Archives for the 'Quick Bites' Category
Quick Bites: Booze and Brine Edition
The proposal to allow Sunday sales of alcohol in Connecticut, like every previous attempt, has died an inglorious death. Thanks, Connecticut Package Stores Association! [Hartford Courant]
This popular story (yesterday on Yahoo! News, at least) about the Obama administration maybe issuing a far-reaching executive order that maybe could prohibit recreational fishing in U.S. waters maybe is more smoke than fire. Look, I don’t trust Comrade Obama either but we need to determine what the restrictions will be, who they will affect, and where and when they will take place before I can angry up my blood. [The Christian Science Monitor]
Experience has taught me the perfect oyster-shucking implement would be part ice pick, part putty knife, and part flathead screwdriver. After snapping my final paring knife during premeditated mollusk murder, Mrs. Kuhl gifted me with the Oxo Oyster Knife. It is now my weapon of choice. If the lost city of Atlantis has a post office, my mugshot hangs within. [Oxo]
Quick Bites
Four people die during Jamie Oliver’s TED Award acceptance speech (honest!). Was it the fact that he paced around the stage like a frenetic Frankenstein, or that his cadence often devolved into something you might see at an especially bad poetry slam? [TED Blog]
The Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan editorial board writes like they’ve been eating too much seitan. There’s “no possible way” they’d write something this dumb about the Olympics and food sponsors if they were eating better food. Like McDonald’s. [Daily Titan]
A public school teacher is braving a school year of cafeteria food and blogging it. [Fed Up with School Lunch, via Mark Bittman's Twitter feed]
The excellent HumaneWatch, keeping an eye on the very non-excellent Humane Society of the United States, debuted yesterday. [HumaneWatch]
Nice profile of D’Artagnan head Ariane Daguin. [NJ.com]
Restaurant freeloaders eat up. Then they screw the restaurant. [The Big Money, via The Food Economy Twitter feed.]
Quick Bites
Groundhog makes a fine bologna. “There was a guy in St. Thomas who would go out and make bologna out of different animals. He made groundhog bologna, beaver bologna, crow bologna, everything.” [Chambersburg Public Opinion]
Russian fans throw bagels at adultshamble Pete Doherty. [Celebuzz]
Thai taxi driver suspected of launching bags of poo “and putrid fermented fish into the compound of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s residence.” The poo I get, but according to the article “fermented fish [is]… a northeastern food speciality.” [Thai News Agency]
Checkout clerk at British supermarket giant Tesco demands ID from woman buying cheese-and-onion quiche. [Daily Mail]
What do you get when you cross bingo, a Vodka Stinger, and a c**t? Cops come a’calling. [Village Voice]
National Pancake Day returns February 23. [IHOP]
Quick Bites
The Atlantic’s Caitlin Flanagan (yes, that Caitlin Flanagan) has oodles more faith than I do in the ability of schools to actually teach kids a darn thing. That said, her well-written piece on the growing infestation in schools of the hideous back-to-the-farm worldview of Alice Waters is excellent. (That’s Waters, a true woman of the people, pictured at right.) [The Atlantic]
Latest fuzzy math from the White House: “Mrs. Obama said it cost less than $200 to start the [WH] garden, which already has yielded a positive return on the investment.” I’m sure the organic seeds used to start the garden cost more than that. How about all the child labor used to plant and harvest? Does that count, or is that off the books? (How about all the horrible seed miles, as I’m not aware of any DC-raised seeds?) And the ROI? How’d she calculate that one? I didn’t see her selling produce at the Dupont farmer’s market. [MSNBC]
Morgan Spurlock on The Simpsons: neither funny nor to be taken seriously. [Open Market]
Underage Iowa college frat pledge drinks way too much Everclear. Which naturally leads to efforts to ban Everclear. [IPD, via Leena]
British taxpayers fund fully vegan lifestyle for reprehensible, imprisoned vegan terrorist. [Daily Mail]
Quick Bites
After an unannounced, unintended, and unacceptable two-week absence, Crispy is back.
British taxpayers buy jihadi cleric’s kebab and Coke. In return, he rants against the West in short news documentary titled Jihadi Milkshake. [The Sun]
Think one-million people dead of starvation during its government-induced famine in the 1990s was bad? It was. But get ready for worse, as North Korea is cracking down on free-market commerce. “[H]alf the calories consumed in North Korea now come from food bought in private markets” that soon won’t exist. [MSNBC]
Government restrictions on fishing freeze out new entrants, resulting in a graying and shrinking population of fishermen in New England. (Though not mentioned in the article, it also results in a bunch of people complaining about how the great majority of the fish consumed in this country come from abroad. Gee. Wonder why.) [MNSBC]
Former vegetarians lash out at the practice after realizing they can “hav[e] their burgers without sacrificing the moral high ground.” [Newsweek]
Liverpudlian tike busted for selling chips at school is growing “sign of pupil disgruntlement over school meal reforms spearheaded by TV chef Jamie Oliver.” [DM]
Quick Bites
AmEx is offering Dunkin’ Donuts chaahge caahd holdahs “a rewaaahd when they rechaahge the caahd.” [NRN]
Following the sale earlier this year of his L.A.-area eatery and now that of his NYC flagship, Gordon Ramsay owns as many American restaurants as I do. [Daily Mail]
Clever cereal eating decision tree (click image to maximize). [Eating the Road]
Ron Artest: NBA player, Hennessey drinker. Sometimes both at the same time. [TSN]
Adam Mahmoud–who’s got his “whole life ahead of [him and is] not going down in a sandwich shop”–is one badass sandwich maker/journalism student. [Bristol Press]
Quick Bites
Sometimes the headline says it all: “Man dressed as Breathalyzer suspected of drunk driving.” [Oxford Press]
There’s more than one way to kill a clam. I prefer frying to oxygen deprivation. [Reno Gazette-Journal]
The Redskins sell beer at FedEx Field in the… men’s room. [YouTube]
Menu labeling requirements folded into healthcare bill. [Furious Seasons]
Lyin’ about lions. Famous African man-eaters in late 1800s only killed and ate an almost kitten-like 35 people, not the long-alleged 135. [MSNBC]
Secretes of the Worcestershire sauce recipe revealed. [Daily Mail]
Quick Bites
Dining out isn’t JUST about the food. We’re all about the chefs now, but what about the waiters? (New York Times)
The French don’t like Julia Child. (New York Times). But as their food isn’t any good any longer, do we really care?
Food: now in a theater near you! “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.”
The City Journal hits the food scene. (HT: AL Daily)
Michelle Obama shops at a farm market and blows her carbon footprint. (Washington Post)
Quick Bites
The Nation devotes a whole issue to “Food for All: How to Grow Democracy.” Alice Waters. Michael Pollan. Blech. [The Nation]
Spiked also devotes an issue to food. [Spiked Online]
The French don’t get Julia Child. They look at her much like we look at Rachael Ray. Yeah, they’re snobs, but at least they hate “the strictness of American health rules about food.” [NYT]
Chicken farmer’s got talent! [MSNBC]
Joel Salatin is an award and $100,000 richer. Congrats! [Newsleader]
Amidst all the hullabaloo over the White House farmer’s market and Michelle Obama’s organic garden, it’s worth recalling how much crap the USDA–”skeptical of amateur farmers”–gave Eleanor Roosevelt when she wanted to plant a few beans and peas. [Time]
Quick Bites
Joel Salatin says “when the government gets between my mouth and my stomach, that’s a pretty intrusive government” and a bunch of other awesome things. [Portland Mercury]
LA cracks down on Mexican raw-milk cheese in restaurants. Pulitzer-owning LA food critic responds that crackdown is unhelpful, since “[l]ife is filled with risks.” [LAT]
Jim Breuer (perhaps best known for playing a stoned goat on SNL) either a) flips out while filming a Pizza Hut commercial or b) acts according to script so as to create middling viral footage. [OzarksUnbound]
Starbucks turning the corner? [NRN]
Frank Bruni returns to the NYT, mentions Alice Waters in a good light but still manages to pen a not-half-bad column on childhood obesity. [NYT]
Prepare yourselves. Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manifesto drops December 29th. [Amazon]
Or you could just buy bottles in the first place. [YouTube]
The oink is back in a 350-year old painting by a Dutch master. [Telegraph via Rachel Laudan]
Quick Bites
My family farm was quirky, man. I ever tell you about the chick who thought she was a goose, and then she learned she was really a chicken? Whoa! Hah! Those were the days. Man. Problem with food today is it lacks soul. Needs more soul. Hope Obama regulates farming. Man. Soul. Hah! This (and this) is what passes as a Nicholas Kristof column. What a load of garbage. [NYT]
Monica Bellucci, perhaps the most beautiful actress of all time, likes Italian food. Makes sense, her being Italian and all. But I needed an excuse to post her honey-covered photo, and her talking for a second about food apparently suffices. [Daily Mail]
Columbia Univ. public health professor (and vertical farming advocate/entrepreneur/author) invokes typical Malthusian doom scenario (If X keeps happening, “the majority of people could soon be without enough food or water”) to scare us into buying his ideas and book. I’m not buying. [NYT]
A “complex cafeteria” is to blame for Red Sox hall of famer Jim Rice saying bad things about Derek Jeter. [ESPN]
Teh Twitters is all gushing over Bryan Walsh’s new Time piece on the so-called high cost of cheap food that doesn’t, in my view, say anything new at all (see, e.g.). [Time]
New KFC fried chicken and bacon sandwich–apparently being tested in my part of the world; and yes, I’m on it–uses fried chicken as… bread. [Wonkette]
Quick Bites
Local British government councils now handing out rewards–at taxpayer expense–for such accomplishments as brewing a cup of tea. Yaaaaayyy! [Sun]
I was informed the other day, while walking on a sidewalk with a cigarette in hand on the University of Arkansas campus, that such an act–or chewing tobacco–is subject to a $500 fine. That’s smoking. Outside. Not near any person or building. $500. I need me one of these.
Locavorism. A movement inspiring people to travel thousands upon thousands of miles for the purpose of eating a locally grown dinner. And this is better because…? [MSNBC]**
New energy drink Simply Cocaine attacked by UK anti-drug zealots for being named after illegal drug. Ever heard of Coca-Cola, dude? [Sun]
D’Artagnan’s Ariane Daguin remembers Julia Child. [D'Artagnan]
Food & Wine is looking for America’s best home cook. [F&W]
Support Whole Foods, just like “Radney” Balko does at The Agitator.
**Link fixed.
Quick Bites
Not much doing around these here Crispy environs lately, it seems. At least Kim and I have the bar exam as an excuse. Anyways…
The Midwesternization of custard. [NY Post]
Thief steals eleven lobsters, eats them, passes out, is arrested. [Feedbag]
Psycho Donuts drives National Alliance for the Mentally Ill totally crazy. [Jaunted]
Fat Princess. The video game where you let her eat cake. [Ars Technica]
The most disturbing words from Michael Pollan’s Julie & Julia review: Total douche “Jamie Oliver is preparing a reality show on ABC in which he takes aim at an American city with an obesity problem and tries to teach the population how to cook.” [NYT]
Quick Bites
North Korea’s first beer celebrated in absurd 3-minute ad. [Reuters]
Least shocking thing ever: USDA organic labeling scheme is a failure. [MSNBC]
Stodgy Brit slags bacon. [Times of London (HT Jake Dupont)]
Bittman and Jose Andres blather about sustainability for an hour. [Slow Food LA]
Hindu extremists toss pig on mosque construction site in India. Riots ensue. Can retaliatory cow tossing be far off? [CNN]
Kitchen Confidential clone doesn’t quite cut it. [The Onion]
Quick Bites: What Is Best in Life? Edition
The May/June issue of Yankee Magazine offers the best of New England plus their favorites for ethnic food. Alas, said lists are only available in the hard copy (remember those?). Console yourself with the best Ethnic Food Festivals in New England.
Meanwhile Coastal Living catalogs their favorite seafood dives. Gotta catch ‘em all!
