Posted by theo at 2:31 pm
Apr 242010
Rich, creamy butter. Melting warm and spreading it’s wonderful flavor all over your food. And when the two combine … then magic happens. It’s the difference between a bagel alone and a bagel with beautiful butter melting all over it. There’s really no comparison, and in fact, just writing this is making my mouth water. The French Roast Coffee sitting on the desk is looking pretty lonely right about now … I think I’ll saunter down to Abraham’s Bagels as soon as I finish writing this. .. Well depending upon where you are (the Organic Test Kitchen blog reaches 25 [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 3:32 pm
Apr 232010
A new flickr account has been created. So far only a few photos have been uploaded but more will be added on a regular basis. I hope you check it out and enjoy it (the link is here). Thanks again and appreciate all the loyal readers over the years. Theo
Posted by theo at 12:57 pm
Apr 162010
I haven’t had much to do with Hexane since back in the day in chemistry lab. This compound is a very good solvent with many important industrial uses but when I read that it was being used to solvate and extract fat from Soy Veggie Burgers I almost fell over. I mean, of course it’s an excellent chemical to perform this function, but to use it on food to be consumed… What are they thinking? Anyway, there’s a flood of news on the subject.. a neurotoxin, blurred vision, headaches from exposure, the FDA doesn’t have limits [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 4:55 pm
Apr 142010
I witnessed the softening of butter by the microwave method the other night. … My God it was horrific. … Once the butter was released from the radiation chamber, aka microwave oven, is was this runny, half melted/half solid thing. …You know, don’t believe the hype. Say you’re making a cake and you need to cream butter and sugar. OK, first thing you do is take out your butter, slice it long-ways and lay out on the board. .. That’s it. … By the time you get the rest of your ingredients out and even do some [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 1:27 pm
Apr 022010
This is a very nice cake, simple, delicious … just enough sweetness. For me, I love to enjoy it plain with a fresh cup of brewed coffee because it isn’t so overpowering in flavor that the coffee takes a back seat. Rather they both share the stage where each compliments the other. Very nice. And, in addition to being delectable as a stand alone cake you can also use it instead of biscuits if you want to bring your Strawberry Shortcake up a notch or two. And this is especially true if you typically use an instant [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 5:27 pm
Mar 112010
So it’s come to this, I’ll admit it. I’m a big fan of cabbage. Brought up in a French Canadian Household and on Sunday we’d have Boiled Dinner with a big salty ham sharing the pot with a variety of veggies including cabbage. And that there cabbage would just soak up all that ham fat and be soo darn good. … Nowadays, however, I’m trying to atone and nurture my circulatory system back to an ”as-new” condition so I’ve traded the ham for skinless chicken breasts and ham fat for olive oil. But you know what? That love for [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 6:16 pm
Feb 202010
As you may know, I am a BIG fan of the Newman’s Own Organic Foods. I love the quality, availability, price and the fact that the money earned helps make the world a better place. Anyway, the previous problems from the Chinese Based Pet Foods may fading from memory. But they shouldn’t be. After-all the family pet really is part of the family. And being as such, they also deserve quality food like everyone else. If you consider just how bad a pet food could be (being fed to many pets that are not too discriminating and production standards that [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 4:31 pm
Feb 182010
There is a good article on Boston.com from Martha Stewart, “Eating safely is as important as eating healthy.” Regarding meats, she states the good practice of cooking to a temperature over 160 F (to mitigate the chance of salmonella issues) But in addition, for meat without the antibiotics and growth hormones the guaranteed way to do it is to choose products with the USDA Organic Label. And beyond this to choose grass-fed organic meats as the primo selection. On produce she states that ” Although the science isn’t exact, it’s believed that fetuses and young children are most [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 12:55 pm
Feb 132010
Finally the USDA has put some specifics around what it actually means for milk and meat to be organic. .. Here’s the old rule “the animals must have access to pasture”. Which can mean anything from farmer John letting them graze and be in the fresh air and sunshine for a good part of the day to the company who just rushes them out and back in in order to sell at the higher prices of the organic marketplace. So here’s the deal. The new rule which takes effect June 2010 is that “30 percent [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 3:58 am
Dec 232009
Well sometime tomorrow afternoon “the fam” will descend onto my home and into my life. This includes guests from North Carolina, Virginia and Western Mass. We’re going to location A to do a party thing then back to my place to “party on”. The challenge to keep them all fed and happy while we compete at a variety of games (looks like Scrabble, Yahtzee and Table Hockey will be the big ones). Forget the Kennedy’s and touch football .. too tame.. you know there’s something very disturbing about the way every person in the bunch [...click to contimue reading...]
