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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was not only a patron and contributor to the arts but he also wrote a cookbook. It is titled L’art de la Cuisine and was published after his death by his friend Maurice Joyant. The book includes Lautrec sketches and interesting menu selections. Lautrec enjoyed culture and liked to cook, drink and celebrate. He liked to dress up as a samurai or flamenco dancer at his parties and once served a Degas painting for dessert. Lautrec also was known to add goldfish to the water pitchers encouraging his guests to imbibe alcohol fueled concoctions instead of water.
More can be read about this fascinating character and his life at the following sites and on wikipedia.
http://www.lautrec.info/
http://www.toulouse-lautrec-foundation.org/
Whitman’s vs. Russell Stover chocolate candy showdown
Today I had the awesome task of tasting a bunch of chocolates and then telling the world my opinion. Well let me get down to business.
I had a box of Whitman’s assorted chocolates containing 7 candies, a box of Whitman’s Reserve that had 2 candies in it and a box of Russell
Stover chocolates containing 4 candies.
After tasting each I came to the conclusion that I like the Russell Stover chocolates a bit more. It’s hard to say chocolate is better than chocolate
but being side by side made it easier to pick a favorite. My taste buds told me that I favor the Russell Stover candies a little more than I liked the
Whitman’s candy.
Unfortunately See’s candies were not sold at Rite Aid and were not able to participate in this survey.
AQUINAS 2011 California Cabernet Sauvignon
Named after St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), an Italian Dominican friar,
priest and revolutionary scholar who used the laws of science to support
his belief in the Almighty. This wine, like it’s namesake, is smart, bold,
dedicated and has lots of good characteristics.
The dude of food rating -Give this wine a try.
I have owned a Mr. Coffee coffee maker for the last 10 years and have formed 
somewhat of a bond with it. The basic machine got my day started right.
Every morning it patiently waits on the counter for me to
decide if I will be making coffee or not.
Well much to my dismay earlier this week my Mr. Coffee coffee maker just
decided to quit working this week. It was easy to clean, worked quick and
efficiently and made good, hot coffee.
So this week, I have been getting to know my new, replacement coffee maker, the Toastmaster. it looks pretty
similar to the old Mr. Coffee. Same color and about the same size. Easy change.
Well now I have been using a Toastmaster and have to say that I am not
all that impressed. I know you are thinking that how can a coffee maker
be that different, but they are, and this one bugs me a little.
The new cone shaped filter change is the first change I am dealing with.
It seems the the fine folks at Toastmaster want to use cone shaped filters,
so I am adapting my old filters to work since I have so many square ones.
The second thing I immediately noticed was when I poured the coffee out, the fluid hits the lips of the pitcher
and gets diverted onto the countertop. This I fixed by taking the top off and cutting it back on my band saw.
The next thing I noticed was that the heating element is not as hearty as the Mr. Coffee coffee maker and now
my cups of morning java are not quite hot enough after I add a little milk.
Personally, the Dude of Food would like to buy another Mr. Coffee coffee maker and return to quality.
http://www.farberware.com http://www.lifetimebrands.com
A couple weeks ago the Dude of Food needed a new “spatchula” and ended up purchasing a Farberware “slotted turner”. It turns out there was a problem with the one I bought and I wrote the company an email to ask about it. To the credit of the company, they were interested in hearing what happened and were more than happy to replace the product. Today the new product arrived and all is good in the kitchen again.
Thank you Farberware and parent company Lifetime Brands, for supporting your customers and standing behind your product line. Maximum respect. You can bet the Dude of Food endorses your kitchen gear and when I need new kitchen utensils you can bet I will be looking at your brands.
Follow the Dude of Food on facebook at – www.facebook.com/thedudeoffood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_1YqKtNbw
This link above was the video used by the Dude to complete his mission.
As stated in the video, Swai is not expensive but it tastes mediocre. I made the
dish pictured to the right according to the video and it was pretty tasty.
What it doesn’t tell you is that Swai is raised in the Mekong River.
The Mekong River is one of the most polluted waterways in the world. Numerous factories get rid of the chemical waste by dumping them into the river. While pangasius fish (swai) can survive in such an extreme environment, they absorb all these contaminants. As omnivores, they eat whatever is available in the environment. Some breeders feed the fish trash and rotting matter to cut down the cost. Pangasius fish bred in such circumstances, certainly contain these toxic chemicals.
Injecting the fish with hormones helps to stimulate their growth. Certain breeders are able to make their fish grow four times as fast as they do in the natural habitat. Frequent use of antibiotics serves to control disease but can lead to the contamination of meat and development of antibiotic resistant pathogens.
Reliable farms utilize the clean areas of the rivers or breed the fish in artificial ponds. Frequent water changes and filtration maintain the quality of water, so that the fish avoid absorbing the pollutants. Trustworthy breeders feed the fish food scraps, dedicated fish pellets and rice bran. The carefully selected diet leads to healthier fish and improves the quality of their meat. Limited use of the antibiotics allows the fish to break the toxins down, instead of accumulating in the bodies of Swai fish.
To choose the safe fillets, check if the meat has been tested for the presence of the antibiotics and contaminants. Try to avoid panga fillets of unknown origin, as there’s a good chance that they are imported from these shady farms. The responsible shopping habits serve to reinforce the correct commercial breeding techniques. They protect the consumers from ingesting the toxic ingredients.
Bottom line, cheaper isn’t always better.
Think you won’t eat wood? Think again.
Cellulose is added to many foods as a thickening agent, lending texture and boosting fiber content.
This reduces the need for expensive ingredients like flour and oil.
While cellulose comes from wood, it is the same structure as cellulose found in celery, serving as a
source of dietary fiber.
The Dude of Food is not opposed, but I still think this kind of information should be more clearly marked on food labels.
In the case of the Mozzarella cheese above, the front of the label says organic. They are not lying, but I’d rather have flour and oil.
