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New podcast: How soldiers eat on the front lines
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There’s a new episode of the Crispy on the Outside podcast up and it’s a very special one. We interviewed Capt. Kevin Adams, a good friend of mine who is an Army JAG officer stationed in Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. If you know me, then you probably know Kevin, too.
We talked about what soldiers in the Army eat. This is a fascinating episode that you don’t want to miss. He tell us about the base’s dining facilities that offer less-than-comforting comfort foods, MREs, and the many fast food options available. Notable among these is a the trailer inside of which is a detailed replica of a real Starbucks. Kevin goes in to detail about the foods the Army provides for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and also the rules of eating and staying in shape.
Also up today is the new episode of In Conversation. Cord and I talked about cleaning house, zen and meditation, Wordpress and blogging, Facebook and Twitter spam (check out twerpscan.com), Cord’s super-secret conference and intimate groups, InConversationCon 2011, RSS and Yahoo! Pipes, Grand Theft Auto 4, and publish then filter.
Just finished the first video from Crispy on the Outsite TV: The McJito! Happy St. Patty’s Day!
Announcing Crispy on the Outside
Folks, after much preparation, I’m happy to pull back the covers on my latest web venture: crispyontheoutside.com. It is an irreverent food blog authored by my good friend Baylen Linnekin. Its focus will be the delicious underbelly of the food world, with a special emphasis on outlawed foods and unconventional tastes. Just now Baylen posted this breaking story:
Gordon Ramsay quietly closed his second restaurant in six months over the weekend. Problems at La Noisette seemed to center more on the space than the food. With the closing, he also loses one of his dozen Michelins, and further shifts the focus of his empire to a more mid-market clientele. …
The shutdown was abrupt, and as of 2pm EDT, La Noisette — though most of their website was shuttered to all but the Google cache — was still accepting reservations. (I reserved online for today, and received immediate confirmation that “a member of our team will contact you shortly.”)
A favorite feature is “This Week in Bacon,” and great posts so far include “Pigs Shudder in Blankets During Cooks’ IHOP Knife Fight” and “McFlurry of Activity Shows Amy Winehouse Can’t Get off the Sauce.” Awesome.
Please check it out. I’d love to hear your comments. Also feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed. And we would be so grateful if your would write it up on your blog.
I’ve been meaning to post this since I got a flyer for it in my copy of the Inland Empire DVD: David Lynch has his own brand of organic coffee. It’s called David Lynch Signature Cup and it kinda reminds me of Trump Steaks, “The World’s Greatest Steaks”™ available exclusively from the Sharper Image.
That’s what you get for tricking little children
The Sneaky Chef is a cookbook for parents who want to con their children into eating foods they would otherwise like to avoid, like vegetables and other non-hot-dog products. The New York Times says its recipes “camouflage puréed vegetables and fruits in comfort food for children[.]” Kathleen gave it to her brother and sister-in-law this Christmas and they loved it, though I can’t say the same for their M&M-aware two-year-old.
Now the author of the book, Missy Chase Lapin, has sued Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, for copyright infringement. Seinfeld, it turns out, also has a kid-defrauding tome, which is called Deceptively Delicious.
Now, the first thing that pops to mind is that recipes aren’t subject to copyright, only their expression. Even if you were going to nick someone else’s recipe for your book, you’d write your own little paragraph introducing it, and it seems like that’s what Seinfeld did. So what do the suit allege? Similarities in “original expression, philosophy, premise, approach, explanations, discussions, reflections, organization, methodology and overall look and feel.” Except for maybe the first thing, she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
What I like even better, though, it the defamation suit she has filed against Jerry Seinfeld for, among other things, calling her “a wacko.” According to the Times,
I’m digging the idea of edited aggregation lately. Here is fabsearch.com, which compiles hotspots featured in a set of hip media outlets. “Think of us as your private secretary who reads glossy magazines, speaks with local trend setters, then reports valuable info to you.”On the Letterman show, Mr. Seinfeld did not refer to Ms. Lapine by name, but spoke of a “three-name woman” and said that “if you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins.” The complaint states that Ms. Lapine is “not a violent or dangerous person.”
Allez cuisine!
One of my favorite things about Iron Chef America (and there are many) is the ham that is The Chairman. Each time after he’s on screen I ask Kathleen, “Who is that guy?” and I inform her of my intention to find out and start a fan club. Consider this the first step.Turns out he’s Mark Dacascos, an actor and martial arts dude. Of his extensive action and kung-fu film repertoire I can’t say I’ve heard, let alone seen any of them. Interestingly he played the lead in a short-lived TV version of The Crow. Here is the official Mark Dacascos website. Here he is in the trailer for “I Am Omega,” which looks way more fun than the new Will Smith remake.
The Miami Herald reports that a group of 25 Cuban migrants who came ashore yesterday night made their way to an Oakland Park Waffle House at around 11 p.m. from where they called police. I couldn’t think of a better entree to the bounty of this country. No word on whether they had a patty melt. Hat tip Baylen.
Starbucks free coffee day on March 15
Last year I posted a tip about Starbucks’ first-ever Starbucks Coffee Break, a now annual event in which the coffee chain gives anyone who stops by a free tall cup of joe. For some reason that post generated an insane amount of traffic for this site. So, for your enjoyment, this year’s Coffee Break will take place on the same date as last year, the Ides of March, i.e. the 15th. Last year the free cup was only available from 10 a.m. to noon and although I can’t find any info about hours this year, I imagine it’ll be the same deal.Devil food
Awesome article at WorldNetDaily by columnist Jim Rutz. Not at all a parody. A snippet: “Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That’s why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today’s rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products.”Stoney’s
DC Fud reviews the new Stoney’s. It’s not the same, but how could it be? “I walked into a perfectly clean, crowded bar full of freshly-scrubbed young professionals. A bar that now has a larger wine and microbrew selection, a heck of a lot more seating, and no rickety stairs to negotiate when heading to the bathroom. None of the old guys were there at all. Conversation was more policy than prose, and the waitresses were actually attractive. As though my system wasn’t shocked enough, Stoney’s now takes credit cards!”NYC bans trans-fats
They actually did it. According to AP: “The Board of Health voted [unanimously] Tuesday to make New York the nation’s first city to ban artery-clogging artificial trans fats at restaurants — from the corner pizzeria to high-end bakeries.”“Nobody wants to take away your french fries and hamburgers — I love those things, too,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said recently. “But if you can make them with something that is less damaging to your health, we should do that.”
We can also make walking down the street safer by requiring everyone to wear padding and a helment. I wonder if he’s for that, too? Next Wednesday AFF will host a roundtable on the burgeoning nanny state. Baylen Linnekin will not be speaking at the event.
Political Bourdain
I have a guest post at DCFUD plugging the new Doublethink piece on Anthony Bourdain as libertarian that I should have plugged here a week ago. In it, Beylen Linnekin makes the case that Bourdain is the best popular example of someone living a libertarian lifestyle today. Baylen interviewed Bourdain for the article and audio of their 40-minute conversation is also online.Maybe why the Zune comes in brown
From Starbucks Gossip: Dark brown previously had an earthy, utilitarian reputation. Now, in word-association studies, people described brown as “rich” and “robust,” as opposed to “dirt” or “earth.” Color forecaster Leatrice Eiseman says: “Brown coming in a more elegant kind of way can truly be attributed to Starbucks. They literally invented this whole new concept of, ‘It’s not a cup of coffee, it’s espresso.’”NYC Mulls Ban on Trans Fats in Eateries
AP: NYC Mulls Ban on Trans Fats in Eateries: “Three years after the city banned smoking in restaurants, health officials are talking about prohibiting something they say is almost as bad: artificial trans fatty acids. The city health department unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would bar cooks at any of the city’s 24,600 food service establishments from using ingredients that contain the artery-clogging substance, commonly listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil. … Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden acknowledged that the ban would be a challenge for restaurants, but he said trans fats can easily be replaced with substitute oils that taste the same or better and are far less unhealthy.” I can only imagine what this bureaucrat thinks tastes good. And remember, this is the same NYC health department that makes all diabetics register with the state.Get Tony Bourdain’s Book, The Nasty Bits, for Free!
Do you love Anthony Bourdain as much as I do? Then this isn’t for you because you’ve already bought and read his latest book. But if you don’t know why he rocks, yet, check this out: The Nasty Bits, Bourdain’s latest collection of kitchen gossip and food travelogue, came out last May, and you can get a copy for absolutely free. Amstel Light and MSN are running a joint promotional offer - click, enter your info, and they’ll send you a free copy. The offer is closed to California residents, and that serves them right for living in a nanny state. Hat tip The Kitchen.Cork’d
Cork’d: I discovered this yesterday and thought I’d pass it along. This great site brings Web 2.0, tags, Ruby on Rails, and every other buzz tech to keeping a wine journal and sharing your results. According to the site, you can: Catalog, rate, and review wines in your Wine Journal. Find out what your buddies are tasting. Discover and keep track of new wines you’d like to buy and try.” It’s very cool to be able to click on a tag like “buttery” or “smoky” and get wines tagged that way by other users. And the price comparison feature rocks.House OKs bill to ban horse slaughtering
House OKs bill to ban horse slaughtering: The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which still awaits a vote in the Senate, passed 263-146, setting the stage for the possible elimination of an industry Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) called “a grossly inhumane business. I won’t go on about how insane this is, but I’ll share that after hearing about the bill last week, I got a hankering for some Tasajo, a Cuban dish of, you guessed it, horse meat made with sweet peppers and onions and served with sweet potato. So, in Miami for labor day, I asked my dad to make some for me, which he did with meat my mom readily found at the corner market. A couple of things: 1) I wonder how many other folks are seeking out horse meat as a result of the publicity from the bill? 2) We need to get the powerful Cuban lobby on this. 3) The meat my mom bought was imported (from Peru, I think). The bill doesn’t cover importation, does it? So it just kills an American industry without doing much to reduce supply?Continue reading this post »
New England blend is wicked retarded
From The Boston Herald: Starbucks yesterday unveiled “New England Blend” — Starbucks’ first coffee designed for one specific U.S. region. … Starbucks developed the blend this spring by having 7,500 New Englanders taste-test three types of coffee: mild, medium and bold. … Starbucks plans to sell the brand exclusively in New England, charging what the chain’s other blends fetch: $12.95 a pound or about $1.50 for a 12-ounce cup.” According to one taster, “It’s thicker than most coffees and definitely strong[.]” Nothing wrong with thick and strong. I can’t wait for a D.C. blend that’s a weak and lukewarm compromise. Hat tip Baylen.Heroes in Chicago
Heroes in Chicago. From the NYT: “In one of the more unlikely (and opulent) demonstrations of civil disobedience, a handful of restaurants here that never carry foie gras, the fattened livers of ducks and geese, featured it on the very day that Chicago became the first city in the nation to outlaw sale of the delicacy.” These people are heroes and I hope all the foodies in Chicago reward them and insist on being served foie gras all the time. Restaurants also filed a lawsuit yesterday. Hat tip Kathleen.-
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This is the personal site of Jerry Brito, a lawyer and writer in Washington, D.C. He’s an academic researcher and the creator of Unclutterer and several other blogs. More »
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