
“America and England are two countries separated by a common language.” –George Bernard Shaw/Oscar Wilde/Winston Churchill/Token Quotable White British Man of Choice/The Google Hey, kids! It’s me, Blinki the Briton! Boy, today’s such a jolly great day! So great that, why—I just feel like learning some new words today, don’t you? Yes, you do! Today’s [...]
Bag That Bag
Posted in Rants on Aug 8th, 2008
I thought I would take this Friday morning to admonish our readers a little: Bad reader! Bad! OK, maybe you’re not that bad, but I bet you use way more plastic bags than you should. I know I do, and I’m pretty good about carrying around a canvas shopping bag. Reducing plastic bag waste won’t [...]
The Perils of Plenty
Posted in Philosophy, Rants on Jun 11th, 2008
Is anyone really surprised that a batch of tomatoes contaminated with salmonella has made its way into the food supply? We’ve seen this before, and we’ll see it again. There are plenty of arguments against industrial farming with decent rebuttals to many of them. An indisputable fact about current agribusiness, however, is that sometimes it [...]
Why People Don't Cook – Reason #1 of 45,524,233
Posted in Philosophy, Rants on Mar 7th, 2008
I created a “Rants” category for posts as soon as we put this site together, because (1) a good, solid rant is one of my favorite activities and because (2) ranting is probably the number one reason why people start blogs. Commence rant now: We hear plenty about how Americans are tempted into “convenience foods” [...]
Mex-Italian Fusion? Ay Dios Mio.
Posted in Rants, Restaurant Reviews on Mar 5th, 2008
I am reluctant to even start talking about the New York restaurant scene in this blog, because it’s such an abyss and so many people are already writing about it so well, but I want to comment on this one trend that is apparently emerging here, which means that a year from now it will [...]
What could be better than a warm, fluffy biscuit right out of the oven? Very, very few things, I imagine. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I have yet to replicate this much-fantasized-about scenario with anything other than Pillsbury pre-made biscuits. And, oh, I have made some efforts. In the last two months, I’ve made three [...]