Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Weekend links’ Category

Weekend links, May 14

WL_514

Almost summer!

LA chefs talk about their worst kitchen injuries. (Don’t pretend you don’t want to read this.)

A dessert with scotch. Why I didn’t think about this sooner is beyond me.

The favorite cocktails of great American writers.

CSAs 2.0: Food hubs?

I would like this kitchen now, please.

Sending your friends a round of drinks … from the comfort of your couch.

I apparently need to start paying more attention to the dessert section of Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Life is going to be a little complicated around here this summer, so I’m looking to this list of simple, classic summer cocktails. (Make sure to read Mark Bittman’s NYTimes article that accompanies.)

If anyone would like to buy me an early birthday present, I would like to officially put this workshop at the top of my list.

Have a great week, everyone!

Weekend links, May 7

WL_57

Grilled oysters with garlic butter, before Sunday dinner.

Lots to share this week!

First, I’m very excited to show you a glimpse of the photos my super-talented friend Adam took of me in the kitchen last week. You can see some of these new photos on the updated About page, as well as the new Working with Bowen Appétit page, which includes details about event menus and other work I do, as well as testimonials from previous events I’ve designed and catered (more coming soon!).  Now on to the links …

Brett makes Tartine-style bread at home (in fact, that’s what in that picture above), so it’s pretty obvious that we need to do this with it, ASAP.

I have a love-hate relationship with fava beans. In that I love to eat them, hate the double-peeling necessitated in prepping them. Perhaps this trick will help.

Slow-cooker greek yogurt! Must try soon.

Homemade marshmallow fluff (veg-friendly … no gelatin!). Fluffernutters and chocolate-marshmallow sundaes will be happening, no avoiding it.

Here’s a summary of this article: Lard is back! And it’s healthier than other fats. But it’s still fat. And if you buy it with lots of chemical additives and preservatives, it’s even worse for you. (Let’s file this one in the Common Sense folder.)

Remember when the New York Times was looking for essays arguing the ethical reasons for eating meat? They just picked their winner, and I agree with lots of it (thanks, Jay Bost, for articulating many of my complicated thoughts about meat-eating). Also, “they” includes Mark Bittman, Michael Pollan, and Jonathan Safran Foer as judges, so you really should probably read this.

On a somewhat related note, “happiness shouldn’t be associated with guilt.”  A fairly simple interview, but the answer to question #3 has been in my mind for days. (Not the drinking part, let’s be clear.)

On another somewhat related note, “the ground that something grows in is important, but so are the people who sell it to us, and the social structures we support by buying it from them.” Because eating local is sometimes about the people, not just where the food comes from. Agreed.

Look, a person (an awesome person, at that) who likes to cook exactly like me. Roast vegetable + egg + toasty bread = reliable, easy, tasty meal.

Cook rice with beer instead of water! Brilliant. And some other good ideas here too, but for the record: I think pedicuring your feet with beer is a horrible waste of a glorious liquid.

Brett’s parents are coming for his graduation this weekend, and I’m brainstorming cocktails. It’ll be warm, so refreshing is the name of the game here. Perhaps this, this, this, or this?

Weekend links, March 30

WL_330

Sunday dinner. (Some weekends require a bit of nutrient catchup.)

I am completely smitten with Chasing Delicious’ instructional cooking posters, particularly this new one about cooking methods. If you’ve ever wondered what the heck recipes are telling you to do when they say to “sweat” something, take a look.

I’ve almost (almost) mastered not absentmindedly sticking my fingers in my eyes after cutting up hot chiles, but I still end up with that “fingers on fire” sensation that plagues me for almost an entire day. But now I know how to avoid/cure it.

We all know food and plastic shouldn’t mix, but I didn’t realize it was quite this bad.

A short history of tacos in America. Reading this article made me want to produce a reenactment of a play I like to call “Tacos in my Belly (A Love Story).”

Mark Bittman on Wendell Berry (no other explanation needed).

Angry eggs. Better than I ever could have described how emotions affect what you do in the kitchen.

An interactive (and very well-designed) website with data on eating habits around the world. Give yourself at least 20 minutes to be distracted from whatever else you were doing.

p.s. Some of you know this already, but I’ve started contributing to the awesome online food magazine Honest Cooking. You can see all my contributions by clicking the “My Menu on Honest Cooking” button down there in the right sidebar. My content there will be very similar to what you see here, but not always the same! 

Weekend links, April 23

WL_423

Saturday afternoon at LACMA’s fantastic exhibit about Mexican and American female Surrealists. 

Donut muffins, and now donut cake?! Yes, please!

TheKitchn put out some really great baking posts this week, including an overview of vanilla extract vs. beans vs. paste (the last is my personal favorite, just FYI) and a guide to metal vs. glass vs. ceramic vs. silicon pans.

Also a round up of some generally awesome cooking tips (like how to super quickly peel garlic and ginger and hard-boiled eggs).

Strawberries are absolutely amazing right now, and here are some tips on how to handle them at home. (Also, I have a strawberry-heavy recipe coming later this week! It may or may not involve tequila …)

I will definitely be turning over-the-edge or super cheap wine into tasty wine jelly.

Brett and I were just talking about how we’re going to build ourselves a nice big picnic table … really glad I saw this brilliant idea before we actually do it!

Eater’s guide to the best pastry shops in LA, via Deena. (There go my weekends …)

Weekend links, April 16

WL_416

A few chilly and drizzly (but still beautiful) hours in Balboa Park on Saturday (photo by Brett)

It was a good week for blog-reading malted milk lovers (e.g. me). Must make this and this asap. (Also: Bi-Rite Creamery book comes out TOMORROW?! Heck yes.) And if you need other ideas for using malted milk powder, go here.

Creative and delicious-looking idea for a group brunch. Who needs a bridal shower caterer, because I already have your menu figured out …

“Beware the laughing, beautiful women.” Or: how an economist chooses restaurants. Super interesting and getting lots of coverage (see NYT book review, another NYT article, and a theory-summarizing Atlantic article by the author).

Maybe you should spend some quality time with your Netflix queue, watching food-related TED talks.

These photos leave me disgusted and fascinated at the same time.

On the menu tonight: a bunch of stuff coated with this.

Have a good week!