Parents. Food. Technology. Somehow, okay, inevitably, this combination turned into hilarity. As we mostly turn to text for communication, it’s only natural that food dominates the keyboard.
On When Parents Text find the most ridiculous conversations between parents and kids on bacon vs. feather hair extensions, Jason Mraz’s avocado farm and cabbage’s impact on poop.
Crowdfunding phenom Kickstarter has helped indie projects raise more than $50 million, launching everything from debut albums and documentaries to pop-up cupcake shops and European vacations. They have also brought the world 7 amazing foodie inventions we never knew we needed but definitely do.
When you think about it, microwave popcorn is really a quite ingenious invention. But why does it have to taste like licking the top of a paint can? The Quinn Popcorn Kickstarter came up with a way to make micro popcorn that strips it of all that chemical crap and covers it in natural flavors like parmesan-rosemary and lemon-sea salt.
Result: Success! $27,880 raised. Au natural popcorn to hit shelves soon.
Death to plastic cups at keg parties. One day, every disposable cup will be an edible, disposable vehicle made out of Jello.
Result: Raised $10,429; Edible cup molds currently in testing stage.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sitting in the kitchen, struggling with my appliances and wondering, why isn’t there one simple machine that allows you to pedal a bike that powers a toaster AND churns butter to put on the toast?
Result: Success! $1,505 raised. Butter bike officially invented.
With football season kicking into high gear, it’s about time for some serious snack talk. But you know us ES-ers aren’t gonna just crack open some Tostitos spicy cheese dip and call it a day. These 10 recipes are taking nachos to a whole new level.
Pita chips, ground lamb, and tzatziki stand in for the usual Mexican ingredients in this inventive Mediterranean take on Nachos.
Greek nachos recipe from elly says opa!
It’s Argentina’s turn to get creative, topping their nachos with grilled steak and the country’s signature cilantro sauce.
Chimichurri nachos recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything.
Yes, that’s tater tot nachos, and really, can anyone argue nachos wouldn’t be better when you replace the chips with crispy fried potatoes?
Tater tot nacho recipe from Riley J. Briggs.
At San Francisco Italian restaurant Puccini and Pinetti, wonton wrappers serve as the base for Italian nachos topped with marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil.
Once again proving that any food that tastes good tastes even better cooked over a grill.
Grilled nachos recipe from Jenn’s Food Journey.
Sustainability and eco-consciousness might be more relevant in the kitchen than any other room in the house. The kitchen is where technology lives side by side with organic elements and together they coexist and do daily duty – feeding both mind and body.
Here’s a list of some products and appliances that perform well, look great, and have the additional benefits of helping your home become more efficient, use less energy and turn your kitchen green.
Most homeowners tend to default to whichever hood their local showroom sells them with their range, or whatever hood is already installed in their homes.
Zephyr’s new Next Generation Europa Collection with DCBL Suppression System is not only beautiful, but energy efficient. The DCBL Suppression System uses a direct current (DC) brushless motor rather than an AC motor which is why Zephyr’s hoods consume 77% less energy. This same motor provides 30% more power to the hood, but it’s also 77% quieter. The collection also uses a dimmable LED— an industry first— which is called Bloom HD LED and offers 25,000 hours of life versus 2,000 offered by halogens. And for all those roving hands in the kitchen, it’s cool to the touch.
Bonus: If you are already a Zephyr hood owner – and are interested in showing off your uber-cool hood – Zephyr is running a contest right now called Inspire My Kitchen Design Contest , which awards homeowners prizes. The grand prize is Chef Tom Hurley preparing dinner for up to 16 of your friends in your home.
Lighting choices is a much more complicated decision these days. LED lights, which at first seemed prohibitively expensive, have come down in price and are better for the environment. LED bulbs are lit solely by the movement of electrons. Unlike incandescent, they have no filament that will burn out; and unlike CFLs, they contain no mercury or other toxic substances. LEDs can last some 60 times longer than incandescents and 10 times longer than CFLs. Creative Systems Lighting offers plenty of LED options, including Orb, which features a rotating aluminum body and LEDs that use at least 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 50 times longer.
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I eat simply and healthfully in my day-to-day life, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary (for example, most everything I post here). When I’m not hitting the restaurant scene, I love to have a quiet night at home, fixing a dinner focused on vegetables and lean proteins. Sure, sometimes I wish I were stuffing my face with greasy take-out food, but I try to restrain myself. If only there were some way to cheat the system… or is there?!
Last night I found myself somewhat bored at home alone, really hungry but convincing myself to make a sensible meal for one. I decided to prepare one of my go-tos, an easy stir-fry. As I was browsing the aisles of my favorite Asian market, I came across a mystery product I’ve heard murmurs about throughout the food world, but had never experienced for myself: Shirataki noodles.
What’s so great about these noodles compared to any other pasta? They’re made of starch from the root of the yam… they’re kind of hard to find… oh yeah, and they apparently are zero calories, compared to your usual 200 calorie serving of spaghetti.
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It’s America’s favorite meal — the state fair! Every year, the fairs across this great land compete with each other to invent bigger, badder, greasier fair food. But after Texas stepped up its game last year with deep fried beer, this thing hit a whole ‘nother level. The 2011 state and country fair foods have been more insane — and more amazing — than ever. Here are our top 10 favorite finds.
Could there be anything more American than dipping a hot dog in batter, deep frying it and eating it off a stick? Why yes, there could be. You could cover it in chocolate and put sprinkles on top, a treat that was found at both the OC Fair and neighboring San Diego County Fair. My Burning Kitchen has more on food at the San Diego fair. (Photo: www.myburningkitchen.com)
In another strong showing for California’s other great fair — and originator of last year’s hash brown covered hot dog, San Diego debuts what is surely the trashiest food ever conceptualized. It’s just unclear why they didn’t wrap it in bacon. (Photo: Cuttlefish)
Texas may have invented deep fried butter at their own fair a few years back, but Iowa thought to put it on a stick. See, America, we can do great things when we work together. Yes, this involves frying an entire stick of butter, and yes, you simply have to watch the video for full effect.
The first of several entries from the Lone Star state, this monstrosity is a chicken strip, coated in pancake batter and jalapeño bread crumbs, then deep fried and…you guessed it — eaten on a stick. (Photo: State Fair of Texas)
Funnel cake has fallen behind on the list of outrageous fair foods recently. After fried beer and fried Coke, plain old fried dough starts to look pale by comparison. But this year we saw funnel cake get a new southern fried twist that injects some new life into it…and probably injects all kinds of chemicals too. Why eat fried dough when you can eat red fried dough? (Photo: Bob B. Brown)
Along the same lines of the “hot coffee” litigation (come on, you didn’t know the coffee would be hot?), culinary school graduates are suing their culinary schools because they “were misled by recruiters about the value of a culinary education and their prospects after graduation.”
Not only is this ridiculous, but it is another example of people not taking responsibility for their actions. It is the generation of do-overs. Ooops, I got an F on my math test, can I have a do-over? I borrowed $500,000 to buy a house that I couldn’t afford, can I just walk away? I invested too much money into this ridiculous tech stock that I thought was going to sky-rocket. Why didn’t you talk me out of it? I want my money back. Since when did people start thinking it was okay to be let off the hook for everything? Why do we feel we are entitled to do-overs? When did risk become safe? This is not normal.
I’m sorry, but in the restaurant business, there aren’t very many do-overs. Do-overs cost money. You scorched an entire gallon of reduced balsamic vinegar? Well, a do-over doesn’t really exist for that. You burned it. You wasted about $30. People who want to sue a school for not disclosing to them obvious, common sense information should not be working in the restaurant business anyway, which may be one reason they couldn’t find a job. (Common sense is a necessary kitchen tool.) When I went to college, they did not tell me that I would someday want to quit my job as a financial advisor and go work in a kitchen for $10/hr. I feel like they should have known this. Maybe I could get my money back?
When did doing research and making informed decisions for yourself become someone else’s responsibility? I agree that some, if not all, expensive culinary schools are not worth the investment unless one is independently wealthy. All one needs to do is a simple online job search to see that an entry-level cook, including those with culinary degrees, makes slightly over minimum wage. This is what we call due diligence and takes a total of 30 seconds. Instead, let’s spend $20-30,000 first, and then worry about it. Sounds like a fantastic dumb idea to me.
Photo: AP/Eric Risberg