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I use Earth Balance a lot because of frequent meals with vegan friends. And one of them makes really excellent cakes and cookies with this stuff.

Another idea, if you want organic glucose, I've seen references to an organic glucose syrup from Cargill Sweetness Solutions. I don't see it on their website, but they apparently had it at the All Things Organic (ATO) show in Chicago last year. http://www.cargillsweetness.com Here's the article.

Oh I agree it's possible, but since that updated article I referred to is from Oct 2007 (updating a '97 article), I don't think that niche has yet been filled. I'm surprised that Florida Crystals hasn't developed anything yet. This got me curious and I started to wonder what people are using to make organic ice cream, since it obviously exists. Ben and Jerry's: Organic Evaporated Cane Juice Syrup Stonyfield Farm: Naturally milled organic sugar, organic rice syrup Strauss Family Creamery: organic sugar So, Ben and Jerry's gets around the refining problem by using organic evaporated cane juice syrup (I believe you can get this from Florida Crystals). It should start off using the same raw ingredients as what ends up as refined sugar, but I wonder if it tastes the same in the end product. Stonyfield appears to do a hybrid sweetener, I guess because of the problem you mentioned with the molasses taste. And who knows if the sugar Strauss is using is refined or not. Spreckles Sugar Company makes beet sugar that they call "all-natural," but I don't know what that means. Apparently not "organic." http://www.spreckelssugar.com/ The Dutch sugar sounds promising -- I wonder if they'd send a sample. Too bad you can't get it in a smaller quantity.

I don't think sugar can be both refined and organic. At least not cane sugar. Possibly, you could find white beet sugar that is organic, since beet sugar isn't refined with charcoal. From here: Aha, you would need to turn to European sources for organic beet sugar:

I would love a button on the front for easy switching between grams and ounces. To change my Soehnle scale, I have to turn it over, take off the rubber cover on the bottom, and stick a pen or something in there to reach the switch. I think the baker's percentage idea is genius, and think it would be nice if the weight could also be displayed along side the percentage. Such as, 100% : 100g or something instead of just displaying one or the other. It wouldn't be necessary, but would be neat.

I don't understand how composting really solves the problem. I compost, but that's for fruit and vegetable material only, and before it's been cooked with fats, animal products, pasta, etc. You can't (or shouldn't, unless you have an extremely hot pile) compost that stuff. Plate scrapings do not go in my compost, no way.

Oh, what I wouldn't do for a food disposal. No matter how good you are at keeping food from going down the drain, some will inevitably get through and it would just make life so much easier and less disgusting to be able to turn on the disposal when the sink plugs up. My house has the original 1940s kitchen with a great deep farmer's sink, but unfortunately it's too deep (according to the plumber) to accommodate a disposal, and you need a disposal for a dish washer. The sink width isn't a standard size either, so taking out the sink would mean redoing the countertop. I had thought that when we bought this house that adding a disposal and dishwasher would be fairly easy, but no, a pretty extensive renovation would be needed. It would have to be a pretty great deal I was getting on a house for me to buy again without a disposal already installed. While the appliance itself is a cheap add-on, there is a lot to preparing the kitchen for it.

The pet food mentioned earlier gave me an idea. I use stackable Vittles Vaults for my pet food because I really like how the large opening screws on and stays tight. I think it would work really well for scooping out flour.

Sorry for quoting a really old post, but ... I agree! Some of the best vegan food I've ever made is Ethiopian. We even made the injera. I went to a local Ethiopian restaurant and asked if I could buy teff flour from them, and not only did they agree, but they hustled my husband and I back to the kitchen so that we could see how they made it and practice making it ourselves. It was great! We never got as good at it as they are, and just bought the injera from them the next time, but it sure is amazing food. Of course, it's all made infinitely easier if you can also get berbere spice locally rather than make it yourself. I did that once, but now I just buy it. And if you use it on home fries ... mmm.

Realistically, though, there's no need to choose one goal or one method of achieving it, and all these issues are not unconnected. Farm animals are part of the larger ecosystem as well. I sincerely doubt that we can improve the treatment of the average animal raised for slaughter without reducing the size of individual operations. I do not believe that honestly humane treatment can happen on the very large scale. So those are institutional-level changes that I think are necessary in order to improve the welfare of animals and the amount of waste that is produced. At the same time, if I wait for that to happen, I'll be waiting a long time. If I eat fewer animal products right now, I contribute less to a variety of problems. And if it's not just me, but a lot of people decreasing their consumption in something akin to a social movement, that effect is greater, especially as awareness is increased through things such as the above NY Times article.

I thought the point was more along the lines of that there is inherent value in preserving nature, not just because it provides us with resources to use. The pollutants created by factory farming, the effect of mining the oceans of sea life, etc. is no good for our world and everybody else besides us who lives here. I agree and think it's a sad, not to mention inaccurate, attitude to claim that cutting yourself off from animal products means you're less interested in food.

I like the show a lot better when I fast-forward over the little skits/homages to whatever in the middle. I just want to see him talk to people who do interesting things (like that traditional noodle maker in one episode) and show off neat locations and foods. Everything else, if I were editing the show, I'd cut. But I'm not, so I make liberal use of my remote's 30-second jump.

I can't say I really have problems washing the Oxo stuff by hand, except maybe the salad spinner. I hate that white plastic insert. But ever since I bought a water fountain for the pets (I swear such a thing does exist), everything else pales in comparison when it comes to being a PITA to clean. More than washing the salad spinner, I hate storing it. I think it is designed for people with huge kitchens and a lot of extra cabinet space.

I think this is news because many people don't expect high-end food to be toxic. Canned tuna on your supermarket shelf, yes, but the fresh tuna at (per the article) Nobu Next Door? That's going to be news to a lot of people. Fats or sugars in many other foods are no good in large quantities either, but those aren't inherently toxic ingredients. I'm not sure if the pesticides on fruits and vegetables and the various hormones and other drugs in our meat supply are more or less dangerous than the mercury in tuna, but the ability to purchase high end organic meats, fruits, and vegetables might be fooling people into thinking that if you eat high end sushi, that too should be safe. I haven't personally eaten sushi in a few years now. It's too much of a hassle for me to figure out what is sustainable and what isn't (and that isn't what I want to be doing in a sushi bar anyway -- I just want to eat), so I just don't bother.

Ah, well I can certainly get a different gin, but I'm stuck with the maraschino since it's a new bottle.

I'm using the Maraska "Original" Maraschino and Tanqueray Rangpur gin.

I made my wedding cake (actually it was a tier of cupcakes, so maybe there's a different superstition for that) and we're still married! We also made the food for the reception. The only thing I wouldn't do again was the freshly squeezed lemonade, because reaming 100 lemons is completely ridiculous. Maybe this superstition is more about the fact that a giant baking task is more stress than many people are prepared to deal with so close to the actual event. I didn't think it was that bad, but then I wasn't making a real cake either.

Heh, I love their stuff too. We have the salad spinner, dry measuring cups, measuring spoons, a whisk (I *think* it's oxo since it has a big heavy rubber handle), tongs in three different lengths, and the fat separator (highly recommended!). I didn't even know they made drawer pulls, but I am intrigued.

Hehe, Parisian Bordello, indeed. I could see the description now: "a popular though ultimately undrinkable cocktail, the Parisian Bordello will infuse your lungs with the scent of a dozen Can-can dancers." So I made it again tonight for our cocktail party, and two drops is perfect for one Aviation. When I was mixing three at once, I used 1/4 teaspoon (for a recipe that tripled all the other ingredients), and that was right at the limit of what I would say is acceptable. You could definitely smell it and taste it, but it didn't stick in your throat like the aftermath of a clove cigarette. I have to say, for anyone interested in buying this brand of Creme de Violette, go in with a friend or two and divide up the bottle, because IMO the bottle size is much too big for home use. One bottle is far more than I can imagine using in my lifetime, and I really like this drink.

I think there is something with grandmothers and Miracle Whip. Mine used to take a single leaf of iceberg lettuce, "butter" it with a light coating of Miracle Whip, and then eat it. And that would be her lunch.

I tried these proportions in an aviation, and ugh. Too much violette. Way too perfumey. 2oz Gin 1/2oz Lemon Juice 2tsp. Maraschino 1tsp. Creme De Violette I tried to fix it with more gin and lemon juice, but I still feel like I'm at the opera and breathing in three different kinds of heavily-applied perfume. I'd suggest 1/4 or 1/8 teaspoon instead.

Sweet and sour chicken. I won't eat the cold rice, though. Also: lasagne. It's even better than cold pizza.

The onion and sage polenta from the Zuni Cafe cookbook is really great. As I recall, it's 5:1 proportion of water (salted) to polenta. When cooked (I like it at 2+ hrs, so it is a convenient dish to get started early and let it go as you finish everything else), add onion and sage (chopped) that have been sauteed in 4T butter and seasoned with salt and generous grinds of pepper. I also like to do small pizzas when I have vegetarian friends over, but I don't know if that would fit into your menu. Or, some sort of roasted squash or other roasted vegetables. Brussels sprouts and cauliflower turn out great roasted on high heat with just salt, pepper, and olive oil. But anyway, if the only thing you're strictly avoiding is meat, your menu can still be incredibly abundant and filling. That's not too much of a restriction.

Wow, that's amazing! But I don't think they'll be freezing the head. It's made out of polymer clay. The torso isn't edible either. Still creepy. I can only imagine what the cake must have looked like at the end of the reception, with only the head and torso remaining. More on the making of the cake here: http://www.weddingsculptures.com/

The Ritz Mock Apple Pie will always and forever gross me out and baffle me. Aren't apples cheaper than a box of crackers? Besides, what a waste of Ritz crackers when you could be eating them with cheddar cheese.