Planning for a long night? Prairie Oysters are for the next day, i.e., those hangover mornings. Menudo (the soup) reportedly works too.
Ingredients List

• 1 fresh egg
• 1/2 tps Worcestershire sauce
• dash of sherry/red wine vinegar
• dash Tabasco sauce
• 1 1/2 ounce of brandy
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions Crack egg. Strain out the white. Place unbroken yolk into a glass. Add the remaining ingredients, plus salt and black pepper to taste. Swallow in one gulp.

“How to Boil Water, was a bit of a snoozer—the camera crew would doze off while filming it, prompting Lagasse to occasionally yell, “Bam!” But then came Essence of Emeril and, more important, Emeril Live in 1997, fulfilling the chef’s dream of combining a cooking show with elements of Jay Leno."

“Coffee cakes are like good friends: strong and familiar, present and comforting.” Let’s have plum Meyer lemon jam coffee cake today and apricot cinnamon crunch tomorrow.

Don’t mess with our chocolate.

For the culinary anthropologists, chocolate was discovered by the “Olmecs, the oldest civilization of the Americas” (1500 – 400 B.C.) in current eastern Tabasco, Mexico closely followed by the Mayans. And while we don’t know exactly their hot chocolate tasted like, Andrea’s Mayan Hot Chocolate seems to pack a lot of flavor. Now, not exactly close but good Peetnik’s (et al) should order a tall soy mocha with two raw sugars. (Add sugar first so it melts.) Hot chocolate goodness.

Hot chocolate is en vogue and not just in Paris and the City of Angels.

Chocolate recipes galore.

From Long Ago In France by MFK Fisher

In my mouth the chocolate broke at first like gravel into many separate, disagreeable bits. I began to wonder if I could swallow them. Then they grew soft, and melted voluptuously into a warm stream down my throat. The little doctor came bustling up, his proudly displayed alpenstock tucked under his one short arm. “ Here! Wait, wait!” he cried “Never eat chocolate without bread, young lady!” Very bad for the interior, very bad. My General you are remiss.

And in two minutes my mouth was full of fresh bread, and melting chocolate, and as we sat gingerly, the three of us, on the frozen hill, looking down into the valley where Vercingetorix had fought so splendidly, we peered shyly and silently at each other and chewed at one of the most satisfying things I have ever eaten.” I thought vaguely of the metamorphisis of wine and bread.

The Chicken Caesar is the “default meal for America eating out. Don’t know what to have, have the Chicken Caesar. Everything else looks like crap? Have the Chicken Caesar… I cringe when I see the Chicken Caesar because it represents an embrace of the misinformed and unimaginative American diner…” Have a chicken-fried pork belly Caesar instead.

Alternate uses for mascarpone besides topping hot chocolate and tiramisu includes cupcakes. Have you considered cupcakes au mascarpone (EN translation) et à la crème de calissons?

Vitamin Water isn’t about what it contains or tastes like (e.g., Kool-Aid) but more importantly what it may help you feel or do. With “focus,” and “energy” it produces abundance.

“There are two extremes when it comes to recipes. There are the soul-wrenching deeply-intricate 40-step recipes” and then there 20-second recipes that appeal to rest of us like Brazilian chicken with olives.

James Bond loves champagne more than martinis. Apparently, somebody’s been counting and 007 consumed 35 flutes of champagne to only 22 martinis. Via AT Kitchen

Educating yourself about wine? Get the aroma card from Vinography. It should help you to “better identify the flavors and aromas in wine.” (You’re on your own if you like big red wines.)

Pioneer, rock star, coffee maverick Alfred Peet has passed. He gave the Starbucks’ founders their start and revolutionized coffee as we know it today. While, it’s usually a b**** to sit comfortably (or at all) in the many Peet’s (in the Dutch tradition one buys their beans a leaves without lingering), their coffee is the best. And yes, I’m a Peetnik. (A Peetnik is “a loyal, some say fanatical, customer who just couldn’t make it through the day without his/her cuppa Peet’s.”) Thank you Mr. Peet!

Most of us eat the same twenty or so foods everyday. Day in and day out. Narrow it down to breakfast and maybe it’s five. Six tops. To add variety, here’s the menu for the next one hundred or so sunrises. Via CP

One of my favorite cheesemongers is now at the Cowgirl Creamery (CG). Props to her because she knows her stuff. I would venture to say that she turned me into a fan of blue cheese (i.e., Shropshire, Stilton and Cashel). Better still. Did you know that CG has an great online cheese library? Some say it’s the best one ever.

A little about Cashel Blue:

While it may be a long way to Tipperary, the trip is worth it to sup on the first blue cheese Ireland ever produced. While the Grubb family has been making sumptuous butter and potted cream on their farm Beechmount since the 1950s, they only started making cheese in 1984. Jane and Louis Grubb saw how popular Danish Blue cheese was in Ireland and decided that the Emerald Isle, known for producing other magnificent cheeses, needed to produce a native contender.”

Do something great for your community form a kitchen. In San Francisco, La Cocina Community Kitchen, is “a nonprofit shared use commercial kitchen and business incubator. [It] was founded to serve as a platform for low-income entrepreneurs launching or expanding their food businesses. [And] assists low-income food entrepreneurs by providing access to a fully approved and equipped commercial kitchen and to the training and technical assistance they need.” Now, that’s hot!

To make a great apple crisp, mix together 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 cup of water over sliced apples. Combine 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar with 1 stick of melted butter until it’s good and crumbly. Sprinkle over apple mixture and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Serves 4. Straight from Sarah Hatter

David Lebovitz rocks us with his agave-sweetened chocolate ice cream. Splenda questions and complimentary Polish vodka not included.

Espresso shots are ubiquitous in Portugal and are always available within a block. And not a Starbucks in site.

When one orders coffee stateside or in Italy, descriptions alone don’t always works. Bring in the visuals.

Who owns organic? It’s not who you think (PDF: 132 kb)

“The specific rituals… that have emerged around coffee drinking do seem to occupy a special place in bourgeois life: coffee does not intoxicate, it is even conducive to labour, but one must still take a short break to consume it.” Via CP

Step-by-step, how to pack a bento box.

A pound of freshly cracked crab meat given to me always makes me smile. While one could consume it in a single sitting with melted butter and red wine vinegar, I advise (read: avoid a stomach ache) to share. Try these alternatives and enjoy the banquet.

“I’ve heard of Trappist ales and lambics, Belgian wheat beers and even Belgian red and brown ales, but pale ale? Pair with tamales and chanterelles.

If someone else is making your morning brew, use the color matching guide mug for better results. (Unfortunately, there are no instructions on telling your loved one not to substitute soy with 2%. Not recommended for the color-challenged.) Very Swiss Miss.

What makes Southern sweet tea so special? A lot of love and about 22 brix of sugar. Via Rebecca Blood

Fried Oreos are going to taste so much better now that the Indiana State Fair has banned trans fats.

When in Paris, one of the places for fondue is Le Refuge des Fondues. Drinks, namely red wine, is served in a glass baby bottle. (If you go, get there early and prepared to climb over the table to get a seat. Seating is picnic-style.) Stateside, newly-born parents are going for the glass and ditching plastic. Personally, plastic still works for me although I’m bringing my SIGG bottle out of hiding.

If you’re in San Jose, CA for some techie thing (or not), here’s the guide to dining downtown (PDF: 2.2 mb).

If the Breathe and Lose weight diet works for you, then you ought to try this one too. It’s the negative calorie chocolate cake. It’s comprised of a chocolate soufflé-like cake liberally dressed with chocolate sauce and a pomegranate reduction with accolades from one Betty, last name Crocker. Jaden deducts calories for saving oven energy and using bananas. The calorie count for her chocolate cake is -32 It seems the more you eat the more you lose. That’s a piece of cake.

According to the bearskinrug, the orchards of paradise yield the following exotic fruits, the: “mango, passionfruit, breadfruit, starfruit, kiwi, coconut, figs, rubyfruit, goldfruit, emeraldfruit, zebraberries, cloud dumplings… uh… neptune-hearts…”

For lazy foodies stop reading here. Everyone else, when you’re too lazy to make supper, make a TV dinner. But which? For the love of food Abi Jones in her Heat Eat Review has mercilessly subjected herself to review at least 46 brands of that frozen stuff. (Food Rank: Below Airline)

Although sacreligious, one can make more than mimosas with leftover champagne. Mon Dieu! Just remember to enjoy the good stuff.

Because everything should taste like bacon. Bacon salt. Via CP

What’s up with matcha? It’s showing up in drinks everywhere. I’ve sampled the offerings from Starbucks, Peet’s Coffee, Teavana, and Jamba Juice and sent them back each time. (Wheatgrass tastes better.) Now, if you’re making ice cream steeping green tea leaves is not enough. The simple addition of matcha provides texture, color, and flavor to make it taste as it should. (Note: Shop around for matcha as prices vary greatly.)

The perfect drink recipe. A vodka flavored vodka martini. 6 parts Reyka. Chill. Serve.

“I don’t care what the health benefits are. I don’t care how good it makes you feel afterward. My friends, wheatgrass is grass. And a shot of wheatgrass, my friends, is a shot of grass. Who the f*** orders a shot of wheatgrass?" (Note: Wheatgrass seems to taste pretty good in Superfood although the spirulina overpowers it.)

The Venn diagram of British, pub, and airport food

A couple in Brittany are France’s first and only (so far) certified organic snail farmers. Their escargots roam in at least 35 cm square of space, “born from certifiably organic parents, fed only organic produce and live on pesticide-free soil.” Very humange before being plunged into boiling water. Via Serious Eats

A refreshingly summer drink to ring in the praise — fresh lemongrass ginger ale. For the obsessed grow lemongrass and and make homemade ginger ale to make this drink rock.

When you can’t decide what’s for dinner, consult The Dinner Oracle.

The branding of chefs extends to footwear. Crocs announced the bistro model (aka the Mario) that a sports “slip-resistant” sole and a closed heal for the food industry. Comes in orange among other colors.

A great margarita recipe begins like this: “You’ll need 1 pair of sunglasses, 1 to 2 prairie skirts, 3 tank tops, 1 large cardigan, and 1 airline ticket to Guanajuato Mexico. Combine the first four ingredients in a carry-on bag, and arrive at the airport in time to slip off your espadrilles at security check. Allow the ingredients to steep during the five-hour plane ride. Crush 1 pair of sunglasses…” Likewise, try these recipes. (Tequila(s) to use: Blanco (silver) or reposados such as Cazadores and El Tesoro.)

If you like bread, the rustic baguette from La Farine is simply one of the best breads anywhere. Incredible. Tasty. Worth a trip to Rockridge. Warning: the rustics are out of the oven somewhere between 10:40 a.m. and 11 a.m. And unless you’re willing to settle for something else in the morning, line up early. Sometimes a line forms just for them. Consumption Note: The only way to slow oneself from eating the whole baguette is to add butter and jam.

The bitterness of coffee depends on “coffee variety; how it is processed and roasted; the brewing method, temperature and time; and even the chemical content of the water.”

Parents have your kids make ice cream while running around. Five minutes is all that’s required.

The CEO of Peet’s speaks and what Starbucks needs to do to maintain integrity. (Note: The Starbucks founders got their start by working at Peet’s, who also supplied their beans.)

The handy dandy list of food substitutes. Did you know that unflavored gelatin can be substituted for egg whites?

Is organic food going to get more expensive? Probably. But the healthy alternatives is to visit your local farmer’s market. Find one near you.

Can’t cook or won’t cook. When did we get so complacent for MRE’s and takeout.

Absolutely brilliant. The owners of two Crumpler bag shops in Manhattan had Beer for Bags promo. Perhaps you made it. (Budweiser was not permissible for trade.)

Simply. How to set the table.

Ten years of food design by Max Guixe. Via Kottke

There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles. — Anonymous

Dull knives are dangerous. So, please keep your knives sharp, razor sharp. These instructable tricks tips help too.

In the Steamy Kitchen, espresso con panna looks hot double-walled. Thanks for noticing Jaden!

Get it extra sour. Try the Warhead at Jamba Juice. Ingredients list: 2 lemon juice, 2 lemon mix, 8 pomegranate, 2 lime sherbet, 1 strawberry, 1 raspberry, and 1 peach. Prepare to wince. Via the Jamba Juice Secret Society Update: Decrease pomegrante juice and add lemon juice/mix to make even more sour. I recommend not ordering larger than the original. Your taste buds will be shot.

Whip & Grind gets a little action. Via JK

A Moleskine doubles as a sun protection. Via Telec@ster

Butties, sarnies, bangers, and mash. Researchers at Leeds University made over 700 variations and clocked more 1,000 hours in an attempt to make the perfect bacon sandwich. They recommend to cook the perfect bacon buttie at home “choose thinly sliced bacon with just enough fat, grilled in a hot oven and served with dollops of your favourite sauce.” Scientifically, it’s N = C + (fb(cm) . fb(tc)) + fb(Ts) + fc . ta. Now, it’s just a matter of bringing home the bacon.

Question: What do you get when you cross a chopstick with a fork.
Answer: A chork, by the ever-talented Laura Rittenhouse. Grab it or stab it. Via Daily Olive

In and around San Francisco? For gourmet foods on the cheap, check out the Bargain Bank. There are many foods well below retail. Please don’t raid all of the Scharffen Berger chocolate. Via Cooking with Amy

Skip the cooking. Go to culinary school and train to become a celebrity chef. Food Arts informs us that the Institute for American Cooks (IAC) plans to teach one to become a celebrity chef. Forget about cooking, it’s a waste of time.

Want to know about bottled water? Check out the fine water index for detailed info. All told, I prefer Volvic, Vittel, San Pellegrino and Crystal Geyser although for convenience, it’s plain old tap water. When at home? I pour it chilled from glass bottles.

Burger Kings gets nice and says that it will “begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that do not confine their animals in cages and crates.” Thank you. And the always noteworthy Megnut perspective.

The time has come. San Francisco Bay Area restaurants are serving their own water, instead of bottled brands. (Sustainability and bigger profits are talking loud and clear.) And, if you’re more particular distill your home tapwater for something even tastier. Tip: When your charcoal filters are spent visit your local fish store to replenish your supply; it’s typically the same stuff. Although, if your find a source for charcoalized coconut shells, give me a buzz.

The expiration dates of common foods. And eggs expire when? Note: When I have to debate if the smell is acceptable, I toss. Via Coudal

What is a Quaffer? “The Quaffer is a patented shot glass with a built-in chaser. It measures 2.25oz on the bottom and 1.25oz on top. You put any chaser in the bottom and any liquor on top. The liquids will stay separated until consumed.”

“When living and working in such a busy city as Tokyo, you tend to eat out between 2-3 times a day. Since you will most likely be using chopsticks you’ll go through about 2-3 pairs of waribashi (disposable wooden chopsticks)... PingMag wants to draw a little more attention towards quality and design for chopsticks in every day life while preventing garbage: portable chopsticks!” Have you ever considered the design of chopsticks?

“We must get artistic sustenance where we find it, in whatever form it comes. While we are at it, what do you think Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks were doing, but waiting for their fries?” Potatoes are inspirational. Via 3QD

Anything soaked in butter overnight, namely potatoes, and fried the next day is healthy for you. Better than hash browns? The Swiss consider Rösti one of their national dishes. Tip: Squeeze potatoes in a towel to remove excess starch before cooking. Try flannel hash too.

“A diet that is harmful to one person may be consumed with impunity by another.” Eat, drink, and be merry. Now, what’s in my ancestral diet that allows me to eat with abandon?

Every cook has utensils in their kitchen(s). Some are indispensable, others cool and perhaps acquired because for that reason. So, what remains are tools to make things happen. For me, graters (for cheese, chocolate, and butter), ice cream scoops (because I don’t like to hunt for them), several different whisks (for soufflés, omelets, soups), a copper bowl, oysters knives, and a few virtually indestructible Bourgeat pots do the trick. In case you’re just starting (or wondering how) to stock a kitchen, Chocolate & Zucchini has put together a handy list of cooking tools. And even if you don’t do mixed drinks, cocktails shakers are great for storage.

Not long ago, in coastal California near Montaña de Oro State Park, (just north of San Luis Obispo, CA.), the native American Chumash, while perched on rocks overlooking the Pacific, feasted for hours on abalone tossing spent shells (the size of baseball mitts) over their shoulders. Today, due to demand, and the slow growth rate of abalone (an inch per year), one can only buy farmed abalone at market. For adventurous types, one can dive for their own. Know the law though, it’s strictly enforced. Note: You do not need to sing, or be an otter to enjoy this delicacy. Learn about and protect the abalone.

One of my favorite San Francisco treats is Bob’s Doughnuts. Located in salacious Tenderloin Heights (Sacramento at Polk), they’re open 24/7, plus they make their own batter so no one else’s doughnut taste quite the same. Furthermore, the goods are displayed in the window so one must make a selection streetside, then proceed inside for fulfilment. (Lots of pointing here.) If getting to Bob’s isn’t on your immediate itinerary, you can make something similar such as pâte à choux for doughnuts.

My willingness to cook something is simple. I won’t “make anything that would take a lot of time, cost twice as much, and taste half as good as what I could easily buy in a restaurant or store.” This is called the Burrito Rule.

Aspiring food writer?

Greasy and good. Chorizo eggs for breakfast. (Feel free to substitute linguicia.)

Get out your Pacojet and Thermomix, and make chocolate earth.

Yukon gold potatoes sauteed in clarified butter. Anytime. For that matter, oysters sauteed in cumin too.

Il Bicerin is a soothing hot drink mixed with local chocolate, strong Italian coffee, and whipped cream. (File under: hot chocolate)

Tous les jours. Cornets de churros et chocolat chaud épicé.

Ten reasons why being a foodie in San Francisco in great. Part I, II, and
III. Via Chez Pim

“God saw what he had wrought, and he cracked his knuckles and sighed. ‘I banished them from Eden,’ he said, ‘and now where are they? Microwaving popcorn for dinner?’... Banished from the garden, Eve soon opened her own boutique gourmet supermarket with cave-aged cheeses and artisanal jams and sauces."

“The number of sushi restaurants in the U.S. has doubled over the last 12 years, sparking a shortage of classically trained Japanese sushi chefs.” Thus, the “Japanese government wants to send inspectors to certify authentic Japanese sushi in U.S. restaurants.” Rate my sushi. Please no pseudo-sushi.

Thinking about culinary school? Here’s some advice: Be humble. Research and collect restaurants and menus. “Intentionally choose your education,” teachers and mentors. Don’t forget to ask yourself: “What do I really want?”

Cariadoc’s Miscellany is THE collection of articles and recipes.

Arguably, the best chai this side of Bombay is in Half Moon Bay, CA. In addition to the usual cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon, THE secret recipe includes ground black pepper. Unfortunately, it may be replaced by Peet’s Coffee.

Sushi everyday. Today, how to make tempura.

Does this clear Absinthe’s Reputation? “Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly.” —Ernest Hemingway

Ripe Guavas by Katherine Case

She remembered the taste of the guavas, which had never been the same again.—Gabrielle Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

I. Mopti, Mali

A sweet, fleshy smell suspended in twilight
over mud puddles and Benz buses—a stench
coating the half-hearted station house, where old men
scribbled ticket numbers on discarded scraps of paper
and travelers pulled cloth wraps over their heads,
stretched out on the cement floor as evening came.

The ripe-woman scent of guavas drifted in with petrol and urine.
It left an exotic casualness draped within the gathering dusk
like bright cloth on metal benches, creating a complicated
darkness that she had not yet known—the red of mud,
the straw mat beneath her, occasional birds
calling sightlessly from palm trees and giant cacti and this smell
dampening the air everywhere, brought a new forgetfulness.
The night, thick with palm oil, raw earth, burning plastic,
and the heaviness of ripe guavas left room for nothing.
Later, as the sun rose behind the rounded shadows of buildings in town,
she was left dazed and weightless, relinquished
of her former self, and finally felt the desert, heavy at her back.

II. Marrakech, Morocco

After that, she went looking for it,
arranged camel rides in the desert, where Berbers
in turbans and blue robes lounged on carpets laid
over sand dunes, welcomed her with bitter mint tea
while stars winked through dusty haze.
She slipped down side streets behind market places,
under arched passageways roofed with thatch, opening
into narrower, then narrower alleyways. Women covered their faces
with densely tattooed hands, old men sold household goods,
and she waited for that heaviness of place, that singularity
of combined sensation to erase her again. She bought cactus fruit
deftly peeled by a Senegalese man with blue-black skin,
then found that strange and human fruit again. At last, guavas—
but sold by a group of suave adolescents outside a waterfall park
in the tourist district. The fruit was damp and unripe, a hard, pale green—
skin rotten so that only a weak effervescent smell clung to her
as she stood peeling it, the boys’ faces blurry,
the world outside herself still formless,
insubstantial in the misty air.

This poem was first printed in Gastronomica. It is reprinted with the permission from the author, Katherine Case, a poet and printer living in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Please do not steal my pomegranates. Get your own. And if you’ve ever wondered how to drink pomegranate juice fast without the mess? Try this: 1) Roll fruit across a hard surface crushing all the seeds. 2) Cut a small opening. 3) Insert straw.

After learning how to cook and clean fresh Dungeness crab, wow your guests with this simple salad. Then, show them how to crack Dungeness like a pro.

Vintage beer maps à la Coudal

“Drinking wine is like reading. There are only a select few of us who know how to do it; those of us who do find it boring and disgusting but continue because we think it might impress pretty girls… [and] most of us wouldn’t be able to recognize a good bottle of wine or book even if it was being smashed repeatedly against our faces.” Schooled again. The Non-Expert Guide on Choosing Wine. Via Coudal

Welcome Coudal readers. We’ve more than Farmer’s Markets. Stay for a while and enjoy the snacks.

Supplant crème brûlée for dessert with something heavenly. Les petits pots de crème au chocolat façon Christophe Felder.

“How many times have you seen a recipe instruct you to “season with salt and pepper”? This is incorrect! You season with salt, but you flavor with pepper.” Just how we like it — miscellany à la carte.

Somethings are just coincidence. Paris is green again. Kermit green.

Writing a recipe isn’t all the complicated. Although it’s helpful to “start with the same ingredients for products that are related… then there’s the shorthand for the dry-wet-dry-wet-dry method: d,w,d,w,d.” All-in-all, it’s a really good idea. One could skip the writing and use graphics instead.

Wordless recipes. Brilliant. Pancakes v1.2, cooking actions and more. Via The Other Blog

Did you know that Jamba Juice has a secret recipe stash? I like sour apple which tastes exactly like the green apple Jolly Rancher. Ingredients: 4 parts apple juice, 8 parts lemonade, 3 lime, and 1 frozen yogurt.

“It’s a common affliction that infects many of us who don clogs and white coats for a living. Just as there is, I am told, the perfect purse for every outfit, we knife queens have to have the right knife for every job.” Where’s my fish machete?

Coffee is better than ibuprofen at relieving workout pain. Via Collision Detection

Exactly how we like our hot chocolate. Spiked.

San Franciscans have known for quite some time that the Tartine Bakery is one of the best French-style bakeries anywhere. Two words: Meringue nougats.

Silkies and fried chicken are hot in SF Bay Area. Personally, I prefer chocolate lemon chicken. That is panko battered fried chicken, a squeeze of lemon, and a big glass of chocolate milk. Very delicious to say the least.

The beloved Manka’s Inverness Lodge was destroyed by fire. Hopefully, they’ll reopen soon.

“Nutella, Italian and nutty and rather sophisticated, and Nocilla, the other one." Three lusty minutes with your Thermomix and you’re golden. (Note: Replace Kitchen Aid mixer with a Thermomix.)

Champagne chairs are hot. Champagne taps are not. Make a chair and win valuable cash prizes. That’s the intent. (Below, from left to right. Champagne Chair by Krista Charles. The DaVidRo Chair.)

When £350 bottles of champagne are no longer to your liking (read: Cristal), bottle your own. This is (partially) what it takes.

All Whipped. Whip It Up I. Whip It Up II . Whip it up—ricotta. Whip up this... Whip up the yolks. Whip’em up wacky waffles. Whip up a batch of old-fashioned eggnog. Whip up a hot kids’ cooking business. Whip up a sorbet fast. Whip up something crafty. Whip it up good for the holidays. “I say whip it. Whip it good.”

Our favorite food ideas from the NYT’s annual Year in Ideas: wine that ages instantly, salt that doesn’t stick, olfactory cuisine, and especially the straw that saves lives.

The Renewing America’s Food Traditions map “celebrates the many distinctive regional food traditions on the North American continent by featuring a “totem food” key to the identity of each region… [they] are dedicated to rescuing America’s diverse foods and food traditions.”

As easy as making brownies. THE bread recipe of the moment. No kneading required.

If you’d like a delicious slow-roasted chicken give it three hours and 300°F, or longer. I say butterfly the darn bird! Via TMN

Muddling is an often ignored cocktail technique that makes Mojitos and Caipirinhas come alive with essence; Lime, mint, and lemon all spring to life. But how do you muddle? Bruise and press.