Archive for April 2014

Policy Point Wednesday: Commercials and Reward Sensitivity

Policy Point Wednesday: Commercials and Reward Sensitivity
As a probably too-frequent television watcher, I’ve noticed (while flipping quickly past) that a large proportion of current infomercials advertise exercise programs. Even though junk food is advertised heavily, there are plenty of commercials supporting healthy behaviors – so why is it we aren’t all exercising frenetically instead of inhaling french fries and soda? One... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 30, 2014 at 9:00 am • 

The Wayback Machine: Potato-Leek Tartlets

The Wayback Machine: Potato-Leek Tartlets
This week, I decided that we needed a vegetable dish that could be eaten with our hands…and I happened to have a couple of leeks in the fridge that needed to be used. Leeks, potato, bacon and cheese are natural partners – and I also happened to have a box of frozen phyllo cups that... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 27, 2014 at 10:33 am • 

The Food Desert Project: Succotash-stuffed Artichokes

The Food Desert Project: Succotash-stuffed Artichokes
Now that the November holidays are approaching, creative side dishes for this project got pushed to the front of the line – interesting vegetables, in particular, are really challenging when restricted to canned and dried products.  My inspiration came from Native American tribes, whose nonperishable staples are still used today.  Their staple foods were important... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 23, 2014 at 9:00 am • 
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Sundays with Sparky: Pork Chops with Thyme-scented Apples

Sundays with Sparky: Pork Chops with Thyme-scented Apples
This dish has a history that’s important to Sparky: it’s the first meal I ever cooked for his father, who was hooked immediately. For Sparky, I really wanted to show him how to sear and cook meat because that single skill can be applied to pretty much any fine-grained protein: chicken breast, fish, steak as... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 20, 2014 at 9:30 am • 

Policy Point Wednesday: Critical Thought, Scientific Studies and the News

Policy Point Wednesday: Critical Thought, Scientific Studies and the News
This is a re-print of an older post I wrote, but I thought it was timely because of this recent article in the New York Times. The news is full of attention-grabbing headlines:  Studies Question the Pairing of Food Deserts and Obesity, Study Finds That School Junk Food Doesn’t Lead To Childhood Obesity, and Obesity rate... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 16, 2014 at 8:20 am • 

The Wayback Machine: Stompin' Savoy Cabbage Rolls

The Wayback Machine: Stompin' Savoy Cabbage Rolls
I’ve been thinking about giving Sparky a cookbook as a Christmas present, compiled from the pages of this site, so I took a gander at the Recipe Index to see where we were: Hmmm—we’re a bit dessert-heavy, don’t ‘cha think?  Because most desserts involve baking and chemistry, they’re a really good starting place for novice... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 13, 2014 at 9:00 am • 
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The Food Desert Project: Giardiniera Kimbap

The Food Desert Project: Giardiniera Kimbap
You know, I always leave my cooking until the last possible minute.  I have all kinds of recipes I’ve tagged and saved and they’re all percolating up there in my head…until Tuesday night (or Saturday night, depending on which post I’m writing!) I’d wanted to make “maki” for the Food Desert Project for a while,... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 9, 2014 at 9:00 am • 

Sundays With Sparky: Reverse-Spherified Yogurt Blobs

Sparky and Dr. Lasergonapus followed the directions, putting sodium alginate in the yogurt, and creating a "bath" by mixing calcium lactate and water.
This holiday season, Dr. Lasergonapus and his mother surprised Sparky and I with a beautiful molecular gastronomy kit.  It contained a number of cool cooking gadgets and several chemicals: agar-agar, sodium alginate and calcium lactate, xanthan gum and soya lecithin. Sparky and I have actually used some of these ingredients before: agar-agar is a type... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 6, 2014 at 9:00 am • 

Policy Point Wednesday: The Female Athlete Triad Syndrome

You may not have heard of the Female Athlete Triad Syndrome – I hadn’t, until just recently.  I knew, of course, that women athletes sometimes stop menstruating, but I didn’t know about the risk of bone density loss and fractures.  According to Femaleathletetriad.org, the Triad is “a syndrome of three interrelated conditions that exist on... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 2, 2014 at 9:00 am • 
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