Tuesday Megalinks

Folks, I don’t know if you knew this, but it’s not only National Jelly Bean Day and National Karaoke Week, but also National Welding Month. So get out there, pop a Buttered Popcorn, belt “Since You’ve Been Gone,” and hug the nearest guy holding a blowtorch.

AV Club: Taste Test – Nutriloaf
And you may ask yourself, “Sweet merciful crap, what is that THING?” And the Onion's answer is: “Nutriloaf, a.k.a. Prison Loaf, a.k.a. what it tastes like to have your soul whither and die inside of you.”

Casual Kitchen: More Applications of the 80/20 Rule to Diet, Food and Cooking
A sweet continuation/expansion of Dan’s original piece on the 80/20 cooking rule. He’s been on a tear lately with the recipes, too, so be sure to check one out.

Chow: Q&A Alton Brown
OO! Alton’s got a sequel to Feasting on Asphalt coming up called Feasting on Waves. It’s Alton on the sea! And after that? Feasting in Air and Space. AND? He’ll be featured in the Wii version of Iron Chef: Supreme Cuisine. Man, I love this guy.

CNN: Men eat meat, women eat veggies
A.k.a. Also - Puppies are Fuzzy and Socks Feel Nice: Things We Learned Just By Being Alive (Thanks to Get Fit Slowly for the link.)

CNN: Moms’ new battle – the food price bulge
Quick, story-based summary of nationwide saving strategies. This stuff's been all over Frugal Hacks for the last 47 years, but it's nice to see a more widespread acceptance of the frugality shebang.

The Economist: The new face of hunger
We’ve heard a lot about rising U.S. food prices lately, but they’re absolutely soaring in other corners of the globe. Basics (wheat, corn, rice) have jumped as much as 141%, and dozens of countries are in serious danger of a shortage. The really interesting part is where it all comes from: “The changes include the gentle upward pressure from people in China and India eating more grain and meat as they grow rich and the sudden, voracious appetites of western biofuels programmes, which convert cereals into fuel.” (Thanks to Serious Eats for the link.)

Festival of Frugality #122: On Financial Success
In clever paragraph format. Hark! The keyboard is truly mightier than the sword, good sir!

iVillage: How to Use Up Leftover Ingredients
Short’n sweet slideshow on … take a guess. It includes quite a few recipes along with the photos of gray-haired aunties opening suspiciously perfect refrigerators, so skip on over.

The Kitchn: Kitchen Spotlight – London Urchin’s Fold-Out Jewel Box
This tiny Transformer-esque galley took top honors in Apartment Therapy’s Smallest Coolest Kitchen contest last year, and with such good reason. Flat-dwellers, take notes! (P.S. The 2008 Small Cool Contest is up right now at AT, and it’s definitely way fun. East #9: Roxy’s Room to Grow is my favorite so far.)

NY Journal: Stars, Here and Elsewhere
Confidential to New Yorkers: ever wonder why a four-star Time Out eatery might only notch two stars from the New York Times? Here’s your answer. Nice breakdown of the restaurant star rating system for Michelin, the Daily News, New York Magazine and more.

New York Times: Leftovers, Yes, but Perfectly Crisp
Speaking about NYC, it looks like the frugality movement finally made it over. S’about time, Mets fans.

Pinch My Salt: Use Food Blog Search to Find the Best Recipes
Thorough, gushing review/description of Food Blog Search, an excellent, Google-sponsored search engine for blog-spawned recipes, as well as a must-see if you like pretty pictures, enjoy clever writing, and/or want to get off the AllRecipes/Epicurious/Food Network grid.

Slashfood: Jamie Oliver says lighter meals for a better chance to score
(*Bowm-chicka-bowm-bowm.*) Just another pleasant side effect to light eating. Know what I mean, baby? (*wink*)

Torontoist: Vintage Toronto Ads - How to Prevent a Domestic Disturbance
For anyone who’s ever reminisced about the good old days: Torontoist found a vintage Canadian Heinz ad that begins with the following excerpt: “Most husbands, nowadays, have stopped beating their wives…” And yes, it gets better. Crazy. (Thanks to Jezebel for the link.)

Wall Street Journal: NYC Can Force Chain Restaurants to Post Calorie Counts
Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and Burger King are gonna hafta start listing health information, which is even MORE important in light of recent findings that very few people have any idea what’s in the average fast-food sandwich. (Thanks to Consumerist for the link.)

(Photos courtesy of The Onion AV Club, Nouriche, and SMH.com.)

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CHG Favorites of the Week

Hey everbody! I learned how to embed videos! Well, actually reader Hops taught me because I'm 30 and don't understand this newfangled technology stuff. Now, if there's anyone out there that can explain the flashing "12:00" on my alarm clock ...

Blog of the Week
My Recycled Bags
After a few seconds on this site, you too will be pretty amazed at what Cindy can do with a few dozen used plastic grocery bags, and how cute they can look when they’re repurposed the right way. She’s also newly diagnosed with breast cancer, so if you can pop over and lend a few words of support and/or “Wow! Nice bags!” it would be awesome.

Comedy of the Week
"Cookie Monster Searches Deep Within Himself and Asks: Is Me Really Monster?" at McSweeney's
Oh man – HILARIOUS. An excerpt: “Snuffleupagus not supposed to exist—woolly mammoths extinct. His very existence monstrous. Me least like monster. Me maybe have unhealthy obsession, but me no monster.” Many, many thanks to reader Beanalby for the link.

Quote of the Week
"As you know, the hot dog was invented in America when a family of raccoons wandered into a toothpaste factory." – Stephen Colbert

Service Organization of the Week
Canstruction
This is dead brilliant, and it’s a bit difficult to get all the details right, so I’ll let the site do it: “Canstruction is a design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held. At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers.” How neat is that?

Tip of the Week
Kings County’s local ant population decided to convene at our back door this past weekend. It wasn’t terrible, as Brooklyn ants are pretty laconic, preferring to smoke, swear, and whistle at 16-year-olds rather than lay siege to our food, but it did necessitate a terrible killing spree, along with 14,000 pounds of boric acid mashed into various household crevices. (Poisonous! But effective!) In retrospect, I would have been a lot better reading this post at Get Rich Slowly before totally losing my mind.

Untried Cheap, Healthy Recipe of the Week
Tube-Shaped Pasta with Wild Mushrooms at Serious Eats
Simple, filling, and still bizarrely Spring-y, I bet you could do this with button mushrooms and a little less olive oil and still get a pretty decent meal. Anybody wanna give it a shot?

Video of the Week
“Lips Like Sugar” by Echo and the Bunnymen
Ladies and, uh, the one gentleman that reads the blog … it’s time to muss your hair, don a black peacoat, and start gazing at your navel, because the BUNNYMEN are here. Yes, the BUNNYMEN. ALL HAIL THE BUNNYMEN. (*dances*) Woot!



Special Extra Bonus Video That Has Absolutely Nothing to Do With Food … of the Week:
The Collected Wisdom of Angela Chase
If any of you, like, hit high school in the mid-‘90s, odds are Claire Danes was, like, thinking everything you were, like, thinking. About life. About love. About school. About how Jordan Catalano’s hair hit his jawline at juuust the right angle. About how your mom is always, like, doing things that annoy you. About how Rayanne needs to cut back on the booze a little bit. About how Tino probably doesn’t exist. Anyway, like, these are her insights, and you should, like, watch them. (Thanks to Jezebel for the link.)

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Tuesday Megalinks: The Ides of April Edition

Chocolate & Zucchini: On Greens, and How to Keep Them Fresh
One genius’ strategy for preserving leafy thingies. Hint: paper towels are involved, so go grab some Brawny. (Thanks to Slashfood for the link.)

Chow: “By the Way, I’m Vegan”
Really interesting piece on how upscale restaurants deal with dietary restrictions. Turns out, folks with severe (life-threatening) food allergies are using something called The Card, which can be passed around the kitchen so nobody’s accidentally killed by a stray nut. (Speaking of – I knew a guy once with a severe peanut allergy. You couldn’t eat and shake his hand without washing in between, or it would seriously put his life in danger. That's, um, nuts. [Sorry.])

Culinate: Butter me up
How could something so deleterious to our arteries ameliorate our moods to such a degree? (Translation: How could something so dang bad taste so dang good?) Debra Gwartney explores her personal relationship with churned milk.

Festival of Frugality #121: Rather Be Shopping
Ah, the Tax Day edition. Happy April 15th, everybody! (And thanks to Kyle for making The Hour: How 60 Minutes a Week Can Save Hundreds of Dollars on Food an editor's pick! Yay!)

Frugal Upstate: Making Maple Syrup
Delicious, natural french toast topping, straight from Jenn’s driveway. This looks so neat, I guarantee you’re gonna wanna lick a tree afterward.

The Kitchn: How to Sear Meat
I originally, mistakenly read this as “How to Sear Men,” and wondered briefly if The Kitchn was dabbling in cannibalism. It didn't help that the very next post was about having an old friend for dinner. (Muahahahahahaha.)

The Kitchn: What Should I Do With These Lemons?
Because there’s only so much lemonade and lemon bars one can tolerate. (Hm. On second thought, that’s patently false. I think, if given the choice, I could survive on lemonade and lemon bars for about 400 years. There’s no downside here.)

Make it From Scratch Festival: This Wasn’t in the Plan
Alison takes over festival duties this week, and the very first post is about Cindy's super-sweet looking messenger bag made from spare plastic sacks. It's the ultimate in recycling, people!

MSNBC: Smallest salad wins in friendly food battle
Boy, this makes me crazy. Ladies (and gents), EATING IS NOT A COMPETITION. (Er, unless you’re a pro competitive eater, a la Kobayashi.) Please, go out there and have a burrito.

New York Times: Latest College Reading Lists – Menus with Pho and Lobster
Wow. This beats the everloving crap out of what we ate at school. More Broccoli Cheesebake and Turkey Tetrazzini, freshmen? (If you’re good, there’s a side of tots in it for you.)

Serious Eats: A Change of Heart Concerning Sandra Lee
Hm. It looks like Lee’s Chefography special might have softened some attitudes toward her. She DID pull her family through some pretty tough times, so maybe she’s not all bad?

Serious Eats: The Boundless Value of Disposable Chopsticks
Chopsticks: they’re not just for hunks of raw fish anymore. S.E. has eight creative uses for free sticks, plus a few other suggestions for random bits and pieces located around the kitchen.

Serious Eats: Tips for Enjoyable Drinking Without Going Broke
A few nice tricks for the teetotalers in your life. Best idea: don’t use good liquor for mixed drinks. High-quality booze should be sipped on its own anyway, and milk/mix will dilute the fabulousness.

Simple Dollar: Eight Questions About the Current State of the Economy and How it Affects You
This has very little to do with food, but it’s a MONSTER post nonetheless. Trent explains in layman’s terms the ins and outs of the subprime mortgage crisis, and what it will mean to Joe Sixpack. A must-read.

Slashfood: Breast milk cheese, anyone?
Is it a delicacy? The ultimate in frugality? Or a terrible, terrible hoax? (Please don’t try this at home to see.)

Wired: How to Shop and Eat Locally
Brief, informative article on CSAs and 100-mile grocery plans. This is a great magazine, by the way, whether you're a World of Warcraft player or just a secret mad scientist. (Thanks to Lifehacker for the link.)

Wise Bread: Eight Natural Ways to Make Water More Flavorful
Does hydrogen dioxide bore you? Could your daily hydration use a little more je ne sais quoi? Should throwing back some aqua bring on such endless bouts of ennui? Never fear – Wise Bread is here, with a few boss tricks to jazz up your Evian.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr members cookthinker, foodmuse, and smokeyrockford.)

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CHG Favorites of the Week

Blog of the Week
Home Ec 101
Worth a visit for the graphics alone, Ivy and Heather's cooking/cleaning/snarking blog is a neato source for not only the domestically challenged, but their pearl-necklace-and-apron-sporting older sisters, as well. Far out!

Book of the Week (That I Can’t Stop Blathering About)
A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain
Sweet, sweet readers – I know I’ve gone on ad nauseum about this travelogue the last few weeks, but I swear on all that’s good and true, it’s totally worth it. Please, do yourself a favor and check it out of the library RIGHT NOW. Bourdain writes circles around every person who’s ever picked up a pen, living or dead (except maybe Philip Roth), and this particular novel will make you want to head to Cambodia and eat cobra hearts immediately.

Comedy of the Week
“Hey Food” by Cookie Monster and the Sesame Street Beetles
From the creators of “Letter B” comes this pro-comestible performance by a few mop-top muppets (moppets?) and the estimable Mr. Monster. Speaking of, did anyone else, when they were little, think he was actually eating those cookies? I did, and couldn’t understand how he did it without a tongue. Mysterious!

Organization of the Week
Idol Gives Back
Ain’t nothing like a star-studded quasi-telethon to get America’s hearts in a giving mood. This year’s Simon-sponsored extravaganza will benefit Children’s Defense Fund, The Children’s Health Fund, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Make it Right, Malaria No More, and Save the Children. Check out this page for a phone number, address, and donation link.

Quote of the Week
“If life gives you lemons, make some kind of fruity juice.” - Conan O'Brien

Tip of the Week
To save storage bags when freezing smaller cuts of meat, place the first piece in the bag and squeeze out the air. Then, fold the remaining part of the bag over, insert the second piece, and seal. If it’s kept folded during the freezing process, there should be a partition of air between the two meats.

Untried Cheap, Healthy Recipe of the Week
Michael Anthony’s Fork-Crushed Purple Majesty Potatoes at Smitten Kitchen
Oh my my, aren’t these just the prettiest things you ever done seen? I do declare, they’re purpler than Prince himself. And they probably taste better, too. (Addendum: the Michael Anthony in question is Michael Anthony the chef, not Michael Anthony the bassist from Van Halen.)

Video of the Week
“Pour Some Sugar on Me” – Def Leppard
Ahhhhh, the anthems of my tween years. Who amongst us hasn’t jammed out to this at their 8th grade Halloween Dance? (Um … younger readers, don’t answer that.)

(Special extra bonus joke:
Q: What has nine arms and sucks?
A: Def Leppard)

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Tuesday Megalinks: The Jayhawks Edition

Like a three-pointer at the buzzer, this week’s links will win your heart and make people from Tennessee feel bad. Congrats, Kansas!

Being Frugal: When Times are Tight - 168 Frugal Tips to Make Your Dollar Stretch
Whoa, nelly. Lynnae’s hit the motherlode. This is basically every personal finance/frugality blog, wrapped in a single post with pretty paper and a big, fat bow. Three woots!

Carnival of Personal Finance #147: MoneyNing
Longest. Carnival. Ever. Set an hour or two aside to peruse, and you’ll never have to read another money book again. (Until next week.)

CNN: Tasty tricks for cutting fat, calories from recipes
Quick and dirty article about lighter substitutes for oil, butter, etc. Has anyone ever tried the canned-pumpkin-for-vegetable-oil trick? Spill, por favor.

Consumerist Conglomerist: 5 Helpful Grocery Shopping Tips
Oh, Consumerist – you saucy minx. I do adore a good April Fool’s Day jest.

Consumerist: Walmart Shoppers Feeling the Pain When Buying Groceries
The post is short and to the point, but the comments – oh, the comments. There were 123 at last glance, and they waver between “I just sold my grandma for a loaf of bread,” and “I made soup out of my sofa last week and my family of 12 was completely satisfied.” Good times.

Festival of Frugality #120: A Penny Saved
If the FoF had rides and game booths, what would they be? I'm thinking a Wall Street Roller Coaster and the Milk Bottle Game, where the prize is the bottles themselves, so you can go home and repurpose them.

Get Fit Slowly: Bill Would Make it Illegal to Feed the Obese
Who’s Bill? And why is he being so mean? (Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week. Please tip your waiters.)

Lifehacker: Five Fast-Food Restaurants to Feel Good About
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Chipotle’s barbacoa burritos are manna.
Please order me 42.

Make it From Scratch Festival: My So Called Me
Jenny’s rounds up the week’s best recipes and crafts from across the web, while her blog title makes me think blissfully back to the days when Angela Chase had this huge crush on Jordan Catalano, but Rayanne Graff totally betrayed her trust by doin’ it with him! Don’t cry Angela – Brian Krakow still loves you.

Metafilter: The Perfect Meatloaf
67 comments and counting, and the consensus seems to be some combination of: meat (duh), oatmeal (!), eggs, pepper, A1/worcestershire sauce, ketchup and bacon. To quote Mr. Burns, "Excellent."

New York Times: Some Good News on Food Prices
Some are arguing that higher processed meal costs are gonna level the playing field for organic and other healthy-type edibles. I’m not sure about that, but it’s certainly nice to think about.

Re-nest: 27 Household Uses for Citrus Fruit
#28: Throwing at a sibling’s head during a fight over the remote. (Not that it ever happened growing up, MY SISTER L.)

Sara Moulton: Sara’s Weeknight Meals
New series! Starring Sara! On PBS! Did anyone just see me do a pirouette? Because I totally did.

Serious Eats: What’s Your Best Low-Cal Recipe? and How Can ANYONE Afford to Travel and Eat?
Nice comment corral on two very CHG-esque subjects. I really love the S.E. commenters in general, though. They’re informed and eloquent, which beats out the everyday “LOL!!! You SUK!” stuff you see on YouTube.

Slashfood: A book club for foodies? A lip-smacking idea
Oh, what a neat idea. Anybody interested?

(Photos courtesy of KU, KUSports.com, and Getty Images.)

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CHG Favorites of the Week

Blog of the Week
Smart Spending at MSN
Every week, this Lifehacker/Slashfood-style site compiles the best posts from around the personal finance blogosphere, giving regular MSN readers a chance to read, comment and debate. Frugality is a major topic, but everything is fair game, like Clever Dude’s recent, excellent post on homebuying. It’s about time something like this existed. Thanks, Donna, Karen, & Co.!

Comedy of the Week
"$240 Worth of Pudding" from the State
I didn’t catch the State until very late in life, so I missed out on a lot. (Tragically, my parents didn’t have cable when we were growing up. They thought we’d watch too much MTV. Which? Yeah, we totally would have.) Here, Michael Ian Black and Thomas Lennon get serious and sexxxay with a metric ton of Jello.

Organization of the Week
Charity Navigator’s Food Bank Page
CN’s received several mentions here before, but this particular page will point you directly to food pantries and distribution services in your area, from Alameda to West Texas. The star ratings will tell you how efficiently run your particular bank is, so you can pick and choose as you like.

Quote of the Week
“My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana. I said ‘No, but I want a regular banana later, so ... yeah.’” – Mitch Hedberg

Untried Cheap, Healthy Recipe of the Week
Lazy Day Peanut Noodle Salad Recipe at 101 Cookbooks
It’s the 3rd of April, and there is nothing I want more from this life than spring vegetables and peanut butter-slathered noodles. (Also, for it to warm up about ten degrees.) (And a new skirt.) (And a pony.)

Video of the Week
“Just Like Honey” by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Oh, we are hitting the wayback machine today, folks. If you love feedback, romance-laden angst, or dyspeptic, mopey Brits, this is the band for you. It’s a gorgeous song, anyway.

(Photos courtesy of Flickr members Dmitry Kolchev and Sarahkim.)

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Tuesday Megalinks: Besuboru Edition

Ladies and gentlemen, dust off your caps, yank that jersey out of winter storage, and turn up John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” – it’s baseball season. (Um, it’s also Cupcake Week on Martha Stewart Living, but we’ll try to repress that thought for the time being.) Thanks to Johan Santana and the prospect of a new ballpark for next year, it’s a good time to be a Met fan. In fact, I’ve almost successfully blocked memories out of last September. (Almost.) Anyway...

Building Nutrition: Eggs can be Healthy
Ahhh, the incredible, edible, something-else-that-ends-in-“dible” egg. Even though prices are rocketing up, those ivory ovals of glee still make for an economic meal. (For now, anyway.) Pick up a dozen today. Thanks to CFO for the link.

Casual Kitchen: The Dinner Party – 10 Tips to Make Cooking for Company Fun and Easy
Extensively stellar post on the art of the frugal, relaxing home-based shindig. My favorite rule: “never cook a dish for the first time for company.” Remember, always experiment on your family first; they’re the control group for the massive science project that is your life.

Chowhound: Tipping – Decent Food, Terrible Service
Given the reverse situation, I would mos def tip the waitress handsomely. But how do you let the chef know everything was aces when your server makes you ever-so-slightly homicidal? Is leaving a lousy tip enough, or does everyone lose? Decisions, decisions...

Consumerist: Surviving on 99-Cent-Store Food for a Week in NYC
This one’s been all over the news lately: intrepid reporter Henry Alford made seven days of dinners entirely from the items found in 22 local $0.99 stores. The verdict: it’s possible to do it, and to do it well.

Cookthink: 10 Ways to Use Up Leftover Fresh Herbs
Woot! This problem plagues my kitchen day in and day out, much like unwashed dishes and that weird black dust that emanates from our century-old radiator. These tips are solid, darlings. Thanks to Slashfood for the link.

Culinate: Cholesterol and Food
Neat little primer on the good, the bad, and the ugly of cholesterol, including how food can/will affect your numbers. And there's more on eggs (!): “eggs are not only an excellent source of protein containing important nutrients, they’re also very low in saturated fats.” To paraphrase something I read this week, but can't remember where, "Eggs: the best things to ever come out of a chicken's butt."

New York Times: Putting Your Kitchen on a Diet
In the olden days, clutter meant you had stuff, and you liked it, and you wanted to keep it. Now, it’s apparently indicative of a deep-seated psychological problem that can malevolently barrel into all aspects of your life, including weight and mental health. Free your kitchen and your mind will follow.

Serious Eats: Help Me with My Weekday Dinners
This constantly growing thread is packed with neato ideas for quick and comparatively simple Monday-Friday meals. Soup and Mexican food seem to dominate, but there are some neat suggestions for cross-cultural fare.

The Simple Dollar: Cosmetic Surgery as Investment
I’ve never seen this topic covered before on any pf blog, and it’s super interesting. Denise here just dropped 80 pounds and wants to boot her sagging skin via surgery. Problem is, it’s $17,000. What will she do? (I vote go for it, as long as her body’s stopped changing and she’s maintained the weight loss for awhile.)

The Simple Dollar: An Ode to the Inexpensive Bean
With apologies to Keats:
THOU still unravish'd can of beany-ness,
Thou foster-child of Goya and the time,
Brooklyn grocery guy, who canst thus stock up
A legume-y meal more fiber-y than our rhyme:

(Photos courtesy of nj.com and Flickr members Grumbler %-, and Reincarnated Poet.)

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CHG Favorites of the Week

Blog of the Week
101 Cookbooks
Along with Chocolate & Zucchini and Orangette, Heidi’s journey through her own culinary library is probably one of the three best-regarded foodie blogs on the ‘net. Naturally, the pics are beautiful, but the recipe archive goes back to 2003, making it one of the most extensive comps around. So nice.

Comedy of the Week
Cabbage Head from Kids in the Hall
Oh, sweet Canadian comedy, how I love thee. Bruce McCulloch’s repellant recurring character is part of what made KITH so great: he’s odd, but still slightly alluring. Just like Mark McKinney in that dress. Hawt.

Organization of the Week
The Girl Scouts
I was a member of GSoA from age eight through my senior year of high school, and I loved every single second of it. Girls Scouts exposed me to cultures, people, and experiences I never would have met or seen otherwise. 12 years later, I’m still friends with half the women in my troop, many of whom have kids of their own. There might be brownies or juniors combing your ‘hood slinging Samoas right about now, and while they’re not exactly the healthiest foods in the world, the money goes to one of the best organizations on the planet. Indulge.

Quote of the Week
“I don’t return fruit. Fruit’s a gamble. I know that going in.” – Jerry Seinfeld

Tip of the Week
Keep a black Sharpie in the kitchen for quick labeling of freezer bags and plastic containers. It’s neat! It’s convenient! (And you can doodle on the refrigerator.)

Untried Cheap, Healthy Recipe of the Week
Chicken with Shallot Apricot Sauce at The Kitchn
Oh boy, I can not WAIT to try this. Doesn’t the purpleness of the shallot just complement the chicken so well? Who took this picture? Must … learn … from them.

Video of the Week
The Runaways – “Cherry Bomb”
Watch and rejoice as a gang of early ‘80s teen punk chicks absolutely rawk the sawks off their male counterparts. Featuring a very young Joan Jett, who looks almost exactly the same like, 30 years later. I covet her genes/jeans.

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Tuesday Megalinks

Bitten: The Best Cookbooks
Mark Bittman is looking to update his master list of the 50 all-time greatest culinary tomes. At last glance, comments numbered 372. Go have your say!

Chief Family Officer: April Fools Ideas for Parents
Muahahahahaha … wonderfully crafty, semi-evil pranks to play on those tiny humans who hang around the kitchen begging for food. Green eggs, blue milk, and mashed potato sundaes abound.

Cooking Light: Greatest Hits – 2008
Staff picks so far this year. Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Dip looks like a delicious, delicious winner, so you'll excuse me while I mop up this drool.

Consumerist: Readers Write in With Examples of More Shrinking Products
Brawny’s not looking so Brawny these days. And Skippy ain’t dang skippy no more, either. And as for Quilted Northern … um, I have no joke here.

Consumerist: Use a Price Book to Save Money on Groceries
Yay! Consumerist caught on! Alas, the comment section is having their way with my beloved price books. Read! And tell the peanut gallery how wrong they are!

Culinate: Chickpea Central
Doesn’t “Chickpea Central” sound like a delightful train station? Like, “Welcome to Chickpea Central, I have your hummus right here Mrs. Clooney.” (How you know it’s a fantasy: not because it’s a railway hub made of garbanzo beans, but because George took me as his beloved. Sigh. We will BE TOGETHER, George. Oh yes … WE WILL BE.)

Culinate: Pasta Parade – Which shape for which sauce?
Oo! Neat little guide to starch/sauce pairings in which farfalle is dubbed “the most fanciful of pasta shapes.” Also: curious and whimsical.

Eater: Bastianich to Serve the Pope
Lidia’s feeding Benedict! Crazy! Apropos of nothing, on New Year’s Eve 2006, my friend M and I came up with a list of what the Pope does on a day-to-day basis: he eats Pope Tarts, watches Pope-rah, and washes with Pope on a Rope. (We were drinking, see.)

Festival of Frugality #118: My Dollar Plan
This week's theme: the alphabet. Specifically, those letters that spell "frugal." Clevah.

Get Fit Slowly: Amazing Rapid Weight Loss Stories
I go back and forth on TBL. Dropping 10 pounds a week isn’t healthy by any measure. On the other hand, they do it through diet and exercise, it’s inspiring for a lot of people, and there is something delightfully wicked about posting contestant names on vending machines.

The Kitchn: Eggs, Eggs, and More Eggs – Best Egg Recipes and Products
Oh WOW that Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Parmesan looks mighty tasty. Also? When you stare at the word “egg” too long, it starts to look like an alien.

Make it From Scratch Festival #57: Applehead
MiFS founder Stephanie’s husband Tim hosts this week’s edition in beautiful black and white. (P.S. Describing Tim’s identity reminded me of the following exchange from Spaceballs, a.k.a. My Favorite Movie in Third Grade:
Dark Helmet: I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate.
Lone Starr: What's that make us?
Dark Helmet: Absolutely nothing!)

SF Gate: How to be a foodie without breaking the bank
Link of the week! Superb article about a hardcore gourmand who’s dealing with a salary cut through frugality and resourcefulness. My favorite sentence: “Given her budget, she could just subsist on peanut butter sandwiches and ramen, but for her, food goes deeper than merely filling her belly.” Yes! That’s it! Thanks to Slashfood for the link.

Simply Stated: Healthy Eating – What’s it to You?
Wow. Good question. The Real Simple blog asks readers to define their ideas of what constitutes a happy-happy nutritionally sound diet. There’s even a poll!

Wall Street Journal: Cutback Cuisine
This just in: food costs are up, and restaurants have to make do the best they can. Expect a lot of gourmet spaghetti in the near future.

(Photos courtesy of Flickr member Sakurako Kitsa, whyy.org, and manolomen.)

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CHG Favorites of the Week: The Attribution Edition

It’s an all-quote edition today! Every description comes from the associated website, no matter how good or bad the text.

Blog of the Week
Simply Stated (Real Simple’s cooking blog)
“Door’s open! Come on in. Sorry, the place is a mess, I’m still unpacking boxes, but I’ve got lunch on the stove if you’re hungry. Yeah, I just moved in this week, and I’m really excited to be here. I can’t wait to start cooking in my new kitchen! You sure you don’t want some soup? I made it from scratch. Lentil soup takes all of 35 minutes, start to finish, and miraculously, my favorite enamel-coated cast-iron pot was easy to find amid the packing rubble.”

Book of the Week
A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain
“Anthony sets out on a quest for his culinary holy grail. Our adventurous chef starts out in Japan, where he eats traditional Fugu, a poisonous blowfish which can be prepared only by specially licensed chefs. He then travels to Cambodia, up the mine-studded road to Pailin into autonomous Khmer Rouge territory and to Phnom Penh's Gun Club, where local fare is served up alongside a menu of available firearms.”

Comedy of the Week
Iconoclasts (with Charles Barkley and Bjork) from SNL
“I love this one. Bjork = awesome.lol”

Organization of the Week
The Tap Project
“It's our single most bountiful resource. Yet, water is a daily privilege millions take for granted. The little known truth is that lack of clean and accessible drinking water is the second largest worldwide killer of children under five. To address this situation, a nationwide effort is launching during World Water Week called the Tap Project, a campaign that celebrates the clean and accessible tap water available as an every day privilege to millions, while helping UNICEF provide safe drinking water to children around the world.”

Quote of the Week
“I’ve been on a constant diet for the last two decades. I’ve lost a total of 789 pounds. By all accounts, I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.” – Erma Bombeck

Quote of the Week #2 (non-food)
“Fresh air is nature's Febreeze.” - SAHMmy Says

Untried Recipe of the Week
Artichoke Soup at Kitchenography
“I look at this picture and I realize this plain little pureed soup doesn't look like much. Pureed soups in general are not all that picturesque. But if like me you're crazy for artichokes, artichoke soup is about as perfect as soup gets.”

Video of the Week
“Orange Crush” by R.E.M.
“In the great tradition of R.E.M. videos, this is more of a collection of vaguely related images than an actual story. But the song’s pretty, and their new album Accelerate is due out on April 1st. Advance word says it’s the band’s best in a decade. Whee!”

(Okay, I wrote that last one.)

(Photos courtesy of Gastronomy.wordpress.com and Flickr member whimsigal.)

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Slight Wednesday Delay

Hi everybody,

I'm running into a few technical difficulties today, but the regular Wednesday article should be up in a few hours. In the meantime, please enjoy this re-enactment of 20th century wars, done entirely with animated comestibles:

Stefan Nadelman's Food Fight

Woot!
Kris

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Tuesday Megalinks

Alternet: Michael Pollan – Don’t Eat Anything That Doesn’t Rot
Oo! It’s a nice long interview with The Omnivore’s Dilemma author, who claims, “the human body has done very well on the Mediterranean diet, on the Japanese diet, on the peasant South American diet. … The one diet we seem poorly adapted to happens to be the one we're eating, the Western diet.” Thanks to Lifehacker for the link.

Blogher: Roasted Asparagus Love, with Thanks to My Fellow Food Bloggers
Lo and behold, let asparagus season commence! Blogher’s Kalyn Denny comes up big with an extensive list of preparations for the emerald spring stalks, including CHG’s own Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Browned Butter.

Brodcasting & Cable: Emeril Lagasse Planning Green Reality Series for Planet Green
BAM! The big man strikes back with a healthy cooking show made in conjunction with Whole Foods. I dig Emeril when he’s chef-ing quietly, so this could be really good.

Festival of Frugality #117: I've Paid For This Twice Already
PT takes on this week's edition, and CHG's Recession-Proofing Your Diet post is an editor's pick! Woot! In other news, Value For Your Life has a fine post about her 25% Grocery Savings Rule, and Free Money Finance gives us 8 Ways to Cut (Our) Grocery Bill.

IWriteFunny.com: Cook’s Illustrated Recipe – Boiled Water
Oh, sweet parody. Hilarious send-up of CI, complete with requisite over-analysis. A sample: “In my first effort to produce a reliable boiled water, I began with a cylindrical steel container, or “pot” as often called for in traditional recipes. Placing the pot four inches away from the flame, the water did eventually come to a boil, but it took six hours.”

Joe Consumer: How Retailers Trick You in to Buying Stuff You Don’t Need (and How to Fight Back)
Excellent breakdown of strategies supermarket use to make you buy stuff you don’t need, along with a few neato ways to combat the pressure. Thanks to Consumerist for the link.

The Kitchn: What are your favorite food scenes in classic novels?
What a sweet idea. Mine come from The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri where she describes these great Indian feasts made of simple, familiar food. They’re communal, familial, and warm, and I think they helped convince me to visit India. Just thinking about it makes me want a monster bowl of curry. Readers, how ‘bout you?

LA Times: Chef’s blogs – even sharper than their knives
Nice rundown of prominent blogs written by ace chefs, Michael Symon (Iron Chef) and Traci Jardins (Jardiniere) included. How do they find the time between all the chopping and sautéing and such? And where do you plug in the Macbook?

Make it from Scratch Festival # Green Style Mom
It's a sweet Easter theme this time around, with more than enough recipes for the family table.

New York Times: Costs Surge for Stocking the Pantry
Check out that graph to the left on Page 2. The cost of eggs has risen 25% IN A SINGLE YEAR. Bacon, however? 0.5% cheaper. What a world, what a world.

A Penny Closer: 6 Easy Ways to Battle Rising Food Costs
Melissa buckles down and digs up with half-a-dozen tactics I haven’t seen elsewhere yet. She also mentions that the cost of pet food is rising, as well, which … who knew? Our imaginary dog better get used to his imaginary generic dog food.

Readers Digest: 10 Ways to Control Your Cravings
What the heck happened to Readers Digest? I thought it was the home of arthritis articles and a gentle, vaguely amusing joke page. All of a sudden they’re doing Tina Fey interviews and pieces on government waste. Here, they devise a plan for folks to stop scarfing the bad stuff. Thanks to Get Fit Slowly for the link.

Red Orbit: Knowing When To Toss Canned Foods Can Be Confusing
Er … here’s a confession: I’ve never tossed a canned food in my life. I figured they survived in perpetuity, like Dick Clark. Apparently, I was mistaken. Thanks to Slashfood for the link.

Reuters: In weak economy, Americans swap steak for chicken
Or as I like to call it, “Out With the Moo, In With the Poul(try)” (Apologies.) Thanks to Serious Eats for the link.

Sahmmy Says: How to Make a Black and Tan
Just in case you’re still celebrating.

Slashfood and AOL: Frozen Pizza Taste Test
Frozen pizza is neither healthy nor cheap, but you gotta love anybody who chomps through 43 pies to find the best one. Elio’s doesn’t fare well, as one reviewer says it “looks like brain.”

Slashfood: Tip of the Day – Help Preserve the Flavor in Dried Herbs
I’d like to do a feature article about preserving herbs sometime in the near future. Problem is, I have to learn how first. My basil has a bad way of turning black and evil the second I touch it.

Squawkfox: Top 10 Fantastic Frugalicious Foods
Note: that’s “frugalicious,” not “fergalicious.” Veeeeeery different.

Wall Street Journal: Restaurants Feel the Bite Of Stay-at-Home Moms
SAHMs are eating out in less numbers, and the industry’s starting to feel the bite. WSJ reports, albeit without nifty stipple drawings in support. Boo. Thanks to Eater for the link.

(Photos courtesy of PDX Writer Daily, All Things Chill, and Flickr member mikejamestaylor73.)

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CHG Favorites of the Week

Blog of the Week
The Culinary Review
If you can get beyond the clutter, there's an abundance of valuable food information here, from pricing breakdowns to chopping techniques to a thesis on Glogg. A good basic resource when you just need to know something, fast.

Comedy of the Week
“Food Court Musical” by Improv Everywhere
Charlie Todd and Co. strike again! This time, it’s a full-on musical number in the middle of a crowded shopping mall. I’m so happy these guys exist, and am doubly happy they keep doing things related to food. Thanks to Serious Eats for the link.

Magazine of the Week
Cook’s Country
At first, one may believe a Cook’s Country referral is merely part of my never-ending quest to kiss up to Cook’s Illustrated (it’s parent publication) as much as possible. (One may be right.) HOWEVER, completely independent of CI, Cook’s Country is a great magazine on its own. The design rawks, and the dishes are a nice combination of the down-home and the upscale. And while it’s not exactly nutritionally-minded, there are usually enough healthy recipes to justify a gander/purchase. Check it out next time you pass through at Barnes & Noble. You’ll be impressed.

Organization of the Week
Share Our Strength’s Great American Bakesale
You may have seen Duff the Ace of Cakes dude promote this on a few Food Network PSAs. In GAB’s own words, it’s “a national campaign that mobilizes Americans to end childhood hunger by holding bake sales in their communities.” So, not only do you get to help your poverty-stricken countrymen, but you get bake in the process. Sweet. It seems like a really good opportunity to get kids involved with volunteering, too.

Quote of the Week
"I wake up every morning in a bed that’s too small, drive my daughter to a school that’s too expensive, and then I go to work to a job for which I get paid too little, but on Pretzel Day? Well, I like Pretzel Day." – Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker), The Office

Untried Cheap, Healthy Recipe of the Week
Broccoli Drizzled with Indian-Spiced Yogurt by Jamie Oliver at The Star
You know what’s really cool about this recipe? I have all the ingredients on hand, and have had them in various dishes dozens of times. But put together, I have no idea – none – what they’ll taste like. It’s like a rock supergroup, but made of broccoli. Exciting!

Tip of the Week
This week’s tip comes from Consumerist commenter Canadian Imposter, and it’s been slightly altered for clarity: “A lot of people use a neat trick to make sure they're not getting ripped off in a restaurant. Tip so that the number of cents in the post-tip total is equal to the number of dollars in the pre-tip total. For instance, if you had a $123 bill, you would tip X dollars and 6 cents, because 1+2+3=6. Then you can just do a quick check on all of your restaurant transactions when your credit card statement arrives. And if something doesn't add up you can look in to it.”

Video of the Week
“Crumbs From Your Table” by U2
U2 questions that may never be answered:
1) How does Larry Mullen Jr. still look 26?
2) Do you think his kids call him “The Edge” instead of “Dad”?
3) Will there ever be anything sexier than this?
Special bonus: Postcards from the Edge, my favorite McSweeney’s piece of all time.

(Photos courtesy of Flickr member ObakeTenshi and Yahoo TV.)

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Tuesday Megalinks

Chief Family Officer: Review – Skinny Songs
A CD full of songs specifically written to help you lose weight? I’m torn on this, because a good mix will undoubtedly motivate, but a bad one would kill all propensity to work out again, ever. While we’re on the subject, my favorite exercise albums:
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
Pixies – Surfer Rosa
The Killers – Hot Fuss
The Replacements – Tim
Foo Fighters – There is Nothing Left to Lose

Consumerist: Get Out Your $#%@# Checkbook! Here Comes "Food Inflation"
Yarg. Is the recession official yet? Because this would seem to go under the “Yes” list. As the great Mrs. D once said, “Crappé.”

The Culinary Review: 10 Meals for Under $1 per Serving
THAT’S what I’m talking about. AND in a stunning twist, I think Paula Deen's Butternut Squash Soup might be healthier than Alton Brown's Mac and Cheese. The apocalypse must be nigh.

Festival of Frugality #116: Green Panda Treehouse

GPT does up this week's FoF with an architecture theme, and CHG's Food, Finance, and Personal Responsibility post is among the entries.

Frugal Dad: How to Build a Square Foot Garden
Man, this seems like a great idea for folks with limited yard space and/or a high concentration of Styrofoam in their soil (*cough*). Lynnae over at Being Frugal is trying it out, too. Stay tuned.

Healthbolt: What Happens to Your Body if You Drink a Coke Right Now?
AUGH! At 60 minutes: “You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.” Thanks to Slashfood for the link.

The Kitchn: The Best (and Worst) Foods to Eat While Reading
I’m gonna have to disagree with soup as a good reading food, since the potential for page spillage is high, but this is pretty astute (and handy!) otherwise.

Lifehacker: Your Best Money-Saving Kitchen Tips?
Inspired by 25 Money-Saving Kitchen Tips over at Frugal Vegan, Lifehacker denizens come up with their own extensive list of cash conservation tricks. Is there anything Lifehacker can’t do? (Call me! *wink*)

Make it from Scratch Festival #55: Pajama Mommy

Ooo - check out the Mile High Chai recipe at The Cole Mine. It looks delicious and it's fun to say. Gonna have to try that one out.

Monsters and Critics: A Chat with Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’ Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio
Exhaustive interview with the top dogs of Top Chef, wherein we learn the following: Padma loves eating, Colicchio loves Fresh Direct, and the show is really, really hard.

New York Times: A Global Need for Grain That Farms Can’t Fill

More evidence of a recession: “Everywhere, the cost of food is rising sharply. Whether the world is in for a long period of continued increases has become one of the most urgent issues in economics. Many factors are contributing to the rise, but the biggest is runaway demand. In recent years, the world’s developing countries have been growing about 7 percent a year, an unusually rapid rate by historical standards.”

Wise Bread: 21 Great Uses for Beer
Beersicles, anyone?

(Photos courtesy of perrific.com, Flickr member alvy, and film.com.)

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CHG Favorites of the Week

Blog of the Week
Tastespotting
100% pure, unadulterated food porn. (Note: “food porn,” meaning “close-up pictures of baked goods,” not “woman-on-broccoli action.”) Seriously, this is the Doritos of cooking websites. You can’t click on just one. Thanks to Rachel for the link.

Comedy of the Week
“Chopping Broccoli”
22 years ago, SNL was just kicking off its late-‘80s salad days and Dana Carvey was king. This is one of his early highlights. Check out a young Phil Hartman and an Aliens-era Sigourney Weaver, who sports the hugest set of shoulder pads ever seen outside the Meadowlands.

Organization of the Week
Americans for Fairness in Lending
Okay, this isn't so much a food link, but it does tie in (intimately) with yesterday's somewhat long-winded CHG essay. AFFIL is a consumer advocate group that "exists to raise awareness of abusive credit and lending practices and to call for re-regulation of the industry." Their website is up to its eyeballs in useful information, including gobsmacking stats on how minority-heavy neighborhoods are specifically targeted for high-interest loans.

Quote of the Week
"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals. I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants." – A. Whitney Brown

Tip of the Week
This one comes from The Boyfriend's mom: when you buy a head of romaine, wash it when you first arrive home. Then, line the leaves up on a few paper towels, roll the whole shebang up, and stick it in a sealable plastic bag, squeezing as much air out as you can. You'll have instant romaine whenever you like it, and the lettuce will last much longer.

Untried Recipe
Chicken and Mushroom Marsala at Smitten Kitchen
Wow. How can something so ... brown ... look so dang appetizing? And those mushrooms. They’re like gorgeously earthy playing cards. (Side note: I might cut down on the butter, but with six servings, I’m not sure it’d be necessary.)

Video of the Week
“Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” by Rufus Wainwright
Rufus’ voice is kind of an acquired taste, but once you’re in, you’re in. I got to share an elevator with him about three years ago, and it took everything I had not to “EEEEEE!” and smooch his delicious, Judy Garland-loving face off.

(Photos courtesy of DanaCarvey.net, and Flickr member Kevin P. McManus.)

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