MooMooFoodie

WSJ: Leftovers - Tasty or Trash?

BUSINESS
Updated March 21, 2012, 8:23 p.m. ET

Leftovers: Tasty or Trash?

With Food Prices High, There's Guilt About Waste But Dread of the Reheated Dinner

By SARAH NASSAUER

Want to turn leftovers into crowd pleasing meals? Sarah Nassauer gets a few tips from Tamar Adler, author of 'An Everlasting Meal,' on how to make the most out of every ingredient.

In Ondria Witt's kitchen, last night's roast chicken is tonight's enchiladas. Stale bread becomes bread pudding.

Just don't tell her husband. "I fear if I do he'll be like, 'No. I'll go get a pizza,' " says Ms. Witt, 29, a stay-at-home mother in Salisbury, N.C.

Photo illustration by Stephen Webster

An average U.S. family of four spends $500 to $2,000 each year on food that ends up in the garbage.

"I'd rather eat a spoonful of peanut butter than eat leftovers," says Sacha Witt, a 26-year-old classical bass trombone player who also does home repair work. Even so, Mr. Witt hates to think about all the leftovers that end up in the trash. "You're like, 'Oh man, how much money have I wasted?' "

The food we throw away is getting more attention, as prices continue to rise. Still, it's a challenge for home cooks to resist the temptation to eat out or order in. It's hard work using up all the food we have languishing in our refrigerators, freezers and pantries. And it takes creativity to prepare leftovers that will appeal to picky eaters.

But there is a reward for those who learn how. The average U.S. family of four spends from $500 to $2,000 a year on food they never eat, according to researchers' estimates.

Food is the second-largest component in the U.S. solid waste stream, after paper and paperboard. Once paper and paperboard are removed for recycling, food ends up as the largest component in U.S. landfills and incinerators, weighing in at 33 million tons in 2010, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

"People have started equating throwing food away with throwing away cash," says Steve Pawl, vice president of marketing for Rubbermaid, which along with Ziploc and Pyrex are introducing food-storage products aimed at concerns about food waste and leftovers.

Rubbermaid's Produce Saver container has a "fresh vent," which allows air to circulate, and a "crisp tray," which lifts produce away from moisture—features the company says extend the refrigerator life of produce.

Chefs and container makers are trying to get Americans to throw out less food by touting innovative ways to dress up leftovers, Sarah Nassauer reports on Lunch Break. Photo: Jeff Bush.

 

Life With Leftovers

Some experts' tips for dealing with leftovers are simple, while others are more challenging.

EASY

Store smarter. Immediately storing washed herbs and greens in an airtight container with damp paper towels in the refrigerator makes them last much longer.

Separate foods. Bananas, apples and pears give off ethylene, which ripens other fruits and vegetables stored near them.

Dress them up. Put leftovers in attractive glass jars to make them look more appetizing and visible, says Tamar Adler, author of "An Everlasting Meal."

MEDIUM

Make soup. Meat bones or vegetables can make a stock and other leftovers (vegetables, meat, grains, pasta, etc.) can be added, with seasoning, to make soup.

Add eggs. Soft boil them as a topper for leftover sautéed greens, rice, soup or pasta, says Ms. Adler.

Cook more at once. Cook enough beans to have as a side dish one night, and then sauté with broccoli and parsnips for a stir fry the next night, says Michael Anthony, executive chef at Gramercy Tavern.

HARD/TIME CONSUMING

Go pesto. Sauté broccoli and cauliflower stalks, then blend in a food processor with a hard cheese like Parmesan, along with garlic and olive oil and perhaps any about-to-go-bad herbs and nuts to make pesto for pasta, a toast spread or a soup garnish, says Ms. Adler.

Why We Buy Too Much

It's counterintuitive: People tend to overestimate what they need at the store when they are well-stocked at home, research shows.

How Much We Throw Out

Vegetables are the most commonly wasted food in the average American home. Each home throws out $92 of fruits and vegetables a year.

Vegetables are the most commonly wasted food in U.S. homes, making up some 25% of avoidable waste, according to CleanMetrics Corp., a software firm that analyzes the environmental impact of products and businesses.

Without a well-researched shopping list, most grocery shoppers will naturally create food waste by overbuying, says Brian Wansink, professor of marketing at Cornell University's Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, who studies eating and shopping behavior.

People tend to overestimate what they need at the store when they are well-stocked at home, and to underestimate what they need when they don't have enough, he says.

"You have it in your mind that you have barbecue sauce," says Dr. Wansink. "But since you've been thinking about it, it must be because you need it," when in fact you have several bottles. In addition to the tendency to overbuy, people tend to stockpile. According to Dr. Wansink, about 93% of people say they have something in their kitchen three years or older, and when asked, they said they intend to hold on to the item.

A popular recipe on the Betty Crocker website is "Bottom of the Cereal Box Cookie," which uses the uneaten flakes and crumbs found in the boxes gathering dust in our cupboards.

People respond to recipes that transform leftovers so they "suddenly become something that people want," says Jennifer Kalinowski, assistant manager of the food content strategy group at Betty Crocker, which is owned by General Mills .

"Consumers have a tremendous guilt about wasting food," says Kelly M. Semrau, chief sustainability officer at S.C. Johnson & Son, which makes Ziploc products. In a Ziploc ad campaign, people buying food at the grocery store specifically to throw it away.

Ziploc research indicates that more people are buying meat in bulk to take advantage of discounts and club-store prices, yet the meat often goes to waste, Ms. Semrau says. Earlier this year, Ziploc introduced portion-size plastic bags to be inserted inside its freezer bags, to make freezing and storing large quantities of raw meat easier and more effective. Leftovers make up about 12% of the contents of refrigerator-freezers, Ziploc says.

In the U.K., food waste is a public concern and a rallying point for politicians and corporations, similar to the issue of childhood obesity in the U.S. In recent years, U.K. grocery stores have tested ways to discourage overbuying, including "buy one, get one later" promotions at chains likeSainsbury's and Tesco .

Photo illustration by Stephen Webster; Getty Images (4)

Just over half of avoidable food and drink waste comes about because products weren't used in time, according to a 2009 report from the Waste & Resources Action Programme in the U.K. About 40% of this waste is made up of leftovers, categorized as "cooked, prepared or served too much."

In the U.S., fears about food-borne illness and confusion about product "sell-by" dates are to blame for some food waste. "I refuse to eat anything if it's on or past the expiration date," says Alexis Carscadden, a 27-year-old librarian at a Chicago culinary school. She buys only what she and her husband, a leftover hater, plan to eat within about 48 hours; she shops for groceries four or five times a week.

Busy Americans' love of eating out was sending the home-cooked meal into decline for years. The number of meals consumed in the home was declining in the U.S. until 2002 and then began to increase, according to NPD Group, a market research firm. Spending on restaurant and takeout meals, meanwhile, still makes up about half of food expenditures, the firm's data indicate.

Eating at home doesn't always mean cooking, says Harry Balzer, vice president at NPD. Some foods that are becoming more popular in home meals don't require cooking, such as yogurt and cheese "as a base dish" along with nuts, chips, and bars. "There is not a recession in the world that is going to make you want to cook more," Mr. Balzer says.

Leftovers have been a contentious issue for a long time. "A judicious use of leftover food is commendable provided the housewife knows how far her economical impulses may carry her without a family protest," cautioned the 1951 edition of "The Joy of Cooking." Later editions warned, "You have to watch leftovers for color. Sometimes they need freshening up." They recommend adding color-contrasting sauce, greens or pimento to dull green beans to make them look more appealing.

What does it take to be a great chef? Is it as simple as the number of taste buds on your tongue? Gail Monaghan weighs in on the mentality that makes good cooks into great chefs.

Chefs and authors are championing leftovers and elevating scraps like cauliflower stems, chicken livers and ginger peel to ingredient status. Last year, Ruth Reichl, editorial adviser to Gilt Taste, Gilt Groupe's food writing and sales website, and former editor in chief of Gourmet Magazine, helped develop a column called "Eats Shoots and Leaves," about cooking with things like corn silk and carrot greens.

The microwave oven, for all its convenience, may actually limit leftovers' horizons. "Before the microwave it wasn't so easy to reheat leftovers," says Ms. Reichl. "I think people used to think more creatively."

Eggs are useful for transforming leftovers, says Tamar Adler, author of "An Everlasting Meal, Cooking with Economy and Grace." A poached or soft-boiled egg on top of rice, soup, or tomato sauce makes a meal.

What Food Dates Really Mean

Expiration dates and "sell by" dates on food are often set by manufacturers and intended to guide grocers and shoppers about peak freshness—not as a safety gauge. The dates are generally not set by the federal government, with the exception of infant formula.

"After the date passes, while not of best quality, the product should still be safe if handled properly and kept at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below for the recommended storage times," says the U.S. Department of Agriculture website. Dating foods like eggs is required by some states.

The issue is getting more attention in the U.K., where reducing food waste has become a political flash point. The government there advised grocery stores last year to stop using "sell by" and "display until" dates to reduce avoidable food waste, saying the dates aren't an indicator of food safety.

"Give it a smell, look at it, maybe even taste it," before tossing food, suggests Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland, a book about food waste. "We have fairly well-developed instincts as a species for knowing if something is good or not."

Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared March 21, 2012, on page D1 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Leftovers: Tasty or Trash?.

Copyright 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

WSJ: Fifty Shades of Not Gray

LIVING WELL
April 6, 2012, 5:02 p.m. ET

Fifty Shades of Not Gray

By RITA KONIG

Douglas Friedman/Trunk Archive

NEW LOOK | Get it the easy way with a coat of cheery paint and bright accessories.

I was wandering around an interiors website the other day when I came across a house decorated rather self-consciously in what I realized has become the current acceptable "good taste": floor-to-ceiling pale gray paint. AAARGH! Exposed floorboards and all, even the flea-market props. And most upsetting to admit is that I am as guilty of this cliché as the rest—there is even a paint called Rita Says, named after a column I used to write for Vogue, in the palest shade of gray.

So, what to do? Well, color has to be the answer and there's no better time to repaint than spring. A room can be painted in a day, making it possible to brush in some new color fairly easily.

I am not ready to completely give up the gray, but it needs a new approach. Handily, it is a great foil for other colors. Recently I have been leaning toward an elephant shade and combining it with a 1950s citron yellow or pea green for a slightly Babar effect.

At Howe, one of my favorite shops in London, they paint Windsor chairs all sorts of glossy colors. On their website they show a combination in gray, blue and yellow that looks very au courant. Painted chairs are a great way to inject color into a kitchen or even a dining room. Take three colors and create a palette, or have them all match except for one.

If you are not ready to dive headlong into Technicolor, keep your pale gray canvas and add some cheer to it.

Kitchens need decorating like the other rooms in a house. If you have been traveling along the pale gray path and are not ready to dive headlong into Technicolor, keep your pale gray canvas and add some cheer to it. Vintage posters are a good source of both pattern (or at least graphics) and color. Some 20th-century advertising campaigns are fantastic and in keeping with the vintage/modern vibe that is popular right now. I like offsetting this look with cane window shades, just to add a more handmade element. Joss Graham, in London, has the prettiest cane blinds from India (available at jossgraham.com). They are easy to put up yourself because they just hang with ties from two small hooks—I must say I do love anything that doesn't require waiting for a handyman.

Part of my enthusiasm for the kitchen and all this redecorating has been Nigel Slater's cookbook "Appetite." During these first warm spring days reading his passages on what is coming into season right now is so uplifting. I want to fling open the windows, put a vase of flowers on the table and start cooking lunch for friends—preferably al fresco. With this in mind I naturally move toward kitchen accessories rather than actual cooking and have been buying wild rice and quinoa in anticipation of these healthy lunches. So storage jars are needed. I buy vintage Ball jars whenever I see them, especially the duck-egg-blue ones. Weck's glass jars are slightly stouter and ideal for grains—the necks are wider and the lids lift off. The shelves in your kitchen will be so much prettier with all this gleaming glass filled with various dry goods. The jars also, crucially, eliminate hideous packaging.

Spring is such a good time to take a look at your house and, without necessarily redecorating, bring in some new things that change the look. With kitchens, just painting the cupboard doors alters the feel entirely. I also love lamps in kitchens. They prevent the room from becoming too clinical and can be a low-commitment way to add color or texture. I just bought an enormous green bottle lamp to go on the island of a glossy white lab-style kitchen. And yesterday, while I was looking at West Elm online, I found some fantastic options—the Round Rope Lamp and the Giacometti-looking one by Stephen Antonson are really smart.

—Ms. Konig is a decorator and style writer based in London.

A version of this article appeared April 7, 2012, on page D8 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Fifty Shades of NotGray.

 

Cook and Share A Pot of Curry From MooMooFoodie's Kitchen! :)

Tom Yam Curry Chicken from MooMooFoodie's Kitchen! :)

Participate in this meaningful event and spread the importance of intercultural understanding between countries and also between the different races and nationalities within one country!

For background info:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=254441147918239

This is a Facebook Page created by a group of Singaporeans after a report came about that a mainland Chinese family (from China) told a local Indian Family not to eat curry and not to cook curry. The appointed mediator - a certain Madam Giam facilitated the case in such a way that : the Indian family could cook curry only when the mainland Chinese family is not at home. (mediation agreement).

So far, more than 60,000 around the world (mostly Singaporeans!) are joining in. Cook a pot of curry or buy a take-out from a restaurant (if you can't cook or too busy to do so).

===

Excerpt from Facebook Page:

http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110808-0000102/Number-of-neighbour-disputes-hit-high (this is the link)

and this is the clarification to the case:
http://app2.mlaw.gov.sg/Highlights/tabid/168/Default.aspx?ItemId=568

and 16th Aug 2011 (The Law Minister's clarification)
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110816-294757/2.html

How we feel
------------------------------
How could a appointed mediator facilitate the case in such a way that restricts the lifestyle and cooking norms of the Indian family? Or any other local family who practices a cultural lifestyle that we have all made our own? In this case, Curry has always been part of our culture since the 1800s. It can be anything else that you or I hold dear.

There is a native Malay proverb "Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung" ("You should hold up the sky of the land where you live") - ie one should respect the country in which you choose to live in. ( ie blend/ assimilate/ understand/ tolerate / integrate into the community of your chosen choice)

What we wish for
-----------------------------
When the new immigrants arrive here, we wish for them to respect / embrace the cultural / lifestyle and linguistic norms of this nation. We wish for all new immigrants and citizens to understand and appreciate the various and diverse cultural aspects of the various ethnic-minority groups we have here.

This is Singapore and we are part of Malayan culture. Our hinterland previously was Malaysia and the Indonesian archipelago. Our ancestors came, met and mingled and through an adventurous and open mindset, created something unique and beautiful... (thus our local culture as such- curries/ spices/ a vast melting pot of people and mixed heritages)

* A message to all new citizens: We sincerely hope you integrate into our local culture and make attempts to assimilate and embrace/ appreciate the various multi-ethnic cultures we had built up so painstakingly over the decades. Because at the same time, we are definitely open to taking the best that you have to offer, and to create new and beautiful Singaporean things.

*We Singaporeans are basically nice and tolerant people. We will accept you as new citizens and hope you blend in and integrate with us well.


Upset with CMC
-----------------------
We are mainly upset with the "Community Mediation Centre's" mediation action of actually facilitating such a mediation agreement. It is the inalienable right of the Indian family to cook curry at any time they wish to within the four walls of their home. (having said that, let us all- natives, new citizens or otherwise, embrace the multi-cultural aspects of our nation)

Every Singaporean should just cook a pot of curry and eat it (regardless of race / language / religion). We are Singaporeans and we LOVE our curries - be it chicken curry / fish curry / lamb curry / beef curry / beef rendang / lontong / mee siam/ laksa / Petai sambal belachan / ayam buah keluak etc

Thank You Very Much for supporting "Cook A Pot of Curry" Event!

- from the Admin Group

NY Times: Snacks of the Great Scribblers

 

Published: July 29, 2011

Sketchbook | Wendy MacNaughton

Snacks of the Great Scribblers

When I sit down to work, I keep a small bowl of garlic croutons on my desk. These are little rewards for good ideas and strong lines, Pavlovian pellets to keep my spirits up. Recently, I began to wonder what fuel writers have relied on, and the answers turned out to be all over the culinary map. Walt Whitman began the day with oysters and meat, while Gustave Flaubert started off with what passed for a light breakfast in his day: eggs, vegetables, cheese or fruit, and a cup of cold chocolate. The novelist Vendela Vida told me she swears by pistachios, and Mark Kurlansky, the author of “Salt” and “Cod,” likes to write under the influence of espresso, “as black as possible.” For some writers, less is more. Lord Byron, a pioneer in fad diets as well as poetry, sipped vinegar to keep his weight down. Julia Scheeres, the author of the memoir “Jesus Land,” aims for more temporary deprivation. “When in the thick of writing I minimize food intake as much as possible,” she told me. “I find I work better when I’m a little starved.”

WSJ: Four Perfect Picnics

 

FOOD & DRINK
MAY 14, 2011

Four Perfect Picnics

Globally inspired basket lunches curated by top chefs for your outdoor dining pleasure

Pernille Pedersen for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Karen Evans, Prop Styling by Angharad Bailey

Korean-style picnic

Korean

A Korean-style feast centered around chungmu kimbap (seaweed-wrapped rice rolls served with sauteed squid), with recipes from chef Dennis Lee of Namu, San Francisco.

The recipes: Seaweed-wrapped rice rolls: Season 1¾ cup cooked sushi rice with 2 tablespoons sesame oil and a light sprinkling of salt. Mix it gently with a wooden spoon.

Vote: Pick Your Picnic

View Interactive

Lay 3 half sheets of nori across lengthwise and coat with a rectangle of rice about ¼ inch high that reaches all four edges of nori layer. Roll it up. Dip your knife in water and slice the roll into long logs, 3-4 pieces per roll.

Sauteed Squid: Place 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a pan on high heat.

As soon as the butter begins to foam, add 2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean chili paste), 1 teaspoon sugar, ½ finely chopped onion, 2 chopped scallions, ½ teaspoon grated ginger, ½ teaspoon grated garlic and 8 ounces squid (tube and tentacles) cut into ¼ inch rings. Cook about 4-5 minutes.

Serve with: Pickled daikon, cabbage salad, oranges and daifukumochi (Japanese sweet rice cakes).

To drink: Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale.

The kit: Scrapwood Basket $225, ABC Carpet & Home, 212-473-3000.

Spanish

A Spanish-influenced picnic starring a parsnip tortilla española recipe from Ba Culbert, chef of Tilikum Place Cafe, Seattle.

Photos by Pernille Pedersen for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Karen Evans, Prop Styling by Angharad Bailey

Spanish-style picnic

The recipe: Combine 5 medium grated parsnips, 1 small diced yellow onion, 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, ¾ tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper and 4 beaten eggs.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoons olive oil in a sizzling hot 8-inch saute pan. Add parsnip and egg mixture. Lower heat and cook for 5 minutes. Place pan in 350-degree oven for 7 minutes (or until egg sets).

Remove pan from oven, flip tortilla to a plate.

Return saute pan to stovetop and add a little more olive oil or butter. Add parsnip cake, light side down. Put pan in the oven for another 5 minutes or so. Let cool.

Serve with: Fava bean salad, cherry tomatoes, Romesco sauce (a Spanish nut and tomato sauce, available at markys.com), sour cream and roasted Marcona almonds.

To drink: Rosemary lemonade.

The kit: Viridian Insulated Picnic Basket, $100, picnicbaskets.com; Alpace Spiral Red Throw, $400, Blue plates, $450,Linen kitchen cloth, $18, all from ABC Carpet & Home, 212-473-3000.

Moroccan

Moroccan-style picnic featuring spice-grilled chicken breasts from Sue Zemanick of Gautreau's in New Orleans.

Pernille Pedersen for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Karen Evans, Prop Styling by Angharad Bailey

Moroccan-style picnic

The recipe: Mix ½ cup plain yogurt, ½ cup chopped cilantro, ¼ cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon ras el hanout (an Arabic spice blend, available at zamourispices.com), ½ teaspoon cumin,½ teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper in a medium size bowl.

Coat 2 chicken breasts (skin on, bone in and split to yield four halves) in marinade and let sit in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Place on the grill over indirect medium heat for 10 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and juices run clear.

Serve with: Couscous with sliced almonds, raisins and currants; cucumber salad; fresh berries.

To drink: Leth Gruner Veltliner Steinagrund 2010.

The kit: Market Basket,$40, brookfarmgeneralstore.com; Vintage quilt,$575, Astier de Villatte Nathalie dinner plates,$115, Small blue bowl, $25, all from ABC Carpet & Home, 212-473-3000.

French

Enjoy a French-style picnic avec Creton (traditional French-Canadian pork spread) from James Tranchemontagne of The Frog and Turtle in Westbrook, Me.

Pernille Pedersen for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Karen Evans, Prop Styling by Angharad Bailey

French-style picnic

The recipe: Melt ½ cup lard or duck fat in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart pot at medium heat. When fat is melted, add 1 large diced onion and 3 cloves of finely diced garlic and sauté until translucent.

Add 2 pounds ground pork and sauté until well cooked, then add ½ tablespoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, 2 whole cloves, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Mix well. Cover with water and simmer 2½ hours, leaving lid on the pot for the first hour.

When the mixture is ready, there should be no water above the meat and it will be bound together like a pie filling. Season with salt and pepper. Add ½ cup corn starch mixed with ¼ cup water, stir and let cool overnight.

Serve with: A baguette, Dijon mustard, dried figs and apricots and a good blue cheese.

To drink: Sangria.

The kit: Market basket, $85, aerostudios.com; Scents and Feel fouta throw blanket, $275, ABC Carpet & Home, 212-473-3000.

—Produced by Charlotte Druckman

Boing Boing: Omelet recipe printed on an egg

Omelet recipe printed on an egg

Posted: 28 Apr 2011 11:40 PM PDT

Dnewman's come up with a clever use for the Egg-Bot ("an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects from the size of a ping pong ball to that of a small grapefruit"): printing an omelet recipe right onto the shell. Omelet Recipe

NY Times: Chicks With Something to Peep About (Marshmallows)

 

---

April 15, 2011

Chicks With Something to Peep About

By MELISSA CLARK

AT Easter time, when the shops erupt in a pastel frenzy of chocolate bunnies, candy eggs and marshmallow chicks, I try hard to resist. Unless I’m buying an artisanal rabbit made from single-origin chocolate, most of the confections look a lot better than they taste.

The most cloying offenders are fluffy marshmallow chicks, which don’t actually taste like anything beyond a tooth-aching sugary burst. (Although after they’ve aged, unwrapped, for a few days, the sugar coating does harden into a pleasingly gritty crust.)

So of all the D.I.Y. projects I’ve contemplated, nothing could be more apropos than making my own Easter chicks.

I had already developed a recipe for homemade marshmallows that was not only airy and light, but also had a complex flavor from substituting good, fragrant honey for the bland corn syrup.

The only problem was the color: my marshmallows are white. Every toddler on our playground knows chicks are yellow and Easter bunnies are, of course, pink. A few drops of food coloring massaged into a sugar coating would help, but if I wanted my candy to really stand apart, I could tint it with something that tasted good, too.

A small pinch of ground saffron, I hoped, would give a faint yellow cast while adding an earthy, spicy note to my chicks, and pomegranate juice would put the pink in my bunnies’ cheeks along with a tart and fruity nuance.

Both recipes were hits with the under-3 crowd and their parents, particularly after I let the critters age unwrapped for a few days to stiffen up.

Then I started spinning out variations, trying grape juice for lavender marshmallow Easter eggs sprinkled with dark green sanding sugar for a sparkling contrast.

And for something even more intense, I added matcha powder to make green tea marshmallows with a bracing bitter note. I spooned this verdant fluff over a shortbread cookie crust, then topped it with candied ginger for a vaguely s’mores-inspired bar cookie with a much more exotic flavor.

It made a nice moss-hued pasture for my sugared animals to graze. I’ll bet they would have even enjoyed the taste.

===

Saffron Honey Marshmallows

Time: 45 minutes, plus 4 hours to set

 

6 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

2/3 cup superfine sugar

2 cups plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads

3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (about 3 envelopes)

1/4 cup honey

2 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt.

 

1. Place parchment or waxed paper on the bottom and sides of a 12 7/8-by-

17 3 /4-inch baking sheet. If using the food coloring, combine it with the superfine sugar in a small bowl; stir or massage with your fingers until color is evenly distributed. Sift half of the superfine sugar, with or without color, over the bottom of the pan.

2. Using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, finely grind 1 teaspoon granulated sugar with the saffron threads. Place in a bowl and cover with 2 tablespoons very hot water. When cool, cover with 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water. Stir the gelatin into the water and let rest until the mixture becomes very thick.

3. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the remaining 2 cups granulated sugar, honey and 1/2 cup water, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.

4. Meanwhile, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, carefully pour the 240-degree sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl in a slow and steady drizzle. Continue whisking until the mixture has cooled slightly, about 2 minutes. Scrape in the gelatin mixture. Continue whisking until the mixture begins to thicken and quadruples in volume, about 10 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sift the remaining superfine sugar over the marshmallows. Allow marshmallows to set for 4 hours or overnight at room temperature.

5. Use cookie cutters or a knife to cut marshmallows into shapes or squares.

Yield: About 2 dozen marshmallows.

Pomegranate variation: Eliminate the food coloring and skip Step 2. Stir the gelatin into 1 cup pomegranate juice and let it thicken. Proceed with Step 3.

===

Green Tea-Ginger Marshmallow Shortbread

Time: 45 minutes, plus 4 hours to set

 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 sticks unsalted butter

3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (about 3 envelopes)

4 teaspoons matcha (green tea powder)

2 large egg whites

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger

3 tablespoons superfine sugar.

 

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor fitted with a blade, pulse together flour, sugar and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Add the butter and pulse to fine crumbs. Pulse a few more times until some crumbs start to come together, but do not overprocess. Dough should not be smooth. Press dough into an ungreased 9-by-13-inch baking pan. (It won’t look as if you have enough, but keep pressing and it will cover the pan in a thin layer.) Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the gelatin and matcha together. Stir in 1 cup cold water. Rest the mixture until it thickens.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt on medium speed, until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. Stop the mixer.

4. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the granulated sugar, honey and 1 cup water, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Start the mixer on medium-high and carefully pour the hot syrup down the side of the mixing bowl into the whites in a slow and steady drizzle. Continue mixing until the mixture has cooled slightly, about 2 minutes. Scrape in the gelatin mixture. Continue mixing on medium-high speed until the mixture begins to thicken and quadruples in volume, about 10 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the pan with the shortbread, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Rub together the candied ginger and superfine sugar to break up any clumps. Sprinkle over the top of the marshmallows. Let marshmallows set for 4 hours or overnight at room temperature. Cut into squares.

Yield: About 2 dozen servings.

Boing Boing: Fried egg rug

Fried egg rug

Cory Doctorow at 4:56 AM Sunday, Feb 6, 2011 

 

 Architect Valentina Audrito's fried egg throw-rug looks comfy and delicious!

Salone Satellite: Valentina Audrito (via Cribcandy)

 

Boing Boing: Bent fork egg-cup

Bent fork egg-cup

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 12:22 AM PDT

Scott Bedford bent and twisted a fork to make a snaggletoothed egg-cup. I have a friend who has a mild phobia of bent fork-tines, this would drive him crazy (and I have to admit, there is something somehow unwholesome about such a grotesquely distorted bit of cutlery!).

Egg cup from a bent fork (Thanks, Sally599, via Submitterator!)

Boing Boing: Learn how stir-fry works with this awesome cutaway wok image

Learn how stir-fry works with this awesome cutaway wok image

Maggie Koerth-Baker at 10:07 AM Tuesday, Mar 22, 2011 

 

As a little kid, I loved picture books where buildings and machines were shown in cutaway and everything, from apples to hats, was labeled—think Richard Scary or, more advanced, The Way Things Work. That's why this photo of a wok, taken from the book Modernist Cuisine, immediately caught my eye. The book teaches cooking technique and science with the help of tons of images, just like this. Most taken by Seattle photographer Ryan Matthew Smith. The best part: According to an interview on Serious Eats, this photo was made by simply cutting a wok in half and cooking stuff in it.

Serious Eats has a link to enlarge the photo, which will allow you to read the text. There's all sorts of cool information in there about how stir-frying works.