Bon Nutrition

Just a couple of notes for the day.

First, I've added a link on the left that I really like. It's the website www.nutritiondata.com, and it's very handy if you're at all health-minded. (I hope you are.) It gives all the little facts that are required to be on a package for pretty much everything under the sun, from In-N-Out's Double-Double with Onion (670 calories, 41 grams fat) to grapes (104 calories per cup) to peach pie (261 calories, 12 grams fat), and anything else you can think of. One of the things I like most about it, though, is that it also tells you the caloric ratio, how nutritious it is, how filling it is, what's good and bad about it, and if it's good for weight loss and/or optimum health. Very handy.


Occasionally I get asked how I got into cooking, or where I learned to cook. The truth is it was a progression of a lot of things, but what really helped me out when I was first learning all I could about food was subscribing to Bon Appetit magazine. I maintained a subscription for about 3 years, read every copy cover-to-cover, tried out at least a few in each issue that I could afford, and referenced them all the time. I later subscribed to Cook's Illustrated, which I also really enjoyed, but Bon Appetit gave me a lot of diversity in my cooking, and it helped that I was willing to risk a bad meal by trying something completely new.

I picked up a copy of it today, and there was an article in there on starting a supper club. It sounds fabulous. I used to do a cooking group, which was a lot of fun, as we'd all bring a dish for a luncheon and share recipes, but cooking together sounds fun. The only problem is you need to set aside a couple of hours at least, and I have small children. Guess I'll save that one for another year, unless you have any suggestions.

Tomorrow is our much-anticipated vanilla ice cream taste test. We will have no fewer than 9 flavors. I'll let you know the results!