Over the years I’ve made many culinary experiments for work, church, and neighborhood potlucks. My statistics project in grad school was comparing responses to brownies made with cocoa and butter vs. brownies made with unsweetened chocolate, using a captive audience of students in the food science lab I taught. I’ve often joked that my friends …
Category: Food
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/01/30/informed-consent-for-potluck-offerings/
Jan 21
France in Mourning Again
French icons seem to be dying of late. Last month it was Johnny Hallyday and a member of L’Académie Française. This month it was chef Paul Bocuse, the Lion of Lyon. Bocuse was named Chef of the 20th Century. He looked suspiciously like the chef in the Disney cartoon “Ratatouille“. (Coincidence? C’est possible.) This New York …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/01/21/france-in-mourning-again/
Jan 15
Baking Frenzy
Periodically I have a weekend when all I have to do is bake. Normally these baking frenzies occur around Christmas; however, we didn’t get back from vacation until December 20th. So there was pent-up demand to fling some flour around. Two occasions precipitated this weekend’s frenzy. Last week our friend BG gifted me with some …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/01/15/baking-frenzy/
Jan 13
You Can Take the Scientist Out of the Lab…
But you can’t take the lab out of the scientist. Although I haven’t worked in a lab for over 15 years, I still use my scientific chops in the kitchen when I cook or bake. Do the background research. Back in the day, I’d pull research articles and evaluate the methods and results. Now I …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/01/13/you-can-take-the-scientist-out-of-the-lab/
Jan 02
On New Year’s Day
We spent New Year’s Eve with our former neighbors. Our host made black-eyed pea soup, while Julian and I brought the fixings for raclette. After dinner we played Taboo. The party broke up around 11, so I was in bed by midnight. Julian was left to eat his stroke-of-midnight herring with the cats. (He believes …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/01/02/on-new-years-day/
Dec 31
Asian Groceries for the Newbie
Walking into an Asian supermarket for the first time can be an overwhelming experience. Who knew that there were so many varieties of soy sauce? What am I supposed to do with some of these herbs? And what is natto? Relax. Take a deep breath. Here is a guide to help newcomers to Asian cuisines …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/31/asian-groceries-for-the-newbie/
Dec 30
The Christmas Cookbook Haul
I got three cookbooks this year. One is a memoir with recipes, the other two are conventional cookbooks. Unforgettable: The Bold Flavors of Paula Wolfert’s Renegade Life, by Emily Kaiser Thelin. This is the memoir with recipes, and has a poignant story behind it. Thelin (along with Andrea Nguyen) decided that Wolfert’s story needed to …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/30/the-christmas-cookbook-haul/
Dec 23
Quintessential Cookbooks
I was looking at the cookbook shelves this morning and thought about what I’d deem as the seminal cookbooks of each decade. Each choice had to sum up the food zeitgeist. Some decades were easier than others. Discussion is welcome. 1950’s: The Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook. My mother’s copy of this cookbook is in tatters, …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/23/quintessential-cookbooks/
Dec 19
Bistro Mode
The bistro (sometimes spelled bistrot) is a standard French restaurant term. According to Wikipedia (article in French), the bistro occupies a space in the restaurant hierarchy between brasserie and fine-dining restaurant in terms of food and price point. As you’ll see below, those definitions are quite fluid. The origin of the word may be Russian, …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/19/bistro-mode/
Dec 17
Restaurants in the US versus France
The average American will notice significant differences in restaurants in France (and Europe in general) compared to home. Here are a few: Waiting on customers is considered an interim position in the US. Students and starving artists of all types make up a high percentage of waitstaff. In Europe, especially in high-end restaurants, customer service …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/17/restaurants-in-the-us-versus-france/
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