My brother sent this excellent video by Quarter Productions who gave us the awesome video of Chris Piascik drawing. The music is perfect for this video of a butcher using the entire hog.

Giggle, giggle. Spampersand.

I love when the announcer says something like, “The bear doesn’t even know it’s a contest.”

Via Kerry Skemp

I may have posted this Swedish Apple Pie recipe before, but it’s Thanksgiving, or as I call it in my head Pietime. Anyway, here’s the recipe for the best and dead simplest apple pie ever. I suggest making 2 of these pies at a time. You’ll just be disappointed if there aren’t any leftovers.

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Cut up and peel 4-6 pie apples into a pie plate.
Mix fist of sugar and a fist of cinnamon and sprinkle onto apples in pie plate.
Mix 1 cup flour with 1 cup sugar.
Mix sugar and flour with 1.5 sticks of butter and 1 egg.
Spread mixture evenly on top of apples.
Cook until golden brown (45-65 minutes).
Eat pie.
Eat leftover pie for breakfast.

PBS has posted (but doesn’t let you embed), the full-length video of Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire documentary. Haven’t gotten to this yet, but I will. In the meantime, here’s a preview via Kottke:

I’m helping to put on a fun event this weekend in Union Square. Going Nutty! features nuts from Superior Nut being used by chefs from all over Boston (Flour Bakery, Kickass Cupcakes, Channel Cafe, Rocca, OM Restaurant, Bloc 11, and how2heroes) in some of their favorite dishes.

If you want to get nuts this weekend, come to Bloc 11 and Grand from 2-4 PM on Sunday the 4th. All proceeds benefit the newly founded Juniper Fund, which was formed to honor John S. Hall, bass player for local band Addison Groove Project, who passed away in 2004. To RSVP or for more info, check out the Facebook Page.

Photo by Flickr user define23Back in the beginning of February, I posted about bill H-2932 in the Massachusetts legislature. The bill aimed to make the fluffernutter the official sandwich of the Commonwealth. According to the Globe, there will be a hearing tomorrow to determine whether Marshmallow Fluff, Necco Wafers, and Charleston Chews will make the cut as state foods.

Massachusetts already has five official state foods, among the most in the country: the baked navy bean, corn muffin, chocolate chip cookie, Boston cream pie, and Boston cream doughnut.

After my initial post about this in February, I emailed everyone in both the House and the Senate, as well as several Somerville politicos. Only a few responded (but I’ll email everyone again regarding this matter) and their responses are below the fold. I’ll continue to add responses as they come in.
Read the rest of this entry »

Back for year number 4, Union Square Main Streets has their What the Fluff fest on Saturday, the 26th from 4-7PM. Lots going on including:

Vendors with lots of Fluff treats will make this a real party. You’ll find a wacky collection of times, from Fluff t-shirts to soaps that look like ’smores, from savory barbeque to whoopie pies. Food vendors include: Kickass Cupcakes, Pao de Acucar, India Palace, Cantina la Mexicana and Somerville High School. Other vendors include: Union Square Main Streets, Groundwork Somerville, Neighborhood Health Plan, Grand, Yelp, Dirty Ass Soap.

In his latest Op-Ed for the Times, Michael Pollan sounds an optimistic note that even the worst case health care reforms will result in positive changes to the diets, and health, of most Americans. It will be a hard fight, but it’s expected that the bare minimum health care reform will make it harder for insurance companies to drop you when you get sick, while also not allowing them to decide to cover you or not based on preexisting conditions. This means, that for the first time, health insurance providers will actually be financially rewarded for keeping you healthy. If they have to face the consequences ($$$) of your soda drinking ass getting diabetes, they’re going to do what they can to make sure you don’t get diabetes, and they’re going to use their friends in Congress to help them.

But these rules may well be about to change — and, when it comes to reforming the American diet and food system, that step alone could be a game changer. Even under the weaker versions of health care reform now on offer, health insurers would be required to take everyone at the same rates, provide a standard level of coverage and keep people on their rolls regardless of their health. Terms like “pre-existing conditions” and “underwriting” would vanish from the health insurance rulebook — and, when they do, the relationship between the health insurance industry and the food industry will undergo a sea change.

As Emdash said last week some folks are boycotting Whole Foods for some dumb things that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said regarding the current health care debate. To completely destroy my credibility, I don’t think I actually read what he wrote, so take this with a bag of salt (that you may or may not buy at Whole Foods). I’ll only reiterate that I’m not boycotting Whole Foods, I don’t shop there because I don’t like it. You know who else isn’t boycotting Whole Foods? Michael Pollan:

So Mackey is wrong on health care, but Whole Foods is often right about food, and their support for the farmers matters more to me than the political views of their founder. I haven’t examined the political views of all the retailers who feed me, but I can imagine having a lot of eating problems if I make them a litmus test.

Via HuffPo and Joe.