Freshworthy Friday: A New Food Label?

A snapshot from the full graphic at New York Times.My Dream Food LabelMark Bittman, New York TimesMove over, confusing nutritional information label. Mark Bittman has a solution for you. (Oh Bitty, thank you for being in my life... from your cookbooks to your adventures on TV with Claudia and Gwen to your columns in the Times, I am such a fan!)When I read Bittman's argument for a more well-rounded food label I found myself nodding along in agreement. Before I finished reading the entire infographic, I realized I was standing on top of my desk with my hands held high exclaiming, "THIS GUY GETS...

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Barley Bites

Barley BitesOur love for our dog Fin knows no bounds. On our European vacation—the trip of a lifetime—we laid in bed each night muttering to one another about how much we missed our dog. Yes, of course we missed our family and of course we were happy to be on vacation. But boy oh boy, did Finley's name get dropped more often even than the phrase, "I could go for gelato right now."And who came to the airport to pick us up? My sister... but she brought Fin along and videoed our mutually high-pitched, furious tail-wagging reactions.So it should come as no surprise to you that when Ryan and I made...

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The First Harvest: Lettuce Be Glad

Even a tiny harvest such as this is still food enough to eat.Lately I've been enjoying one of my favorite evening rituals: I grab my pair of red kitchen shears and my favorite colander, tell Finley it's time to "check the gardens," and the two of us head outside, swatting at mosquitoes, foraging for part of our dinner.A simple dinner of salad, bread, and pesto.Our lettuces are only a few inches tall, but combined with our fledgling arugula, I trimmed enough to make a small salad with Texas grapefruit, avocado, and olive oil. A bounty of basil meant a batch of fresh pesto, which I served atop toasted...

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And Now, Back To Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

The view from a mountaintop in Cinque Terre, Italy.What a month this has been!Ryan and I just returned from our first trip to Europe. We spent four days in Paris, followed by a week traipsing through Italy: Venice, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Rome. It was an adventure to say the very least. There was initial culture shock, amazing red wine, a language barrier, unbelievable macarons, a language breakthrough, the best pizza we've ever had (ever), more amazing red wine, some incredible white wine, an unforgettable hike through a terraced vineyard on a mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean...

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