Keep things cool in these waning days of summer with chilly desserts. - World traveling sailors learn how to eat that Maryland delicacy, blue crabs.
- Burdick Chocolate in Walpole, New Hampshire, offers a line of politically oriented chocolates and candies, just in time for the conventions.
- Rob Kasper reviews an assortment of artisanal rums.
- Have pie for every meal at the Dangerously Delicious Savory House.
- Laura McCandlish reviews Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food: An Opinionated History and More Than 100 Legendary Recipes By Arthur Schwartz Stewart.
- What to do with self-rising flour? Make biscuits!
The Baltimore Sun in 60 seconds: Frozen desserts, blue crabs and rum
The New York Times Dining & Wine section in 60 seconds: Mocktails, tomato jam, raspberry figs
Eric Asimov discusses the new breed of lighter, subtler Napa Valley Cabernets.
Applebee's moves beyond the riblet in an effort to save itself from Bennigan's fate.
The Hamptons get real Mexican-style tacos. Yay?
The Minimalist makes tomato jam.
Recipes for icy summer mocktails. And not just virgin daiquiris - think homemade tonic with lavender, chamomile, fresh herbs and lime juice.
Meet the raspberry fig.
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Neighborhood dinners, mini-pies and summer sandwiches
Looking for a new way to bond with your neighbors? How about hiring a caterer to cook up a weekly neighborhood dinner for you and the folks on your block!- The chef who cooks those weekly dinners draws inspiration from her Southern roots, cooking up Southern "Dolmas" With Brown Rice, Dates and Pecans, Savory Blueberry Sauce, Corn on the Cob With Ivy's Zippy Mustard-Lime Glaze, Southern-Style Peach Cobbler and Coconut Whipped Cream. When she needs a little extra inspiration, she turns to an arsenal of cookbooks.
- The test kitchen defines diet names.
- The FoodDay staff take inspiration from Not Martha and Lloyd and Lauren and whip up those cute pies in jars.
- In the summer, sometimes a light sandwich is all you need for dinner. These Savory Summer Vegetable Sandwiches could easily fit that bill.
- The Market Basket is green today, filled with cork cutting boards, recycled food storage containers and Magic Sheet organic cleansers.
- Pair halibut with flowers for a delicious dinner of Herb- and Flower-Crusted Halibut.
The stingiest airlines are charging for water
Flying domestically over the past few years has become increasingly more and more nightmarish. Just last week we had a post on the lack of complimentary food served on domestic flights. Last Sunday, the New York Times had an article about airlines, such as US Airways, that are charging $5 for snacks and $2 for water. Airlines no longer offering basic amenities, like luggage space and meals, is depressing. But, it's more or less expected from airlines that are all on the verge of going out of business. To me, charging for water is the most shocking.
As someone who loves to travel, I'm desperately hoping that US Airways' $2 water bottles do not become a trend on other airlines. We can't bring water through security. So, we'll have no other option than to purchase water at the gate prior to boarding the plane. This means arriving at the airport extra early than we already have to in order to prevent dehydration on a transcontinental flight.
The article in the Times outlines an up-to-date list of current drink and meal offerings from major airlines traveling domestically. It's hard to pinpoint which airline is the stingiest. While Southwest, Spirit, and JetBlue offer no food apart from snacks, American, Delta, United, and Northwest all charge at least $4 for meals. Northwest charges $10 for meals! We all know how delicious airline cuisine is...Hopefully, these airlines will not follow US Airways and take away a simple necessity like water.
The Philadelphia Inquirer in 60 seconds: Loose leaf tea, lunch trucks and Le Bec Fin
Cynthia Wahl imports teas, but she's not a purveyor, she's a tea sommelier and she wants Americans to eschew the bag for loose leaf. - If you want to give up the tea bag, here are some local spots to buy loose leaves, a primer on how to brew your new tea and a piece about Japanese tea ceremonies.
- Le Bec Fin, the restaurant widely acknowledged to have started Philadelphia's restaurant revolution in the early 1970s, is remodeling.
- Maria Yagoda takes us on a tour of University of Pennsylvania lunch trucks, and admits that it's better eating in the summertime, when the lines aren't so long.
- In 'Good Tastes' Karen Heller briefly reviews Jose Garces' newest spot, Distrito, and calls it a winner.
The Baltimore Sun in 60 seconds: Tomatoes, marinara sauce and shade grown coffee
Baltimore home cooks celebrate the arrival of home grown tomatoes. - A new generation of chocolate makers play with their formulas and produce chocolates the likes of which cacao lovers have never seen.
- Need inspiration for an outdoor meal? Kate Shatzkin reviews Picnic: 125 Recipes with 29 Seasonal Menus.
- Add anchovies to homemade marinara for a quick dinner that's full of flavor.
- A Sun reader was searching for a cake recipe. Turns out it was the 'Better Than Sex' cake.
- Erica Marcus answers the question, What is shade grown coffee, exactly?
- Landmark soda fountain is closing and the shop's furnishings are all for sale.
The New York Times Dining & Wine section in 60 seconds: Snobbery, specialty coffee, slow-cooked beans
Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter picks up his second restaurant, Monkey Bar. His first, the Waverly Inn, has been luring a high wattage crowd for two years, despite not being officially open.
L.A.'s fast food moratorium raises questions about choice and personal responsibility.
The Minimalist makes chapati, Indian flat bread.
A recipe for slow-cooked green beans.
Eric Asimov sips the crisp white wines of Spain.
Specialty coffee roasters hit New York.
Memories of airplane food, an endangered species
I've taken two trips in the past two weeks. The first was to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Frontier Airlines. Snacks were available for purchase and they even tried to sell bottled water (although, if you waited a few minutes you could get a cup of water with the regular beverage service). The second trip was to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Southwest Airlines. Southwest offered as many cheese nips and peanuts as you could eat. While it was a step up from Frontier, it was a far cry from the early days of flying.
In a New York Times article, William Woys Weaver (on a totally unrelated note, I love his name!) writes about how he has been collecting airline menus for the past forty years. Not surprisingly, as airline's food and other offerings degrade, more and more people seem interested in his collection.
The New York Times article also contained some images of menus from his collection which feature items such as Selected Delicacies from Various Countries, Roasted Duckling, and Poached Turbot.
What's the best meal you've had in the air?
The NY Times profiles baking competition at the Marquette County Fair
Growing up in cities (Los Angeles and then Portland, OR), county fairs really weren't a part of my life. However, they've always fascinated me, particularly the competitions in which people enter their baked goods, cans of jam and garden veggies. If you have a similar fascination, you'll love this piece, which appeared today in the Dan Berry's This Land column in the New York Times, titled Where the Competition Is Stiff but Sweet.
Berry regularly delves into the less-visible aspects of American life and this week features the baking competition at the Marquette County Fair in Sands Township, MI. He introduces us to the judges, a convenience store owner and a retired social worker, who taste their way through every single pie, cake, bread and cookie entered into the competition. Additionally, he briefly hits on the ways in which the state of the economy is impacting the entries into the baking contest. It's a lovely piece and makes me want to plan a weekend to head to a less citified area of Pennsylvania and attend some fairs.
The Baltimore Sun in 60 seconds: Staycations, beer and pickles
- Trading your vacation for a staycation this summer? That's no reason not to indulge in home cooked vacation meals.
- After being outstripped by wine in 2005, beer is back on top, according to the 2008 Gallup Poll of US consumption habits.
- The many varieties of pickled tomatoes, beans and beets that used to be on our dining tables have been replaced by the ubiquity of the cucumber pickle. Explore a little and pickle something out of the ordinary (they've got a recipe for pickled grapes).
- Jill Rosen reviews the new book Wine & Food A New Look at Flavor By Joshua Wesson.
- Researchers are still mixed on whether pregnant women should eat fish because of the mercury risks. However studies do show that the Omega-3 fatty acids improve brain function in kids. Try these Salmon Mini-Burgers for your brain boost.
- In place of the tradition fruits you'd use in a crisp, try using grapes!
The New York Times in 60 seconds: Ice, white wine and apricots
The Curious Cook discusses cooking with cold - liquid nitrogen-chilled foams, inside-out pancakes cooked on the icy "anti-griddle."
Eric Asimov sips the white wines of Greece.
Supermarkets add more varieties of fruits and veggies, to compete with farmers markets.
The Greenmarket debates grower rules.
China temporarily allows shipments of California strawberries. Strawberry shortcakes for all gold medalists!
Honey-apricot parfaits, with recipe.
Sun screen for produce
We all know that we're supposed to wear sun screen to protect us from harmful radiation from the sun, right? Well did you know that fruit or vegetables grown in the sun need it too?
I know that thought has never occurred to me before, but I can see the reasoning. If human skin can get sunburned, why not apple skin? Apparently about 20 to 40 percent of some crops are destroyed every year from solar radiation, according to an article in the Mercury News. That's bad for farmers, who can only use the damaged fruit for juice, as well as the environment, as crops that are more susceptible to sun damage need more water.
The article features a company that makes sunscreen for produce, Purfresh which makes the veggie sunscreen Purshade among other things. I just thought that this perspective on sunburn was very interesting and worth sharing. How do you feel about sun screen for produce?
The New York Times in 60 seconds: Beijing, Bordeaux and banned from the greenmarket
Can't make it to the Olympics this year? Go for some authentic Beijing cuisine in Flushing, Queens instead. Eric Asimov does "forgotten" white Bordeaux.
A farmer is kicked out of the farmer's market for selling meat he didn't raise on his own farm.
The Minimalist makes rice salads.
Old-school bar guides are coming back in print.
A recipe for Cuban-style pork.
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Berries, beets and whole grain pasta
- Restaurant owner and berry connoisseur Donald Kotler dishes about his favorite berries and knowing how to pick the very best ones.
- Looking for ways to use the current berry bounty? Try Raspberry-Lavender Lemon Drops, Berry Jam, Blackberry Cheese Plate, or Blackberry Turnovers.
- The Tasting Panel takes on whole grain pasta, trying to discover which is the best. The look at what makes it whole grain and how to get bigger flavor and better nutrition from it.
- FoodDay Test Kitchen Director Linda Faus talks about why she loves her job, some of the cooking competitions she's judged and offers up a recipe for a fresh fruit custard tart.
- On a recent trip to the farmers market, Ivy Manning was enchanted by baby beets. She combines them with goat cheese and pasta for an earthy vegetarian meal.
- Want a burger, but not all the fat? Try leaner ground turkey in these Tex-Mex turkey burgers.
The Baltimore Sun in 60 seconds: Zucchini, watermelon and M.F.K. Fisher
Looking for inspiration on how to make use of all those zucchini that your garden is pumping out? Look no further than this article, which gathers recipes from home cooks and gardeners. - Watermelon is a wonderful summer treat and here are some great tips on how to pick out a good one.
- Jennifer Day remembers the incomparable M.F.K. Fisher on the 100th year anniversary of her birth.
- Former Google chef Charlie Ayers has written a new book that offers recipes, food philosophy and a bit of gossip about the early days of Google.
- Looking for a new chicken recipe? How about this one for Sour Cream Marinated and Southern Fried Chicken.
- Grilled turkey burgers make for a quick and delicious summer meal.
- Scientists are saying once again that artificial food dyes are causing health concerns.
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
