Sometimes, when I’m overcome with the heady aroma of a 26-pound Thanksgiving turkey cooking in the middle of May (occupational hazard), my mind wanders out the window and into the nearest garden. Today, this daydreaming was made easy by the arrival of the Seed Savers Exchange Catalog. The catalog is a 101-page testament to theRead more »

So my pal Robert, last heard from here, rears his way-smarter-than-me head again in the pages of Gourmet, this time about how I commandeered his house, backpack full of Greenmarket rhubarb in tow, to make mustard last weekend. I just want to make clear: at no point during said kitchen commandeering did I use theRead more »

Anthropologists and palentologists from the Universities of Bordeaux (of all places) and Witwatersrand have come up with evidence that ancient humans may have used bone tools to make smoothies. This is fairly heartening; I’ve always felt that there had to be some sort of biological smoothie-compulsion at work here, as I’ve never met a singleRead more »

My boyfriend just sent me this Good Magazine gallery of people’s fridge contents, sorted by occupation, age, and details. We’re most similar to the Journalist/Designer/School Teacher household, since always have fresh produce everywhere, protein, leftovers everywhere (because he eats 24/7), and lots of knick-knacks on the top shelf and the door. The rest of theRead more »

As a cultural phenomenon, backlash generally surfaces at the point when a movement gathers enough force to actually pose a threat to somebody. So it could be taken as a positive sign that an increasingly vociferous backlash is emerging to the sustainability movement these days. This trend first became apparent last year, as some inRead more »

Who knew if I simply baked kale until it was crispy, then called it “dragon chips,” my kids would gobble it down like potato chips? v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;Read more »

I just tried to access a blog review of vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy, and had it blocked by FN’s web monitoring for adult content.* I mean, I’ve heard this was a decadent take on vegetarian food, but really, that decadent? Now I’m going to have to investigate. *Yes, the name of the blog is “GoodiesRead more »

Reading this piece in New York magazine, I came upon a telling reference to restaurants and the recession: Even the city’s most upscale restaurants have been humbled. “When the economy goes sour,” says Danny Meyer, the impresario behind Union Square Café, Eleven Madison Park, and Shake Shack, among others, “there are three different kinds ofRead more »

Why does a chocolate chip cookie—or vanilla milkshake or cheeseburger, etc—have such power over us? Why are they so hard to resist? David Kessler, a Harvard-trained doctor, lawyer, medical school dean, former FDA commissioner and scourge of the tobacco industry, spent years pursuing an answer. The results of his search, ‘The End of Overeating: TakingRead more »

I’ve been saying for ages that the easiest way to make a wine-store buying decision is to memorize a short list of importers whose taste you trust. Slate‘s Mike Steinberger has done a substantial amount of the necessary legwork with his fantastic guide to wine importers, which also comes with a handy pocket card forRead more »