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The Ten Most Recent Posts By binlu

From Talk

Freezing stock

I've got a good bit of beef stock to store (over a gallon), and I need a good way to freeze it that's also convenient for use later (as in I don't want to have to unfreeze the whole batch whenever I want some, but also don't want to saw off a giant block of ice). I was thinking dividing it up between lots of gladware-type containers, but I was wondering if anyone knew of anything that worked better and was easier to do?

From Talk

Food Mags: Which to Choose?

Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Food and Wine...does anyone have any particular preferences between these magazines as their food publication of choice? I love Cook's Illustrated as my reference piece, but I can never decide on a mag to keep me updated on the wider food world.

From Talk

Wine of the month club: how to choose?

Hi, I'm looking to join a wine of the month club sort of thing, but when I did a search I found quite a large number of clubs. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with clubs or had recommendations on how to choose one? I live in Virginia, and saw that one club already couldn't mail to me! Any help would be appreciated!

The Ten Most Recent Comments By binlu

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

My name's Binhong Lu. I'm about to graduate from the University of Virginia with a degree in history. After repeatedly doing independent research on various topics in food history, I realized that I was probably going to end up working in food somewhere. I'm planning to spend the next year doing the grunt work for a local fine dining restaurant, after which I'm going to either attend a culinary school or hope to find an apprenticeship somewhere. I'm located in Charlottesville, which is in itself a great food town, but am always looking for gems nearby. There's also a lot of other stuff I do, but who knows if any of it would interest anyone here?

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: The River Cottage Cookbook

Herbs, Limes, Blueberries, Tomatoes

From Required Eating

Serious Easter Artisanal Chocolate Egg Giveaway

a whole white chocolate bunny I can spend alllll day eating!

From Required Eating

Serious Easter Artisanal Chocolate Egg Giveaway

A solid white chocolate easter bunny that I can spend all day working on!

From Required Eating

Weekend Book Giveaway: 'The Fortune Cookie Chronicles'

"Smile if you like this fortune" - and it came true.

From Talk

Calling all athletes! Energy-boosting foods needed

@LoCo, that would mean, then, that legumes we don't normally eat in a fully cooked state, such as peanuts and bean dips would still be sources for these lectins and other potentially harmful compounds. As they are rich in carbs, cooking can often make these carbohydrates easily digestible, resulting in an insulin spike (also bad as an energy food). Compared to other sources, they are also relatively low in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Also, the argument that people have been eating cultivated items such as legumes for ages isn't exactly sound, as it's been widely accepted for a while that human nutrition declined with the advent of agriculture. Hunter-gatherer societies enjoyed better health, less disease, and spent roughly half the amount of time that agricultural societies had to in order to get their food, which is also the reason current dietary research is looking into existing hunter-gatherers and why they still have less health problems such as diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease than our supposedly advanced culture. The cultivation of legumes and grains meant that we could easily produce more quantity in calories, not necessarily quality. (sorry deepitbhatia for stealing the thread)

From Talk

I could eat my weight in ____

Frozen acai, avocados, and sausage, but not mixed together.

From Talk

Calling all athletes! Energy-boosting foods needed

Also in terms of general health I would actually recommend against legumes (beans and peanuts). There's a lot of research, but:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0999/is_7190_318/ai_54561205

And an analysis of the zone diet vs. the contemporary diet:

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/articles/JANA%20final.pdf

From Talk

Calling all athletes! Energy-boosting foods needed

Hey, if you have time, go to www.crossfit.com They give much more info there, but basically their recommendation is a zone diet for the athlete, where increased calories come from increased consumption of fats (good ones, of course). Crossfit happens to be the strength and conditioning program of military, law enforcement, fire & rescue, and athletes as well, and the zone diet has proven the most effective for them, by and large. I and a lot of athletes I train with have converted to crossfit and its diet, and it's something I sincerely wish I had known about in high school. I know this is a "long answer," in a sense, but I can tell you the effort is well worth it. The "conventional" knowledge that circulates popularly is well behind newer research in fitness, and it's usually up to the individual athlete to find out what's really known out there. Go to the main site and poke around: www.crossfit.com, then read this: http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/start-diet.html, and then read this: http://www.crossfit.com/cf-download/CFJ-trial.pdf

That should give you a basic idea of what I'm talking about, and why I think it's absolutely effective.

From Required Eating

Fresh Food on TV: Weekend Edition

Did anyone watch the ICA with Flay and the Rathburns? Did anyone notice that one of the Rathburns' sous chefs was a certain chef from another cooking contest who was cut way too soon?

Responses to Comments by binlu

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

I'm Rosezilla (named for my three year old daughter and the giant lizard thing that stomped Tokyo...it's what I call her when she's being...how you say...willful). My real handle is Mandy. I live in Santa Barbara County again after growing up here, but lived for 11 years in western Sonoma County...home of fabulous food and wines. It spoiled me rotten, to become an adult surrounded by all of that luscious produce and foodie opportunity. I managed a microbrewery's kitchen for 6 years, and have SERIOUS opinions about ales, should anyone care for them. Now I'm a home cook primarily, although I do a little catering here and there. My daughter's favorite foods are salmon and broccoli, so I feel as though I've triumphed a bit over the three-year-old beige-food diet. We do, however, eat at McDonald's every Friday after school...it's our little Happy Meal indulgence...and those tiny cheeseburgers are SOOO good. I live with and cook for my mother, as well. I am dating a high school band director, who has actually LOST weight being with me, as he's eating more asparagus and less fast food. I think that size 14 should be the new size 6. I am curvy, healthy, happy and active...and think that excellent foods should be part of everyone's diet. I am active in the "S'Cool Food" movement here, which tries to bring local and sustainable healthy food into school cafeterias. And I love, love, love this website.

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

@alacto-- I grew up in Williamsburg! If you're still there, I'm quite jealous of your accessibility to Aroma's. I was a slave at the Cheese Shop for a few years, and while I can't stand the house dressing any more, oh the cheese and wine selection....mmmmm

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

Bro recently made these avocado eggrolls for a party. They are wonderful. We didn't use a sauce - no one noticed :D.

Whip 'em up and bring 'em down to the party!!

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

@kfarrel3: Hope you're enjoying Florence! I miss Antico Noe sandwiches so much :(

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

Mrs. L, a, ahem, 40 something (at least for two more weeks) who is just learning to cook and dealing with the fact that I own over 500 cookbooks (over 400 that have never been cooked from!). I live in San Jose CA and I see dead people for a living (no really, I manage a cremation business). I love serious eats to help me find out what's going on in the food world and to make me feel even more behind cuz I cook recipes I see here rather than open up one of my many cookbooks!

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

@NC Terry - I looooooooooove Zingerman's! Love love love! You have the best job.

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

Hi,

I just found this wonderful site -- I found a link at FoodNetwork.com. I live in New Hampshire, love cooking and experimenting with new types of dishes. As a cook, I've gone from a repeating 15-20 dishes to new dishes everyday (or so).

I'm particulary found of Ellie Krieger's Healthy Appetite, Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa.

I also collect cookbooks - and my favorite right now (non-FoodNetwork) is Gordon Hamersley's Bistro Cooking At Home. Gordon owns a local Bistro in nearby Boston.

Looking forward to a long association with you all!

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

Whewps... I forgot to mention we live in rural Oklahoma (about an hour away from Tulsa and Fayetteville, Arkansas).

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

Hola! I'm Jym Brittain, I dont hide behind a screen name, so I use jymbrittain. I'm both a doctoral student and a college instructor/administrator. I'm 43. I've been happily married for 17 years. I'm the father of a very active 4 year old boy. My wife would agree that I do about 90% of the cooking and she's grateful. I've been cooking since I was 7, learning first at the elbow of my Mom and my Nana (grandmother from Malta) then through the cooking shows on PBS and now the FoodPorn channel and PBS.

My passion is bringing a plethora of flavors, styles, techniques and dishes to the dinner table to share with family and friends. Having lived in 4 different states and having traveled to a few different countries helps with this. Culinarily speaking I'm probably best known for my take on Chicago deep dish pizza with Chourico and for trying to form a dinner club in my rural college town.

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

Hi! I'm Jennefur and I'm a newlywed from Raleigh, NC. I have a kitchen full of new cookware, knives and appliances. I love to cook and bake and try to do so every night. My new husband is not very culinarily adventurous, but I have been able to introduce a few new foods to his life. I love SE and check in every day, enjoy new recipes and the photos of what otther people are cooking. SE has caused me to have a sometimes unhealthy obsession with Anthony Bourdain!