Politics for dinner: A scary new documentary and a 26-year-old celebration of food and pride

Food, Inc. explores where the food we eat really comes from. And the 26th annual Garden Party kicks off Gay Pride Week in New York with celebrity chefs and Gourmet Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl.

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The documentary Food, Inc. opens June 12, and according to Miranda Purves in Elle magazine, it “will have you running from the supermarket for the hills, preferably ones dotted with grass-fed cows.” Let me start with a given here: Feeding the more than 300 million people who call the United States home is a monumental challenge. But as filmmaker Robert Kenner shows, the way America’s industrialized food system goes about it, with the acquiescence if not outright complicity of the federal government, threatens us all.

The issues are many and complex. The Food, Inc. official website spells them out. Factory farms raise animals under inhumane conditions, are dangerous for their workers, pollute surrounding communities, are unsafe to our food system and contribute significantly to global warming. Foodborne illnesses sicken an estimated 76 million Americans and kill an estimated 5,000 each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control Continue reading “Politics for dinner: A scary new documentary and a 26-year-old celebration of food and pride” →

“Don’t follow me—I’m lost too!” [Blue Kitchen is now on Twitter]

I have to be honest with you. When I first considered using Twitter, I thought “naaaah.” I really didn’t think there’d be anything I’d want to say in 140 characters or less. I mean, on some level, it’s kind of like vanity license plates to me—and there’s nothing I want to broadcast from my car bumper to the world at large in six or seven letters and numbers.

Then I read about Maureen Evans. In her Northern Ireland kitchen, she condenses entire recipes into 140-character tweets. Here’s a recent sample:

Frittata: fry shallot/T oil in iron pan. Lyr w c slice tom&zuke/s+p; +6beaten egg. Don’t stir9m@low; 20m@350F/175C. Flip to srv +parm&basil.

Part of the fun of Maureen’s tweets is imagining the challenges she faces reducing recipes to Twitter’s tight constraints while still making them complete and understandable. Part of the fun is deciphering her necessarily terse shorthand: cvr3m +4c radish leaves means cover for 3 minutes, then add 4 cups of radish leaves, for instance. Continue reading ““Don’t follow me—I’m lost too!” [Blue Kitchen is now on Twitter]” →

National Restaurant Association Show 2009: Artisanal, sourced and green are big trends

Some trends and random delights from the NRA’s annual industry mega-event.

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If you want to see where things are headed in the restaurant business, this is the place to do it. The National Restaurant Association’s annual show is the biggest of its kind, attracting a worldwide audience of more than 2,100 exhibitors and 70,000 attendees. According to the NRA, “restaurants are the nation’s largest private-sector employers, generating an annual economic impact of $1 trillion.” This is where these legions of industry professionals come to see what’s new—what they’ll be serving, how they’ll be cooking it, what they’ll be serving it on, even how they’ll clean up after.

In past years, it’s included such pre-packaged ersatz delights as jalapeño poppers and other fat bombs. And with good reason. On the way to the show, Marion mentioned something she’d read in The New York Times food section. In “In New York, the Taste of Victory,” an article on competitive cooking in New York, amateur chef Nick Suarez advised that a heavy hand with fat and salt was an asset. “If the audience is only getting one bite,” he said, “you have to pack as much flavor as you can into that bite.”

That approach to attracting the audience of potential buyers was deliciously in evidence as we sampled our way through the show at Chicago’s McCormick Place—plenty of salty, fatty treats to tempt us. But this year, there was something much more interesting going on. A few words normally heard in the hippest, healthiest, hautest new restaurants were echoing throughout the giant exhibition halls. Continue reading “National Restaurant Association Show 2009: Artisanal, sourced and green are big trends” →

Five fresh reasons to check out my blogrolls

The Internet is filled with great information and just plain cool stuff. Here are five recent posts I found in my own back yard. Well, in the blogs and resources in my sidebars to the right. Take a look at these and explore others. Then share something cool you’ve found recently in the comments below.

1. Asparagus tips from Food Blogga

Susan over at San Diego-based Food Blogga writes that asparagus season in Southern California, which began in late February, is almost at an end. Excuse me a moment, Susan, while I call the wambulance. Just kidding, my friend, but since my neighborhood farmers market here in Chicago won’t even start until June, I have to admit to suffering from bouts of Southern California farmers market envy when I read you or Toni over at Daily Bread Journal.

What you’ll find in her May 10 Food Blogga post on asparagus—besides gorgeous photos like the one above and five delicious sounding recipes of her own and more by other bloggers—is boatloads of information on this wonderful, versatile vegetable. How to select it [including her views on the thin versus thick asparagus debate], how to store it, trim it and cook it—and why you should.

2. Closet Cooking does scallops with miso and maple syrup

The three ingredients in the name of the dish were all it took to rope me in. Scallops are always a great start—delicious, impressive and wonderfully easy to cook. The Japanese culinary mainstay miso [as Epicurious calls it] is infinitely versatile and beautifully subtle. Continue reading “Five fresh reasons to check out my blogrolls” →

Fighting injustice with coffee, combating cancer with food, part two

A Seattle-based coffee company will donate 100% of its May revenue, up to $1 million, to fight slavery, human trafficking and other forms of violent oppression. And the delicious results of Mele Cotte’s Cooking to Combat Cancer III.

Storyville Coffee gives it all away in May to fight slavery

For many of us, the word slavery conjures up the past, a dark chapter in America’s history. Unfortunately, for millions of people worldwide, it is a harsh daily reality.

“There are more slaves in the world today than at any other time in human history,” says Ryan Gamble, co-president of Storyville Coffee Company. “More than 27 million people are held in slavery, nearly 2 million of them children exploited in the global commercial sex trade each year.”

So this month, the Seattle-based Storyville is giving it all away—100% of its revenue for the entire month—to International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that works around the world to rescue victims of slavery, trafficking and other forms of violent oppression. Continue reading “Fighting injustice with coffee, combating cancer with food, part two” →

Bees, pigs and swine flu in the news

A possible cure for the colony collapse disorder currently decimating honey bee populations and threatening horticulture and sustainable agriculture farms. Is “the other white meat” really red meat—and does it matter? And stocking your pantry for a potential swine flu pandemic.

A breakthrough in saving bees, saving agriculture

Over the last few years, honey bee colonies have been dying off in record numbers. Not just bees within the colonies—entire colonies. This is bad. As an article published this month at EurekAlert! puts it, “The loss of honey bees could have an enormous horticultural and economic impact worldwide. Honey bees are important pollinators of crops, fruit and wild flowers and are indispensable for a sustainable and profitable agriculture as well as for the maintenance of the non-agricultural ecosystem.”

But finally, there seems to be some hope. In a study published in the new journal from the Society for Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Reports, scientists from Spain have isolated a parasite Continue reading “Bees, pigs and swine flu in the news” →

Doing good by baking cookies, drinking wine

What if you could help the others by having friends over to decorate cookies—or by just cracking open a bottle of wine? Turns out you can! Here’s how:

Drop In & Decorate cookies for Mothers’ Day, May 1 – 10

If you’re even a semi-regular reader here, you’ve probably seen the colorful Drop In & Decorate logo in the sidebar. And in case you’ve ever wondered what it is, I’ll let founder Lydia Walshin tell you: “Drop In & Decorate is a simple concept: bake some cookies, invite friends or family [or neighbors, or co-workers] to stop in and help decorate, then donate your cookies to a local food pantry, emergency shelter, senior center, lunch program, or other community agency Continue reading “Doing good by baking cookies, drinking wine” →

Six blogs, websites, etcetera about food, health, etcetera worth checking out

We’re always on the lookout for new or new-to-us food-related blogs, websites and resources. Here are a half dozen that have recently caught our eye. They range from helpful to health-oriented to hip to hmmmm. Found a new site recently? Share it in the comments below.

1. Still Tasty: Edible or not?

I don’t know about you, but our fridge is usually chock full of leftovers, ingredients waiting their turn to become meals and partial containers of all manner of foodstuffs. So one of the most frequently asked questions in our kitchen is “Think this is still okay?” Well, now there’s a site that answers those questions without looking like a warning on a cigarette pack.

Still Tasty delivers loads of useful food safety information in a stylish, friendly site. You can search foods and beverages by name or browse by category. You’ll also find tips on expiration dates, safely thawing frozen foods, getting the most flavor and shelflife from fresh fruit and more. Bookmark this site now. Thank me later. [Speaking of which, thanks to Thrillist New York for bringing Still Tasty to my attention.]

2. The Daily Plate: Eat right, live strong

As frequent headlines and countless blogs remind us, obesity is a daily struggle for far too many of us. Underlining the fact that this is not just an aesthetic issue but a serious health concern, The Daily Plate has teamed up with Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG.COM to provide guidance and encouragement Continue reading “Six blogs, websites, etcetera about food, health, etcetera worth checking out” →

Valentine’s Day Round-up: A book, a song and a contest for the love of food

Okay, let me just admit it right here. I’m a recovering packrat and an inveterate procrastinator. Neither has anything to do with Valentine’s Day—they’re not even particularly lovable personality traits in a mate. But as much as they occasionally cause me grief, they sometimes work out nicely. Like with this post, a nice little mix of items all loosely strung together around the notion of love—and all things gathered from here and there and just saved because, hey, you never know.

I’ll start with a book. Way back in August, Penguin Books offered to send me a copy of Kathleen Flinn’s charming The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School. It was just coming out in paperback at the time, and I should have read it right away. I should have reported on it here, and copies of the book should have made their way into numerous Christmas stockings. Instead, it languished in the well-intentioned pile of stuff I mean to read. Well, now I’m telling you about it as a possible last-minute Valentine’s Day gift—or just a fun foodie read for yourself.

Flinn’s book has an unexpectedly [and unintentionally] timely element to it. The events that inspired it came about when she was downsized out of a software job in London. Although it was first published in January 2007, well before the current global economic crisis, her experience of staring down the “what next” question is all too familiar to far too many people right now. What she decides is next for her is attending the legendary Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Round-up: A book, a song and a contest for the love of food” →

Peanut products recalled, but wine is still good for you—and a “delish” online food resource

Oh, boy. More product recalls. This time it’s peanut products tainted with salmonella, and as of January 24, seven deaths and nearly 500 illnesses have been attributed to the current salmonella outbreak. Everything from peanut butter crackers to cookies, ice creams, frozen cookie dough, frozen chicken satay and even dog treats has been affected. And the list of suspect products just keeps growing.

I’ve included a link below to an updated list of affected products. But to help you continue getting your peanut butter fix during the recall, here’s a quick partial list of products that haven’t been affected and are safe to eat: Continue reading “Peanut products recalled, but wine is still good for you—and a “delish” online food resource” →