CAN A GREAT VINAIGRETTE SAVE A MARRIAGE?

CAN A GREAT VINAIGRETTE SAVE A MARRIAGE? (CarbWarsCookbooks.com)

Some food writers achieve success beyond recipes and cookbooks. MFK Fisher. (1908-1992) for example, earned a place among the great American authors (How To Cook a Wolf, The Art of Eating, Consider The Oyster…). Nora Ephron (1941-2012), is another (Silkwood, I Feel Bad About My Neck, When Sally Met Harry, Sleepless in Seattle, Julie and Julia…). Her semi-autobiographical novel, Heartburn (1986), is the painful-to-read, but hilarious account of the end of her second marriage; the story revolves around a stolen wedding ring and a recipe…

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GOOD FAT FUDGE

Good Fat Fudge on Plate 1

“A truly dramatic shift in Americans’ eating behavior is playing out in the area of fat consumption. Animal fats, demonized for decades as prime contributors to obesity and heart disease, are being rehabilitated as new research calls their culpability into question. The emerging generation of Millennial consumers has embraced animal fats for their chemical-free purity, and at the same time the Food and Drug Administration has outlawed artificial, plant-based trans fats. The net result is a big, fat renaissance for classic ingredients like butter, lard,…

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THE WAR ON FAT IS OVER. FAT WON.

The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz This remarkable book should finally lay the lipid hypotheses of heart disease to rest. We’ve been embroiled in this unnecessary war on fat for far too long. It may take generations before we see the last of the damage it has done, but it is time to start to heal. We have other problems to solve and we need strong, healthy, intelligent, well-nourished people to do it. Let’s all have a…

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AND NOW FOR A LITTLE GOOD NEWS: BUTTER IS BACK!

  Joe Ortner performs maintenance on a robotic palletizer at Grassland Dairy Products Inc. in Greenwood, the largest family-owned butter producer in the nation. Picture by Mark Hoffman.   The headline in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel proclaims, U.S. butter consumption reaches highest level in 40 years. Joe Taschler reports, “Butter is back. Driven by the movement toward food that contains natural ingredients as well as the foodie and gourmet cooking trends, butter consumption in the United States has reached its highest level in 40 years,…

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CHOLESTEROL CLARITY

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Cholesterol got a bad rap. The evidence continues to accumulate that cholesterol is not the villain it is made out to be, but is actually part of your body’s defense system against the real killers: chronic inflammation, the lack of good, natural fats, and stress. Dr. Dwight Lundell, one of the 29 experts interviewed by author Jimmy Moore in Cholesterol Clarity, noted that in the absence of inflammation, “Cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended.” Mark Sisson, another contributor, said, “Cholesterol is one…

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SWITZERLAND

My husband had a business meeting in Switzerland the week before Thanksgiving and I decided to go along since I had the chance. The picture above shows a unit at the Palafitte Hotel on Lake Neuchatel (literally ON Lake Neuchatel) where we stayed. It was like being on a luxury cruise without the rocking. Switzerland is known for watches, knives, chocolate, banking, and because it is a mountainous country better suited for grazing cows than farming, it is also famous for its marvelous cheese and…

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BROWNED BUTTER SAUCE

Here’s the yummy sauce for the gnudi recipe from the last post. This is a very easy and versatile sauce that could be used on vegetables, eggs, or Dreamfields pasta. Browned Butter Sauce 4 tablespoons salted butter 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage leaves black pepper to taste Cook butter in small saucepan over medium heat until it is golden brown and has a nutty fragrance, about 4 or 5 minutes. Watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn. Remove pan from…

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NEW ORLEANS BARBECUED SHRIMP

(c) 2008, JUDY BARNES BAKER (c) 2008, JUDY BARNES BAKER My sister treated me to a taste of the real New Orleans, the places preferred by the locals; many were just blocks from her apartment. (She lives in the neighborhood that hosts the annual Jazz Festival, which, unfortunately, I missed by just a few days). You would never suspect that some of the unpretentious buildings and cottages scattered around the city house the top spots where creative, young chefs find a following among the food-loving…

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And Bon Appétit to you too!

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One of the perks of belonging to the International Association of Culinary Professionals is that people give you things. I’ve had an expensive skillet, a top-of-the-line chef’s knife, magazines, and lots of other goodies show up, gratis. Bon Appétit, one magazine I often buy (don’t tell them), now materializes unbidden in my mailbox. Don’t let that stack of syrupy pancakes on the cover fool you; the February issue of Bon Appétit magazine got it mostly right. The cover says “The Green Issue / Feel Good…

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