Bacon fat should be “saved and cherished, not discarded,” says Matt Duckor:
“The process of saving bacon fat couldn’t be easier…. After a few batches, you’ll have a stockpile of the stuff to start cooking with on a regular basis. The key to working bacon fat into your cooking routine is that you don’t want to overdo it. It’s extremely rich and shouldn’t be a straight substitute for olive oil or butter. Believe me when I say that a little bit goes a long way.”
Michelle Wire is preparing to welcome her new baby—and that includes planting a baby food garden:
“As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to feed this baby as organically and naturally as possible, including breastfeeding (my first time) and making baby food. That includes growing many of the veggies I’ll use in her meal prep…. After combing through my seed catalogs and the very few baby cookbooks I could find, I’ve decided to plant a wide variety of flowers and produce, focusing on veggies I can freeze in bulk.”
Henry Dimbleby urges home cooks to keep things simple:
“There’s a place for complex cookery, of course. A brilliant chef, such as [Marco Pierre White], can perform amazing feats of alchemy: taking something as unlovely as a pig’s trotter and turning it into a dish of implausible refinement. But, just as a good writer doesn’t need to use lots of long words to make a point, a skilled chef never loses sight of the simple pleasures.”
Marion Nestle hails the proposed Safe Food Act of 2015:
“The Government Accountability Office has been pressing for a single food agency for decades, mainly because food safety authority is largely split between FDA and USDA in ways that make no sense at all. It’s terrific that DeLauro and Durbin are taking the matter up again and writing op-eds to encourage support. They deserve all the support they can get!”
Kids are eating too much pizza, reports Katherine Martinko:
“According to a recent study published in the medical journal Pediatrics, one kid in five eats pizza every day. Pizza is the leading contributor of caloric intake for kids and teens. (For adults, the equivalent is donuts, cookies, and cake.)
“The study, which examined pizza consumption patterns among America’s youth using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2003 and 2010, found that kids take in far more calories on days when they eat pizza – up to 84 extra calories for kids and 230 for adolescents.”
Adam Roberts accidentally burns the carrot garnishes for his parsnip-potato soup but decides to go with it:
“Weirdly, those burnt carrot chips worked wonders; they added a deep, charry note to the otherwise light, almost marshmallowy proceedings. The earthiness of the carrots echoed the earthiness of the soup. All in all, it was a major success (even if you don’t believe me).”
Australian researchers may have found a cure for peanut allergies, reports news.com.au:
“Researchers from the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute gave around 30 allergic children a daily dose of peanut protein together with a probiotic in an increasing amount over an 18-month period. The probiotic used in the study was Lactobacillus rhamnosus and the dose was equivalent to eating about 20 kilos of yoghurt each day.
“At the end of the trial 80 per cent of the children could eat peanuts without any reaction.”
Anna Maxted curtails her kids’ sugar intake and observes their change in behavior:
“In this transitional week of less sugar, there is the usual bickering, but I wonder if it’s mostly habit. The children have grumpy moments, but there is definitely less ferocity and zigzagging moods. Nor are there any full-on fights. A lower-key balloon game replaces WWE. Possibly, they just have less energy. They’re still eating added sugar in yogurts, and fruit sugars in fruit and juice. I refuse to dissuade them from eating bananas. Even sugar is healthier than neuroticism around food.”
Laila El-Haddad describes the book she co-wrote with Maggie Schmitt, The Gaza Kitchen, which Cooking Up a Story calls “a wonderful collection of recipes and personal stories about the roughly 1.7 million people living in the Gaza Strip”:
“The really fantastic array of vegetables, seasonal vegetable stews often with tomato based gravies—that’s what you would be eating at home, as well as this variety of one-bowl meals that are prepared in Gaza. So they’re kind of stews that are thickened with sesame seed paste tahina and again a variety of ingredients like sour pomegranates and sometimes tamarind and poured into bowls, allowed to cool.”