Reader Surveys Archives

Do Any Young People Eat Cottage Cheese?

When I think “cottage cheese” I think of my grandmother who would greet me, growing up, with an offer of diet chocolate soda (she stocked that stuff like it came from the fountain of youth) and cottage cheese with sugar and cinnamon. The texture of cottage cheese was so foul to me that when choosing a picture for the top of this post, I couldn’t even stomach what came up on Google Images. Somehow, though, I’ve been thinking about cottage cheese lately. Is that just a grandma thing? Has yogurt displaced it? Are there any young people who eat cottage cheese? If so, are you one of them? Please tell me more in the comments.

The Food Personality Quiz

In early 2013, scientists and scholars from the Institute Marron Glacé gathered in Montmarte to discuss the creation of a food personally quiz that would help define four different types of food personalities. Sadly, after a bad case of the Norovirus wiped out nearly half the attendees, the other half grew disenchanted with their chosen profession and applied to dental school en mass. Only three graduated, the other two became dental hygienists. The point is that the quiz they had been developing never saw the light of day until one of those dental hygienists e-mailed me recently and asked if I’d like to post the quiz on my website. I said I would. She tried to charge me several hundred dollars; I balked. She agreed to let me use it if I would pay for a teeth whitening. My appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday; in the meantime, here’s the quiz. Hopefully you will find it enlightening.

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New York Tips

Hey gang, I’m in New York for 10 days and I’m looking for some new places to check out while I’m here. Where should I go? What should I eat? I’d prefer inexpensive places, but don’t be shy with your suggestions. There’s a good chance something you write in the comments right now will become a post next week…so get to it! And thanks.

The Ticket System

Today it was announced that Trois Mec, the highly anticipated new L.A. restaurant from Vinny Dotolo, Jon Shook and Ludo Lefebvre, is going to use the ticket system first popularized by Nick Kokonas at Alinea and Next in Chicago. The idea is this: instead of making a reservation for dinner, you buy a ticket to dinner. A ticket to Trois Mec costs $97.13 a person and entitles you to five courses and includes tax and tip but not drinks. That means, if you don’t drink anything, you can just show up, sit down, eat your food and leave. If you don’t show up, though, you’re out the 97 bucks.

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Dinner Answer Man

Roger Ebert used to have a column called “Movie Answer Man” where he’d answer reader questions about movies. I know because I once submitted a question that he published concerning The Royal Tenenbaums when I noticed someone in the credits with the last name Tenenbaum who I thought might have inspired the story (Ebert reached out to Wes Anderson who said there was no correlation). Seeing as I’m on a blogging kick, I thought I’d try out a Dinner Answer Man in which you can ask any food or blog related questions you want to in the comments and I’ll try to answer them all. So have at it! In the meantime, if your question is: “What’s that dish in the picture?” It’s the cauliflower gratin I made for Easter Brunch before everyone devoured it.

Hey! What Do You Do With Kohlrabi?

They look like the aliens in Toy Story, the ones that gaze up and worship The Claw; only those aliens are cute and kohlrabi, which I often see at the farmer’s market, is rather beguiling. What is it? What are you supposed to do with it? What does it taste like? Last week, I bought a few orbs and brought them home in order to finally unpack the mystery of kohlrabi.

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Gwyneth Paltrow Cookbooks: Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em?

[Photo credit Raphael Brion]

The knives are out for Gwyneth Paltrow and her new cookbook. Eater, of course, had fun pulling out the most ridiculous lines of text (“Yes, eggplant is a nightshade, so this isn’t a recipe for times when you’re on an elimination diet”); but I was surprised today to see this scathing post on Mark Bittman’s blog. Surprised because Bittman co-starred on a TV show with Gwyneth, along with Mario Batali and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols. Bittman didn’t write the post (it’s by Jennifer Mascia) but it’s under his masthead. Mascia says, “At best [the book] makes it seem like healthy eating is strictly for the wealthy; at worst, it’s quack science for attempting to export Paltrow’s wacky elimination diet (no bell peppers, eggplant or corn? Huh?) to a populace that’s improperly nourished and financially struggling.” What do you all think? Are you fans of Paltrow’s cookbooks? Or does she make you foam at the mouth the way Hathahaters do around Anne Hathaway? And do you think Anne Hathaway will write a cookbook? If she does, will you hate it too?

Do You Feed Your Pets At The Table?

You may think you like chicken, but you should see my cat. When that roast chicken comes out of the oven, Lolita goes nuts. She starts mewling in the kitchen, where I throw her a few scraps, but then–when we’re eating at the table–she sidles up next to me and looks up at me with those adorable, sweet kitty eyes you see in the above photo. This leads to the question proposed in the title of this post: “Do you feed your pets at the table?” I have to confess: I do.

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