Earlier this week the San Francisco Chronicle published an interesting article about food spending. In the story, author Rob Baedeker unscientifically asks grocery store goers if they know how much they spend on food each month. The majority have no food budget and have never totaled their grocery and eating out receipts. I'll admit, I had no clue how much I spent on food and was a little surprised when I checked in with my bank. Between groceries and restaurant bills, I spend a whopping $500 on food! How about you?
Just because it's cooler doesn't mean you have to stop having hearty salads for dinner. Fall's fabulous flavors, like pears, dark greens, and nuts, are excellent ingredients in dinner salads.
In this recipe, the cinnamon-spiced pears are roasted in a bath of orange juice. Parsley leaves add freshness and toasted pine nuts provide a delicious crunch. Creamy goat cheese and salty Parmesan cheese finish off the salad. This dish is also a perfect starter for a fancy dinner, so get the recipe and read more
October is National Popcorn Month, and there are so many reasons to celebrate. Every October, the kernel harvest signals another year of the air-popped pleasure. Popcorn is indeed one of America's all-time favorite snacks, with over 16 billion quarts consumed each year. That's more than 54 quarts per person! Here, nine popcorn recipes worth munching on.
Yesterday I came across a hilarious and poignant column in Slate discussing the drawbacks of the dreaded birthday dinner. "I hereby propose that the birthday dinner go the way of the $4 cup of coffee, the liar's mortgage, and the midsize banking institution," its author proclaims.
The truthful description of his birthday dinner nightmare includes awkward small-talk, excessively-ordered appetizers and drinks, and inequity when it comes to paying the hefty tab. Not to mention that since everyone celebrates once a year, birthday dinners can be frequent and repetitive. For this reason alone, I can't say I attend every birthday dinner I get invited to, and I never hold my own.
Still, it can be nice every now and then to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. What about you? Are you a fan of the birthday dinner? Have you been subjected to your (unfair) share of disastrous birthday dinners?
Last night I attended Jack Falstaff's first Farm to Table Grower's Dinner. The special menu features seasonal ingredients from local producers. The most exciting part of the meal (besides the delicious food) is that the farmers and wine makers dine with you.
I was lucky enough to speak with Audrey Sterling, the grande dame of Iron Horse vineyards. After fabulously describing the wines, she told me about how Iron Horse is served at the White House! Their varietals have been selected by the past five presidencies, dating back to Ronald Regan. It's a fun fact to tell guests when serving Iron Horse.
While I enjoyed all the wines they poured, my favorite was the 2006 Estate Pinot Noir ($40). It was subtly complex and incredibly smooth. Like the perfect little black dress, it's elegant, but stylish. It rolls through the mouth with fruity, earthy flavors and a rich aroma. The wine's made with a special precision-harvesting technique that closely examines each vines needs, resulting in a silky, wonderful wine. The wine was served with an intensely crispy, suckling pig porchetta, but I think it would be lovely with everything from comforting macaroni and cheese to braised beef.
A ghoulishly good dinner requires an equally devilish dessert. Your guests will be stunned when they see this graveyard cake. Complete with bleeding chocolate glaze and espresso shortbread headstones, it's practically a masterpiece!
There are quite a few steps involved, so get started a couple of days before the dinner. To simplify the procedure, consider substituting store-bought cookies for the headstones. For the recipe, read more
This soup ends up being a good source of three blood pressure-lowering minerals since the milk adds calcium and the potatoes deliver a dose of potassium, as well as magnesium.
Earlier this week the San Francisco Chronicle published an interesting article about food spending. In the story, author Rob Baedeker unscientifically asks grocery store goers if they know how much they spend on food each month. The majority have no food budget and have never totaled their grocery and eating out receipts. I'll admit, I had no clue how much I spent on food and was a little surprised when I checked in with my bank. Between groceries and restaurant bills, I spend a whopping $500 on food! How about you?
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