Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Top-Quality Drinks, Bargain-Rack Prices

thank you for the post! i picked up some evan williams after reading the article and have not been disappointed at all. been making some lovely mint juleps :)

cafepeach at 7:25PM on 05/14/08

A Tonic for the Average 'Tonic'

I've been enjoying the Whole Foods brand of tonic water. It's sweetened with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn death and makes a lovely gin & tonic. The best selling point really is the price though, at about $2.60 for a 6pack in Manhattan, compared to $9.99 for a 4pack of Q tonic, its simply financial suicide for me to use artisan-level tonic water.

cafepeach at 7:22PM on 05/14/08

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

Hallo! I'm Dandan, a 20-some grad student living in New York, recently upgraded from ramen & spam to actual food, and I blame y'all here for making my dietary tastes so "frou frou". ;)
Not altogether a cooking person, but a huge eater and drinker. And I'd really love to get into food pr0n - I mean, photography.

cafepeach at 2:39PM on 04/27/08

Summer cocktails and jello shots

seconding the sangria as a cocktail -- amazingly refreshing summer drink, and very easy to make. my go-to recipe is http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Classic-Spanish-Sangria/Detail.aspx

cafepeach at 2:28PM on 04/27/08

Latex Gloves - Anyone?

I have to say, I never have. There's not really a public health rationale for you to use gloves when handling raw meat in your own kitchen. If it makes you happy, then well, its your kitchen, but its really unnecessary.

And besides, backing up wizzie, germs aren't necessarily a bad thing. The grand majority of germs and microbes around us are completely harmless -- some of them are even beneficial. By removing your immune system's exposure to various germs, you decrease your immune system's recognition repertoire, and when an actual dangerous infection, your immune system might not recognize it. Humans have co-evolved with germs. Just use common sense, y'know?

cafepeach at 10:03AM on 04/13/08

How does anyone afford to travel & eat?!

make picnics! go to the local bakeries, farmers market, etc. do your research beforehand -- i like to use wikitravel and go to food places that the local university students like to frequent.

cafepeach at 8:10PM on 04/02/08

Putting the "In" in "Gin"

and oh, for the g&t crowd, are diet tonics actually any good? i was so surprised that tonic water had normal-soda-amounts of sugar in it to begin with!

cafepeach at 7:39PM on 04/02/08

Putting the "In" in "Gin"

Ah, I've just developed a taste for gin recently -- and wow, why did I even bother with vodka before?
So far I'm still trying different brands of gin instead of trying different gin cocktails (though martinis and g&ts are always good). I just tried Hendrick's yesterday and... wow. It's different. Can't say if I like it for it though... still would probably come back to my favorite, Bombay Sapphire.
If anyone has any recommendations for what to try next (in my price range, which is about ~20-30/750mL), that would be fantastic!

cafepeach at 7:38PM on 04/02/08

Unembellished foods

a sweet potato all by itself is happiness in a little jacket

i like steamed fish with a bit of ginger.

cafepeach at 6:45AM on 03/31/08

Am I the only one who can't get ZITI?

bucatini could be a bit more common... but living in NYC means you can get anything pretty much everywhere. so no complaints =X

cafepeach at 1:59PM on 03/26/08

Cook the Book: Nigella Express

like pretty much everyone here -- freezing is a marvelous invention indeed. right up there with the wheel.

cafepeach at 1:54PM on 03/26/08

First Day of Spring!

i look forward to spring seasonal beer!

and fresh fruit. after my first east coast winter, i am in severe fruit deficit.

cafepeach at 2:21AM on 03/20/08

If you could only have 3 cookbooks...

i actually only own 2 cookbooks!

the silver spoon // il cucchiaio d'argento
joy of cooking

what shall i have for my 3rd...

cafepeach at 2:19AM on 03/20/08

Sweetening the Mix

@wookie, I've totally done that before!! saving the syrup from a can of lychees. i'm glad i'm not completely crazy :)

cafepeach at 6:43PM on 03/19/08

Yes, I Admit It, I'm a Member of the Fat Pack

this is a little off topic from your own article... but, oh that article shocked me beyond belief!

"Mr. Shaw said he believes the genetic component of weight and health matter more than moderation and exercise.... Some of his views about diet and health border on the extreme. 'I think the whole diabetes thing is a major hoax,' he said. 'They are overdiagnosing it.'
...
Like Mr. Shaw, he [Mr. Ozersky] believes one’s health and size are largely a roll of the genetic dice. “I’m a Russian Jew,” he said, “so grease is mother’s milk to me.”"

What?! What?! The genetic component is a small part of the raison d'etre compared to environment. Why has obesity in the US ballooned in the past few decades? Is it because Russian Jews are suddenly overcompeting everyone in the survival of the fittest? Is there a sudden proliferation of grease/obesity/weight/unhealthiness genes? That's just not how population genetics work, and using it as a justification for continuing a certain lifestyle is misleading for others and just not that logically sound anyways.
Even if let's say you *are* genetically predisposed to obesity, that's simply more reason to fight the predisposition, just like those of us that are genetically predisposed to certain types of cancer know to get tested more often for those types.

Thank you, Ed, for having the presence of mind to tell the tale as it is and confronting the real problem, instead of using science, only when convenient.

/end science soapbox

cafepeach at 9:58AM on 03/19/08

Parmigiano Reggiano vs. Pecorino Romano or ??

pecorino romano's a bit on the salty side for me; i really only like in some specific dishes (and if the food I made is so atrocious I need to bury it in sodium). i love parmigiano reggiano but I can't afford it regularly. I usually get reggianito, or the Argentinian version of parm regg, which tastes more similar to good parm regg than American parmesan version.
As for grating... yeah, I just tend not to make anything that requires large amounts of grated parmesan. I = cheap & lazy. But as a flavour enhancer at the dinner table, fresh grated parm is unbeatable!

cafepeach at 12:11AM on 03/18/08

Water

Brita filters have always worked well.

Have you tried iced green tea? I make a batch of different green teas every couple days and bottle it into nalgene bottles & store it in the fridge. Sometimes I add a bit of sweet & low, depending on the green tea I used. Very thirst-quenching.

cafepeach at 12:07AM on 03/18/08

Serious Easter Artisanal Chocolate Egg Giveaway

Those little Kinder eggs with toys inside!

cafepeach at 12:05AM on 03/18/08

What should I buy at Trader Joe's?

@cybercita -- oh gawd, you tried that nasty rooibos stuff too?? i don't even know what to do with it. i'd be wasteful if i throw it out, delusional if i drink another one, mean if i give it to a friend, and just a plain ass if i donate it to charity.

but i'll probably try tj's tea again. maybe plainer varieties. just b/c i'm a sucker for them :(

cafepeach at 2:28PM on 03/17/08