Come here for all the posts that appear on the website, regardless of the category. Read about grass-fed beef, the environment, health, the news, and whatever else we happen to be thinking about on a given day.
Grain-Free Chocolate Muffin Recipe The most chocolaty, delicious muffins in the world I hesitate to mention that these muffins are grain free, gluten free, paleo friendly, or to apply any other buzzword to them. What diet they do or do not conform with is entirely beside the point. It’s not about what these muffins aren’t,...
The Future of Meat, the Future of the Planet Quantity, quality, and limited land An ambitious new project has been launched over at Canary Media. Every month, Journalist Michael Grunwald will be examining the relationship between food and climate. While this is not exactly a neglected topic, the mainstream press rarely brings the level of...
Slow Bread, Fast Bread Yesterday we celebrated my son Ellis’s birthday. Because it happened to be a perfect day, we decided to fire up the bread oven. It’s an impressive creation, with a dry stacked stone foundation and a firebrick hearth. The oven itself consists of a clay and sand core, topped by a layer...
What Would You Do With 35 Million Acres? Ethanol and the limits of land use About 93 million acres of land in the United States was planted to corn in 2021. Roughly 40% of the corn crop goes to ethanol production – about 36 million acres. What if, instead of inefficiently converting corn into fuel,...
Bacon Cheddar Keto Quiche Easier than a regular quiche Good quiche has a lot going for it – a savory egg custard that can easily be modified to incorporate whatever meat and vegetables you happen to have in the fridge. But quiche can also go wrong. We’ve all had disappointingly bland, watery, overcooked filling encased...
Winter Animals A few days ago a rangy fox trotted across the field opposite my house. He moved with an easy purpose, pausing occasionally to cock his head as if trying to catch some sound or scent, then coming on towards my house. With my kids I watched him parallel the stream and then trot...
Incredible, Crispy Oven Fries Superior fries from your own oven Years ago I worked for a summer in the kitchen of a 200 seat tourist trap in Anchorage, Alaska. As the new guy I was relegated to the fryers, where my chief responsibility was crank out hundreds of pounds of fries every lunch, since every...
Admit It, You’re Wrong An argument for enlightened ignorance There is a particular sort of smug disdain which I reflexively feel when I think about certain aspects of the past. Just this morning I was listening to a discussion about the historic movement of infectious diseases, and the guest mentioned the historic belief that miasmas...
The Best Way to Eat A single rule to replace all dietary recommendations One of the many unfortunate lessons taught by the ongoing pandemic is the difficulty of translating rapidly changing, imperfect information into an actionable collective response. When is a mask making a meaningful difference, and when is it simply for show? Are we...
Perils of the Convenience Economy How fast is too fast? In his book Fulfillment Alec McGillis writes about the impacts and implications of an economy run by Amazon. I was particularly struck by his description of the way increasingly automated amazon fulfillment centers make life harder rather than easier for workers. Instead of walking from...