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Stories from Lisa Bramen

A photographic update on Lisa's fledgling garden

Life, Death and Unnatural Acts in the Vegetable Garden

My first epiphany was that gardening has a lot more to do with encouraging death than life

Mint chocolate chip ice cream

Inviting Writing: Food and Sickness

The one food I had thought to stock was a half-gallon of ice cream—mint chocolate chip—and once the nausea passed it became my sustenance for the next week

Putting beer koozies to the test.

Science in the Public Interest: The Beer Koozie Test

How well do beer koozies actually work at keeping your beverage cold?

Vintage radio

Music to Eat By

7-Up cake

7-Up Cake and Other Bubbly Baking

Apple, pumpkin and elderberry wine from Will o' Wisp Wines

Beyond Grapes: It’s Wine, But Not From the Vine

Pancakes from IHOP

I’ll Have the Rooty Toot—Oh, Nevermind. World’s Most Embarrassing Menu Items to Order

In no particular order, here are my top five most embarrassing things to order (not including the IHOP dish, the clear winner)

Artichokes

Five Ways to Eat Artichokes

Butter or mayonnaise are simple, traditional and perfectly acceptable accompaniments, but why stop there? Here are five other ideas

Cinco de Mayo: Who Prepares Your Food?

Hispanics are a major presence in the American food system—and the largest Hispanic group in the country is of Mexican origin

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What’s in a Restaurant Name?

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Should You Keep an Emergency Food Stash?

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It’s a Tomato! The Miracle of Life, Plant Edition

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Five Ways to Eat Matzo

Thinking outside the charoset

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Way-Underage Drinking: How Young Is Too Young?

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What the Heck Do I Do with Annatto?

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We’re Number One! America Overtakes France in Wine Consumption

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What Is the “Right to Farm” and Who Has It?

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The Funniest Fruit: A Brief History of Banana Humor

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Diary of a Neurotic New Gardener: The Best-Laid Plants

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Five Ways to Eat Lemons

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