March 2009 | Simple, Good and Tasty, page 6

"Food Inc." is All About Production

Posted in Books & Media on Thu, 03/05/2009 - 1:35pm by lee -

The Foodcycles blog writes about a new film called Food Inc., featuring Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

What is Sustainable Food?

Posted in News & Views on Thu, 03/05/2009 - 5:56am by lee -

Sustainweb, a British site with the subheader: the alliance for better food and farming, provides these (slightly edited) guidelines for people who want to eat sustainable food:

Bugs: the Ultimate Sustainable Food

Posted in News & Views on Wed, 03/04/2009 - 12:56pm by lee -

The website Ecobuying.com, posted a blog about eating bugs today, calling bugs: "the next sustainable food source." Here's an excerpt:

In the face of a growing food crisis, could insects be the next sustainable food source? Last year, a group of experts proclaimed that we could all help the environment by eating insects. We wrote about the gag-inducing descriptions that adventurous gastronomes use to illustrate the flavor of things like giant water bugs – some people say the meat is “perfumey, tastes like salty apples”.

The post feastures a link to Food-Insects.com, which is a site all about different bugs to eat and ways to eat them. When eating bugs becomes the norm, I'm pretty sure I'll be a vegetarian.

In Defense of Food, Part 1

Posted in Books & Media on Wed, 03/04/2009 - 6:48am by lee -

michael-pollan1 Mention Michael Pollan in a crowded room (or in an elevator, at the dinner table, at work, etc) and you get one of two reactions:

Reaction One: the person rolls their eyes, remembering Pollan as some sort of a "Food Nazi" from a TV interview he gave over the past year, probably one where he said you should only eat things your Great-Grandma would recognize. Or maybe one where he discussed "edible foodlike substances," which are, according to Michael, often disguised as real food.

Reaction Two: An "oh my God"-like gasp, followed by vigorous head-nodding, a sense of brother- (or sister-) hood, and an in-depth discussion of how they selected their CSA, the size of their garden, and what's growing there this year.

Elle's New England Kitchen

Posted in Recipes on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 10:37pm by lee -

Recently found another Twitterer named Elle who writes a great recipe blog. Elle is celebrating her first anniversary as a food blogger. Here's what her blog profile says:

Hi! Living in New England with my amazing husband, four kids, and six pets. I love to cook and collect cookbooks, which I read like novels. Doesn't everyone?

In any case, the site features all sorts of good, tasty sounding things. Some are even healthy, or seem to be, like this recent post about granola with yogurt, fruit, and nuts. (I'm fairly obsessed with granola, can you tell?)

Red Stag Supper Club Rocks!

Posted in Out & About on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 8:42am by lee -

Although it's just over a year old, I finally had a chance to visit Northeast Minneapolis' Red Stag Supper Club. Sometime between the flatbread appetizer (local butter, farm raised pork, greens) and the special chocolate dessert (4 kinds of chocolate in the cake, house-made mint ice cream), Red Stag became my favorite restaurant in the city. Here's what came in between:

Gluten-Free and Not Yucky: Madwoman Foods

Posted in Out & About on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 11:49am by lee -

Madwoman Foods, an independently owned bakery in Southwest Minneapolis, serves up loads of gluten-free baked goods (including lots of treats). My father-in-law has been a celiac for nearly 15 years, and my mother-in-law makes loads of tasty gluten-free treats, and even THEY think that Madwoman makes many of the best gluten free flatbreads, cupcakes, pizzas, and tea cakes in town. Here's what the Madwoman site says about the place:

Another Great Meal at French Meadow

Posted in Out & About on Sun, 03/01/2009 - 10:40pm by lee -

The French Meadow Cafe has long been one of Minneapolis' best stops for locally grown, organic food. Here's their "mission statement", from their website:

French Meadow Bakery & Café believes that meals prepared with the highest quality fresh, local & organic ingredients are the building blocks for a healthy & happy life.

An amazing bakery with a host of grocery store products to boot, the restaurant makes some of the best breakfasts in town. The pancakes (blueberry corn or strawberry almond) are a sure-fire hit, even with my kids, and my wife was especially liking the oatmeal last time we ate there, with apples, dried, fruit, and nuts.