CK Food Links--Friday June 12, 2009

Here's yet another selection of particularly interesting links from around the internet. As always, I welcome your thoughts and your feedback.

PS: follow me on Twitter!
*************************
The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck
Serious Eats calls it a playful new mobile dessert business. I call it the best thing to hit NYC since Sting left. And Doug Quint, a bassoon player, PhD candidate and entrepreneur, will be launching his brilliant twist on the old childhood ice cream truck tomorrow, June 13th at the Brooklyn Pride Day Festival in Prospect Park. After that, look for him in the West Village, Chelsea, and also on Twitter, of course. If there ever was a perfect example of why I love New York, this is it. Thanks to Dana McCauley for the link.

Living with “Restaurant Syndrome” at What I Weigh Today
Joy posts an exceptional list of tips on how to avoid overeating in restaurants. As a pro restaurant critic, she oughta know.

Can This Fruit Be Saved? at Popular Science
A fascinating article about the history of the common banana and how it may face grave risks. This article eventually gave rise to author Dan Koeppel's book Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World as well as his entertaining blog The Banana Blog, which just became the latest addition to my feedreader.

If the Food Network Reflected Real Life at Accidental Hedonist
Kate holds forth on the bizarre unreality of TV cooking shows. My favorites: All meals could be made between 30 to 60 minutes, and No one would have to clean the kitchen, as the interns would do it. That's what I need--an intern!

Homemade Ginger Ale at The Amateur Gourmet
Adam tells us how to make one of life's most refreshing drinks, with explicit (no, not that kind of explicit!) photos and instructions. Also includes a great quote from Julia Child, rest her soul: "anyone who doesn't do a recipe because they're missing an ingredient or two will never be a cook."

Early Summer White Sangria at REC(ession)IPES
An easy and delicious sangria recipe that only costs 50-60c per glass, and you get to fish out and eat "boozy macerated hunks of fruit" after you're done. Perfect timing for the coming hot summer.

It's Not Too Late to Save the Tuna at The Wall Street Journal
Interesting op-ed written by Charles Clover (author of The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat) and Prince Albert of Monaco.

Transition United States
An interesting organization with the mission of helping communities across the country "localize" (meaning eating, buying and even manufacturing locally) and "reskill" (meaning learning the basic skills of self-sufficiency, like growing food and making things we'd otherwise buy). Their philosophy is fundamentally Malthusian--this group sees nothing but shortages of everything over the next century--but there are still some fascinating ideas here. See also a recent NY Times article about Transition. Readers, are any of you familiar with this group and its ideas? Are they malthusian utopians? Or are they on to something?

Brave New Traveler
If you ever want to satisfy your dreams of traveling to unusual and exotic places, here's an excellent travel blog to get you started. A few posts worth reading: 18 Most Scenic Places For Teaching English Overseas, Machu Picchu on the Cheap, and Best Nude Beaches in the World.

TARP: Sweet Deal for the Feds? at Bankstocks.com
Off-topic. One of my go-to financial sites puts up a short post arguing that the Feds made a killing on the TARP program. Proof that governments don't always make awful financial decisions.

Humans Prefer Cockiness to Expertise at New Scientist Online
A study shows that we prefer advice from confident-acting people, even when they have terrible track records. Explains why pundits who give advice routinely exaggerate how certain they are, and "it spells bad news for scientists who try to be honest about gaps in their knowledge." Worth keeping in mind for many subject areas, including diet, health care, investing and even politics. Thanks to Abnormal Returns for the link.

Do you have an interesting article or recipe that you'd like to see featured in Casual Kitchen's Food Links? Send me an email!

How can I support Casual Kitchen?
If you enjoy reading Casual Kitchen, tell a friend and spread the word! You can also support me by purchasing items from Amazon.com via links on this site, or by linking to me or subscribing to my RSS feed. Finally, you can consider submitting this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, digg or stumbleupon. Thank you for your support!