Orzo with Sausage, Peppers, and Tomatoes: a Very Giada Halloween

People knock her for the foxiness factor, but I’m a Giada DeLaurentiis fan, and I’ll tell you why:1) Her food is generally solid, always from scratch, and pretty easily prepared on weeknights after work.2) If I ran a blog called “Expensive Unhealthy TOTALLY FREAKING DELICIOUS,” her Aunt Raffy’s Turkey Sausage and Chestnut Stuffing would be the first recipe on it.3) She occasionally does photo shoots covered in tomato sauce. The pics aren’t particularly appealing any other day of the year, but on Halloween … awesome. They make perfect accompaniments to an otherwise unscary blog post. (Thanks, G!)Today’s recipe, Orzo with Sausage, Peppers, and Tomatoes comes from Giada’s newest cookbook, titled … wait for it … Giada’s Kitchen. (Rejected suggestions:...

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Posted in: Mains,Meat and Fish,Pasta,Sides

Veggie Might: Candy Corn - The Best Halloween Candy Ever - Veganized

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.Halloween is almost here, and that can only mean one thing. You’ve been scarfing down candy corn since August, when your local Rite Aid hauled out bags of Brach’s along with the back-to-school stuff. Wait...that might be me.Well it was until I absentmindedly read the label on the candy corn at the check out sometime in mid-September. Curses! Not you too, cc.That’s right, candy corn, the world’s best Halloween candy, sugary homage to the world’s greatest vegetable, is among a long list of confectionary delights saddled with hidden animal parts via gelatin infusion.I was so sad. Deep down I knew I’d been deluding myself. But, praise be the Great...

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Posted in: Desserts and Snacks,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

CHG Favorites of the Week

Hey folks – don’t forget to tune in later for Veggie Might. Leigh’s celebrating National Candy Corn day with a vegetarian/vegan version of your favorite autumn-hued treat. But first...Food Blog of the WeekAlmost Frugal FoodFrom Kelly, the proprietress of Almost Frugal, comes this vittles-oriented blog about making good chow at a low cost. It’s only a few months old, but there’s some solid stuff already, including the Friday is for Food series.Food Comedy of the Week“Jon Hamm’s John Ham” from SNLFor those of you who might not have caught SNL this past weekend, three things happened:1) Amy Poehler had her baby,2) Coldplay played FOUR TIMES to make up for the sketches Amy would have performed in, and,3) Mad Men’s Jon Hamm was totally, completely great – the best host they’ve had in a long, long...

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Posted in: Links

Cheap, Healthy, Sick: 10 Easy, Nutritious Foods for When You’ve Contracted the Plague

Picture it. You’re curled into a fetal position on your living room couch, inhaling ibuprofen, mainlining cough syrup, and praying for something – ANYTHING – to dissolve the sticky ball of evil living in your sinuses. You’re vaguely aware the TV is on, and somewhere in the distance, Drew Carey hands a Plinko chip to a lovely librarian from northwest Wyoming. Alas, you never discover where it falls, because you’ve been addled by a hacking fit so violent, your lungs nearly come out your nose. The last time you took your temperature, it was either 103 or 301. You don’t know, because there’s a distinct possibility your fever is SO high, you are now dyslexic.Does this sound familiar? If so, you, like millions of Americans, have experienced a sick...

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Posted in: Cooking,Frugality,Health

Tuesday Megalinks

Before we get to today’s links, I’d like to take a minute to commemorate the most important story you, me, or anyone across our vast, glorious planet will read this week. You know the one I’m talking about. The sad one. The crazy one. The one that will forever change the lives of teenagers aching to burst free of complacency/sobriety. If you don’t know, I’m sorry I have to bring it up here, in a simple blog.Yes, the rumors are true: Zima is being discontinued.Really, it’s kind of like losing a family member, if that family member came in a frosted bottle and tasted like a terrier’s butt. But don’t fret, dear readers! My youth may be lost, but your teen’s is still safe. Why, just think of all the other terrible, terrible malt beverages flooding...

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Posted in: Links

Autumn Sausage Casserole and the Crock Pot Paradox

About two years ago, I attempted to make slow cooker baked beans from a Fix It and Forget It cookbook. After prepping the spices, readying the legumes, and mixing everything until well-blended, I threw it on “low” for a few billion hours and waited, fork in hand. That night, apoplectic over the prospect of three quarts of beany goodness, I dug into it with something approximating religious zeal.And it was TERRIBLE.Awful. Catastrophic. Traumatically bad. I doubt even my brother would eat it, and I’m fairly certain he’d eat hair if it wouldn’t clog up his throat. Yet, I saved everything despite the horror, because I couldn’t bring myself to chuck 14 metric tons of beans. The tupperware sat untouched for three days, until my friend J and I semi-drunkenly...

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Posted in: Mains,Meat and Fish

Alas and Alack: The CHG Hall of Shame

(Before getting to today’s article, I have to mention this: I was standing less than two feet from Tom Hanks at a restaurant last night. On the outside, I was all laid-back and cool. On the inside, I metaphorically wet my pants.)Between CHG and a new column on Serious Eats, I’m attempting to come up with three inexpensive, nutritious, culinarily sound dishes every seven days. Most weeks, out of five new-to-me meals, I can pick the best three and throw ‘em up on the ‘net. (NOTE TO SELF: Avoid phrase “throw ‘em up” when referring to delicious food.) Sometimes, I even get lucky: all five meals are great, and I can bank two for future posts.Other times, like this week, everything tanks. (This is my clever way of saying, “I got nothing.”)But! There's...

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Posted in: Links

Veggie Might: Spaghetti Squash Puttanesca and the Best Little Sauce in the Kitchen

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.Lately at the market, I’ve been slapped in the face by bins and bins of squash. It’s all I can do not to full up my basket with the bounty of fall. But with the last weeks of the CSA filling my kitchen, I have to resist.I satisfied the most recent urge by purchasing one spaghetti squash, and a relatively small one at that—just under two pounds. The wheels in my head started spinning. Spaghetti squash is a favorite dish from my waitron days, and I make my own version of my former employer’s recipe every fall. Heck, here in New York, where I can get pretty much any vegetable anytime I usually make it more often. But it’s been a long,...

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Posted in: Mains,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

CHG Favorites of the Week

Food Blog of the Week #1Apron Thrift GirlI only ran across this blog for the first time yesterday, but I’m really liking it. Beyond the immediate impact of a well-designed front page, it’s … well, it’s relaxing. Like a digital scone. Or two-dimensional NPR. Try it.Food Blog of the Week #2Pasta QueenJennette Fulda went from 372 to 180 pounds in a little over 2-1/2 years. Her site is extensive, clever (“party in my fat pants!”), and full of fun graphs and photos you’d expect from a computer programmer. She’s even written a memoir called Half-Assed (“It’s hilarious, inspirational, and good for killing large insects.”), which chronicles her journey from a great big girl to a great little girl.Food Comedy of the Week“Food” by Billy ConnollyGlasgow’s...

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Posted in: Links

The Incredible Shrinking Dad: How One Guy Lost 108 Pounds (and Kept it Off)

Ed is a 59-year-old father of three from Queens, New York. Though an avid golfer and fisherman, he struggled with his weight most of his life. Then, in the ‘90s, a complete lifestyle overhaul helped him drop almost 110 pounds, sending him from 287 to his current weight of 179. He’s never joined a gym or a diet program. This is his story.(Incidentally, for transparency’s sake [and so I will not receive a beating from my mother], I will henceforth refer to him as Dad.)(Also, parts of this interview were edited for length.)(Also also, that's not his real head in the pictures. But you knew that.)KRIS: So Dad, when did you weigh the most?DAD: I weighed 287 pounds in November of 1991.K: Why do you think you were overweight? What are the reasons?D:...

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Posted in: Frugality,Health

Tuesday Megalinks: The Tattoo You Edition

Casual Kitchen: Spending to Save – Frugality and Expensive FoodDaniel poses a GREAT question: “Is it possible to enjoy expensive things and yet still be frugal and financially responsible?” I say yes. In fact, if you have the means, I think it’s occasionally necessary to avoid feeling deprived.Chocolate and Zucchini: How the Blind CookTake a moment between the frugality and food-themed posts to enjoy this interview with sightless C&Z reader David E. Price. Entirely blind since age 28, he describes how he cooks and eats using special tools, as well as tricks honed through years in the kitchen. One of my grandfathers was blind, so I think this is fascinating stuff. (Thanks to Casual Kitchen for the link.)Chow: Canned Beer That’s Actually...

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Posted in: Links

Mark Bittman's Baked Eggs in a Big Dish

(Hi everyone – my apologies for the post that went out this morning. It was scheduled, then left unfinished, and then I didn’t have access to a computer after it mistakenly went up. This is the correct recipe AND the correct accompanying text. Again, I’m sorry. If you made it and it came out terribly, let me know and I’ll … I’ll make it up to you somehow. Probably in song.)Earlier this month, the folks behind The Kitchn wrote about a breakfast they catered, which featured mountainous bowls of fresh fruit, an envious basket of muffin halves, and at the center, two giant dishes of Mark Bittman’s Baked Eggs. Needless to say, there were pictures. Good pictures. Pictures that made the whole shebang looked simple, elegant, and dang tasty. Pictures...

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Posted in: Breakfast,Eggs

Pork Tacos: Better Without the “Taco” Part

So, here’s a question: when did hard taco shells become acceptable vesicles for food? I know millions of perfectly happy and sane Americans use them daily with little-to-no trouble, but I HATE the damn things. Besides their distinct particle board flavor, I’ve never met a taco shell that doesn’t crumble into shirt-staining oblivion after the very first bite. They’re the culinary equivalent of being punched in the neck: messy, tasteless, and when inflicted on loved ones, kind of mean.Despite this, The Boyfriend is a taco fan. It’s a natural extension of his deep and abiding love and for nachos. (The guy would live in a Tex-Mex restaurant if given the chance.) I don’t usually bother with them because (I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this) I loathe...

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Posted in: Mains,Meat and Fish