Sassy Radish

Here’s what a typical morning here is like these days.

6:30 AM wake up. Look at the clock, realize it’s very early still but finally, alas, it’s light out. Decide to get up and go to the gym and get back in time to have breakfast with Andrew only to realize your phone is at 15% power and will not make it through the workout.

Turn over and try to fall asleep. Realize you’re too anxious to sleep. That suddenly there is a tidal wave of all these to do’s in your head, the fact that you don’t have any meetings or “set” work to do, that you have no idea where you next paycheck is coming from, that you just put a check in the mail for rent neither you nor your husband can afford.

Toss and turn until the cat wanders over for his morning cuddle. Cuddle with the cat for ten minutes. His purrs only moderately calm you down, but mostly, what you feel is jealousy. Jealousy that you can’t ever feel this inner calm and bliss. You think to yourself, I’d do anything to feel this way if only for a day, but you know it’s not going to happen.

Check your phone once more; no new emails, no new job offers, no new job listings. The phone is now at 14%. Scratch the cat’s chin and hear him purr. Look over to your left where you husband is sleeping. Notice how he is the world’s most peaceful-looking sleeper.

Check the Instagram feed, see what dinner/cocktail/dessert everyone’s had last night. Look at cute sleeping children photos, wonder how parents do it all. Notice the phone is now at 13%. Go to Twitter, check the feed. Find a few interesting articles, but because you hate reading them on your phone, email them to yourself. Notice the phone is now at 12%. Go to Facebook and see everyone’s updates. Realize that you’re finding Facebook to be more and more of a bore, and it’s not that you don’t care about your friends updates, but that somehow Facebook has become a virtual world you don’t really feel like inhabiting. You want, simultaneously, peace and quiet and catch up with everyone, and I mean everyone, in person.

Continue reading it’s all in your head.

You, people!! Such great tips and techniques! I didn’t doubt you had it in you, but I was blown away by the sheer depth and breadth of the different tips everyone had to offer. I loved, loved, reading all of them – thank you all so much for sharing it with all of us here. I’m collating the highlights below, in case you aren’t into reading all 262 comments.

The winner, Julie, was commenter 174. Julie, can you please email me your full contact info (my email is on the About page), and I will have the America’s Test Kitchen folks send you the book right away.

And now, some of the tips highlighted here. Sorry if I didn’t mention your tip – there were so many great ones and I just tried to get a general gist here.

Continue reading “the science of good cooking” giveaway winner and kitchen tips highlights.

Happy Friday, folks! Hope your weeks were fruitful and went by fast – and that your’e ready for the weekend! But seriously, who isn’t ever ready for a few days off, right? We’re about to enter March, which means, winter is going to be soon behind us! I can’t believe two months of this year flew by already. Crazy.

If you haven’t yet, head over to the previous post and learn the scintillating (zzzzzzz….) difference between baking powder and baking soda. I’m also giving away America’s Test Kitchen, The Science of Good Cooking – leave a comment by March 3, 11:59pm sharing with all of us your favorite kitchen trick, tip, or technique and you’ll be entered to win the book. So far, the tips have been nothing short of fantastic and when the giveaway is done and decided, I’ll do a highlight of some of these to share with everyone.

And now… on to the links!

Great news: Locally-grown food is now having a national impact.

Cutest kitten in the world (save, of course, Forrest)

I know it’s cute and hipster-chic to love owls, but I’ve always loved them in real life (as opposed to a design detail) – and this article on owls proved mesmerizing. They are such amazing birds.

Real Genius in the style of M. Night Shyamalan – just genius.

Independent bookstores, including my neighborhood bookstore, are fighting Amazon’s e-book practice. I say more power to them.

Marissa Mayer, Yahoo!’s CEO has recently instituted a policy that mandates all employees come in to work and not telecommute. The Atlantic offers a great rebuttal to her mandate, most notably that working from home, can make you more productive. I couldn’t agree more. Studies have repeatedly shown that someone who endures a long commute is like to be less productive, have less time to do something like go to the gym, and get sick more often. It seems a step back in progress, not forward.

What I’m cooking this weekend.

Also, Joy made beignets and I’d like some right now.

Some craziness out of our 49th state challenging federal law. The Alaska state senate passed legislation Monday that would make it a felony for a federal official or agent to try to enforce new restrictions on gun ownership. [sigh]

RIP, Fung Wah bus. For anyone traveling between Boston and New York using a Fung Wah bus, well that time has come to and end. The Feds have shut the service down citing dated equipments (buses).

Why you can’t order cable a la carte. About a month ago, we cancelled cable. Then we were twitchy for ten days (we’re big news junkies) and reordered it again at a reduced rate. I can tell you, in all honesty, that we watch fewer than a dozen channels, and I can name the number of just one: MSNBC (which tells you how little tv I actually watch). I really wish that you could order cable challens a la carte and only pay for what you need. It seems like a win win for everybody and cable companies might make even more money getting folks who are budget minded to sign up for a humble channel offering.

We found our son in the subway. Deeply moving and poignant.

And finally, this piece on the psycho-sexual ordeal of reporting in Washington. Spot on and succinct.

And on that rather serious note, I bid you all good weekend!

Hi, friends. Today we’re going to geek out a bit. Sometimes you come here and there are stories or ramblings, but today, think of today as a mini science class. We’re going to talk about amino acids and browning and alkaline dough. I bet you can’t wait to get started.

For awhile now, I’ve been wondering about leaveners and the difference between the two. Why would you ever use baking powder instead of baking soda, and, more importantly, why would you ever use both? I’ve asked many folks this question, and gotten somewhat satisfying answers, but nothing that really made sense. I needed to delved deeper; I needed a super-geeky answer.

Enter a book to do just that, answer all my science-driven kitchen questions – Cooks’ Illustrated The Science of Good Cooking. Just the mere word “science” made me excited. The book was on my shortlist of cookbooks to purchase, but the generous (and lovely) folks over at America’s Test Kitchen, some of whom I met at the Cookbook Conference a few weeks ago, sent me a copy. And the first chapter to catch my eye, Concept 42, was appropriately titled “Two Leaveners Are Often Better than One”.

After reading through the book and thoroughly geeking out, I thought that you, readers, might benefit from a book like this on your shelves. Everyone, I think, could benefit from this book on their shelves. So I asked if they’d be willing to partner up on a giveaway, and much to my delight, they said yes!

Continue reading baking powder vs baking soda – and “the science of good cooking” giveaway!.

I hope you’ve all had a good, albeit shortened week. To me, a short week just feels rushed, not that I don’t mind an extra day off, but then the rest of the week has just as much work as a regular one, and the whole thing feels a little frenetic. Maybe that’s why I am feeling a cold coming on. Here are some links I found through the week that range from ridiculous to amusing to kind of not-so-amusing. I’ll let you be the judge of which is which.

Ted Cruz’ goal is to shake up Washington, but I guess the real question is what is his definition of shake-up. My favorite part is on Cruz’ thoughts on Kerry and sentence about Cruz’ military service (he has none).

My favorite author with my favorite quote from my favorite book at Incanto. Also, in case I haven’t said it before, but we got married on Bloomsday! But that was purely by accident.

You can see compassion on the MRI – amazing.

Brave New Drones! Brought to you by Paul Greenberg, Scott Menchin, and the New York Times. Fantastic.

We are so very very very small.

Everyone keeps mentioning this article to me about hipsters moving out of Brooklyn and into the suburbs – it’s created quite a splash and there’s a lot of backlash against it. I don’t know what to make of it because there are so many other neighborhoods in Brooklyn, but that’s beside the point. What do you all think of it?

I promise this blog isn’t turning into a shrine to Ottolenghi, but if you happen to read his fantastic weekly column for the Guardian, the latest recipe is inspired by a recently-acquired by me (gifted by a relative) book called Food Of Life: Ancient Persian And Modern Iranian Cooking And Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batmanglij. Suddenly, I am noticing this book mentioned everywhere, and personally, I’m a little obsessed with it.

A new colony of 9,000 penguins was found in Antarctica. How, you might wonder? Why, it’s the poop trail that gave them away.

And if you missed this absolutely searing piece from Grantland, you must, must read it. For so many reasons Andy Greenwald just nails it. And by it I mean the transformation of food television from Julia and Jacques (and Yan Can Cook [cue suppressed sob here]) to the current shows on the Food Network. And not that I’m on anyone’s radar to have a show of my own, but the only place where I think I, personally, would fit in, is PBS.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend ahead.

See above? That was the state of my desk Wednesday morning. By Thursday morning, my attempts to declutter have been semi-effective. See the after picture. I hope that you all have had a good Valentine’s Day. I don’t put much emphasis on the holiday and neither does Andrew – this system works beautifully for the both of us. And we pretty much forgot what day it was yesterday (we were traveling) until, at lunch, we realized all the couples around us with flowers and chocolates, and burst out laughing because, for a few seconds, neither one of us had a clue. Anyway, I hope everyone’s day was filled with love: romantic, platonic, pet’s, self-indulgent – whatever the kind, I hope it made you happy!

Relax, you’ll be more productive!

Please stop pairing red wine with chocolate - finally, someone said something!

This week marks 50 years since Sylvia Plath’s death (the Bell Jar made an indelible impression on me as a teen), but when a writer went looking for her obituaries, there were none to be found. Here’s why. Sad and a reflection of that time.

The man who shot Bin Laden. Heartbreaking and disturbing on how the US cares for its vets.

Monsanto found guilty of chemical poisoning in France.

A (lazy) parent’s confession. I kind of just love it.

Last week, I spent one day trailing in the ABC Kitchen. I’ll speak more to that experience some other time (in short: it was awesome!). Here is some great advice from respected chefs on how to make it as a chef.

I heart Spencer Ackerman and Danger Room – this is his crowning achievement: Battle of Hoth!

Unpaid internships are not just a rich girl problem – they’re a problem, period. I’ve said this before and I’ve said it again, people really should be compensated for their work – no one, ever, should be expected to work for free.

I’ll be the first one to say it: when it’s time for pizza, I order a Diet Coke. It’s just that pizza tastes best to me with a cola. And it’s not that I’m so into counting calories, but more that I am very anti high-fructose corn syrup. However, I may have to give that habit up too. Diet drinks are associated with an increased risk of Type II diabetes – yikes!

Apparently, to those not with their head in the sand, NYC just had fashion week! Here are, Momofuku’s pastry chef, Christina Tosi, and model, Karlie Kloss (whose haircut has been apparently dubbed as the haircut of 2013!), work out (in style too, I might add!) and make cookies. The cutest thing I’ve seen all week!

Hope your week was wonderful, happy Friday, and a wonderful weekend!! xo

Happy Friday, folks. I hope you’ve had a good week – mine has been kind of frenetic, but not in a bad way. Today and tomorrow, I am spending at the Roger Smith Book Conference, and if any of you, reading this, are there – please say hello. My ticket was very generously provided by the wonderful Brian Samuels, who is one of the speakers. Were it not for him, I’d be at home. So thank you, Brian!

Why you should give yourself permission to screw up.

I am dying to watch am addicted to House of Cards, a new show by Netflix, and think you should, at least, check it out. The lead character is based on Richard III, one of my favorite plays, and Kevin Spacey just nails it. Robin Wright plays his wife, is nothing if not tremendous in this role, very Lady Macbeth-like. While this show might be a game-changer in terms of the future of television, I wonder about the economics. Anyone else?

And speaking of Richard III, a parking lot?? Really?!?

50 Life Hacks to Simplify Your World – some are AMAZING!

A new, strange beauty trend – I’m not sure I get it.

Walter Cronkite on kitchens of 2001. Gotta love it.

A hysterical Old Milwaukee beer ad, featuring the brilliant Will Ferrel, that played during the Super Bowl but only in 3 cities.

On a completely different note, Heidi Swanson talks popovers and technique, and I’m smitten.

And finally, this totally made my week: WTF Evolution. I haven’t laughed this hard in awhile. Scroll down to the seahorse video. Oh, and you’re welcome.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Happy Friday, friends. This week, I found some interesting reading material: some which moved me to tears while other stuff made me raise my eyebrows. In any case, I hope you find them as interesting as I did. Happy reading.

Continue reading friday link love.

Happy Friday, friends! Another busy week where I am hoping something, something, will come together soon as I search for a new project. Being a freelancer can be the pits, sometimes. Two days ago, the amazing folks at Haven’s Kitchen invited me and a few other talented folks over for a lunch to celebrate Haven’s Kitchen turning 1! I could probably write a few pages on the amazing space Alison Schneider’s team has built – aesthetically, it’s as if someone picked my brain and deposited it into an actual, veritable place, white subway tiles and black grout (!) including. I came away inspired and hopeful that my own risk-taking will work out in the end. I’m also excited to have met HK’s talented team and to have partaken in the celebration of that first year. Now, here are some links to (hopefully) delight and entertain.

Margaret Atwood has been one of my favorite writers for ages. I was transformed when I read “The Handmaid’s Tale” and I was completely drawn into “Alias Grace”. I’ve loved her other work: her novels, her stories, her poems, but the book that I keep by my bedside and return to for advice and inspiration is “Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing”. She’s incredibly forward-looking: in her books and also with her online writing tools. Forward-thinking, indeed!

A new food study links registered dietitians to “Big Food”. Kind of disheartening.

By now I think everyone’s heard of the ReviewerCard – I’ll abstain from commenting, but here’s something that might compete with it. And unlike the ReviewerCard, this one’s free!

“Ours was a storybook romance.” Creepy.

I can’t wait to see this. I loved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset – so a third installment sounds incredible.

80% of antibiotics sold in the United States are used in animals. If that’s not disturbing, I don’t know what is.

The appetite workout. Interesting.

There’ve been countless “blogging rules” published across the interwebs, so no need to reinvent the wheel, right? And yet, something about Jenny’s post captured me. She doles out some good advice. Not SEO or traffic or any of that crap. Just sound advice about thinking, content, clarity of vision. This might be my favorite “blogging advice” entry I’ve read.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy friday, everyone. I hope it’s been a good week. Mine went by a bit too fast. I blinked and it was Thursday afternoon and the light went from a brilliant white to gray in a course of a few seconds. I hope that the weekend lingers on – I could use a lazy day. Here’s another collection of interesting and amusing links I collected over the course of the week. I hope you like them!

SNL’s Fred Armisen was on This American Life a little while ago, and the episode was centered on doppelgangers. Here’s part of the SNL rehearsal, that never made it onto the show, where Fred plays Ira Glass, the NPR’s show host. I think he pretty much nails it.

Man spends $22k on gold shirt to impress the ladies. Wow.

Last Sunday, when I was watching Up! with Chris Hayes (one of my favorite weekend indulgences), he had a panel of novelists towards the end of the show, including Michael Chabon (whose work I love). I think it was Chabon that mentioned that the coolest thing he learned all week was that astrophysicicts are aware of this amazing, huge quasar that’s so big, in fact, that it would take millions of lightyears just to get around it. Millions of lightyears. It’s the universe’s largest structure that we are aware of, and it’s challenging laws of mathematics and physics (though don’t ask me why; physics was never my strong suit). Learning about stuff like thatthat makes me both giddy and frightened at the same time. Kind of mind-blowing.

I am a fan of all things Muppet themed forever and ever. This is so cool: never before seen jim henson journal.

A woman drives 900 miles instead of 90 due to a GPS error – says was distracted despite the road signs in foreign languages. Start in Belgium, end up in Croatia. Yeah.

Bad Lip reading of NFL Football. I’m glad that it was none other than Tom Brady who found Fido! He was difficult to track! Also, Super Bowl is almost upon us!!!

Have an amazing weekend, all!