The Longest Run

Spurred to action by Virginia Heffernan's article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine ( Confessions of a TED Addict ), I've started watching videos from the annual TED conference . You can read Heffernan's article for a more in-depth overview of what the conference is about, but I think the TED tag line sums things up pretty well: Ideas Worth Spreading. I've got a bunch of videos lined up to watch, but my favorites so far are by Peter Reinhart on baking bread and Benjamin Wallace on the price of happiness. Here's the Reinhart video: And here's the Wallace video: (here are links to the Reinhart and the Wallace in case you can't see the embedded videos). If yoy are interested in baking bread, you should also check out Reinhart's new cookbook The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread . The cookbook has won a couple of awards and is terrific. I've not made any of the breads yet but have enjoyed just reading Reinha...

Had the chance with the ladies out of town for the weekend (visiting Cousin Laura in North Carolina) to head down to the Lower East Side on a culinary excursion. For some time now I have wanted to try the restaurant Porchetta , whose specialty is a roast pork sandwich - beautifully roasted natural pork on a tasty, crusty bun. Based on the recommendation in this New York Magazine r eview of the restaurant , I also had the crispy potatoes with baked ends (crusty stuff from the outside of the pork roast). All I can say is YOWZA! The food rocked and I suggest anyone who is a fan of sandwiches and/or pork head down to give the restaurant a try. The only downside worth mentioning is that the place is TINY - as in there is barely room for 6 stools and a narrow countertop. While I was at the restaurant I had the chance to check out Sara Jenkins' cookbook Olives and Oranges: Recipes and Flavor Secrets from Italy, Spain, Cyprus, and Beyond which looks tasty and has great customer reviews. T...

I'm a big fan of Cooks Illustrated magazine (the website is a great resource and is definitely worth the cost of subscribing). A recent issue featured a new approach to pumpkin pie, and knowing that Thanksgiving was just around the corner, I prepared the recipe as a trial run for this week. The pie is delicious and I will be making one today for tomorrow's Thanksgiving meal. Here's a story from the New York Times of one cook's experience with the recipe: How to Cook…Something: Pumpkin Pie .

A couple of years ago I read (and enjoyed) Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals . The book is a great look into the food chain in the United States and presents a damning indictment of our current farm policy. Last week's New York Times Magazine carried a new article by Pollan in the form of a letter to our next president: Farmer In Chief . The article provides a condensed summary of the issues reviewed in Omnivore's Dilemma and sets out a series of recommended changes. While I don't agree with all of his ideas, it does seem the system we have now is kind of crazy. To wit: After cars, the food system uses more fossil fuel than any other sector of the economy — 19 percent. And while the experts disagree about the exact amount, the way we feed ourselves contributes more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than anything else we do — as much as 37 percent, according to one study. Whenever farmers clear land for crops and till the soil,...

We've been on a blueberry picking binge, making two trips to Ellsworth Hill Orchard & Berry Farm to pick the best blueberries I've ever eaten. I've made a bunch of blueberry jam (about 30 jars) and a Slab Pie (pictured above). The recipe is from Martha Stewart and can be made with fruits other than blueberries. It's easy and it's fantastic!

In the department of strange products, check out what I found at the grocery a couple of days ago: I don't know for sure, but somehow I doubt that canned pancake/waffle spray isn't exactly what the founders of the organic movement had in mind. Strangest thing of all - the pancakes are actually decent!

...then check out the recipe at Cook's Illustrated for Old-Fashioned Burgers . The site is subscription-only but this recipe is currently available free. I made these hamburgers a few weeks ago and can comfortably say they were the best burgers I've ever made!

Woodchuck au Vin . Gross.

In today's WSJ, an article on people in Colorado who are ripping up their lawns to grow produce. Video above; article here .