Love Whole Foods or loathe it?

Over at Food Republic they've reprinted an essay from the New Yorker, How Whole Foods Created A New Breed of Shopper. As Tom Roston writes,  "In my darker moments, I imagine what it might be like to live through an alien invasion. I'm not a War of the Worlds, death-and-destruction kind of guy; I am more prone to creepier visions of the Invasion… read more

When mold on food is OK

We all have had that disconcerting moment - there's a bit of mold on a food item that, ordinarily, we'd be reluctant to toss. What to do...? In this article on the HuffPost, 4 Moldy Foods You Can Eat (Plus Which Foods to Toss), EatingWell gives some useful advice - we found it both interesting and ironic that you can keep… read more

The latest food crazes

One of the joys of being part of the EYB community is the ability to stay on top of the latest food crazes and making a game of guessing just how lasting they may be. After all (at the risk of showing our age) we remember when extra virgin olive oil and real Parmigiano Reggiano were considered off-the-wall items. And… read more

New healthy food app for kids gets over 1 million downloads

As anyone with an iPhone or iPad knows, the number of available apps is staggering. So when one breaks through, it receives a lot of publicity. And recently we noticed one app that's creating quite a stir and earning rave reviews. Designed by the Fun Machine in coordination with Whole Kids, (the Whole Foods' foundation that encourages healthy eating in… read more

Don’t feel bad about hating cilantro

Do you really dislike cilantro, or know of someone who does? Cilantro seems to be increasingly popular in today's recipes, not only in Tex-Mex food, but expanding across all cultural boundaries. In fact, many people love it so much they routinely substitute cilantro for parsley. Yet some people truly dislike cilantro - claiming it tastes of soap and worse. The… read more

Does drinking more coffee really make you live longer?

Atlantic Magazine reports that "According to research published in the  New England Journal of Medicine, people who drank four or five cups of coffee a day tended to live longer than those who drank only a cup or less. The benefit was more pronounced for women, but men also stand to gain somewhat from pounding joe." The ideal amount appeared… read more

Two chefs ignore lofty food goals in favor of brilliant food

The New York Times has a thought-provoking article interviewing two famous chefs - Thomas Keller and Andoni Luis Aduriz of Spain. In the article, For Them a Great Meal Tops Good Intentions, both push aside the social idea of social responsibility that many chefs (Alice Waters leading the field) regard as their raison d'être. As these two argue: "Supporting local agriculture and food… read more

Food Blogger Controversy: A Follow-up

We recently took notice of a blog on the IACP site attacking food bloggers, (see our blog, Should amateur food bloggers be paid to develop recipes?) and the web has energetically picked up the argument. We wanted to follow up with a couple of items. First, the IACP has weighed in now with their entry, A Brief Bit of Context… read more

Should “amateur” food bloggers be paid to develop recipes?

In an opinion column called "Faking It" at the IACP* site, Amy Reiley has stirred up quite a hornet's nest. Apparently she was unaware until the last IACP conference that, "major as well as small, well-respected organizations in the culinary business (like Kraft, the Got Milk? campaign, Kitchenaid, etc.) are contacting high profile food and lifestyle bloggers to endorse products,… read more

Two cutting-edge culinary items: Cooking with cannibis & 15 weird lollipops

Here at EYB we like to bring our community cutting-edge news from the culinary world. In that spirit, here are a couple of items that caught our attention. In Oregon, the first restaurant specializing in marijuana-baked items has opened and is sharing their cooking tips with their clients (please use only where legal). And we present 15 weird lollipops. While insects… read more

Basic cooking plus foods of the future

We've recently run across two insightful, but quite different interviews about cooking and food. In the first, Mark Bittman discusses his new book, How to Cook Everything: The Basics. And, per usual, he doesn't sugar coat his opinions, stating frankly, "We know people skip two or three generations learning how to cook. Everyone with a brain acknowledges cooking is important."… read more

Best jarred pasta sauces, food porn, Food Blogging for Dummies

It's either Sunday or Monday morning, depending on where you're reading this, and either way we've gathered a variety of serious - and not so serious - articles for some fun reading. We're presenting a recent taste test on jarred pasta sauces from Serious Eats, we're looking at Neil Patrick Harris' new Twitter feed "Food Porn," and there's a collection on… read more

Steak scam – that isn’t Kobe beef you’re eating

Forbes Magazine is running a two-part expose on the latest food scam - selling high-priced steaks and meat for even higher prices by labeling them "Kobe." The label "Kobe" became synonymous with high quality beef after numerous reports about a Japanese beef cow, grown in a small herd, that is intensively nurtured to provide the tenderest meat. And, in fact, in… read more

A list for dreaming and a list for practical use

For today's blog we were torn between dreaming of traveling to the best outdoor farmer's markets or presenting some practical advice on how to best store your food items. Taking the easy way out, we decided to do both. First up is National Geographic's list of the top 10 outdoor food markets (thanks to The Kitchn for pointing us in this… read more

The best and worst grocery stores

As reported by ABC News, Consumer Reports just published an indepth report on the best and worst supermarkets. Among some of their more interesting findings: most shoppers do not shop exclusively at just one store; store brands are as popular as brand names; and, to save money, always enter the store from the left side. And the most liked? Wegman's, Trader… read more

IACP expands its awards to infinity and beyond (or at least the new media)

The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) has traditionally handed out annual cookbook awards, among the most prestigious in the industry. Additionally, they have honored great culinary writing with the Bert Greene Awards. This year, in a further outreach, they expanded their awards to include "New Media and Broadcast," a group containing online food blogs, websites, and culinary video and… read more

Does chocolate help keep you lean?

Over at Salt they're discussing some recent good news for chocolate lovers - new research that shows that eating chocolate regularly may help keep you thinner. Why? It's possible that due to special compounds in the chocolate, the fat in chocolate may leave our bodies before being absorbed. No one is yet arguing for an all-chocolate diet, but eating a… read more

Designer fruit-the iMandarin

Described as a "celebration of a fruit's perfect design," the Smithsonian blog, Designer Decoded, has a seven-part article on the Cutie - a seedless, easily peelable mandarin designed specifically to be kid-friendly. We're not talking about genetic modification, rather a design and marketing approach almost as intense as what created the iPhone, As the blog says: "While more obviously designed objects are… read more

Eat intensely flavored food to keep portion sizes small

According to the Salt (NPR's food blog) and a study in Flavour, smell can affect how much we eat. The more intense the aroma, the smaller the bite. It's logical; when we encounter a new especially aromatic food, we tend to try it out with just a nibble. This could be a diet approach that even the most avid foodie… read more

What’s new in the natural products expo

Remember chia pets? They're back....but now on your plate-at least the seeds are. The largest natural products exposition was recently held in Los Angeles and, besides reintroducing chia seeds, it highlighted some interesting trends in natural foods. Supplements are losing favor while old-fashioned ingredients are making a comeback. Snacks, drinks, and baby foods are all "hot" categories. And a big… read more

Andrew Carmellini comes clean on ghostwriters

I just saw a funny tweet where chef Andrew Carmellini owns up to the important role his co-writer played in the writing of his two cookbooks.  If only all cookbook "authors" were this honest.  Though in full disclosure, his co-writer is also his wife! read more

Now Gwyneth too denies using ghostwriters

Gwyneth Paltrow has added her voice to the chorus of cookbook authors denying they use ghostwriters.  It is interesting though that her book My Father's Daughter was used to illustrate the article in the New York Times that stirred up this hornet's nest.  What exactly did her co-writer Julia Turshen do if Gwyneth wrote every word herself, as she now claims? read more

Pizza cornucopias

With the release of the new iPad, other innovations have received little attention. But the recent pizza expo in Las Vegas-attended by 10,000 people-highlighted some fun developments in the world of pizza. So are pizza cones the next big pizza thing? read more

Hear Susie talk about how her job as a cookbook reviewer impacts her kids

Fascinating radio piece by Susie on New England Public Radio on how her constant testing of cookbooks for her reviewing jobs at NPR Radio, The Boston Globe and of course EYB, mean that her children very rarely get repeat dinners.  And how their palates have had to adjust to the exotic and (sometimes) downright bad. read more

London eating

Although I now live on the opposite side of the world to my home city of London, I'm fortunate to get back often enough to still feel in touch.   I don't tend to keep up to date while I'm away, so sometimes I find a new trend has gripped the country since my previous visit, though I'm still hoping for… read more
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