Hats off to HuffPo Food (with the help of OpenSecrets.org–awesome site!) for assembling this list of the ten food/beverage companies that have spent the most on government lobbyists in 2011. While I won’t deny that there’s lobbying that’s legit, but most of it falls in the unjust weights and measures category–and, at the risk of sounding like a Bible-thumper (which I might be), is an abomination to God. Here are the top 10 companies that press their big corporate thumbs... Read more
One of the most discouraging things about blogging is that posts that tend toward the scandalous, sensational, and disturbing are by far the most popular. I say “tend toward” because not much on this blog is ever all that scandalous or sensational. But “bad” news is more popular than happy news, I’m afraid. There are bloggers out there (like Amanda Blake Soule–“Soulemama”) who do a brisk business writing exclusively happy crafty sunshine-y posts, but around here, the most-read, most-searched posts... Read more
It’s cold! Time for soup. This is one of my favorite soups, not least because it’s one that my children are sure to eat. Plus, it is creamy and cheesy and full of wonderful vegetables. I was twelve or so the first time I had it, and it was served to me in beautiful pumpernickel bread bowls. I’ve never made bread bowls, but croûtes are just as good, if not better.(Simply slice a baguette on the diagonal, brush with olive... Read more
tiny linzer tarts and coconut macaroons Local people: why not come to St. Agnes’ in Greenport this afternoon for a fancy tea to help support the Perry Day Care? You’ll get to have some of these… Oh, yum. Whatever would I do without my Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook? Wishing you a delicious third Sunday of Advent! Read more
Presents to make, Christmas cookies to bake, Santa to meet, and dinner for Mr. and Mrs. S. That’s what Saturday NPR is for. Rachel, elved Read more
That’s rule #24 in Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, now out in a whimsically illustrated edition. As Laura Klein of OrganicAuthority.com points out in a recent post on the HuffPo food blog, if you follow this rule: “eat real food,” you don’t need other rules. I love this one. Of course, it’s not really a stand-alone rule–it assumes you know what’s meant by “real food” and it assumes a food culture that supports the eating of said real... Read more
Tim and I are down in Philadelphia today to attend the memorial service for our dear friend Sam.The Broad Street Review has a short piece by Kile Smith, one of Sam’s former students, called “Samuel Hsu: A Polymath’s Giant Shadow.” From the essay: “Sam was the most ‘in’ the world and least ‘of’ the world of anyone I know. That quality rendered him exotic in evangelical Christian circles— this concert pianist, this Philadelphia Orchestra lecturer, this colleague of world-famous scholars.... Read more
Did you hear a bit of buzz about potatoes being banned from school lunches and tomato paste on pizza counting as a vegetable? That was part of Congress’ push-back against new regulations proposed by the Department of Agriculture, which administers the National School Lunch Program. Instead, Congress wrote a spending bill that has done the following: ~refuses to allow the USDA guidelines to limit starchy vegetables–including corn, potatoes, and peas–to two servings per week. (The goal here was to cut... Read more
or, palliative feeding. Wherein I argue with a 91 year old. So, I’m still bringing those Saturday night dinners to Mr. and Mrs. S. And this Saturday night, we had a little argument, Mr. S. and me. I told him I’m going to bring a steak every Saturday night. He said I didn’t need to do that. I said, I know that, and what kind of steak sauce do you like? He said, A1. I said, Okay, I’m bringing A1... Read more
Remember Tracey Gold from Growing Pains? A recovered anorexic, she’s now hosting a new Lifetime channel reality show: ‘Starving Secrets.’ Even this People magazine photograph portrays Gold’s anorexic body as glamorous. The show, still in its first season, follows women with serious eating disorders, and gives them the opportunity to a enter into a treatment program. Critics of the show point out that it follows in the genre of made-for-TV movies like The Best Little Girl in the World, Superstar:... Read more
Rachel Marie Stone
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