Cooking With Alcohol
Great ways to utilize booze in the kitchen
By Josh Perilo
My brother walked into my apartment sheepishly, holding a Morton Williams bag like there might be something dead inside.
“So, I brought the pie…”
The agreement was that I would make the Thanksgiving dinner, and my brother Nathan would bring dessert. He stuck his hand into the bag and pulled out something from a crime scene photo. Read more
Three Generations of Cookbooks
Classic culinary text is guide through seasons of life
By Josh Perilo
In 1945, just months after the end of the Second World War, my grandfather, Jack Hatfield, returned home to Wichita, Kan., and married my grandmother, Florence. At that humble ceremony in my great-grandmother’s house, the young couple was given the 1945 Deluxe Edition of The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book as their lone wedding gift. Read more
Nutrition for the Body and Soul
About a year ago, Manny Ramos began getting cooking compliments from his wife. Ramos always enjoyed cooking, but his dishes were usually yellow rice and beans with fried chicken.
“One day, I cooked pasta with cheese. My wife asked me how I did it,” Ramos said. “She likes the way I cook now.”
Ramos’ new culinary repertoire is the result of a 12-week course he took at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, a food pantry housed in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, on West 86th Street and Broadway. He started volunteering there at the suggestion of a friend from church. Read more
CITY TO SWEEP ILLEGAL FOOD VENDORS
Food trucks, the latest street-food alternative to the classic hot dog cart, have been springing up throughout the Upper West Side. But Council Member Gale Brewer said she has received complaints and questions from constituents who are concerned that the trucks are parked illegally in front of homes and maybe be lacking proper permits.
“The trucks are noisy. They have generators. And there’s cooking going on in residential areas,” Brewer said.
In response to a letter penned by the Council member, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said it will request a sweep of the Upper West Side to bust vendors who are operating in prohibited areas or without a license.
The health commissioner asked that anyone who spots a potentially illegal food vendor call 311 and make a report that will be sent directly to the department.
COOKING CAMP FOR CHILDREN
The Sylvia Center is offering weeklong cooking camps for 2009 winter and spring school holidays. Corinne Trang, a cookbook author and mother living in the city, crafted the curriculum. Students will learn how to cook a variety of dishes using organic food.
The Sylvia Center focuses on nutritional education for school children. The fee per child is $300 a week. For more information, go to www.sylviacenter.org.
NO CHRISTMAS COOKIES?
It was just before last Christmas that Heather Steinbrink found out that she and her 4-year-old daughter Audrey had to cross Christmas cookies, crackers and gravy-soaked mashed potatoes off their list of holiday indulgences. After Steinbrink’s mother was diagnosed with Celiac disease—a form of gluten intolerance remedied with a gluten-free diet—she and her daughter also tested positive.
Approximately 12 million Americans suffer from food allergies, with 6.9 million allergic to seafood and 3.3 million allergic to peanuts or tree nuts, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Read more
THE F BOMB
For more than 10 years, New York nutritionist Tanya Zuckerbrot has helped hundreds of patients in her private practice to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle through her fiber-based diet. After years of success, Zuckerbrot—a Great Neck, N.Y., native who now calls the Upper East Side home—wanted her program to have a broader impact. In 2007, she published the F-Factor Diet, a book billed as a break from fad diets and an approach to permanent weight loss.
There are so many different types of diets out there. What sets the F-Factor apart? Read more
THE SKINNY ON TOFU
Since the mid-20th century, tofu in Western culture has been synonymous with health food—and everything good and bad that phrase evokes. Tofu is high in protein, iron and calcium, and low on calories. But many people also complain that it’s low on taste, or they are turned off by its texture.
To learn a little more about tofu, which has been a staple in Asian diets for more than 2,000 years, we spoke with Chihiro Kurata (with the assistance of a translator), marketing division manager for tofu manufacturer House Foods America Corporation. Read more
