Put It In the Bank

More and more Americans are not getting what they need to eat. If you can, please make a donation to your local food bank.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/15/us-hunger-stalks-idUSTRE7BE1VD20111215

Vertical Food Garden on KickStarter

KickStarter is an awesome website to get an idea going. This vertical garden system will be manufactured right in the US of A if they reach their fundraising goal. Having done some gardening myself, I would love to have some low maintenance systems like these. Grow food. Create jobs. Start a window farm!

Window Farm

Sabuy Sabuy Again Again

I like this place. Friendly wait staff. Nice outdoor seating with little windchimes. A little piece of paradise, right next to Wendy's. Not that I'm not a fan of Dave Thomas or his 99 cent chicken nuggets, its just that love Tom Yum. My Chang came in a special glass. Oooohh!

Sabuy Sabuy, Berkland, CA

According to the 20 year-oldish hipsters sitting next to me, Sabuy Sabuy is in Berkland- not Oakland or Berkeley. If you don't know how to get there, I think it's between Mordor and Never Never Land. Whatever you like to call the area, this place is a little piece of Thailand. How do I know? I've never been to Thailand. But, I've tried a lot of Tom Yum and this is the only Thai restaurant that I cannot order the full spice level. Tom Yum just hit the table. Ando out.

Non-GMO Super Broccoli

Who says you need to genetically modify cells in order to make crops more nutritious or resistant to pests? Well ******** thinks so, but who cares about them. There's a new breed of non-Genetically modified broccoli, according to a report from USA Today. What's so special about it? Glucoraphanin. As King Curtis would say, "Don't forget to eat your vegetables!".

Photo by Matt Dunham, Associated Press, Courtesy of USAToday.com

Celebration Ale Brew Session… and Lasagna

Making lasagna from scratch sounds a lot more complicated than it really is- just like brewing. More surprisingly, they're actually a good combination to make together. Now, if you've never made lasagna or brewed, I wouldn't recommend trying both at the same time. But making a small loaf of lasagna gives you something to do while your beer boils and gives you some delicious energy to keep you going. Make sure you kill the oven as soon as the lasagna comes out so you don't have too much additional heat during the wort chilling process.

Arizmendi – Emeryville

Just past the KFC (YUM! Foods) on San Pablo, next to the Wing Stop (Roark Capital Group) is an employee owned restaurant called Arizmendi. They serve pizza, breads, coffee (which is going extinct), pastries, and they give a senior discount. They use seasonal ingredients, like in this slice that has squash, red onions, walnuts, and goat cheese.

My Ivy – San Francisco

Tom Yum soup balances the flavors of Thai cuisine by incorporating hot, sour and bitterness with the sweetness of lime. If you've never had Tom Yum you should give it a try. These days the order is: Tom Yum, vegetarian- NO TOFU, no mushrooms, extra spicy. The original recipe calls for shrimp and a bit of fish sauce- so real Tom Yum has a slightly different flavor than the Veggie version. But, if the ingredients are authentic it's just as delicious. My Ivy in San Francisco uses tomatoes in their TY- always nice at the end of a long summer when the tomatoes are ripe and red to the core. They messed up and added TOFU, but no sweat. Spice-wise, fairly mild. Not like Sabuy Sabuy in Oakland, California. Also- beer is not on the lunch menu but they do serve it at lunch time. I would come back indeed.

Food Safety in the US

You would assume that our food safety is among the best in the world, but the recent listeria outbreak has people wondering: Is my food safe? Some new food safety rules will not go into effect until 2013, according to an article on WSJ.com.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576611253990324990.html

Ultimately, the best thing you can do is buy food at your farmer's market directly from the farmer, wash it and cook it yourself.