As a Detroit Lions fan and a FN employee, I have to restrain myself daily from comparing the two, but now the new coach has gone and made it much more difficult: “Isn’t there a show on Food Network where they give you six ingredients and say, ‘Make something out of this?’ ” Schwartz said. “ThatRead more »

Day two in Kentucky.  Yesterday was a great day.  Kevin Smith, Master Distiller of Maker’s Mark, was our tour guide for the day.  We had about a four hour tour — about three hours longer than average.  I can now make bourbon with my eyes closed after that tour; check out some pictures.  Later thatRead more »

This weekend is the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival.  Charlie and I are lucky to be down here as guests of Maker’s Mark — we New Yorkers stand out in this crowd for sure.  This weekend we’ll be hitting up the Maker’s distillery, the Jim Beam distillery, having dinner at Bill Samuels‘ house and much more. Read more »

I have been cracking myself up over this gallery of misspelled and otherwise odd restaurant menus from the Guardian all afternoon: On a similar note, there’s this new blog, which has been fairly on point the last few days as well. Rupa Bhattacharya, Culinary Writer

Returned from two weeks in Bogota, Colombia, with mind boggled by a country at once richer (culturally, agriculturally, ecologically) and more immiserated (4.3 million internally displaced persons, approx 10% of the population) than anything I had imagined. As home to 10% of the world’s biodiversity and encompassing nearly every imaginable ecosystem–from the tropical rainforests, grasslands,Read more »

My pal Ben over at The Nation just sent me over their new monster food issue — it’s in-depth and fantastic, and a must-read for anyone interested in where food intersects with politics and the future of both. I’ll let him round up who and what’s in it: A forum on food democracy with Alice WatersRead more »

This summer, my garden was my saving grace, offering the daily promise of adventures outside despite a busy work schedule. It’s also what inspires my next meal, and what keeps me moving between them. So, at the end of the summer, I’m incredibly reluctant to let the fun end, even though today’s unseasonably cool breezeRead more »

Photo courtesy Daily Mail Once you stop singing, apparently. Between the runaway cows and now this spate of cow suicides, I think we have a full-blown cow crisis on our hands. Too bad an airlift to the West Virginia Hare Krishna cow sanctuary would probably be too tricky to stage from Switzerland… [via] Rupa Bhattacharya,Read more »

Around here, temperatures creep above 80 degrees well into late September, making it difficult to think about cool weather food like beets and kohlrabi. But since gardeners are always planning ahead, it’s time to start thinking about planting late-harvest crops and returning seed to the soil for yet another round of delicious rewards. The sameRead more »

Although I am the last person who should be casting aspersions on other people’s brand extensions — really? This is a good idea? …They hadn’t seen a marinated steak in forty days. It made the boy sad that they had marinades but no steak to eat them on. The old man had taught the boyRead more »