Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I've been telling people for years how ridiculously easy it is to make. Your advice to consume within a week is advice to be followed. It goes bad fast and can harbor fatal bacteria when it does. Someone once recommended freezing some of the batch so that there's less to go bad..

Regarding the last couple of paragraphs:

I was vegetarian for a few years - with the occasional exception at food events and that was rare - and knew it was a phase. Now that I'm back on meat I still don't buy meat except for a small package of bacon once in awhile. I do my meat eating outside of my home. This way my meat consumption is still limited.

Also, as a food writer it's hard for me to go to events and not eat meat (I've seen people do it). I get to enjoy quality food. I ate meat (duck, beef, venison, fois gras) at an event this evening and will probably not eat meat again until the weekend, when I'll eat a lot of it, made by some very talented people. I try, mostly successfully, to not eat the low quality meat. I want everything I put in my mouth to be worth it.

An aside: I was recently at a dinner party where someone asked why more food writers aren't fat. One of the answers pointed to the fact that we tend to eat quality food and healthy food and we're conscious about what we put in out mouths. Another answer was that many of us compensate by exercising. That said, I had a lot of dessert this evening. I also did a double workout at the gym this afternoon.

I love prunes, but I also grew up eating them in carrot tzimmes and compote. The whole rebranding is stupid and is based on the fact that owing to their high fiber content, prunes are known for helping to prevent constipation. I did a quick Google search to confirm what I already knew and learned even more at the Livestrong website:

The insoluble fiber in prunes binds water inside your intestines, creating larger, softer stools that move easily through your bowels. This effect can prevent and treat constipation, helping you avoid chronic disorders such as diverticulosis, diverticulitis and hemorrhoids. The soluble fiber from the fruit combines with bile acids in the intestines, forming a gel that's passed in your stools. Your liver pulls cholesterol from its stores to make more bile acids, and then absorbs excess cholesterol from your blood to rebuild its cholesterol stores. The net effect is a reduction in your blood cholesterol level that lowers your risk of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, heart attack or heart failure.

Fiber makes people have bowel movements. Everyone SHOULD have bowel movements. People ware way too uncomfortable about poop.

Other nutrition facts:
The fiber in prunes helps normalize blood sugar levels. Prunes are high in phenols, which are antioxidants, a good source of vitamin A and help increase iron absorption.

I'll step off my soapbox now.

This is great. I'll try it for sure.

...and I see that you deal with meat analogues yesterday. That'll teach me to get behind.

These photos are making me hungry as I catch up on the last few days of your posts.

@healthytouch101: What you say is true, and I too know vegans who make concessions for some things. (Some people will ignore what they can't see. Another eats honey.)

When I was vegetarian I viewed eating at restaurants as a fun game. What could I find on the menu besides French fries and salad? I'm not sure I'd want to do it as a vegan.

@pingarina: Adler was inspired by M.F.K. Fisher and acknowledges this in the book.

I've finally started reading the copy that I've had for months. I know I'm going to enjoy it. It's a good book to curl up with in the winter.

Well said - and as others have said, this applies to owning restaurants and other businesses too. I think that bartending tends to be romanticized.

There are no rules for breakfast. Eat what you want!

This time of year it's vegetable soup in the slow cooker. I toss in the ingredients in the morning and it's ready when I get home from work. Sometimes I do the chopping and prep the day before.

I look forward to trying this with Brussels sprouts from the farmers' market.

I also do most of those things except for going organic. I'd go organic but of the two independent coffee shops near my home (I don't utter the "S" word), only one serves organic fair trade and I don't like it. Occasionally I'll grab a better organic coffee near my office. Really, I drink coffee infrequently and do drink it for taste rather than the drug effect, only drinking the good stuff. My problem is opposite of chugging. I let it cool a bit so that it's not too hot for my mouth, drink some, and then forget about it. I often end the day with half a cup of cold coffee on my desk.

If I were to make a coffee resolution it would to be to buy a really good coffee making device (e.g. AeroPress) but since I only drink coffee a few times a week I'm generally happy to leave it to the professionals for under $10/week. Also, drinking coffee faster could be a resolution. I'd already decided to work on my cocktail enjoyment in 2012, as Erin suggested to Michael. :)

I bought myself an Eco-pan and this cast iron cooker set that's a skillet, fryer, Dutch oven, and the lid converts to a griddle. I wasn't going to spend money on Boxing Day but you go into the store for one thing and suddenly you're buying stuff instead of what you went in for.

My family didn't give gifts this year. It was refreshing.