Blog Action Day 2010: The topic is water, the time to get involved is now

This Friday, thousands of bloggers around the world will talk about water from their own perspectives. Water is shaping up to be the next big global issue, encompassing human rights, animal rights, the environment and more. Get involved. Write. Read. Comment. Act.

Water. Most of us take it for granted because we have the luxury of doing so. At least for now. But almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water—that’s about one in eight of us. And as a result, 42,000 of us die every week. Even where water is plentiful, the ways that it is used and misused have consequences for everyone.

On Friday, October 15, Blog Action Day wants to get the whole planet talking and thinking about water. If you write a blog, visit the Blog Action Day website and sign up to write about water from your blog’s perspective. If you have blogger friends, encourage them to get involved. You can also Continue reading “Blog Action Day 2010: The topic is water, the time to get involved is now” →

Talking cheese in Oregon, making grilled cheese sandwiches in Chicago

Two variations on classic grilled cheese sandwiches—one with pear jalapeño chutney, one with roasted tomatoes, both with delicious Tillamook cheeses from Oregon. Recipes below.

A FEW YEARS AGO, OUR FRIENDS BUD AND CHRISTINE WERE VISITING FROM FRANCE. Before dinner, we put out some Tillamook aged white cheddar with crackers. Between bites, Christine kept exclaiming in her charming French accent, “You can’t get cheese like this in France!” Her words alone might have simply referred to the fact that the French don’t make cheddar-style cheeses. But the way she and Bud were happily gobbling it up said it wasn’t just cheddar—it was the Tillamook cheddar. Continue reading “Talking cheese in Oregon, making grilled cheese sandwiches in Chicago” →

Sharing the love: Tiny microbuses make a big splash on the Tillamook Cheese Loaf Love Tour

How do you celebrate 100 years of making great cheese? By taking it on a year-long road trip. Tillamook’s Loaf Love Tour is the subject of my latest post on the USA Character Approved Blog.

In the post above, you saw how seriously Tillamook takes its cheesemaking. Here’s how they have fun. Their cheeses are available in all 50 states, but they’re not universally known everywhere. So to kick off their 101st year in the business, they decided to spread the word—and the love—with the Loaf Love Tour. And what better way to do that than with the official vehicle of the Summer of Love, the 1966 VW Microbus?

Cute as the original was, though, it wasn’t quite cute enough. So the Tillamook team chopped their trio of microbuses to a diminutive Continue reading “Sharing the love: Tiny microbuses make a big splash on the Tillamook Cheese Loaf Love Tour” →

Long distance locavore: Linguine with foraged chanterelles from Seattle, cooked in Chicago

Mushrooms, shallots, sage, cream and Parmesan combine to make a rich, satisfyingly “meaty” vegetarian meal. Recipe for Sautéed Chanterelles with Cream and Linguine Fini below.

The day before Marion cooked these chanterelles in our Chicago kitchen, they were in a stall in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Not much more before that, they had been in a nearby forest. We were in the market on the last morning of our first visit to the Pacific Northwest. Our luggage was already overstuffed with food purchases, many in glass containers padded with laundry in the hope they would survive the flight home. But when we saw these mushrooms, we knew we had to squeeze some into our carry-on bags. I’ll turn the kitchen over to Marion now and let her tell you what she did with them.

In another earlier life, I used to gather chanterelles in the wild all summer. It was such an everyday thing that I took it totally for granted. It was part of the season, like swimsuits and the beach. Continue reading “Long distance locavore: Linguine with foraged chanterelles from Seattle, cooked in Chicago” →

To get kids eating healthier, Jamie Oliver launches Jamie’s Home Cooking Skills

Jamie Oliver is on a mission to get everyone to eat better. His new website, Jamie’s Home Cooking Skills, is the subject of my latest post on the USA Character Approved Blog.

A recent study shows Americans aren’t eating their vegetables. I know you’re as shocked as I am. But I was shocked at just how much we’re not eating them. The study, released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concludes that “only 26 percent of the nation’s adults eat vegetables three or more times a day,” according to The New York Times.

Part of the problem is that too many of us just don’t find vegetables interesting. But British-born chef/cookbook author/TV personality Jamie Oliver thinks that’s because no one is learning to cook anymore. Continue reading “To get kids eating healthier, Jamie Oliver launches Jamie’s Home Cooking Skills” →

Round-up: Travels, a beautifully unimproved cleanser and food in the news

The kitchen was closed this week while we were on a trip to the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, Portland and all gloriously green, mountainous, forested and ocean-viewing points in between. Plenty of great food moments too, including Seattle’s Pike Place Market, shown above, that are sure to inspire future posts here. In the meantime, here’s a quick look at my new post on the USA Character Approved Blog, plus some food stories making the news recently.

Bon Ami Cleanser: Old, unimproved and still just right. Cleaning product makers have been leaping onto the green bandwagon, with mixed results. But Bon Ami has been green since it was just a color. For more than 120 years, it’s been made of a handful of simple, real ingredients. And it’s been cleaning like crazy, while living up to its promise of “hasn’t scratched yet.” Continue reading “Round-up: Travels, a beautifully unimproved cleanser and food in the news” →

Easing into autumn: Simple, flavorful Pork Tenderloin with Sage and Roasted Grapes

Quick-cooking roast pork tenderloin gets a flavor boost from sage, shallots, garlic and roasted grapes. Recipe below.

There’s more than a hint of autumn in the air lately, and I say bring it on. The no-cook dinner salads and quick-grilled everythings of summer are all well and good, but I like heartier fare. Roasts, stews, serious soups… These are the foods that excite me on a primal, lizard brain level, both in the kitchen and at the dinner table.

Pork tenderloin is the perfect way to transition back into serious cooking season. It’s leaner and lighter than a lot of roasting fare. It also requires as little as 15 to 20 minutes in the oven, so you’re not overheating the kitchen in the cool-but-not-yet-cold fall weather. Continue reading “Easing into autumn: Simple, flavorful Pork Tenderloin with Sage and Roasted Grapes” →

A bicycle built for treats and getting hammered in America’s Heartland

Fruity freezer pops sold from a bicycle in LA and silky smooth vodka in Indiana, both made with local ingredients, are the subjects of my latest posts on the USA Character Approved Blog.

These days, it seems everything is getting a gourmet makeover. Burgers, cupcakes, s’mores… One of the biggest hits this year is reimagined Popsicles, the iconic brightly colored and flavored summer treat for countless generations (and a fiercely guarded registered trademark of Unilever, as some hapless artisanal frozen treat makers have discovered). And perhaps no one is remaking them as deliciously or selling them as charmingly as Michelle Sallah and John Cassidy.

Together, they are Popcycle Treats. Sarah makes the inventively flavored freezer pops from seasonal produce and some interesting surprises. Continue reading “A bicycle built for treats and getting hammered in America’s Heartland” →

A classic makeover: Ripe summer peaches freshen up Caprese Salad

For a colorful twist on the Italian classic, peaches stand in for tomatoes in this Peach Caprese Salad; a bed of mixed greens adds extra depth. Recipe below.

AS MUCH AS I LIKE TO PLAY WITH MY FOOD, when it comes to salads, I usually prefer to keep them simple. More often than not, some mixed greens with a garlicky French vinaigrette or sherry Dijon vinaigrette sounds perfect to me. A friend of ours calls these stripped down efforts honeymoon salads—”Lettuce alone.” Continue reading “A classic makeover: Ripe summer peaches freshen up Caprese Salad” →

Five late summer recipes from fellow bloggers

I don’t browse food blogs often enough—it usually just makes me hungry. I did a little browsing just now. Here are some delicious recipes I found.

Melon Mozzarella Salad with Honey, Lime and Mint

This refreshing looking dish from Nicole over at Pinch My Salt not only sounds like the taste of summer, it also has a nice kick of crushed red pepper. Because, as Nicole puts it, “After living in Sicily for four years I now put crushed red pepper in just about everything.” Continue reading “Five late summer recipes from fellow bloggers” →