Are you about to dig into an eye-popping beauty of a meal or snack? Then, STOP! Before you do, take a photo first, and e-mail it to me at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com.
Your photo could be featured on the Fridge Magnet blog as the Photo of the Week.
I got a crazy press release today that confirmed a rumor I saw in the blogosphere earlier this week: not only do we have molecular gastronomy, but now we have molecular mixology, too.
The makers of Cointreau have unleashed special kits upon some of the most talented bartenders in New York City that will allow them to transform the liquid version of the liqueur into "Cointreau Caviar."
According to the release: "After a year of research in Paris, the Cointreau team has found a way to turn liquid Cointreau into solid "pearls" of the beverage that can be served on the side of a cocktail for eating or for suspension within a cocktail like a Cosmopolitan or Margarita.
The "spherification" process (the multi-step scientific technologies used to create the Cointreau "pearls") is elaborate and proprietary and was revealed for the first time in the U.S. last night in NYC to the city's top mixologists."
I guess that means we won't be seeing Boone's Farm caviar anytime soon.
As we have all learned, there's a national day or month for just about every different food on the face of the earth.
There's even a National Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day and a National Crab-Stuffed Flounder Day.
Those are silly, but tomorrow's day is one that I can wrap my head around: it's National Banana Bread Day.
I absolutely love a good slice of banana bread. There's nothing better with a hot mug of coffee or tea in the morning than a thick slice slathered with butter and microwaved for just a few seconds to get all warm and melty.
I've been guilty in the past of simply mixing overripe bananas into a banana bread mix. It's not as good as made-from-scratch banana bread, but it's a quick and easy way to avoid letting the fruit go to waste just because it's too black for raw consumption.
I found a perfectly delicious-looking recipe for homemade banana bread on Simply Recipes. I'm going to attach the recipe after the jump.
Does anyone out there have a killer banana bread recipe? And what's your vote -- nuts or no nuts?
It's picture day on the Fridge Magnet blog!
As promised, faithful blog reader Lori floated a few Peeps in a mug of hot cocoa and took some pictures for us all to enjoy. Now, I was imagining that Lori would use the chicks, which would look like they were going for a ducky little swim in the cocoa. Instead she used the bunnies, which look like they are doing the backstroke or something.
If you've got a fabulous food pic, e-mail it to me in jpeg format at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com and I'll share it on the blog.
|
|
Sometimes you just have to feast your eyes on a tantalizing piece of food porn. This is a Smoked Paprika Chicken prepared by one of my dad's co-workers. He has joined the ranks of the Smoked Paprika Chicken fan club. In case you've missed this recipe, check it out here.
New York Times food writer Mark Bittman has debunked a few kitchen myths on his blog, Bitten.
One of them? That you shouldn't rinse mushrooms because they'll soak up the water. Turns out that's just not true.
Check out the other myths debunked here.
Although the one about baked potatoes isn't really a myth, I certainly agree that the only perfect baked potato comes out of an oven, not a microwave!
News of the weird: According to the Serious Eats blog, the founder of Wisconsin cheese company Roth Käse has bought a huge, underground cave north of Nashville that he plans to use for aging cheese.
As a little kid in Leadville, Colorado, we had the perfect spot for a lemonade stand.
Right at the end of our street, on a visible corner, there was a huge, gray, perfectly rectangular rock. I always thought it looked kind of like an elephant at rest. The back of that elephant rock was the best place to set up plastic cups and a pitcher of Kool-Aid lemonade.
That was so long ago that I don't even remember if we actually sold any lemonade. I'm pretty sure, however, that I never did anything as admirable with my earnings as Alexandra "Alex" Scott did with hers.
I learned about the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation this week after receiving a box of candy from Mike and Ike. The company that makes Mike and Ike, JustBorn, have introduced a new flavor called "Lemonade Blends." A portion of the proceeds will go to ALSF.
According to the ALSF Web site, Alex's parents founded the non-profit organization after their daughter died of neuroblastoma at the age of 8. But by then, she had already helped raise almost $1 million to help fight juvenile cancer.
You guys just have to see this video. It's a clip from an episode of the Maury Povich Show featuring a girl who is terrified of pickles.
I stumbled across the video during my daily journey around the world of food blogs. It was featured on Diner's Journal, a blog by Frank Bruni of The New York Times.
Bruni acknowledged that he usually sticks to more serious matters on his blog. Lately, those matters have included how much to tip a waiter for a $2,000 bottle of wine and whether fancy New York restaurants will let you carry out a doggie bag.
But today, he condescended to blog about pickle paranoia. As he put it, "this post tilts sillier and more vacuously theatrical than most."
I suspect one reason for Bruni's decision was so that he could ask readers what food scares them the most. And since it's such a tempting question, I can't help but ask it myself.
Personally, I'm only frightened by the thought of eating foods (term used loosely) like brains. And bugs, but we've been there before.
What scares you?
After two days of eating soup and crackers, I'm ready to tackle the double pack of Rock Cornish game hens that have been thawing in my refrigerator since Sunday.
I had lofty goals for those little chickens on Sunday night, but for the second week in a row, my Sunday dinner plans were foiled.
Tonight is the night.
Rock Cornish game hens really are just miniature chickens. According to my "Food Lover's Companion," they are a hybrid of Cornish and White Rock chickens that go to market at 4-6 weeks of age.
I love Cornish hens for several reasons. First, they are the perfect size for just one couple. My sister and her husband sometimes even have Cornish hens for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner when they're not going to be able to drive up and dine with the whole family.
The hens are also very versatile.
My Valentine's date started on Saturday night with a hot new dress, cute new shoes and reservations at one of Roanoke's finest new restaurants.
It ended about 45 minutes after dinner with me in the bathroom, violently ill, still wearing my "hot" dress. It was not so hot at that point.
Because I do not know and will never know whether my illness was food-related or simply the result of a nasty virus, I don't want to mention the restaurant. Suffice it to say that even if I had not gotten deathly ill afterward, I wouldn't have been SUPER impressed by either the food or the service. Better luck next time.
Here's what I learned, though: Sometimes, the truest gestures of love come in unexpected ways.
I thought my Valentine was going to show me how much he loved me by pouring my wine, feeding me a bite of his dinner, opening the door for me or putting his hand on the small of my back while we walked. And he did all those things.
But it meant so much more to me when he wiped my sweaty face with a cool washcloth, brought me ice water and hovered outside the door, repeatedly asking in a nervous voice if I was going to be okay. And when I was recuperating on the couch yesterday, he went to the store and bought me ginger ale and medicine and rented "No Reservations," that cheesy flick about two chefs who fall in love.
He drew the line at actually watching the movie with me, but that's okay.
For better or for worse, right?
In sickness and in health.
