French-Fry Smell for 3,000 Miles

Credit: The New York Times Look what some students in Virginia are doing in the name of alternative energy: Roanoke, VA – EMORY – Students here have found a new way to harness the power of vegetables: fuel for spring break. Participants in the outdoor program at Emory & Henry College plan to drive more [...]

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100th Post! Delicate Flavoury Liquors

One of the perks of working in an international office is that interesting foodstuff is always turning up.  Today, I wandered groggily into the breakroom and found this: Rwanda Mountain Tea…from Rwanda.  Just chillin’ in our D.C. office.  Alrighty then.  You know there’s an interesting story behind that!  Anyway, between the silverback gorilla and the promise [...]

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Brenda’s Cannelini Bean, Kielbasa, & Kale Soup

  Image via: www.mariquita.com My friend, Brooke, loves greens, and she says they’re amazing in this soup her mom makes.  It’s a simple recipe, and simply delicious.  Add your choice of herbs to taste.* -2 cans (16 oz.) cannellini beans [drained] -1/2 large bag kale (pre-washed), large stems removed if necessary -1 onion, chopped -2 [...]

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Have You Met…

…the 99 Cent Chef? The 99 Cent Chef is more than just a goofy guy who loves cheap food and breakdances badly.  He’s also a talented cook who manages to reinvent inexpensive ingredients in dishes you might actually eat (although I won’t go anywhere near those Vienna sausages—gross).  In these times especially,  it pays to think outside the [...]

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Not Quite Carbonara

Cooking for one is sometimes an (unexciting) necessity.  To me, it’s much more fun to cook imagining someone else groaning in pleasure after taking a bite.  (Hey, a girl can dream, right? )  But anyway, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to cook up a big pot of soup or whole roast when there’s just one mouth to feed—my own.   The [...]

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“Pardon Our Progress”

If things look a little messy around here, have no fear—there will be no wolf whistles or lewd catcalls emanating from this construction site (er, not many, anyway). I’ve been playing around with blog themes and formatting, trying to find a look that fits Culinspiration.  So please, pardon my mess.  By the end, I hope [...]

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To Try: Macaroni & Cheese

Credit: Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Times promises that of the 600 recipes it tests each year, only 400 make it to print.  Supposedly, you can be confident that their recipes will turn out right the first time (even serve them untested to company!), because the editors have already culled through the [...]

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Stephanie’s (Grandma’s) Famous Chocolate Pudding & Pie Filling

  I love recipes that are handed down in families.  My friend, Stephanie, whips up a batch of this decadent chocolate pudding anytime she wants to pamper someone special.  The recipe came from her grandmother, who (as you’ll see by the end of the recipe, transcribed from her recipe card) is quite the funny lady.  This [...]

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Is Food The New Sex?

Wherever pleasure is concerned, the lines often tend to blur.  Check out this interesting article by Mary Ebertstat, “Is Food the New Sex?”  She asks, “What happens when, for the first time in history, adult human beings are free to have all the sex and food they want?” An excerpt: “In just over 50 years, in [...]

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Top Chef Star Has His Way With Unleavened Bread

For you locals, there’s a fun event coming up with Top Chef Spike Mendelsohn @ 6th and I Synagogue. Spike Up the Matzah Sunday, March 22, at 6:00 p.m. “Matzah brei, matzah pizza, matzah mania! Chef Spike Mendelsohn dazzled us last December with his suave latke-making skills. Just in time for Passover, he’s back with recipes to rev [...]

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Somewhere, Paula Deen Just Squealed

Credit: Sara McPherson What I really want to know is, how would this taste on a BLT?  Or in chocolate mayonnaise cake? More importantly, what evil genius came up with Baconnaise?  Is he on PD’s payroll? Bacon psychos fans, you can get a 3-pack via the internet. Ingredients and nutrition panel after the jump.

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D.C. Cheap Eats: $5 Well Spent @ Shawarma King

Today, I reached sandwich nirvana.  Do you ever eat felafel, those little croquettes made of chickpeas, fava beans, bulgur, parsley, and a medley of savory spices?  They’re often done wrong—restaurants typically pre-fry them in big batches and just reheat as needed.  Not surprisingly, this turns them into overcooked, bland, oil-logged little hockey pucks, tolerable only when drowned [...]

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Blushing Raspberry Pancakes

Have I mentioned that I’m incredibly spoiled? Saturday morning I lounged over a cup of tea (reading food blogs, natch), while my dearly beloved made these: Raspberry pancakes—a treat on Valentine’s Day, or any day

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Amaretto, Anyone?

If there is a better way to spend Valentine’s Day than sipping cocktails side-by-side in a secret candlelit bar, I don’t know it.  Especially when some of those drinks involve handmade sour mix and a lovely, not-too-sweet almond liqueur from Portugal: Ferreira Duque Doirinha Doirinha is strikingly similar to amaretto, but less cloying and intense.  It [...]

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What the World Eats…

…in a week: Peter Menzel’s book, Hungry Planet, documents what families around the world consume.  Menzel traveled to twenty-four countries and visited thirty families from Bosnia to Mongolia to document what a week’s worth of groceries looks like in each culture.  Time offers a glimpse of some of these photos in Parts I and II on its website. Check [...]

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