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A Peach Full of Memories

Of all the fresh fruits I look forward to eating the most each year, peaches rank the highest (raspberries take a very close second). Peaches are better than candy–and I don’t care how much sugar content they have, I can eat six thousand and one in a single sitting and remain 100% guilt free.

This morning I blended up the last of my second bushel. When only four peaches remained in the box, I realized that if I didn’t eat one of them, I would most likely not have another fresh peach until September of next year. Without a second thought I cut it open, removed the pit and skin and sunk my teeth into its juicy flesh. My taste buds knew exactly what to expect and they weren’t disappointed. But what I didn’t expect was the flood of memories that came rushing into my head with that first bite.
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Does Food Packaging Make You Overeat?

I came across an article today on Psychology Today that was pretty interesting. It’s basically a quick summary of a study done by Adriana Madzharov and Lauren Block in the October, 2010 issue of the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

Here’s a snippet of the article.

Many snack foods show a picture of what the product looks like. A box of chocolate chip cookies will show sample cookies on the front. A bag of pretzels will show pictures of the pretzels. A box of crackers will show the crackers.

The studies in this paper make three main points…

First, the number of items on the front of the package affects people’s judgments of how much food is inside the package…

Second, when given the chance to actually eat, people ate more food from packages with many items pictured on it than from packages with few items pictured on it.

Third, this effect was strongest…

Visit That Package Made Me Overeat to read more.

Filed Under: Juicy Chatter, Kitchen Yarns Tagged With: ,
8 October
Man vs. Wild – Eating Rhino Beetle Larva
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Man vs. Wild – Eating Rhino Beetle Larva

***WARNING: NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH***

I’ve debated including videos and posts like this on The Cooking Dish for some time now, but I finally decided I’d create a special “NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH” categories for them; after all, I can’t deny my inner boyishness. I love stuff like this, though I’m sure most of the world’s cooks find it less than appealing. But if you think about, as is mentioned in the video, somewhere out there, for someone, this is normal food…

I absolutely love food and I love the outdoors too. I live in the city now, but when I used to live in the country, I’d spend lots of time camping, fishing, hiking, and having fun in the wilderness. It’s been hard to find time to drive to the mountains now when they used to be at my backdoor. Every summer we’d spend a few weeks gathering wood to heat our house during the winter. I love the crackle of a warm orange-red fire in the hearth. Often in the summer while cutting and splitting the wood, we’d come across a batch of pine beetle larva, (we called them pine beetles, but the antennae were really long which makes me think they were maybe an asian beetle or male white sawyer beetles–not sure… ANYWAY, seeing the beetle larva in the summer always made me wonder if I could eat one of those things if I was lost in the wilderness… I always came to the conclusion that it’d have to be life and death.
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Filed Under: Kitchen Yarns, Not for the Squeamish Tagged With: ,
19 August
Trauma in the Kitchen: It Found Me
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Trauma in the Kitchen: It Found Me

I’m not sure if even the best of chefs are immune to traumatic kitchen moments, but as an amateur, I know I have my fair share of them. With time I’ve learned to let them roll off my back and learn all I can from them. It’s probably a good thing too, or I’d be too afraid to set foot in the kitchen… burned fingers, crappy bread, etc. etc. Yep, I’ve been there and I’m sure I’ve got my fair share still coming to me.

A few years back I wrote a short, frivolous story for a writing seminar/class all about a terrible cooking day I’d experienced in the kitchen of my wife and I’s first apartment. We lived in an 8-plex’s basement in a one bedroom apartment. It was small, but not unbearable: it had a decent kitchen. Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about cooking, it’s that it has a way of humbling you when you least expect it… here’s my story. Reading time is approximately 8 minutes.
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13 August
Your New Cooking Mantra: Bork Bork
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Your New Cooking Mantra: Bork Bork

To my readers and fellow cooks who are scared to cook and spice, behold your new cooking mantra: bork bork. There’s a famous Swedish chef who’s not afraid to try anything, and who I love to watch cook. He’s had cameos in numerous films and is well known for his “throw caution into the wind” cooking style. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, take a quick gander at the guy staring back at you in the photo on the left, and meet… actually, he just goes by Swedish Chef.

One thing I enjoy about the Swedish Chef is that he’s over-the-top carefree in the kitchen; in this short article I hope to briefly illustrate why being carefree in the kitchen is not such a bad thing. Bork bork.

For me, being carefree while cooking is fun and relaxing. I often approach cooking with a fun “I’m going to perform an experiment” perspective that is occasionally accompanied by an evil mad scientist laugh, mwahahahaha! This makes cooking fun for me, and as I’ve been told, those who cook with me. The great part about experiments is that it’s strictly that–an experiment, and you can go at your own pace. If you’re unsure about how to experiment, start by following a simple recipe and then make some substitutions or add or leave out an ingredient to see what happens. I guarantee that in time you’ll start to understand how foods work together, and when that happens cooking becomes even more exciting. I find that when I’m carefree while cooking and having fun that I’m more relaxed and feel better about my time, even if my creation only ends up in the round file. One of the perks to always experimenting and being carefree with your stuff is that you end up with a bunch of recipes you can call your own.
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