My neighbor's front stoop. Aweso...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday Throwback: Touch of Class - 10 Thrifty, Healthy Ingredients to Improve the Quality of Your Meals
Every Saturday, we post a piece from the CHG archives. This one is from November 2007.For the first 25 years of my existence, my food stood alone. Meat went unseasoned, starches sought no accompaniment, and vegetables … hermits, all of them. Only recently have I discovered the wonders of spices, sauces, and assorted flavorings. I had heard they made edibles better, but discounted it as a blasphemous rumor. Y’know, like gravity.In honor of these fine, zestful components, today’s article will expound on joy and wonder of my favorite ten. The following foods generally aren’t the main focus of a dish. Instead, they’re simple, easily attainable additives that will boost the quality of your spread immensely. Some cost a few cents more than generic...
Friday, October 29, 2010
Top Ten Links of the Week: 10/22/10 - 10/28/10
Happy Halloween, sweet readers! Today, we delve deep into the anthropology of candy, the downsides of fundraisers, and the benefits of soup and vegetables. Oo! Also! Movie suggestion! If you haven't seen 2008's Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In, rent it for the 31st. It will move you and scare your pants off at the same time. I'm dead serious. Those (we) Scandinavians know horror. And the luge. But mostly horror.1) New York Times: Is Candy Evil or Just Misunderstood?By day, Dr. Samira Kawash is ludicrously well-educated administrator, mom, and jellybean addict. By night, she’s CANDY PROFESSOR, a blogger exploring Americans’ cultural relationship with jujubes, lollipops, and Gummi bears. It’s a sweet article, in every sense of the word....
Posted in: LinksThursday, October 28, 2010
Veggie Might: Malt Vinegar Oven Fries—Just Like the Fair
Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.Twice in the last two months I've said to someone, "This is just like the fair!"Sheep shearing, midway rides, and pig races: for a kid in central Ohio, the county fair was the hottest ticket of the fall social calendar; and the Ohio State Fair was the most thrilling event of the year. Walking through the competition barns, I would beg to join 4-H and have my own sheep. Every year, my father would remind me that we lived within the town limits and our yard was not zoned for farm animals.I also lived for the midway. My friends and I would gorge ourselves on fried and sweet delicacies and then hit the fastest, whippingest, most vomit-inducing...
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The #1 Rule of Personal Finance
Whether you're buying a home, managing your income, or going to the grocery store, there is a simple rule imperative to every aspect of personal finance. Embraced, it is your greatest pecuniary tool. Ignored, it will destroy your cash flow and leave you living destitute with your Grandma.From WikicommonsYou gotta do the math.Okay, equations may not be your cup of coffee. But knowing the numbers is key to saving money, and performing simple computations can mean the difference between living well and scraping by. Frankly - and I realize this is simplifying the issue beyond measure - but I occasionally wonder how many U.S. foreclosures could have been avoided if someone sat down with a calculator. (Judgey? Me? Er … maybe.)Math is especially essential...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
I Wrote This: DIY Therapy - Head Games for a Rainy Day
You guys! I wrote a book! And it’s out today! Do-it-Yourself Therapy: Head Games for a Rainy Day is a light-hearted activity book that will delight your friends and conquer your enemies. But don’t take it from me. Take it from Random House’s/Potter Style’s official product description:More affordable than your analyst, and more fun than webMD, this novelty book full of games, home remedies, and therapeutic activities for the obsessive, depressive, and passive-aggressive will help you diagnose your neurosis! You’ll go crazy for tools like punch-out Rorschach Ink-Blot-from-Hell diagnostic cards, fill-in-the-blank therapy sessions with your personalized paper-doll analyst, bathroom vanity disguise kit featuring cover-up labels for your prescription...
Ask the Internet: Thanksgiving Recipes That Travel Well?
This week’s inquiry comes from reader Cam, who’s already gearing up for what my dad likes to call The Super Bowl of Eating.Q: I've been asked to bring a veggie dish to Thanksgiving dinner. I have to travel about 3 hrs to get there. I was going to make the Ina Garten roasted brussels sprouts of CHG fame, but I just don't know how they'll reheat/travel. I will have some access to an oven/microwave, but I would guess that I won't get more than about 20-25 min, while dodging the rest of the last-minute prep activities. Does anyone have any suggestions for a great veggie dish that will travel and reheat well?A: Cam, I’m traveling for Thanksgiving for the first time ever, and I totally feel your pain. In regard to the Brussels sprouts, if you can...
Posted in: Ask the InternetMonday, October 25, 2010
Pumpkin Butter: The Revenge
The following tale is a harrowing, totally true account of how I finally hacked a sugar pumpkin in two. Read on … if you dare.When: A brisk October night, 2010Where: A vaguely haunted Brooklyn kitchenWho: Kris, a pale, tall, somewhat uncoordinated 32-year-old writer/cook, whose only goal for the evening is harvesting the sweet flesh of autumn gourds.The Sugar Pumpkin, a three-pound, iron-hided, carrot-hued possible herald of Satan.Kris creeps warily into the kitchen, clutching a large chef’s knife. There is a single fluorescent light overhead, casting shadows long and stark across the linoleum.KRIS: Hello? Is there anyone there? Anyone? Hellooooo?There is only silence.KRIS: Marco?THE SUGAR PUMPKIN: Polo.KRIS: AUGH!The Sugar Pumpkin leaps from...
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday Throwback: 20 Cheap, Healthy Dishes Made From 10 Pantry Staples
Every Saturday, we post a piece from the CHG archives. This one is from July 2008.Last week, to celebrate CHG’s first blogiversary, I asked readers what subjects they’d like to see tackled more often. Quite a few responded with along the same lines: inexpensive, healthy dishes made with stuff usually found lying around the house.With this mission in mind, I immediately thought of my own pantry, a three-shelf, 10” deep cabinet currently shared by four people. Due to these space restrictions, I have to be judicious about my supplies, keeping only the most consistently useful on hand. Beyond the usual baking products, they are (in charming alphabetical order):Beans (black, red, pinto, garbanzo)Canned Tomatoes (diced, crushed, whole, paste)Dried...
Friday, October 22, 2010
Top Ten Links of the Week: 10/15/10 – 10/21/10
Sweet readers! This week, the links are all about solutions. Okay, and some alarming facts about obesity and food waste. But mostly, it's the solutions thing. Behold! And start solving things!1) New York Times: Op-chart – Lunch Line RedesignWow! Solution-based, super-neat interactive graphic shows how to optimize school cafeteria lunches for healthy eating. Parents! Educators! People who love solution-based, super-neat interactive graphics! Take a look at this thing!2) Money Saving Mom: Buying Special Diet Foods on a BudgetA one-two punch of practical advice and inspiring you-can-do-it-iveness, this piece on cooking for a family with food limitations of varying severity could be the most useful thing you read all year. Besides your IKEA bed...
Posted in: LinksThursday, October 21, 2010
Veggie Might: Converting Those Pesky Weights and Measures
Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.You are browsing your blog reader for food porn and come across a gorgeous recipe that you must make immediately. Then you notice it calls for calls for 7 ounces of uncooked quinoa and 1 cup of cooked lentils. There goes your food boner.How much quinoa does 7 ounces make? How many ounces of dried lentils cook up to make a cup? And which measuring cup is used for either of them? Even if you have a food scale, you might be at a bit of a loss. For ages, I’ve been keeping notes about how beans, legumes, and sundry grains measure up before and after cooking. Naturally, it seems I’ve reinvented the wheel—the InterWebs are rich with resources for weight/volume...
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Winter Squash 101 (Plus 18 Recipes!)
Come autumn, they crowd the produce aisle like so many tough-skinned soldiers, boasting their seasonal orange and green hues like a silent, immovable army. Thrown at an enemy, they will wreak havoc untold. Made into soup, they will be your best friends forever. Or even foreva.What I’m saying is: You may fear them. You may love them. Either way, winter squash should be in your kitchen, and eventually your stomach. So let’s learn a little more, shall we?HEALTH QUOTIENTOften overshadowed nutritionally by leafy greens and cruciferae, gourds pack some impressive wholesomeness of their own. Pumpkins and butternut squash are astronomically high in vitamin A, while acorn squash is a good source of fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and thiamin. All varieties...
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Green Kitchen: Kale and Balsamic Tofu Salad
Green Kitchen is a bi-weekly column about nutritious, inexpensive, and ethical food and cooking. It's penned by the lovely Jaime Green.I’d like to thank the internet for some recipe kismet.Last Monday, there was a fire in my apartment building. I, and my apartment, are fine. I am grateful. I am signing up for renters insurance. But even though the fire was half a block from my actual flat, the repercussions have been felt throughout the building – no electricity for an evening, no hot water for a day or two. And no gas, still.So there I was, two days after a greenmarket haul, with a fridge full of vegetables, and just a microwave and toaster oven to cook them in. I didn’t know how long this would last, so I made due. I splurged on some...