As a huge fan of D.I.Y. projects AND as a self-professed food geek, this short lil’ video tutorial –– all about making your own butter at home –– has sucked me right in. Jenny Torgersen*, an Oregon-based foodie, photographer, and fire dancer (yes, really!) put the video together in her kitchen, and it’s her first official posting on YouTube. The video is well-made.   The instructions make total sense.  And, as a quick sidenote, I had no idea that making butter was sooooooooo insanely easy. I suspect we’ll see many more food related projects from Jenny in the near future. By the way, if you’re the sort of person who...

A recent visit to the doctor has left me a bit perplexed, with the need to do some research and self-experimentation.  Let me explain… Myself, I’m one of those people who eats a relatively low-carb diet. Yeah…  I’m one of THOSE people. And not only do I eat low-carb, but I also consume massive quantities of fat, along with hefty amounts of fiber, and large amounts of protein. And what do I have to show for this high-fat, high-protein, high-fiber diet? Absolutely fantastic blood work. With regards to my lipid panel, well, it’s amazing, with jaw-droppingly low triglyceride levels, phenomenal HDL to triglyceride ratios, and...

It’s official. Our society has finally achieved peak bacon. I mean, c’mon… How else to explain the preponderance of bacon-centric products that have flooded the internet and retail outlets? A simple Google search will highlight a wide range of cured pork products, including such delicacies as bacon-flavored chewing gum, bacon-infused vodka, bacon covered donuts, bacon wrapped hot dogs, baconnaise, bacon-scented dryer sheets, bacon soda, bacon ice cream, bacon-shaped memory sticks, and –– last, but certainly not least –– bacon-flavored sex...

  Quinoa… Friggin’, friggin’ quinoa… On its own, un-gussied up quinoa is nothing more than a blah, bland, boring side dish –– a steaming heap of slightly bitter, somewhat chewy, faux-hipster-rice-wanna-be-gluten-free-particulates that have taken on the moniker: “healthy grain alternative.”  Unfortunately, the way it’s so typically prepared and served, quinoa should more accurately be called the “cardboard-flavored grain alternative.” NOT that I have an opinion about this. But –– BUT –– there is an upside to quinoa’s boring blandness (and I don’t mean this in any sort of...

Ohhhhhh….  Middle-aged people can make me sooooooo cranky at times! Myself, I’m practically the poster child for middle-age, having attended my 30th. high school reunion a few years back, but –– Damn! –– there are some middle-aged people out there who need a serious slapping. As a case in point: while attending my 30th reunion, I ended up chatting with a former classmate who told me that it would just be a few more years before he could “spend every morning out on the golf course doing eighteen holes, and then just hang by the pool all afternoon long.” Really? That’s a goal? Seriously? Please excuse the rant...