Not to be too Martha Stewart, but how great of an idea is this: Take a rosemary branch, rip off all the needles except a little tuft at the tip, and use the leftover aromatic stick as a skewer, like for kababs or something. Isn’t that the coolest idea in the world? Alright, I thought it was cool.
Update: Apparently everyone in the world knew this trick except for me

You’re ecologically sensitive when it comes to coagulated animal protein. You purchase only free-range organic beef and Kosher chicken. You chew on venison jerky, and wax ecstatic over ostrich whenever Whole Foods has it in stock.
And yet, even the head of Sierra Club isn’t as ecologically minded as an average Australian. There are recycling boxes next to each and every public garbage can and Tasmania is all set to become the first plastic bag-free state in the world. Add to this the perfect meat source: almost no fat, low in environmental impact, sustainable, organic, free range, and tasty. I am in fact talking about Kangaroo.
Oh don’t look at me like that. You’ve defied your Disney conditioning enough to eat venison, and these tasty marsupials don’t even have their own cutesy movie.
Culling of natural predators has resulted in a huge overpopulation. They have few of the parasites and diseases present in domestic animals like cows and sheep, and, while animals with hooves kill off vegetation and cause erosion, the famous kangaroo bounce keeps soil healthy. It’s practically our duty to barbeque, roast, and sauté these furry meat-bags.
Five species of kangaroo are currently harvested in Australia by small, local suppliers. It’s the type of cottage industry that would make any hippie proud. Even conservation groups agree that upping kangaroo farming would help out with environmental revitalization efforts.
And anyway, it’s juicy and tender and tasty, and really good. The American Heart Association agrees, but more for the low fat content and high vitamins. And it’s coming soon. Oh yes. It’s helping out with the “Russian Meat shortage”. It’s surging in Europe thanks to the Foot and Mouth epidemic a few years ago. And now, the US.
Finally, an Australian export that doesn’t wear a silly hat. Try some, extra rare

Holy Crap! That was the only possible reaction when I found out that Splenda had just released a Brown Sugar version. So many new ways to cause cranial bleeding and liver failure! But it was not to be- the new brown sugar is just a blend- regular brown sugar mixed with regular Splenda. You could make it yourself by stealing the little yellow packets from Starbucks and mixing them with molasses.
Unsurprisingly, the sales pitch for the new mix made half from regular sugar is….that it has half the calories of regular sugar. Tomorrow’s headlines: I can make my butter half vegan by adding 50% margarine to it.

It’s true that the biggest revelation is the simplest. J and I went to Eastern Market one day to make a summery meal. So we bought basil, heirloom tomatoes and fresh pasta. We also bought 15 lemons, as we now find ever more excuses to use our electric citrus juicer. Many mojitos and mimosas have been made using the FRESH citrus juice; this along with lemon cakes, hummus and guacamole (all dishes that require fresh citrus).
So of course we wanted to make lemonade in honor of the summer bounty. After juicing a whole bunch of lemons, we didn’t feel like making simple syrup. “If only we had superfine sugar!” we whined. And upon further thought, we realized that we DID have superfine sugar. Unprocessed superfine sugar (read: granulated). If superfine sugar is simply finely ground sugar, why can’t we throw batch in the food processor. Doesn’t a food processor grind things?
I’m happy to say that our theory was correct. We made out first, very large batch of superfine sugar and it dissolved into our lemonade wonderfully. We are still drinking our way through the huge pitcher of lemonade, but are looking forward to making individual glasses with the superfine sugar. Individual glasses work better with superfine sugar, since it just seems silly to simmer 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 cup of sugar.

Passion fruit! Often imitated, rarely tasted! You can smell it across the room! Tongue may require intensive care afterwords! The oral equivalent of jumping into glacier water but without the detrimental size effects! Like biting into a sweet citrusy chili!
Yes, Passion fruit is bloody incredible. But here are a few other fruits I

I always feel like I should earn a badge for trying things I had previously believed to be unfit for human consumption. The Suriname cherries growing across the street from my apartment, alligator, salmon skin — they all make me feel a little bit braver for having held my nose and swallowed. And so I feel that R.J. and I deserve awards for our foray into the world of health and beauty product consumption. To wit: the

I was recently at a Japanese restaurant with a huge menu of sushi (in Florida, so no use making a recommendation here). They nicely provided a separate translation for the some of the sushi ingredients on the menu. There were several that I’d never seen before written with their Japanese names. So…just in case you ever run into an incomprehensible sushi menu here’s their list.
Tamago – egg
Inari – Sweet fried tofu
Kani – Crab
Saba – Japanese mackerel
Tai – Japanese red snapper
Ikura – Salmon egg
Masago – Smelt egg
Hotate – Scallop
Unagi – Smoked eel
Sake – Salmon
Tako – Octopus
Magura – Tuna
Anago – Smoked sea eel
Tobiko – Japanese caviar
Buri – Young yellowtail tuna
Uni – Sea urchin
Ama Ebi – Sweet shrimp
Ika – Squid
-MHF, guest Blogger

The word of the day is “superfood.” As reported by CBS News, these are foods which are out to make you healthier. According to a survey taken by the Food Marketing Institute, the majority of shoppers choose their food based on health or nutritional claims. But, uh, looking around on the Metro, I’m not entirely convinced.
Can this be the new movement that will turn our society away from our wicked ways of fast food and preservatives? The piece of mistletoe that pierces the heart of the Burger King? Or is this all more smoke and mirrors dreamed up by some shadowy marketing department, miles away from the American heartland, rolling in their bank vaults full of money?