While we all want to do our part to help preserve the environment, it is often much easier to choose convenience over responsibility, especially when we’re on the go. Even in a city brimming with endless choices like New York, it often requires a bit of legwork to make eco-friendly choices. That’s why we were excited to hear about inBloom, a new location-based iPhone app designed to make it easier to be green.
The new year is still young, and we’re doing a good job of staying resolute: We’re watching what we eat and trying to be active so we can shed a few pounds. Trouble is, we find exercise works up quite an appetite. And it turns out we don’t even have sweat through a spin or Zumba class to put our appetite into overdrive: Recent research shows that just thinking about exercise can make us hungry.
We’ve noticed a trend in this year’s crop of diet books — they often have everything to do with sex appeal. Take three new titles: Coach Yourself Thin (Rodale, 2011), Six Weeks to Skinny Jeans (Rodale, 2011) and the least subtle of all, Eat Your Way to Sexy (Harlequin, 2011). The covers show, respectively, a flat-bellied young woman victoriously showing her toned abs, a pair of enviably filled-out “skinny jeans,” and last, but certainly not least, the bold word “SEXY,” the “X” created by a crossed fork and a knife.
With New York Restaurant Week in full swing, our thoughts turned to our favorite places to find epicurean feasts for less year-round. We love gourmet food, great chefs — and bargains. Happily, we know how to find them all, from coast to coast, Portland to New York City — and even a gem across the Atlantic, tucked away in a London cookbook shop.
We know there’s a special mother-daughter bond when one generation passes along kitchen wisdom and beloved family recipes to the next. When Lee Clayton Roper’s mother, Sally Clayton, started to suffer from osteoporosis and memory loss, the two embarked on a project to collect and publish their favorites in A Well-Seasoned Kitchen (MLC Publishing, 2009). Originally available only in the Claytons’ home state of Colorado, the book recently has become available in local bookstores stores across the country, and is also available through online retailers. A portion of all sales benefits the Alzheimer’s Association Colorado Chapter. (Photo credit: Courtesy Lee Clayton Roper)
Just because the temperatures have dropped outside doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy locally grown produce. Winter farmers markets are popping up from coast to coast, and we’ve found quite a few places to buy fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables.
After hearing about last year’s overwhelmingly successful event, we were excited to find out that this Saturday, Jan. 21, TEDxManhattan is hosting its second “Changing the Way We Eat” conference and webcast. The speakers will explore the many issues facing the sustainable food movement and to try to make connections between the diverse parties involved in responsible eating and farming practices. With a combination of video and live speakers, TEDxManhattan hopes to spark discussion between attendees, as well as among its much larger virtual audience.
For Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (W.W. Norton & Company, 2011) author Tom Mueller talked to numerous experts about the history, cultural significance, growing methods and health benefits of olive oil — plus corruption within the industry itself. Among the politicians, chemists, growers and historians, he notes a magic quality about this food. “Even shady characters who’d grown rich making fake oil by the tanker-load spoke wistfully of their childhood spent at the olive mill, and of the life lessons they learned there,” he notes.
We know several people who have made adopting a vegan diet a New Year’s resolution for 2012. And more people than ever seem to be taking the vegan plunge in light of documentaries such as Forks Over Knives, which examines the health benefits of a vegan diet. To help newcomers to the meat- and dairy-free lifestyle, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a nonprofit vegan nutrition organization, is offering a 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program, starting Jan. 2.
Because we often vacation over New Year’s, we’ve found out what many different cultures eat at midnight to bring them luck and prosperity for the coming year. We’ve also noted various customs, starting with our own grandmother, who used a broom to sweep the old year out the front door and onto the lawn. Here are some food and New Year’s customs from around the world, plus an easy recipe.
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