1) Casual Kitchen: On Spice Fade, and the Utter Insanity of Throwing Spices Out After Six Months
LOVE this piece from Dan, not least because I never, ever throw out spices. He says, “The spice industry--as well as many misguided cooks, chefs and food bloggers--will tell you that if you have any spices in your cupboard that are more than six months old, you should throw them out. Pure hogwash. This is just another example of how the food industry tries to get you to spend unnecessarily. Worse, it makes cooking at home more expensive than it needs to be.” (Then he says more stuff.) Oh, snap!
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| Flickr's edenpictures |
This article, about an Illinois junior high that insists kids eat cafeteria food, has been all over the interweb this week, though very few news outlets have mentioned that A) the policy has been in place for six years, and B) most of the kids at this particular school qualify for free or reduced lunch. That doesn’t change the Big Brotherness of it all, but it does give it a little perspective, yes?
3) UK Guardian: Expensive wine and cheap plonk taste the same to most people
Woo hoo! Bring on the Three Buck Chuck!
4) LA Times: Organic label makes foods seem tastier, more healthful
In a blind taste test involving 144 shoppers, cookies labeled as organic were estimated to have, “more fiber, less fat and fewer calories” than their non-organic counterparts. Alas, it ain’t so. Beware as you shop. (NOTE: I originally phrased this as, “In a blind taste test OF 144 shoppers,” which would have made it a very different blurb. Some might say Lecter-esque?)
5) Washington Post: 2011 Peeps Show
Terrible food, wonderful art: The Post holds its annual Peeps diorama contest.
6) Surviving and Thriving: How Often do You Wash Your Jeans?
Oh, every time I wear them. #NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement
7) stonesoup: veggie love - 7 tips to make sure you're getting enough
Simple, realistic, way helpful tips on cramming more broccoli into your maw. Plus cute recipes!
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| Flickr's dmdonahoo |
Though it sounds like an event in the Grocery Shopping X-Games, Extreme Couponing is actually a TLC show about expert savers. Some argue the participants go way overboard, venturing into hoarding territory, which might intimidate beginning couponers. (Understandably so.) Happily, Couponing 101 has a nice, non-scary intro into the wide world of Red Plum discounts. For more, check out CHG’s piece, “Couponing for People Who Hate Couponing: A Zero-Stress Guide to Clipping Big Bargains.”
9) Food Politics: How to Get Involved in School Food
Have kids? Want to change their cafeteria offerings from the top down? Marion Nestle has compiled a list of resources. Read it and
10) Slashfood: Vegan Magazine’s Faux-Meat Recipe Photos Actually Real Meat
Yuh-oh. VegNews has been photoshopping pictures of burgers and ribs, and passing them off as images of tempeh and seitan. Cauliflower lovers, they are not pleased.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Neatorama: Sunless Farming of the Future...
... Looks a lot like a Deee-lite video, apparently.
Slashfood: The Truth Behind the Olive Garden’s Tuscan Cooking School
What? NOOOOOOO! B-b-b-but … the unlimited breadsticks? They’re real, right?
AND ALSO
Achilles Effect: Word Cloud – How Toy Ad Vocabulary Reinforces Gender Stereotypes
Crystal compared descriptive words used in toy commercials – 27 ads aimed at boys, 32 at girls – and created word clouds with the results. The boys’ biggest included “battle,” “power,” “heroes,” and “ultimate,” while the girls could claim, “love,” “fun,” “magic,” and “babies.” Not so surprising, but still fascinating.
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| From Achilles Effect |
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