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Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
Wow, seriously? Put more stuff in your oven to save energy? This is, as the kids say, science fail. You should familiarize yourself with the difference between temperature and heat.
Market Scene: Brookline Farmers Market in Brookline, Mass.
Yeah, I guess what I said is not exactly correct. She buys her fish from Globe Fish (310 Northern Av Boston), which itself sells at the Bedford, Newton, Lexington and Arlington farmers' markets. It's not as if she actually goes to those markets to get her products, though it may as well be.
Market Scene: Brookline Farmers Market in Brookline, Mass.
Protip: Cindy the Fish Lady buys her fish for a high price at other local farmers' markets, then re-sells it in Brookline for an even higher price. It would be nice if there were a rule enforced preventing vendors from selling items they didn't grow/bake/catch themselves.
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
Snoop Dogg doesn't smoke blunts.
"So keep the motherfuckin' blunt in ya pocket, loc
Cause Doggy Dogg is all about the Zig-Zag smoke"
-- Snoop Doggy Dogg, "Gz and Hustlas"
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
Wow, seriously? Put more stuff in your oven to save energy? This is, as the kids say, science fail. You should familiarize yourself with the difference between temperature and heat.
Market Scene: Brookline Farmers Market in Brookline, Mass.
Yeah, I guess what I said is not exactly correct. She buys her fish from Globe Fish (310 Northern Av Boston), which itself sells at the Bedford, Newton, Lexington and Arlington farmers' markets. It's not as if she actually goes to those markets to get her products, though it may as well be.
Market Scene: Brookline Farmers Market in Brookline, Mass.
Protip: Cindy the Fish Lady buys her fish for a high price at other local farmers' markets, then re-sells it in Brookline for an even higher price. It would be nice if there were a rule enforced preventing vendors from selling items they didn't grow/bake/catch themselves.
The Joys of Unnaturally Flavored Sodas
Diet Polar chocolate soda
Wine and Plastic Cups: Not a Perfect Pairing
"I drink $15-$20 wine most of the time, so I spend $60-$80 on a set of four glasses"
oh man this is not serious.
Gum Alert, a Gum Rating Blog
At last, fiction becomes reality.
Banning fast food near schools? Your take.
The candy store next to my elementary school turned me from a skinny young kid into a fat preteen. No question about it. If I were more partial to authoritarian policies, banning junk food near schools would probably be at the top of my list of new rules I'd support...
World's Largest Private Lean Cuisine Collection?
HeartofGlass: You don't "buy" these items. The whole reason there's a huge pile of them in this person's house is that they are about 10 cents a piece, often free, and sometimes you actually collect a couple dollars every time you haul 50 of these things home.
The downside of using coupons and supermarket sales to get free packaged/processed goods: you have to eat them eventually...
Secrets Behind the Craigie on Main Burger
"We were using a bit of A-1 for a while, but dehydrated miso was the only thing we found that was concentrated enough in glutamates to give the beef the amount of umami we wanted without adding its own flavor."
He doesn't say why he didn't just use MSG.
Also, 900F = not the hottest grill on the market. There are backyard infrared grills that go to 1000F and above.
One Dozen Trader Joe's Eggs, Each with a Double Yolk
Double yolks are pretty common in jumbo eggs
Which Pasta Shape Goes with Which Sauce?
If you have to look this stuff up, maybe you should practice your pasta a little more.
Photo of the Day: Shattered Banana Peel
Yeah, I was gonna make a snarky comment about liquid nitrogen, but bananas tend to turn brown when you freeze them.
Making Your Own Bagels
1. The type of malt or malted barley flour you want to put in baked goods is the non-diastatic (killed) kind, which will add sugar and malty flavor. The kind that's added in a small quantity to almost all flour used for baking is diastatic, meaning it has enzymatic activity that breaks the flour's starch down into sugars that the yeast can metabolize. Take care with that distinction, or you will end up with bread that rises too fast or tastes too sweet.
2. fishman69 is correct. Bagels should have an even, dense, spongy crumb that won't tear in a ragged fashion like the bagel in the photo.
$29.95 for America's Test Kitchen website?
"I had always assumed that Kimball was somewhat altruistic"
Christopher Kimball is a character used to sell a product. I don't think you can ascribe these sorts of human qualities to him.
Pizzeria Delfina's Genius Anti-Yelp T-Shirts
watch out for my SENSITIVITY TRAINING t-shirt!
exotic spices
South Asian stores. You'll find things for roughly 50% the price of World Spice Merchants.
The First Diet Book Graphic Memoir
If she actually looked like the cartoon version of herself in that strip, she wouldn't be needing to diet.
Baoguette: Great Vietnamese Sandwiches in Murray Hill, Possibly the Best Banh Mi in NYC
dhorst- this is not an American-invented dish, and it's not just here in the states.
Joyful Little Photo Essay About a Breakfast Spot in Hong Kong
Yeah, nobody in the USA has figured out a way to sell instant ramen in a restaurant setting.
The Steak Sandwich to End All Steak Sandwiches
Oh yeah big ups
Saag Paneer
This will be "comfort food" if you find actual North Indian food strange and threatening.
If you cook your onions until "soft but not browned" your food will never taste Indian, ever. You need that nearly-burnt, dark-brown quality to add the right flavor. You should probably triple or quadruple the amount of onions/ginger/garlic here.
Also, try adding a handful of fenugreek (methi) leaves, which does a good job of pushing the dish from "tastes like spinach" to "tastes Indian."
One more thing: saag dishes should be cooked well, until the leaves fall apart. You shouldn't need to blend them at all- cook the onions until they're dark brown and then cook the (already cooked, thawed) spinach at least 30 minutes.
Top 10 Improbable McDonald's Items from Around the World
Hong Kong's "Faan-Tastic" is just downright awful. Though the fries with the seaweed powder you can shake on are pretty great.
In Videos: No-Knead Pizza Dough Recipe
It's hard to tell how well that crust handles if they don't give a better closeup of the finished product and the standard slice upskirt shot. The pie they make is really pale in color, suggesting that they either undercooked it or the dough ended up overproofed, running out of sugar and preventing good browning and flavor. Hard to tell.
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
The Boyfriend went up to take a pic with the panda, but I wouldn't touch anything with a cheesy mascot and unabashedly try to be the next KFC. I'm glad you are brave enough to try so I don't have to. For that I thank you.
One Dozen Trader Joe's Eggs, Each with a Double Yolk
We bought a flat (20) last week from a local organic market and had the same thing happen. All 20 eggs were double yolked. It was the weirdest thing.
One Dozen Trader Joe's Eggs, Each with a Double Yolk
Whoa - I want that dozen of eggs!!! The yolk is my favorite part!
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
What a mess and not in a good way, it looks like it would taste as the majority who unfortunately took a bite of it. What did they do to get the taste and grease out of their mouth and mind?
Who was it that said there's a SUCKER born every minute! sick joke.
My liver hurts looking at all that grease and the MSG headache must be a whopper!
Which Pasta Shape Goes with Which Sauce?
I think maybe the average low income person isn't fussy about using different shapes of pasta with specific sauces. There is also the problem of storing several different shapes of pasta. Most of the time I use elbow macaroni for any thing. Occasionally I use the colored spiral macaroni when I make a pasta salad for a special event. O course most of my pasta meals consist of goulash, or macaroni salad. Most of the time when I do make tuna and noodles or chicken and noodles(as we call it), I use the elbow macaroni. As far as wine goes, we don't serve wine with our meals, it is either water, or soda.
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
Ming Tsai and his Mom made bings one day on his PBS show and they looked awesome. Ming made cheeseburgers with the works and totally encased them in bing dough. Yummy!
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
I'm a little worried that I found something so disturbing so funny. =/
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
if you want some really awesome chinese sandwiches (not "authentic" by any means either, but still damn good), head over to mantao!
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
I tried it last night. I liked it and ate the whole thing. Sure the freshly made roti pancake is greasy, but isn't it supposed to be for it to be delicious? I got the beef and egg. I think the egg helped. Thinking what would happen if I put a really good burger patty or some roast pork in there :)
Well anyway, thanks for writing about it. I'm glad I tried it.
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
@chinolam: Better you than me pal
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
Dang, Kung Fu Bing sounds right up my alley. Might have to try it today.
Off the Beaten Path: Taking One for the Team at LQQM Kung Fu Bing in Chinatown
Went there a few weeks ago and it was pretty disappointing. I think I was expecting something more than meh-tastic sandwiches.
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
I try my hardest to leave as little a footprint as I can - paper towels, sometimes ya just have to. I pretty much limit my use to dampening one to wrap around certain verggies like green onions/scallions, they last much longer. To me the resources used to produce produce :-), uses more resources than using one portion off a roll of paper towels. As far as fiber towels, it is much less expensive and easier on resources to fill a FULL load in a washing machine - so the laundry goes, so goes my kitchen towels, unless of course they are microfiber - no fab softener for those puppies. Likewise filling a tub with microfiber and the appropriate amount of water for the amount of laundy being done. A full dishwasher is less expensive to use as a full fridge is. Having said that, I use a pot that has been used in cooking to clean utensils, etc to use the water to it's best advantage. Thanks for all the great tips, will be trying them as the opportunity arises. But turning off clocks and all those devices that have to be reset AGAIN!? Gotta be kidding!! I'll reserve resetting those devices for power outages!
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
Love these tips, many of them indoctinated in me by my grandmother, who had it figured out from living through two wars in Europe. And she never even heard the term 'carbon footprint'.
Hey, Cooks Illustrated did one of their science experiments to see how to best clean fruits and vegetables. They tried antibacterial soap (yuk), water, and a 1/3 vinegar with 2/3 water mixture. The vinegar/water mixture killed the most bacteria. So I keep it around in a spray bottle under the sink. When I wash grapes in a bowl of water I also add a splash of vinegar to that too. Works great.
I keep a linen towel for drying dishes and a terry cloth towel for hands and counters in my kitchen. The paper towels are stored out of the way and last me about 6 months per roll, just used for things like cat throw-up. I have a collection of linen towels from my travels. A nice keepsake and very practical. Excellent gifts for your friends too if you are a traveler.
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
Cut the mind-numbing song about killing trees and let's see dollars and cents about paper v cotton towels: electricity, soap, how long can a towel last, all that.
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
another tip: BUY IN BULK!!!!
but not costco bulk that gives you individually wrapped items with more plastic on it. Try to find stores where they let you buy dry goods, herbs, soaps, etc in your own containers. I live in the Twin Cities where we have a plethora of co-ops and health foods stores where this saves you real money!
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
Thank you so much for these tips! I am in your exact position, and, even worse I'm moving from cheap rent in Indiana to Berkeley, quite a difference in price of living! I will put all of these to use!
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
I also use salt to clean some things. If it's not dissolved it's a mild abrasive, so it's great for cleaning the interior of vases, etc.
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
@beth1: I have to be careful that my kitty doesn't eat the plastic bag, which she loves to chew on. She smells them from afar. I'd also be a little nervous about Toad getting his head caught in the handles. I know you love your Toad.
One Dozen Trader Joe's Eggs, Each with a Double Yolk
When I was young and impoverished I used to work in an egg packing factory, a horrible job, but it paid well. As people like their eggs uniform my job was to check that the eggs were all the same - they would pass in front of me on a metal grid and a bright light was shone through the eggshells.
Any non-uniform eggs - double yolkers, part fertilised, deformed shells, that sort of thing, were snatched from the line and thrown into a big vat, and taken off to be dried to make egg powder and used in cake manufacturing
Could the egg checker in this case have meant to put the double yolkers on one side for disposal, but made a mistake and packed them instead?
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
My gas/electric bill was $230 +/- this time last year. This month it was $95. The difference, we replaced the old fridge that came with the house with a new LG french door. We also added a dishwasher.
We reached a new level of recycling this week also. Toad, my near-toothless black cat, has taken a bag full of bags (those plastic grocery bags) as his bed. Think I'll let him keep them.
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
I clean just about everything with vinegar OR baking soda, but never together. When they mix, they react with each other and neutralize, so you get neither the cleaning power of the acid nor the alkaline. You can find out more about cleaning here: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/five-basics-for-nontoxic-cleaning.html.
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
Hey, does anyone know what material of the bag that the peaches are in? Is there a place online I can buy some? I'd love to get some reusable produce bags that (unlike my cloth grocery bags) don't get all soggy from wet veggies.
Serious Green: 10 Cheap & Green Kitchen Tips
Oh, yeah, jenh718 is so right: that stove rocks! Want it, want it. I'd trade my new Wolf for it.
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Snoop Dogg doesn't smoke blunts.
"So keep the motherfuckin' blunt in ya pocket, loc
Cause Doggy Dogg is all about the Zig-Zag smoke"
-- Snoop Doggy Dogg, "Gz and Hustlas"