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by BS

Feed Us Back: Spooky Comments of the Week

– So we thought we had found the Top 10 best Halloween cakes last year, but then Paul Joachim goes and points us towards the Zombie Dog Cake, which pretty much blows everything else out of the water. A-freaking-mazing. Thanks for the link, Paul.

– ESers were quick to defend the Taco Bell hot sauce costumes on our Top 10 Worst Halloween Costumes list, but there was much less love for poor Broccoli Roberta. dan:

so… I’m being broccoli this year, but I SWEAR my costume is gonna be 10 times better than that one! I saw that one yesterday actually when I was trying to figure out how to make mine. There are some terrible broccoli costumes out there.

http://partywiththis.com/product.php?productid=18013
http://www.mascotcostumes.co.uk/broccoli_mascot_costume_109.html

Do people even know what broccoli looks like?

– Whatever broccoli costume you decide to go with this year, be sure to check out Endless Simmer’s Halloween page for all the best ideas on Halloween costumes, cakes, cocktails and more.

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Most of you ESers are pretty firmly against genetically engineered salmon, so I thought I’d give the floor to Nancy@acommunaltable, the “lone voice of dissension.”

I have no problem with GM salmon or GM crops in general. Virtually EVERY food we consume today has been genetically modified. For thousands of years man has cross bred crops and lifestock to improve yield, flavor and/or pest resistance – that is genetic modification!!! The primary difference between what we have done for thousands of years and what we are doing today is that today we can be significantly more precise about what traits are expressed by modification and which ones are not. Are there risks? Of course – but can anyone name even one human endeavor that doesn’t present risk? This concept of “zero tolerance” to risk is at best short sighted and at worst disastrous for the human race.

What do you think? All set to dine on the franken-fish?

– And thanks for all the bonus pumpkin recipes! We’ve added some of our favorites to the ever expanding pumpkin chart. You can also check out The Huffington Post food page, where we’ve asked readers to vote on the very best from our top 10 favorite pumpkin recipes and theryan has upped the ante:

I can make a pumpkin roll that makes Jesus cry. Fact.

We’ll take one, please.

(Photo: Very Small Anna)

in Fish 1 comments

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Sysco may claim that midwesterners don’t care about organic food, but Liza’s Sis begs to differ:

I live in Oklahoma, and find there are an abundance of local/organic options. Granted, I care enough to look… but it isn’t hard at all!…To be dismissed as “non-coastal” is total bullshit. I live in a place where I can eat plentifully from what is grown within 100 miles of me nearly yearround, and that’s true for a lot of us here in the middle. Frankly, before the Wal-Marts of the world starting taking over our small towns, I’m willing to bet that most people here were a lot better about eating locally and supporting farmers than the masses on the coasts.

Thems fighting words! Thanks, Liza’s Sis. PS – her novel-esque comment is totally worth reading in full.

– Elsewhere, forkitude threw down the gauntlet and asked for the worst food combinations you can possibly come up with. OMGYEAHYOUKNOWME got the ball rolling:

mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour and blackpepper

Yum! Yuck? Yum? I’m so confused. Let’s keep it going, though!

– And how ’bout some crazy pizza combos, eh? Don’t leave an ES-er hanging!

(Photo: Mr. T in DC)

in Pig / Rants & Raves 3 comments

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Writer and state fair expert Kat Robinson emailed us to take issue with our top 10 state fair foods, noting that we neglected the Arkansas State Fair, which runs through October 17.

While shorter than some of the other fairs in our nation, many original ideas do come out of here. For instance, this year’s preview has shown that we have two items — Deep Fried Battered Hard Boiled Eggs and Chocolate Smooches (deep fried Hershey’s Kisses) that haven’t appeared elsewhere.

Well color us corrected! And hungry for a deep fried battered hard boiled egg. Thanks for the photo, Kat. Don’t miss her full food report on the Arkansas State Fair here. Seriously check it out — barbecued rabbit sandwiches and gator on a stick — heck yeah!

– Speaking of rabbit sandwiches, everybunny loves brit’s report on butchering a whole rabbit carcass. Erica:

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Time to crowdsource your knowledge, ESers. Janice has a question about state fair foods:

I know this may sound crazy but I have a diabetic student who is going to the State Fair of Texas next week. I want to provide her with a carb count of State Fair food so she can enjoy some unusual tastes. Does anyone know where I can get a list of the food served there with carb counts? Thanks

Any ideas? Aside from, you know, not taking a diabetic person within 10,000 feet of a state fair.

– If you missed the comments on changing food for American tastes, be sure to check out Borracho‘s link.

Do not overlook some of our great culinary adaptation in other countries: http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2009/07/mcdonalds-menu-items-from-around-the-world-40-pics/

Amazing! I think I might need to go on assignment and try all of these.

– And if you haven’t started following ES on twitter yet, get in the game — we’ve just handed out our first round of groupon winners — more to come!

(Photo: Food Network Humor)

in Food Travel 0 comments

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Coconut macaroons (above), key lime pie and bread pudding — thanks for all the great recs on what to make with condensed milk! Ariel’s idea deserves a special shout-out:

Put the sweetened condensed milk in a double boiler or place the open can in boiling water, stirring frequently for about an hour (until the milk turns thicker and light, nutty brown). This is the short way to make dulce de leche.

Yum!

– As far as pie shakes go, Jenna is having none of it:

I still think that sounds disgusting. Pie crust getting all soggy mixed with ice cream? No, no, no. Pie is meant to be pie – crisp crust encasing a sweet and soft fruit filling. A milkshake is meant to be a milkshake – cool ice cream blended with milk and flavoring. Give me a piece of pie a la mode any day over this perversion of both the pie and the milkshake.

But averagebetty is willing to give it a try:

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– I’m a little surprised that blondee47‘s thoughts on Top Chef: Just Desserts didn’t stir up more controversy here at ES:

This show is a big gamble for these reasons:
…all I can say to Gail is that she had better not put one pound on because if it isn’t written in her contract then it should be (for her sake). All woman have a much higher tendency to gain weight quicker than her male counterparts.
… if she does unfortunately begin to gain weight this will, singlehandedly, be the beginning of the end for pastry chefs and bakers everywhere; not to mention her own self-esteem
…finally, depending on the pros and cons of Top Chef Desserts, it could very well be an added bonus to the Obama campaign for healthy eating and the cutting out of high gylcemix indexed foods of which Desserts rank the highest, fruit included or it can raise the awareness of portion control with every aspect of each challenge.

Gail there is a lot riding on this for the average viewer and these are just my thoughts on it as a non-industry person but nevertheless a lover of food.

– Much less controversial are chilaquiles. But Don adds a new spin: