http://www.passionaterations.com food and sundries Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:37:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I read labels. My sweet tooth is too voracious not to (as are my fat tooth, savory tooth, and salt tooth). If I didn't check calorie content now and again, I'd be 685 pounds. Unfortunately, one sometimes needs a math degree to make the conversions necessary to ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/07/03/nutrition-data/ So, in case you’ve been wondering why my postings of late have been fewer and farther between, it’s because I’m taking a novel-writing course. Writing a novel takes mucho tiempo. So does writing decent blog posts. Sigh. Wish I could do it all. Since I can’t, ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/06/26/of-tumbling-trash-and-other-tales/ One day at the end of May I got an email from China and one from right here in town. They were entirely independent of each other (the authors having only the barest knowledge of each other’s existence on the planet), but the subject was the same: ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/06/09/miracle-fruit-its-not-what-you-think/ With food and gas costs rising faster than our income, we’ve been strategizing cost savings at the grocery store. Our shopping tends to be somewhat haphazard and, thus, more expensive than it might be. Here are the top hints I’ve developed so far, though, I confess, we have ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/05/29/costly-comestibles-tips-to-trim-your-grocery-bill/ Two lawyers started a pizza revolution back in the mid-1980s. And thank goodness, because California Pizza Kitchen has inspired others to get more creative with their pizza toppings and now you can find interesting choices in other venues--even in those little mom-and-pop pizza shops that haven't (yet?) become massive ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/05/26/baba-louies/ The price of hops is going up. That means your beer will cost more. As we sat down for beer, our group of three began discussing the world’s current socio-agro-environmental crises and we ended up focusing not on hops, but on corn. If you’ve been paying attention, you know ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/05/15/king-corn/ I just realized my favorite dance lends itself extremely well as a name for a micro-brew: Lindy Hops. Not only does the name reference the great swing dance known as Lindy Hop--with all the style and bold flavor that implies (to the delight, I am sure, of any ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/05/08/lindy-hops/ Alliteration is fun food for thought. From time to time I look up words in the dictionary, even when I know the definition, just to see them placed in their alphabetical context, surrounded by similar sounds and shapes. Sometimes, doing this results in happy surprises, such as ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/05/05/savior-savor/ I’m taking an on-line writing course. For our first assignment last week, we were tasked with writing a 500-word piece in which setting was of primary importance. This week, it’s two 250-word character profiles. I love reading about characters and (separately from my class) I even started ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/05/01/bully-for-writing-gigs/ There is a political-social movement known as "eco-feminism" that explores the link between the historical oppression of women and humankind's degradation and domination of nature.  I first learned the term in an environmental ethics course I took many years ago and was startled by the view provided by this particular ... http://www.passionaterations.com/2008/04/24/bloodroot/