CK Friday Links--Friday July 17, 2009

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

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Trading Morals for Dollars in a Recession at The Daily Beast
Do "vulture consumers" compromise their morals by buying things on the cheap during a downturn? If you buy a foreclosure property, are you profiting off the backs of the prior owners? It's funny, but in my former line of work, the "vulture investors" were the ones who would put in a bottom in every down market--and the rest of us were always glad to see them. PS: Tempers run high in the comments.

XXXL: Why Are We So Fat? at the New Yorker
An exceptional roundup of books on eating and obesity, including former FDA director David Kessler's new book The End of Overeating (currently in Amazon's top 100), and Brian Wansink's book Mindless Eating, which addresses a subject near and dear to my heart. Thanks to Cheap Healthy Good for the link.

Why Weight Maintenance is Harder Than Weight Loss, and How to Help it Along at Cheap Healthy Good
Kris posts an excellent article listing the four key factors shared by people who successfully lost weight and kept it off.

Not Much Convenience in Convenience Food at Grist
A UCLA study of 32 families suggests convenience foods don't save any time at all for the families who serve them. Casual Kitchen readers will appreciate yet another strike against second-order foods. Thanks to The Simple Dollar for the link.

Austerity Parties at Simple Green Frugal Co-Op
A collaborative blog I stumbled onto for the first time the other day. Kate, from the blog Living the Frugal Life, reminisces about the really fun low-budget parties she and her friends used to hold, and she shares some interesting musings on how financial poverty doesn't have to mean cultural or intellectual poverty.

Cheap Eats 2009 at New York Magazine
For all you readers in the New York metro area, here's New York Mag's ninth annual Cheap Eats guide. But, uh, I gotta say, a cheap eats list that includes a $13 black angus burger, $14 ramen and an $18 skirt steak spells T-O-N-E-D-E-A-F. We're in a recession, people!

Is the Cheesecake Factory Gross? at the Washington Post
In a word, no. And that's the problem. A fascinating column by Ezra Klein on why it's not easy to limit your caloric intake at restaurants like the 'Cake (thanks Abnormal Returns).

How to Cook Fish: The Musical at Amateur Gourmet
Hilarious video of Adam singing, dancing and learning how to cook fish from restauranteur Rebecca Charles.

Traumatizing Imitation Crab Video at Eat Me Daily
Seafood salad will never look the same to you after you've watched how imitation crab is made.

The Michael Jackson Butter Sculpture Controversy at PETA's Blog
Judging by how shocked the author and the commenters act ("A sculpture made of butter! Icky! Can you believe it? Why not make it out of Earth Balance spread?"), I guess nobody at PETA has heard of that kooky, long-held middle-America tradition of the state fair butter sculpture.


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