Every idiot on the Internet has already weighed in on Impossible Meat and Impossible Burgers, and who am I to not join the cacophony? In case you haven’t seen a newspaper or been on the Internet for a few months, Impossible Meats is a company that wants to make plant based meat substitutes that taste and handle just like real meat. Their first offering is hamburger meat. Continue reading
Parts is Parts!
An old fast food commercial had a sinister voice over that said, “Parts is Parts” when someone asked what was in their competitor’s chicken nuggets. The idea was that it DOES matter what you’re eating. It was true then, and it is true now. If you aren’t sure of that, you need no look further than the country style ribs in your local grocery store. Continue reading
What the Diff – New York vs Montreal Bagels
There are a lot of “feuds” in the food world. Like Texas vs Kansas City Barbecue. New York vs Chicago Pizza. And New York vs Montreal bagels. My own view is, I’ll enjoy whatever I’m lucky enough to have in front of me. It’s not REALLY a matter of life or death. Sacred honor is not involved.
Still, in the case of the bagels, what’s the difference? Continue reading
Montreal (style) Bagels
After years of holding bagel making classes, featuring New York style bagels we were asked, “What about Montreal style bagels? Can you make those too?” (We have a post about the difference between them.)
Research and luck came into play. There are two classic Montreal bagel bakeries, Fairmount and St. Viateur Bagel. Each has their devoted fans. St. Viateur has shared their recipe, probably on the theory that it takes more than a recipe to make a Montreal bagel, and sharing the recipe will make people happy and bring them into the bakery to try the real deal. Paul of Hearthstone Artisan Bakery in turn shared their recipe with me. Continue reading
Pasta With Roe, A Recipe Inspired by a Dish at Keii Chi
And, now for something completely different.
We recently went to Keii Chi, with the Dallas Eclectic Foodies meetup. Many people say Keii Chi is one of the best Sushi restaurants in the state, if not the country. A former reviewer from the Dallas Morning News commented, “Finally, a reason to go to Denton”.
We had omakase which is a one word Japanese phrase that means “I’ll leave it to you” (from Japanese “to entrust”). It may also mean, “I’m on an expense account.” We had 7 or 8 courses, each better than the last. Rodney, the guy who arranged the dinner, told the owner, “Can you make the pasta with roe? You made it last time I was here, and I’ve been dreaming of it ever since!” The owner is a good sport, thought a second and smiled. He asked, “for everyone?” Heck yeah! Continue reading
Hints for bloggers, 4, What’s all this SEO stuff? Or, how do you get people to your site?
Let’s start with a confession. When someone says “SEO” to me, I want to get out the Holy water and sprinkle them to see if they’ll disappear in a puff of greasy black smoke. Then I want to go take a shower. Still, as an old saying has it, “If a man has a thing to sell And simply hollers down a well He’ll never, never make the dollars As the man who climbs the tree and hollers.”
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Hints for bloggers, 3, Who you talkin’ to?
Really, who ARE you talking to?
Arguably, this post covers material that you should consider before starting your web site or blog. Can I just say “site” from now on? Thanks. Of course, you can rebrand or reinvent your site as you reimagine it. (I’ll use some more content free buzzwords later.) All sites rebrand and reinvent, or they become – or remain – irrelevant. It isn’t necessary to tell people you are doing that, just move forward with it. Continue reading
In Which Mike meets a “Well Done” Steak
It was probably shortly after I learned to talk that my parents taught me,
“Never, ever, ever cook, ask for or eat a well done steak. Well done steaks are the anti-Christ of steaks. People have died eating well-done steaks!” I took that as, well, gospel. Continue reading
Hints for bloggers, 2, USE social media
This is the second piece on driving traffic to your web site or blog.
From the point of view of a blogger or webmaster, the sole reason social media exists is to drive people to your website or blog. You tease them with something cool you posted and provide a link. What’s the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything? If you’re a Hitchhiker fan, you already know it’s 42.
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Hints for bloggers, 1, OWN your website or blog!
I recently realized a friend’s blog, which I really like, has less than half the traffic of www.sourdoughhome.com When I realized that, I promised my friend I’d offer some suggestions.
To be honest, I don’t do all the things I’ll suggest. There are only 24 hours in a day, between work, commuting, being a loving husband, a loving owner to our dog, tending to the minuitia of day to day life, preparing and eating food, trying to keep a web sire or three up, and sleeping, well, not everything gets done. Not as soon as we’d like, and, often, not at all. Still, I’ve been to many classes and read too many books, websites and blogs, so I have some ideas about what I should be doing, and how. I hope my hints help you. Please, leave comments.