something about a dehydrated salad in a bag doesn’t really scream either snack or salad to me.
—
“one of the benefits of eating salad is that you can eat tons of it and never be satisfied.
-jim gaffigan
Feb13
Category Archives: food
Jan25
b.r.
why is it that my children were shocked
when i told them that i was born ‘before ranch’ (b.r.)?
shock and awe that i was alive when
cap’n crunch, doritos, $100,00 bars, pop tarts, ding dongs, cool whip, count chocula, and more
came to be
back in the day when food fell into the
quick, easy, greasy, crunchy, sweet, and fun category
and lived to tell.
—
“my mouth doesn’t want to be quiet.”
-greta, age 4
Dec18
big breakfast.
A Single Giant Froot Loop for $19?
A single serving of Kellog’s Froot Loops cereal clocks in at one and one-third cups, weighs 39 grams, and contains 150 calories, according to the nutrition facts printed on the side of the box. Though we’ve never actually counted how many loops are in that single serving, we assume it’s more than one. Oh, you only want one? OK then. Big Fruit Loop is here to deliver.
The Big Fruit Loop is just as the name implies: a single massive loop. It’s also a very much unauthorized version of the longtime breakfast cereal, and it’s the latest drop from Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF.
That one big loop contains 930 calories and weighs around half a pound, or the equivalent of about half a box of regular Froot Loops mashed into one bowl-filling monstrosity. There’s absolutely no reason for it to exist, which seems to be exactly why MSCHF decided to create it.
“With MSCHF, we are always looking at cultural readymades we can play with,” Daniel Greenberg, MSCHF’s co-founder, told Food & Wine via email. “Cereal is, of course, one of those things. When looking at the object and thinking about what we could do with it, enlarging it to fit the size of the box seemed too perfect to pass up.”
Greenberg declined to explain what the production process for the Big Fruit Loop was like, other than to admit that “it was not easy.” He also said that the company had to reverse-engineer its loop to match the flavor of the Kellogg’s originals. To Greenberg, the two kinds of cereal taste “almost identical.” You know, minus one being gigantic and all.
—
“you may not know this but it’s impossible to open a box of ‘fruit loops’ and just eat the fruit,
let someone else have the loops”
― n
—
credits: food and wine magazine, stacey leasca, photo credit: MSCHF
Dec4
almost edible.
Almost Edible, 106-Year-Old Fruitcake Found in Antarctica
Even the original owners didn’t want to eat it.
Fruit cake found at Cape Adare thought to be from Scott’s Northern Party (1911)
IT’S NOT THAT UNCOMMON RE-FINDING forgotten holiday fruitcake months after the event. More surprising, though, is when it’s over a century old. Conservators from the New Zealand-run Antarctic Heritage Trust found themselves faced with this kind of a figgy phenomenon while recently excavating an abandoned hut some 2,500 miles from the South Pole. Cape Adare, at Antarctica’s northeastern tip, was an important landing site and base camp used by early Antarctic explorers.
Made by the British brand Huntley & Palmers, which still exists today, the cake was wrapped in its original paper and stored in a tin-plated iron alloy box. While the tin had begun to deteriorate, the cake was in near-perfect condition and, according to the researchers, still looked “almost edible”.
In a statement, Lizzie Meek, the Trust’s Programme Manager-Artefacts, described the cake as “an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions, and still a favorite item on modern trips to the Ice.” Despite that, researchers manage to hold off snacking on their discovery, which apparently smelled like “rancid butter”. In fact, the hut contained the best part of a picnic: sardines, “badly deteriorated” meat and fish and some more appealing “nice looking” jams.
In 1910, the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott made an ill-fated expedition to reach the South Pole and, on the way, explore the continent’s uncharted wastelands. The Heritage Trust believes the cake dates from his endeavor, known as the Terra Nova Expedition after the supply ship.
Conservators from the Trust have been working on restoring and documenting almost 1500 artifacts from the Cape for the past year. Once they’ve finished their conservation efforts, everything will be returned to the Ice for future explorers to find and enjoy—though they may want to avoid sampling the fruitcake.
—
“this is true; virtually all edible substances, and many automotive products,
are now marketed as being low-fat or fat- free. americans are obsessed with fat content.
-dave barry
—
credits: antarctic heritage trust, natasha frost, gastro obscura
Dec1
to raisin, or not to raisin? that is the question.
on the very first day
of my new and improved
healthy eating and exercise initiative
a rogue chocolate-covered raisin
emerged from hiding
under a blanket on my sofa
where it had quietly sat
lying in wait
for me to discover it
i stopped
breathless
knowing this tiny temptation
was a test
oh, what a test
who would know
just one
practically a fruit and coffee/cacao product
dark chocolate and fruit are both good for my heart
who cares if there’s a bit of blanket fuzz on it
that’s just added fiber
could this be the gateway
to a slice of triple-layer chocolate cake or velveta-laden nachos?
not today, fuzzy amazing hidden chocolate-covered raisin, not today.
the struggle is real.
—
i looked to the writers to seek their wisdom
they have a difference of opinion on this.
are you on team wilde or team emerson when it comes to temptation?
“i can resist everything except temptation.”
-oscar wilde
“we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.”
-ralph waldo emerson
Nov24
today, as you gather.
“the table is a meeting place, a gathering ground,
the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction.
a person cooking is a person giving; the simplest food is a gift.”
-laurie colwyn
—
may you gather today with those you love to share your gifts.
Nov21
freerice.
during this time of year, when we are so lucky for our bounty, why not help to feed someone else
and maybe learn something along the way?
freericetrivia by the U.N.’s World Food Programme
Want to test your knowledge while helping end world hunger? freerice can make it happen. For every question you answer correctly in the trivia quiz, 10 grains of rice are donated to those in need. Since 2010, freerice has raised more than 214 billion grains of rice (equivalent to $1.5 million) for people around the world.
—
“poverty’s child – he starts to grind the rice, and gazes at the moon.”
-matuso basho
Nov13
why not fry a year-old leaf?
What does a year-old, salted maple leaf taste like? Nothing much, apparently. Instead, merchants use the leaf as an attractive frame for the sweet coating, which is drier and crispier than the tempura surrounding, say, a shrimp. Some cooks also add sesame seeds for an extra pop of flavor.
Vendors first commercialized tempura-fried leaves after a train station opened near Minoh’s most notable waterfall in 1910. Outdoorsy tourists visiting the Osaka prefecture flocked to the site, taking the tasty, iconically-shaped souvenir with them when they left. (The salt preserves the young maple leaves, making them a year-round snack.) The novel delicacy became a symbol of the region, and it remains difficult to find in other parts of the country.
You’ll hear locals refer to maples as momiji, which means “becomes crimson-leaved.” The word also translates literally to “baby’s hands,” but don’t be alarmed: No human babies were harmed in the making of this unusual snack. Baby maple leaves, on the other hand, were not so lucky.
“my first semester i had only nine students.
hoping they might view me as professional and well prepared,
i arrived bearing name tags fashioned in the shape of maple leaves.”
-david sedaris
—
credits: bert kimura, gastro obscura
Oct13
cheetle.
Giant roadside Cheeto
The Cheetos brand erected the statue of a hand holding a massive Cheeto, immortalizing the sticky orange residue that Cheetos leave on your fingertips, in Cheadle, Alberta. The community was chosen because of its name’s similarity to “cheetle,” the company’s official name for Cheeto dust.
“Cheetos fans have always known that the delicious, cheesy dust on their fingertips is an unmistakably delicious part of the Cheetos experience, but now it officially has a name: Cheetle,” said Lisa Allie, the senior marketing director at PepsiCo Foods Canada, which distributes Cheetos in the country.
“We’re excited to be celebrating Cheetle and Canadians’ cheesy, Cheetle-dusted fingertips on such a grand scale, (17-feet tall), and in such a uniquely mischievous way.”
The unique piece of art won’t stay in Cheadle forever, however, according to Cheetos’ news release. Cheadle residents and visitors can check out the big, cheesy fingers until Nov. 4. Then, the monument will embark on a tour of other locations in Canada.
Cheadle is a hamlet located in Alberta’s Wheatland County. Its population is tiny: Just 83 people lived there in 2021, according to the Canadian census.
*note – as a huge fan of ‘flamin’ hot cheetos,’ i fully endorse this artistic endeavor
—
“I love Cheetos, those hot, spicy kind. And chocolate.
Every time I’m in the airport I’m buying Cheetos and eating them on the airplane.”
-Alessandra Amrbrosio
credits: zoe sottile, cnn, cheetos
Sep4
lasagna love.
The Nonprofit Spreading Kindness One Lasagna at a Time: “We Have the Power to Shift Communities”
Food is more than a simple snack or meal: It symbolizes comfort, connection, and care, and we’ve been using it to nurture social relationships since at least the Bronze Age. So when Rhiannon Menn found herself yearning to make an impact as the COVID-19 pandemic caused layoffs, school closures, and illnesses, she started cooking.
“I just thought, well, what do I love to do? And what do I know how to do? And for me, that’s cooking; it’s my happy place,” the mother of three told Nice News. In March of 2020, Menn began making extra pans of lasagna, then got on Facebook, found a few “mom groups” in the San Diego area, and offered to drop them off to anyone in need. She delivered seven meals her first week and quickly began getting messages from other people inspired to help. “All of a sudden I found myself managing this network of amazing volunteers who all wanted to feed people in their community,” Menn said.
Just over two years later, Lasagna Love has become a registered nonprofit with over 35,000 volunteers — or “Lasagna Chefs” as they are called — in all 50 states, as well as Canada and Australia. Altogether, they’ve delivered more than 250,000 lasagnas, feeding over one million people in total. The organization has been featured on Good Morning America and The Kelly Clarkson Show. And Menn believes it’s all a testament to how many people are looking for an outlet to show kindness and help others.
Lasagna chefs are matched with families based on distance and dietary restrictions. Once a match is made, all communication occurs directly between those two people. “We do feed families, and that’s important, but really what we’re doing is spreading kindness and strengthening communities, and it’s through those one-on-one bonds that it moves the needle on connectedness,” said Menn.
And there are no eligibility requirements to request a meal or nominate a family. One of the nonprofit’s core values is zero judgment. “We can’t say what needing help looks like,” Menn said, “only you, as a recipient, know what it means to need help”
Virginia resident Jan Delucien, who experienced a traumatic brain injury that left her unable to work, requested a lasagna after hearing about the organization in a support group. For the 64-year-old, the smiling volunteer handing her a home-cooked dish at her door meant much more than just a free meal. “It really was a gift of love,” Delucien told the AP through tears.
According to Menn, when asked if they felt inspired to pay the act of kindness forward, 97% of Lasagna Love meal recipients said they did, and a quarter responded that they already had. “I deliver a lasagna to you, and then you’re inspired to go donate a bag of clothes, or maybe share the meal with somebody, or maybe volunteer at the local animal shelter. So, all of a sudden, those million people that were fed — how many acts does that actually result in? And that’s where we have the power to really shift communities,” she said.
The founder hopes that one day the world won’t need Lasagna Love anymore and that people will help each other entirely organically. But until then, Menn and her team will keep spreading kindness one lasagna at a time.
—
“no matter what you’re going through in life, eat first.”
-wordporn
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credit: rebecca brandes
I didn't have my glasses on.... 