Mark Bittman Talks about What's Wrong with Our Diet

...and there's a lot wrong:



For more of this goodness, check out TedTalks.

Mise En Place

"Everything in place", according to the French. Chop, cut, pour, slice, and chiffonade, then measure out, and put in separate containers BEFORE you cook.

According to Mark Ruhlman in "Elements of Cooking":

"Good mise en place makes the process easier and more pleasurable and the result tastier than preparing a recipe with no mise en place."

Your Next Drink

Find some great drink ideas for the holidays at YourNextDrink.

Typing in 'champagne' and 'cranberry' brought up the Champagne Cornucopia:

"Pour cranberry juice into oversized red wine glass, blend sherbet, vodka, and schnapps until smooth, pour over cranberry juice to produce swirl effect and layer champagne on top, garnish with orange slice"


Sounds pretty good to me.

Wanna learn to cook?

Learning how to cook can be challenging if you can't afford cooking school. Following a recipe is a great skill and should not be underestimated, but it doesn't help you if you've made a huge meal-ending mistake, or when you have ingredients and want to cook something without a recipe. A friend of mine calls these pantry meals, and I love the idea of being able to stand in front of your pantry, pick out a few things, and make magic on the stove. People on Top Chef do this, so why can't I? Oh right. I'm not a chef.

However, there's now a group of chefs available by phone to help with all of your cooking needs. They don't cook for you; they teach you, which is much more helpful in the long run.

There are a variety of ways to take advantage of this. Chefsline Radio Show interviews chefs and takes you step by step through various dishes. A standard membership of19.95 a month allows you full access to the chefs from 9am-1pm, 5pm-10pm EST. You can also take a cooking class by phone, which sounds super cool to me. If you need help for a one time special occasion, you can make an appointment with a chef without being a member.

Host a Wine Tasting!

Like a lot of people, I don’t know much about wines, but I’d like to. I don’t want to be a connoisseur, I don’t think my nose is snubbed enough for that, but I would like to know a little bit more about the stuff. I think a lot of people are like me, so let’s all get together and host a wine tasting! I’m joking, but really, wine tastings are the perfect place to start to find wines that you love.

According to Hugh, the very nice wine expert at Murphy’s in the Highlands, the sky is the limit with wine tastings. He suggests for your first wine tasting to choose a selection from each of the most popular varietals: for reds, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, syrah (shiraz); for whites, chardonnay, Chablis, sauvignon blanc, Rieslings. After you try each of these, you will have a good idea of what you like.

Keep your wine tasting small, no more than ten people; this allows everyone a chance to chat about what they like or don’t like about a wine. Assign each couple or person a wine variety to defray cost for you. For a group of ten people, you will probably want 5 or 6 bottles of wine. Double up if you want to have a really good time. Also, provide a wine tasting card so your guests can keep notes.

Remember that you want to go from least intense to most intense with your wines. Murphy's makes this easy because each of the varieties are organized right to left, least intense to most intense, around the store. Wine color will help you determine intensity, too. Always keep sweet wines until the end; sweet always overpowers dry.

The best food for a wine tasting is cheese, though you will also want to provide crusty bread and fruit with a subtle, fresh flavor, like apples, pears, and grapes. There are no hard and fast rules with pairing cheese and wine, though there are some soft guidelines: make sure that the intensity of the wine matches the intensity of the cheese; delicate cheeses should be paired with lighter wines, for example.

Here’s a quick list from Gourmet Sleuth to get you started:

Cabernet Sauvignon: Camembert, Sharp Cheddar, Danish Blue, Grafton Village Cheddar

Merlot: Abbaye de Belloc, Cantalet, Camembert, Chalosse, Gouda, Gruyere, Pecorino Toscano

Pinot Noir: Edam, Blue Cheeses, French Chevre, And Light Cheddar

Syrah: Edam, Sharp Chedder, Gouda, St. Nectaire

Chardonnay: Bel Paese, Brick, Bucheron, Cotija, Gruyere, Panela, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Provolone, Wensleydale

Chablis: brie, camembert

Sauvignon Blanc: Neufchatel, Derby, Bucheron

Riesling: Colby, Cotija, Cheshire, Edam, Gouda, Monterey Jack, Panela

Does this seem too fancy? You can hire a wine expert from Murphy’s who will come to your house and help you host. The price is $100 and doesn’t include wine or food.

Or maybe you want to go to a wine tasting rather than having one at your house. Murphy’s hosts theme wine tastings every Tuesday at 6:30. Babette’s also hosts wine tastings every month. For more information on wine events in Atlanta, go here.

Bacon in the bathroom?

Definitely gives a new definition to the term lard ass.
For 9.95, you too can own bacon toilet paper.

Ode to the

One of the best traditions in my family is our Thanksgiving menu, which includes dishes that have been around our family's turkey for many, many generations. One of the highlights is the pumpkin pie.

Like many people, I encounter pumpkins on Halloween, when I cut one and stick a candle in it, and on Thanksgiving, when I eat it in a pie. However, this year, I have seen the orange light; there are all sorts of things one can do with a pumpkin in the kitchen.

Now, I'm excited about the possibilities:

Pumpkin Fudge

Pumpkin Bread Pudding Cupcakes with Apple Chai Glaze

Pumpkin Chili Cupcakes with Ganache Icing and Pumpkin Seed Brittle
(scroll down to find this recipe)

Pumpkin Butter

Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin and Maple Ice Cream Sandwiches

Pumpkin Bouillabaisse

Mexican Pumpkin Soup

Why should I eat pumpkins anyway? The vibrant orange tells us that this is a great source of nutrition. Specifically, the pumpkin boasts Vitamins A, C, E, and K, antioxidant carotenoids, magnesium, potassium and iron.

How do I get started using pumpkin if I don't want to scrape it out of a can? The Expatriate's Kitchen has a great article about taking the pumpkin from the patch to the table.