Letter From a Lunch Lady

May 10, 2010 (Updated March 20, 2014) by
Uncategorized , ,

In last week's newsletter (click here to sign up, if you haven't already) I wrote about school lunch programs, and how they cut costs by serving pre-made food in boxes rather than cooking. I got this letter in response. === I am a lunch lady at my local public school. What you said in your newsletter about schools not wanting to hire people to actually COOK, is correct. They don't want to SPEND THE MONEY on employees taking all the time it would take to make things from scratch, or even … [Read more...]

Do You “Work Clean”?

May 7, 2010 (Updated March 28, 2014) by
Uncategorized ,

Food Network is always showing competitions where cake or candy makers have 8 hours to make the most amazing whatever-it-is that they're making. They're not judged just on the finished product, but on how clean they work. Meaning, do they keep their work area clean while they're working? I usually work clean when I'm cooking. It's a habit I picked up when I worked in a restaurant in college. There's no way you cook for a 12 hour shift and wait until the end to clean everything up. You'd run … [Read more...]

How To Make Chocolate Truffles

May 6, 2010 (Updated March 20, 2014) by
Dessert, Technique

I won't pretend these aren't bad for you. But if you're going to eat chocolate, you're better off eating good chocolate that satisfies with just a little bit. That's why I switched to dark chocolate several years ago. One piece satisfies a chocolate craving. Unlike the leading brand, which is designed to be so bland you eat and eat and eat and never quite get enough chocolate to kill the craving. These are little nuggets of yum that target the craving and kill it in one shot. Some people … [Read more...]

Nutritionism for Dummies

May 5, 2010 (Updated March 20, 2014) by
Uncategorized ,

Do you like being called stupid? I don't. So an ad campaign that depends on convincing me that eating healthy is too "confusing" and that I need it simplified is ... well, "not very effective" is probably a too-polite way to say it. … [Read more...]

How To Make Salt Water Taffy

May 4, 2010 (Updated March 20, 2014) by
Dessert ,

Let's get this out of the way: Don't try to make salt water taffy. It's very tedious. If you do it by hand your arms will be dead when you're done. Seriously, if you like salt water taffy go somewhere and buy it. If you want to see it made, take a tour. This was a total pain in the ... arms, actually. We won't be trying this again. But if you still want to -- and how could anyone resist after that buildup? -- or if you just want to point and laugh, here's how we did it. … [Read more...]

← Previous Page
Next Page →