Top 50 Food Blogs

Mmmmmm, food. And these 50 blogs cover the gamut of food related topics: recipes, restaurants, photography.

The Fountain of Youth

Well, maybe not exactly the Fountain of YOUTH, but certain the Fountain of Not Quite So Geezerly As Fast, and maybe the Fountain of Health.

But you have to do more than simply drink your way to better health. You have to pay attention all kinds of things, all kinds of foods, avoiding some, focusing on others, being careful not to mix this with that…

Or is it?

This article in the Guardian takes a look at both sides of the “good foods” question, and an interactive website that purports to give you the skinny on the 100 best foods.

Unknown web sites

Well, obviously someone knows about them or we wouldn’t be able to share them with you.

Maybe this should be little known websites with some big potential, but that is a bit on the wordy side – not a good sound bite.

But instead of working through a list of ways to say it better (and flowers won’t help here), here is PC Magazine’s Top 100 Undiscovered Websites.

A few of the ones that caught my eye include:

• Coding Horror on coding horror stories
• Web Designer Wall on trends and tutorials
• Phone Arena on phone technical info, review, opinions (which I need because I’m in the market for a new phone)
• Gazelle where you can buy and sell electronic gadgets (help defray the cost of being an early adopter, or get a good deal on a slightly use almost breaking edge piece of technology)

And the list could go on and on for, well, 100 sites! The variety is really quite broad.

Hunger – it grows over time

An interesting study about hunger and overeating, and how that changes as we age. It seems that the neurons responsible for letting our brain know that we’re full are attacked by certain types of foods – sugar and carbs, or the free radicals they can turn into – and the result is fewer neurons letting our brain know that we’re full. So, if 10% of the neurons have been killed off, or damaged – I’m not sure if they know what the situation is exactly – you wind up eating 10% more to compensate.

No wonder it gets harder to loose weight as we get older! Not only does our metabolism slow down, our brain thinks we’re hungrier than we really are!!

I guess that we can adjust by portion control – either weighing or food or using a certain size plate – resulting in more consistent amounts of food ingested.

And stay away from those carbs and that sugar!!

Cheap and healthy

Sometimes you just get lucky, and find a list of 20 foods that are healthy and cost under $1.

Most are fruits, nuts and vegetables; a couple are off the vegan radar. At least until you start fixing them, then you might need to be careful about using butter, refined sugar, cheese, …. But you can handle that part yourself.

Peeling hard boiled eggs

This falls under the category of kitchen hacks: a better way to peel hard boiled eggs. It has a video link showing you how, which is good as the description doesn’t really help without the accompanying video.

OK, the video link no longer works, so I found the clip on YouTube so you can watch it in all its glory. However, I left the original link so you can read peoples’ comments.

And, in case you wanted the abbreviated version, you can check someone else’s video where they peel their egg in 10 seconds.

Top 11 foods that are good for you

1. Pizza

OK, I’m busting your chops here. Pizza is no where on the list. Nor are any of its ingredients on the list, unless you’re talking about a seriously perverted pizza. Not that there is anything wrong with pizza – in moderation, of course!

But for the full list of 11 best food that you are not eating (almost no matter who you are!), check this article, and then check the half-dozen links at the bottom of the page.

Go to Europe – Get Smarter

First, foreign travel is broadening, helping us see that other systems of government do, in fact, work, and people really are happy there.

Even going to where people are poor – really poor – helps us realize that we don’t need a PS-2 at each hi-def 60″ TV to be happy.

But sometimes it is good to go somewhere that has a lot of history and culture, and can provide us with opportunities to improve our minds. Whether that involves olfactory and palette components with the wine tour in France, or soaking in braininess at Oxford, Europe is one of the places where we can get smarter.

So get out of that dungeon, from behind that keyboard, and zip over to Europe to become even geekier and nerdier, but in a more well-rounded and polished way.

Lemons 101

Not 101 uses for lemons, but 34 uses for lemons isn’t bad.

How? Cleaning, deodorizing, getting out stains, insect proofing (!), whiten laundry, polishing brass & chrome, dandruff, blond highlights in your hair, soothe poison ivy, soften dry and scaly skin.

What?! No cooking? That’s another article.

Mmmmmm! Potato Salad!

One of my favorite dishes is Potato Salad. Not that bought stuff – far to vinegary – but good, homemade potato salad that has all the right stuff and right amounts.

So, what do we need?

The foundation of any potato salad is, um, potatoes. So, to build a great potato salad, we need to start with great potatoes. Yukon Gold (R) is a great, nutty, slightly sweet, potato. It also boils up nicely, holding together and maintaining nice texture. The sugar content can be increased by storing the potatoes in very cool temps, so pop them in the refrigerator for several days before you use them. It is worth it.

What kinds of things work well with potatoes? There are several good vegetables that like potatoes, and the top of the list is celery. It also adds a bit of different texture to the salad, with is also good.

Then there is my favorite addition to every recipe: onions. I chop them pretty find because some people don’t like biting into a nice crispy chunk of heat. The amount of onion is a personal preference, so feel free to deviate from the following recipe.

The next thing to keep in mind is that potatoes are the biggest black-hole for salt that I have ever seen. So potato salad takes in inordinate amount of salt, but it is also easy to overcompensate and over salt. So, do like they do in Chicago on voting day: salt early and salt often! But taste as you go to be sure that you stay within reasonable bounds

OK, so for the recipe:

Wondering’s Potato Salad

• 4 pounds Yukon Gold (or other Gold variety) potatoes, boiled and cubed
• Olive oil
• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• 4 Eggs, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks Celery, finely diced
• 1/2 Onion, finely diced
• 2 Pickles, diced
• Herbs as desired: Oregano, Fines herbs, Celery seed, Dill weed, Paprika
• Black pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain thoroughly and peel. Set aside to cool somewhat and make sure they are thoroughly dry. (I hate watery potato salad!)

While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the remaining ingredients. Bring the eggs to a boil; turning off the heat and covering to allow them to finish cook. Note that older eggs will peel more easily than fresh ones. Chop the celery, onion and pickles to your preferred degree of fineness.

When the potatoes can be comfortably handled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Add several pinches of salt, then drizzle some olive oil over the potatoes. As the potatoes cool, they will absorb some salt and oil, lessening the amount of mayonnaise needed, plus picking up a bit of peppery flavor as a benefit.

Sprinkle half of the chopped ingredients and herbs over the potatoes. Fold the potatoes over, then sprinkle the remaining chopped ingredients, a good pinch of salt and a couple spoonfuls of mayonnaise. Fold the ingredients in and taste. Add pepper and salt as needed, then set aside.

Taste again in an hour, and add more salt and pepper as needed.

Serve with a garnish of green pepper slices, egg slices, parsley, scallions, cherry tomatoes, or anything else that strikes your fancy.

But enjoy how good the potato salad is using those Yukon Gold potatoes.

Mmmmmmmm! Potato Salad!