City Kitchen Chronicles: Potato Leek Soup with Kale

City Kitchen Chronicles is a bi-weekly column about living frugally in Manhattan. It's penned by the lovely Jaime.Since cleaning up my apartment a few weeks ago for my birthdahousewarming party, I’ve been eager to get people in here. My dad’s actually never seen my apartment, and that’s in the works, but this past weekend I had the pleasure of a sleepover with my on-break-from-college sister, M.I had a pair of tickets to a play Sunday night, so when I was home for Chinese food and a movie over Christmas (I’m not kidding – we actually do this, and we’re not the only ones – it’s a fun cliché!), I offered my spare ticket to M, and invited her to stay over. (Maybe the best perk about working in theatre is that most offices, including mine, close down between Christmas and New Year’s.) “Is there...

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Posted in: City Kitchen Chronicles,Soups and Stocks,Vegan,Vegetarian

Tuesday Megalinks

This week it’s recaps of 2008, strategies for 2009, and 2010 solid posts from the Serious Eats team. Also of note: I am the only person working on the entire island of Manhattan today. (Meaning: no summaries for this time around. Somebody's gotta keep this city running!)CNN: 10 Healthiest DietsCulinate: The Eco-Kitchen – How to Green Your Cooking SpaceDelish: Healthy Holiday RecipesElastic Waist: What Does Dress Size Have to Do With Body Happiness?The Epi-Log: What Farmers Want Consumers to Know – Parts 1 and 2Jezebel: New Year, Same Ol’ ResolutionsThe Kitchn: Fast! Easy! Quick! Recipes for Weeknight Cooking - Best of 2008The Kitchn: More With Less - Frugal and Budget Cooking - Best of 2008The Kitchn: Soups for Every Season – Best of 2008New York Times: Is a New Food Policy on Obama’s List?Serious...

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Posted in: Links

North African-Style Chickpea Salad and Lessons From 2008

Boy, 2008 was weird, wasn’t it? I can’t remember a year that’s been more at odds with itself. But there were lessons (note: I almost typed “lesions”) to be learned. Like:1) When playing Hide and Seek with a three-year-old, it’s perfectly acceptable to hide by standing directly in front of the child. He’ll get a kick out of it, and you won’t risk not being found.2) Unemployment is fun and educational! For one thing, you discover that your city block is 12,000 times more terrifying during the day, when the junkies roam freely and yell at stoplights. For another thing … actually, that’s it.3) “When are you guys getting married?” is the most headache-inducing question on Earth, right after “So, how do you want that spike extracted from your face?”4)...

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian

2008 Food Quotes of the Year: Zing!

With Christmas on the horizon (seriously, it’s riding a horse and headed straight for us), we’re taking a short break from CHG’s usual seriousness (er … yeah), and instead presenting a retrospective of our favorite Thursday Quotes of the Week. Enjoy!FOOD QUOTES: FAIRLY PROFOUND“Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.” – Oscar Wilde"Too few people understand a really good sandwich." –James Beard“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” -Anthelme Brillat-Savarin“I was 32 when I started cooking. Up until then, I just ate.” – Julia Child“So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being.” – Franz Kafka"Sir, respect your dinner: idolize it, enjoy it properly. You will be many hours in the...

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Posted in: Links

Tuesday Megalinks

In today’s links: last-minute Christmas gift ideas, healthful foods, and best of all, lots and lots of booze. Merry *hic* Christmas, everybody!Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood: Make it From Scratch FestivalFeaturing more cookie recipes than you can shake a stick (of butter) at, plus Leigh’s fabulous craft post from last Thursday.Chow: The Year in Food 2008From Rachael Ray’s terrorist scarf to Michael Phelps’ 4-billion calorie diet to Julia Child: International Spy, Chow has a rundown of every food story that mattered this year. And remember: 2008 was fleeting, but bacon is forever.Chow: 10 Little LuxuriesAttention, tardy gift-buyers! These small food items can be purchased for a pittance. But the rewards reaped? Will be INFINITE. Muahahahahahahahaha!Eater:...

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Posted in: Links

American Chop Suey and a Tale of Two Dinners

This weekend, I made a pair of vastly different meals: Pork Shoulder with Guinness, Dried Cherries, and Sweet Potatoes from Daniel Boulud’s 2006 Braise cookbook, and American Chop Suey, from my favorite long-defunct food blog, Words to Eat By.The first dish took more than five hours and ran about $20, while other was finished in 45 minutes and cost a little over $5. Both were tasty and satisfyingly filling – perfect comfort foods for -47°F. Alas, only one will make frequent repeat performances, and it ain’t the dinner with 14 ingredients, all found in different stores (a.k.a. the pork thingie).Don’t get me wrong, I really liked Boulud’s recipe. It WAS delicious. Plus, I got to sear, sauté, braise, and marinate, and didn’t burn myself beyond...

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Posted in: Mains,Meat and Fish,Pasta

Shaksouka? I Barely Even Know Ya! (Sorry.)

It’s snowing like mad outside, the office is unusually quiet, and A Charlie Brown Christmas is playing quietly on my cubicle computer. In a way, this is the holidays in all Big Apple workplaces: peacefully festive, with a tinge of melancholy. Or, maybe everyone’s just hung over from last night’s Christmas party. Take your pick.Like every other place in America, it’s been slightly-to-mostly insane over here lately, what with card sending, gift shopping, tinsel hanging, funeral attending, and getting papers/projects/life in order for the ever-approaching New Year. There haven’t been many hours left for cooking, either, save for today’s dish, Shaksouka, and a botched attempt at quesadillas on Wednesday night. (On a related note: what kind of adult...

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Dips and Sauces,Eggs,Mains,Vegetarian

CHG Favorites of the Week: Cookies and 12 Days of Christmas Edition

Food Blog of the WeekCookie ExchangeGracing the web since 1997, CE is the pre-eminent source for Christmas cookie recipes. While the site could use a design update (who am I to talk?), the boards are insanely packed with good ideas, as well as the nine hallowed Rules of the Cookie Exchange. So grab a spatula and get browsing.Food Comedy of the Week"12 Days of Christmas" by Bob and Doug MacKenzieSCTV fans! It’s Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas’ finest characters, singing their distinctly Canadian ode to Christmas. If the Labatts doesn’t move you to tears, four pounds of back bacon should do the trick.Food News of the WeekIowa Town Uses Garlic Salt to De-ice the RoadsMan, the deer are going to have a field day with this. I wonder if they’ll be able to go back to regular salt licks afterward. Also?...

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Posted in: Links

Veggie Might: Bead Me Up - DIY Holidays Part Two

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism. Today, she's taking a quick detour into Holiday Crafts. Part 1 of her two-part series can be found here.When I first got a computer in 1999 (I am not an early adopter), one of the first things I discovered was a website called GetCrafty.com (here’s an archived page via the wayback machine), which featured articles about feminism, DIY culture, living frugally, and plenty of how-tos. I stumbled upon the site while looking for painting tips for my windowsill flowerpots. I found something else entirely.I found the mothership.Glitter has since moved to SuperNaturale, and GetCrafty still has an active board. Combined with Craftster, which...

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Posted in: Do-Gooding,Frugality,Veggie Might

So This Is Christmas: 37 Food Philanthropies

(Confidential to Biggest Loser fans: YAY MICHELLE! Although, Ed did look pretty dang good, and The Boyfriend and I both agreed that Amy P. vaulted from Mom With a Pretty Face clear to Total Freaking MILF. We’d both date her if we were hot, 40-year-old single dads. Anyway…)Last year around this time, CHG did a pre-holiday roundup of all the food charities you could ever ask for … or so we thought. While it included renowned groups like the Red Cross, the USO, Second Harvest, and Donors Choose, it left off a bunch of fantastic organizations near and dear to folks’ hearts.This year, we’re expanding.For your reading pleasure, we’ve compiled a list of the all 37 charities mentioned in 2008’s CHG Favorites of the Week posts. Like last year, there’s...

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Posted in: Do-Gooding,Links

City Kitchen Chronicles: Cranberry and Blackberry Champagne Punch

City Kitchen Chronicles is a bi-weekly column about living frugally in Manhattan. It's penned by the lovely Jaime, and is a little late this week due to Kris' absence. Still, it's neato.In my last column, on the misguided “cheap parties for rich people” meme currently taking over our newspapers, I mentioned my own upcoming soiree. And indeed, this past weekend, I invited a bunch of friends and a few strangers (read: cute boys I vaguely know) to what I called “birthdahousewarming.”Yes, I moved into this apartment, oh, fifteen months ago, but as a procrastinator and generally not-too-neat person, I didn’t quickly have my place either fully furnished and decorated, nor ever really tidy. (Necessary disclaimer: I am messy, but not dirty. There are...

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Posted in: City Kitchen Chronicles,Drinks,Vegan,Vegetarian