Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I thought the NYT article was rather silly. These are people who likely employ a gardener to tend their lawns already. If they want to remove part of their lawn in favor of growing something of sustenance, I say more power to them. And I agree with you Robyn - a potential boon for those who like to garden!

We live in Tucson, and I have been contemplating a jump into a tub of ice for weeks now. But then, 15 seconds later, the ice would melt and we'd be in a tub of warm water. And then the mosquitos would come and bite us. Sigh.

We joined TWD, participated twice, and left. For us, it was just unreasonable to make big layer cakes and other super-rich desserts every week. I think a "cook the book" with more low-key recipes would be a better fit for us.

I'd really love to join a bread-baking circle, but I don't know of one.

I second sloppy's comment about a piPhone app with Slice recommendations. Or perhaps, dare I say it, a Slice/AHT combo app?

So, Jay Leno is driving his Porsche to Burger King and has the nerve to flash a minimum wage-earning guy his special card, so he won't have to fork over 11 bucks? Wow.

What about seeds? I'm assuming for those interested in getting a vegetable source of protein that seeds, like pumpkin or sunflower, would be okay. If nothing else, it may prove a helpful substitute between peanut or tree nut binges. And since they've started selling sunflower seed butter at my local grocery store, it seems to be becoming more commonplace.

I'm pregnant with our first and I eat peanut butter every day. I'm vegetarian and tell myself that I can't feel guilty about a great protein source.

I have been skeptical about this study since I first heard about it. Since when does eating nuts cause asthma? Out mothers ate nuts when they were pregnant and my generation doesn't have the rate of asthma like the generation today.

I guess it is easier and more convenient to forget other factors that are obviously linked. Never mind all of the chemicals we introduce into our homes, the artificial foods we eat, and the general lack of exercise and activity we're giving our children.

Oh no. Peanut butter is the bad guy.

Effete to the max!

@PerkyMac - Sometimes I feel like a large part of my culinary energy is devoted to recreating remembered flavors, especially ones I associate with my mom. I love the idea of folding cookie dough over a chocolate mint wafer -- one could try it with After Eights or Andes or something -- like a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie only much better. I hope these either evoke good memories, or create new ones --

Chocolate Chip-Mint Cookies
adapted from Mollie Katzen, "Still Life With Menu"

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp peppermint extract
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt (sometimes I go with more, but I like a salt kick)
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa
3 cups a.p. flour
12 oz bittersweet chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli 60% here) or chopped dark chocolate as you prefer

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment. Sift dry ingredients together, and set aside. Cream butter with the sugars in mixer at high speed. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extracts. Mix in dry ingredients and chocolate chips or chunks until everything is lightly but well-combined.

Drop by well-rounded spoonfuls (depending on the size you like your cookies onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until set and browned (hard to tell, because the dough is so dark). Rotate and reverse sheets from upper rack to lower midway through baking for even browning. Remove from sheets after a minute or so, and cool on a rack (or eat while warm…)

antennae - wow, does my typing misspell!