U.K. vs. U.S.A.: A Cheap Chocolate Showdown
I'm a chocolate snob. I generally avoid the cheap American stuff—Snickers, peanut butter cups and the like—preferring to spend my money on expensive, foreign dark chocolate or, my new favorite, a bread and chocolate bar from the Seattle-based Theo Chocolate.The one exception is the Kit Kat bar. A f...
January 27, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Five Things I Ate in Australia (and One I Didn't)
Today is Australia Day, a national holiday commemorating the 1787 arrival of the first fleet of British settlers, including a few boatloads of convicts, in Sydney. (Technically, because of the time difference, it's already the day after Australia Day over there.)I recently returned from visiting fa...
January 26, 2011 |
By Lisa Bramen
Unwrapping the History of the Doggie Bag
At some point in our restaurant dining experiences, we meet our Waterloo: that sauce-soaked rack of ribs, a plate of jumbo-sized sweet-n-sour shrimp, or that 72-ounce steak dinner you tried to eat in under an hour so the house would cover the tab. Unable to finish what's on the plate, you run the w...
January 25, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Q&A: Foodscape Artist Carl Warner
I have always been a fast eater, and even as a kid I was not picky. So I never really built log cabins with my carrots or sculpted my mashed potatoes into gravy-spewing volcanoes.With the exception of scrawling smiley faces with his catsup, says Carl Warner, he didn't play much with his food, eithe...
January 21, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
A Search for the Origins of Grandmother's Caramels
Every January, as sure as the wind blows cold, my two erstwhile friends show up. I call them Diet and Denial, and together we put the body back in shape.They have their work cut out for them because for as long as I can remember, December is the month when my people have made and eaten the caramels...
January 19, 2011 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Inviting Writing: Break-Up Cake
Was your New Year's resolution to write down that food-related story that's been knocking around in your head, and send it in to Inviting Writing? I hope so! Maybe you've just been waiting for the right topic to inspire you. Well, the subject of our next series is something that most people, unfort...
January 18, 2011 |
By Lisa Bramen
Beer Batter is Better; Science Says So
Do you have what it takes to be a food scientist? If you would like to find out, perform the following simple exercise, which was designed and executed by a team of professionals led by Fred Shih of the USDA's Southern Regional Research Center. By the end, you will know (a) the difference between b...
January 14, 2011 |
By admin
Snacks to Fuel a Workout
Thirty percent of New Year's resolutions made by Americans this year relate to weight, diet and health, according to a recent survey by the Barna Group, a Ventura, California-based research firm focused on the intersection between faith and culture. Unfortunately, a rather grim statistic glares tho...
January 13, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
It's a Marshmallow World
It's a marshmallow world in the winter when the snow comes to cover the ground—as has been the the case for parts of the southeastern United States that have been dealing with some serious snowstorms. At times like this, it might be best to stay indoors and indulge in actual marshmallows, be they f...
January 12, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Good News for Food Safety
The people who work on food safety are pretty excited these days, or I should say they're excited in the cautious, constantly vigilant manner of people who have spent their careers worried about deadly microbial pathogens. At an event last night sponsored by the D.C. Science Writers Association, ex...
January 11, 2011 |
By Laura Helmuth
Inviting Writing: Tomato Surprise
Our final installment of this month's Inviting Writing challenge, "First Tastes," comes from Kim Kelly of Carlsbad, California, who writes the Liv Life blog.Stay tuned for the next round of Inviting Writing, which we'll announce on Tuesday, January 18.A Slice of HeavenBy Kim Kelly
Tomatoes are a ne...
January 10, 2011 |
By Laura Helmuth
What’s the Story, John Dory? The People Behind the Food Names
When I wrote recently about Christmas foods of the southern hemisphere, I mentioned the New Zealand/Australia specialty called pavlova. The meringue dessert was named for the famous ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who toured the two countries in the 1920s.But what about other foods—was there a Madeleine b...
January 07, 2011 |
By Lisa Bramen
Weirdest Pizza Toppings
This month's Inviting Writing series is about "first tastes," revelatory experiences of foods you'd never tried before. My first memory of a first taste is of pizza. I was six years old, and the pizza was pepperoni with extra cheese at a pizza parlor that had just opened in my neighborhood. I remem...
January 06, 2011 |
By Laura Helmuth
An Ancient Wine from Cyprus
A question for the end of the year, a time to look back: What's the oldest kind of wine still in modern production?If you answered "Commandaria," I'm impressed. I had never heard of such wines until a few weeks ago, when I attended a Smithsonian Resident Associates lecture about the cuisine of Cyp...
January 04, 2011 |
By Amanda Bensen
Inviting Writing: Romancing Guava Paste
Our theme for this month's Inviting Writing series is "first tastes": foods that were a revelation the first time you tried them. This week's entry comes from Elizabeth Bastos, who shared a scary food story about artichokes last year. She blogs about "humor, food, home, parenting and cheese" at Goo...
January 03, 2011 |
By Laura Helmuth
Toast With Beer This New Year's Eve, Not Champagne
Perhaps it is because I associate it with that stomach-ache-inducing sparkling grape juice I gulped down during so many New Year's Eves as a kid, but I am not a huge fan of champagne.So my ears perked up when I heard that the Boston Beer Company (the maker of Samuel Adams) and Germany's Weihensteph...
December 30, 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
Count Rumford and the History of the Soup Kitchen
Every December, the Salvation Army deploys bell-ringers to shopping areas to collect donations for the needy, acting as jingling reminders that not everyone has a roof over his head or food in her belly, much less gifts under the tree.The ringers' iconic red collection kettles, which represent soup...
December 29, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Games to Play Around the Dinner Table
Entertaining friends and family is a big part of the holiday season. In my family, after we have nibbled on appetizers and enjoyed a meal and the dessert plates have been cleared from the table, it’s game time. Literally.*If you are a game lover (or are just looking for some excitement), consider p...
December 28, 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
Lucky Foods for the New Year
Pigs, fish, beans and cakes are among the many delicacies consumed around the world to celebrate the new year
December 28, 2010 |
By Annette Foglino
Track Food Trends With Google Books
Google Books, the online digital library that allows you to search inside thousands of books, might be the most useful tool for journalists, fact-checkers and other researchers since the Dewey decimal system. I love my neighborhood library, and I still buy books, but sometimes I just need one quote...
December 27, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
