News-Record.com

I happened across Spatulatta the other day, a site that says it is cooking for kids online. But it's so much more. Nominated for the Webcast category for 2006 by the James Beard Foundation, the site is full of short videos showing cooking techniques such as separating an egg, the perfect hardboiled egg, arranging a tray, or microwave roux. (Microwave roux? Who knew?) While basic techniques, it wasn't so long ago that I found out how to separate an egg or make a roux.

The site also has a section on kitchen crafts, such as weaving a place mat, decorating cup cakes, or making an origami Hawaiian shirt.

It's a great site, so if you like cooking at all, check it out.

Since my surgery, I haven't been able to eat fat -- so I've been looking for substitute recipes for many of my favorites. Turns out vegetarians and vegans are my new best friends, as is this site, which has tons of recipes I love with substitutes ingredients to make things fat-free or low-fat.

This site has a pretty extensive list of foods and when they go bad. Nifty site to have on hand for someone like me, who never remembers to use pantry items in a timely fashion.

I was really looking forward to going to see him perform on Friday at the ballpark, complete with cheesy signs and everything! Ah well.

Now that Chris is out, Taylor will almost definitely win, in my opinion.

And since this is already off-topic, here's some more American Idol fun: Taylor Hicks Pac-Man. Addictive.

Column from 5/10/06:

Six weeks from now, I’m going to celebrate with a big cheesy omelet, bacon, peanut butter on white-bread toast and greasy hash browns. Well, I hope so, anyway.

Two weeks ago today, as you were (hopefully) reading my last column, I was lying on the operating table, losing my gallbladder. And along with my gallbladder, I lost a lot of food options from my diet.

Turns out, a gallbladder, which I had never given much thought to before, is responsible for helping you digest fat. When you start to get gallstones, they interfere with that process. Sometimes very painfully so, as I found out.

Now, maybe I could try a peanut-butter Jelly Belly and banana sandwich ...

You Are a Strawberry Jelly Bean

You love yourself for who you are, critics be damned! You know you don't have to take risks to make life more interesting. It's good enough as is.

The new Tar Heel Tavern is up, with a timely theme as school winds down. Check it out.

Friday night I invited some friends of ours over for dinner, with the caveat that it would be almost entirely fat-free (due to my recent gall bladder surgery), I would be testing new recipes, and I couldn't guarantee the taste. And yet, they still showed up.

After discovering that barbecue sauce is fat-free, I decided to make barbecued chicken breasts, an easy but great main item.

I used to eat a lot of fast food before my gall bladder surgery, not because it was especially tasty, but because it's just easier sometimes. It's now necessary for me to watch fat when I eat, and I thought it would be fairly easy to figure out some fast food items I could still have.

Chik-Fil-A had a nutrition pamphlet on site, which was wonderful. Many other places no longer have the information at the restaurants, but they do have it online. It's annoying, especially since I rarely plan far enough ahead to look it up and see what I can eat. Recently, I went to Moe's, which told me to go online. Only online was down. So no Moe's for a while.

Applebee's was an odd one -- they had specific information for their Weight Watcher items, but not for their other dishes. I took a chance on something that I thought I could handle, and luckily, I was OK.

Anyway, for many of you who may be forced to count calories, and for those who just want to watch how much fat they are taking in, here is a nifty site that has nutritional information for many restaurants. I compared their information with the pamphlet I got from Chik-Fil-A, and it seemed to be accurate.

I'm going out of town on Friday, but my fellow copy desk peon has agreed to take over for the week. Kim Stacks Mills and her husband (another copy desk peon) recently returned from Charleston, and she promises to tell you all about the bounty of the Lowcountry. (And share pictures, too!) And be sure to imagine a thick Southern accent when reading Kim's posts.

Those wacky Germans:

"A gang of anarchist Robin Hood-style thieves, who dress as superheroes and steal expensive food from exclusive restaurants and delicatessens to give to the poor, are being hunted by police in the German city of Hamburg."

"The gang members seemingly take delight in injecting humour into their raids, which rely on sheer numbers and the confusion caused by their presence. After they plundered Kobe beef fillets, champagne and smoked salmon from a gourmet store on the exclusive Elbastrasse, they presented the cashier with a bouquet of flowers before making their getaway."

Personally, I think the price of Kobe beef is a crime to begin with ...

My name is Kim Mills and I work with Mel on the copy desk at the News & Record. She has allowed me to kidnap her blog for a few entries on my recent trip to Charleston, S.C.

I grew up in South Carolina, but my husband, Jeff, is from upstate New York, so I tried to make sure that he experienced as much as possible while we were there … and a lot of it revolved around eating!

Lowcountry Shrimp and Grits was a big topic of conversation for us. The question? Just what makes it Lowcountry. We were there for five days and Jeff had Shrimp and Grits for four meals! He was doing some comparison eating.

Now for those of you who think Shrimp and Grits is an odd pairing, let me tell you where it comes from and it will make perfect sense. I’ve been told that it started out long ago as a breakfast dish for fishermen. It was easy to make and hearty enough to hold them over if they missed lunch. Their recipes were pretty simple – they would cook the grits, boil the shrimp, combine them and eat. Not much to it.

But nowadays, you can find recipes from a simple Sauteed Shrimp and Grits to Shrimp and Grits with a Coconut Curry Sauce. And believe me, whose recipe is the “real” recipe is a debate that can get you into some real trouble.

My name is Kim Mills, and I work with Mel on the copydesk at the News & Record. She has allowed me to kidnap her blog for a few entries on my recent trip to Charleston, S.C.

What does it take to make 3,500 sailors smile? Get your minds out of the gutter. I’m talking about 10,000 chocolate chip cookies!

My husband, Jeff, and I toured the USS Yorktown, which is in Mt. Pleasant, just over the Cooper River. The Yorktown is a World-War II-era aircraft carrier. It is HUGE! And I should know. I had to walk all over that thing behind my military-history-loving husband. He read every plaque on that ship.

But the interesting part for me came when we ventured into the ship’s mess area (military speak for the kitchen and dining room). There, I read about what it was like trying to feed 3,500 sailors. There was a whole room just for vegetable preparation. There was a pantry big enough to park a small car in. There was an entire room specifically for washing dishes (a room I would’ve avoided at all costs!). And my favorite, an entire kitchen just for making pastries, breads and cookies.