Tea Makes Everything Better

Good morning, blog world and happy Saturday to you.

I’m a little less peppy this morning because a cold treated by Dayquil/Nyquil sort of has me down and out. So, I’m curled up in my big, red chair with a blanket and peppermint tea from Celestial Seasonings. Doesn’t tea just make everything better when you have a cold? I think so.

The work week was kind of crazy here, just really busy. So, I didn’t do much reading outside of Florida news. Thus, I left all my food/cooking/health reading until this morning.

Here’s what I came up with.

*Epicurious has a nice little review of Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking (I wonder how Julia Child would feel) in light of the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Tiger begins Feb. 14, which in big cities means lots of celebration. Epicurious also has a full Chinese New Year package on their site full of recipes. Some of the recipes look a little intimidating, but I haven’t been through the whole site yet.

* Mark Bittman wrote a piece specifically geared to the young cook. Score! That’s my type of column. He takes on the myths of polenta, arguing it’s not a hassle to make. I’ve never actually tried to make it before (or eaten it for that matter), but the Times also provides a recipe in case you’re interested. I might have to try it. 🙂

* Also from the NY Times, a blog post on pop-up restaurants. Basically, a different guest chef comes into Mission Street Food in San Francisco each night and goes wild.

* The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (or quasi P-I as the newspaper folded a while back, but a Web presence continues) features a reader blog on the dying art of home cooking. It’s kind of basic stuff, but it’s also a nice reminder of how to avoid making bad choices. Aka, eat your fruits and veggies.

OK, that’s all for me today. Time to drink more tea. Happy Saturday!