A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

IKEA addict? Maybe you should put all those blue bags with yellow lettered handles to good use. Like in a dress. [Via Inhabitat]

What is the definition of a “Real Woman”? Whatever it is, please stop calling me one. [Via Thought Catalog]

Haven’t joined a CSA yet? You should, and if you’re wondering how to go about it, here’s a great guide to help you navigate.  [Via Small Kitchen College]

Keeping an eye on the indie designer scene in Beijing? Here are nine to pay attention to. [Via Afar]

McMansions out and tiny homes in; we approve of this minimalist trend and will always take more micro-home eye candy like this one. [Via Curbed]

Finally someone has a good recipe for making gluten free sandwich bread at home. [Via Saveur]

Outdoor backyard movie night? There really can’t be a better way to spend a late summer evening. [Via CasaSugar]

The U.S. has no national vacation policy, how is this affecting productivity and why are we so bad at checking out? [Via The Atlantic]

A diet that’s high in sugar can lead to memory loss. [Via Organic Authority]

Image: Gewerbemuseum

The post Link Love: Making Dresses Out of IKEA Bags and How the Lack of U.S. National Vacation Policy Affects Productivity appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnWhat magazines tell us about the food world.

This weekend I received my first issue of Cooking with Paula Deen.

Yes, you read that correctly. Paula Deen.

I subscribed on a combination of a whim and a dare. “I could get it and make the recipes healthier,” I told myself. Really I just wanted a look into the world of butter and big hair. Because that world is fascinating; fascinating as to why some of us are in love, and others are repulsed.

I have been on the side of repulsion. In my world carrots don’t need to be served with butter and brown sugar, and cheesecake definitely doesn’t need to be fried. However, there is respect to be gleaned from a woman that has built an empire, and has encouraged down home cooking in a time of microwave dinners. So I subscribed, in the hopes that maybe Paula Deen would provide some insight into why the food world has become so divisive.

I will gladly admit to my own level of pretentiousness: Rachael Ray gives me a handful of fried chicken recipes and I cringe, but Bon Appétit says the food is “trending” and I start to think about what gluten free type of batter I can come up with. Pick up a couple of food magazines and you’ll quickly notice a difference in high brow vs. low brow (“A purple plastic basket? People just don’t have any manners anymore. Baguettes in Paris? Did I tell you about the last time I was in Paris?“), but you’ll also see that they’re often promoting very similar foods. And yet we have very different reactions to them.

Put those same copies of Bon Appétit and Every Day with Rachael Ray next to each other and compare the two covers. They both feature a main food photo, they both have salivating headlines and yet you can instantly feel that they’re made to cater to very different demographics. Is it just the fact that every photo in Bon Appétit looks like it has an Instagram filter on it that I love it? Why do I want to make the carrot-ginger drink in the magazine but when I see a Rachael’s recipe for a very similar thing I shake my head and turn the page?

As it turns out, even Paula Deen loves mason jars but for some reason, they just look different. Hell, she can devote an entire spread to canning and we scoff, but put the less glossy pages of a local Edible Communities magazine in front of us that feature an urbanite wearing Wayfarer rims, canning foraged fruit and we fall in love.

Maybe healthy food has become pretentious because we made it so.

Granted I wouldn’t make Paula’s 7-layer Salad for the life of me, and god forbid I go near a concoction that involves strawberry jello, Neufchatel cheese and pretzels, but her Shrimp Cakes over Corn Grits with Lemon-Dill sauce sound almost like they came off of an award-winning food blog. Switch out grits for polenta and sprinkle with sea salt and you’re almost in foodie recipe territory.

I drool over Bon Appétit. I don’t drool over Cooking with Paula Deen. One feels like classy food porn, the other feels like a dimly lit Holiday Inn with a double bed. But in trying to identify the differences between the two, it has become clear that we all have presumptions about food, and if we want to eat better as a society, we better start trying to find some middle ground.

You can easily argue that we would all be better off if we committed to plant-based, locavore diets, but we have some other very serious obstacles to tackle before we get there. Strip away our addiction to sugar and processed foods and here is one of our main problems: we don’t have time to cook, and in our effort to cut corners, many of us have forgotten what real food is. I may have spent a weekend afternoon tweaking a recipe for walnut cake, but I am fully aware that this is not normal behavior. Put fennel and sea salt and vanilla bean sugar aside for a second. The general population is pressed for time, and cooking isn’t at the top of the priority list.

We can’t even make time for breakfast anymore. So much so, that breakfast giant Kellog is investing in global snack brand Pringles, all just to stay competitive in the food market. Breakfasts have turned to “no syrup required” on-the-go affairs and dinner is a plastic tray of beef tamales heated up in the microwave. Does anyone remember what real food looked like?

As a country, we need a shift in mindset, and it’s not just the hipster pickle operation that’s going to do it. We need quick, easy, healthy and unpretentious. Food that is approachable. We need education that teaches us about what we eat; builds a connection to it. Where’s the Five Minute Foodie Underground magazine? Somebody find me the funding and I’ll launch it, because with kale, anything can be done.

Why do some of us drool over Saveur and keep our old Cooks Illustrated as if they were encyclopedias? Because the idea of food is exciting. Without teaching about real ingredients and how to put them together in simple ways, how can we expect to raise a generation that cares about what they eat?

As much as we might cringe at the food celebrities of cooking shows, we need public figures that will get us thinking about cooking and what we’re eating, because we need a food re-education, even if that re-education is at a small level at first. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and America won’t switch out burgers for brussel sprouts in a week.

But we also need food leaders that aren’t bound by industry ties and commercial interests.

As Deen says on her Pinterest page, “Cooking and family are the greatest gifts. Love and Best Dishes, y’all!” Although I question her industry ties and commercial interests – in the current issue of Cooking with Paula Deen she is the main face for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Royal Caribbean, Victoza (a prescription diabetes drug) and Springer Mountain Farms chicken – I couldn’t agree more.

I just don’t want that best dish to be coated in a brown sugar glaze.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s weekly column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground, discovering what’s new and different in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to the culinary avant garde.

Images: Anna Brones, Rachael Ray, Bon Appétit, Anna Brones

The post Foodie Underground: A Subscription to Cooking With Paula Deen Anyone? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Eggplant gets such a bad rap. Lots of people think it’s bitter because it certainly can be when it’s out of season and has traveled far to get to your table.

But eggplant can also be sweet, flavorful, meaty, and so versatile. What other vegetable is so at home in India, Thai, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Italian, and French, and Spanish cooking? Not many that I can think of. Plus it’s high in fiber, nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants. What’s not to like?

Summer is peak season for eggplant of all types, so we’ve scoured the web for a variety of different types of recipes to suit whatever mood you’re in.

I love a good baba ghanoush dip with a smoky, roasted or grilled flavor. Here’s a twist on that classic dish from Eating Well magazine that includes feta and sounds absolutely wonderful. Bring on the pita chips.

From Provence, Saveur magazine offers this recipe for ratatouille. Ratatouille combines so much of what’s good about summer and is perfect as a light entrée, a side dish, an appetizer – or for breakfast with eggs. It can be eaten hot, cold, or at room temperature and travels exceptionally well for outdoor summer eating.

One of my favorite dishes in Thai restaurants is spicy sautéed eggplant with chilies and Thai basil. Here’s an approximation from Vegetarian Times. Not being a vegetarian, I’d definitely substitute fish sauce for the soy sauce, as its unique flavor is one of the hallmarks of Thai cuisine. I’d also use fresh red chilies instead of flakes. But that’s just me.

Image: Specialkrb

The post 3 Recipes Using Summer’s Most Versatile Fruit appeared first on EcoSalon.

Okay, so you know how to shop the farmers’ market and you know that when you shop the farmers’ market, it’s easy to buy what’s local and in season because that’s what the farmers are selling.

But most people still do the majority of their shopping in grocery stores. When faced with six kinds of apples from New Zealand displayed right next to tomatoes from Mexico, pineapples from Costa Rica, and lettuce from California, what’s a local, organic eater to do?

Make Seasonal, Local, and Organic Your Mantra:

Seasonal: If you know what’s in season when in your area, it makes it easier to buy seasonally, even in the grocery store. See below for a handy seasonal produce guide.

Local: Take a look at the grocery store signage to find out where the produce was grown. It’s one thing to buy bananas from Costa Rica, if you must have your bananas, but it makes no sense to buy September’s apples from New Zealand when they are harvested in almost every region in the U.S during the fall.

Organic: Look for the USDA Certified Organic label. Buying organic minimizes your exposure to toxic chemicals and supporting organic growers is better for the planet. If you’re worried about the extra expense, remember that if you buy locally grown organic produce at peak production, prices will be lower.

Once you start eating seasonally, you’ll discover a new joy in food. When you’ve waited all year for that first juicy, local, ripe tomato, instead of eating cardboard flavored ones year round, you’ll enjoy it so much more.

Seasonal Produce Guide:

Many items overlap into two seasons and items grown underground, like fennel, carrots, radishes, and beets can be grown year-round in some parts of the country. Temperate climates also support nearly year-round availability of some greens and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and mustard greens. This list will be helpful for most parts of the country.

Spring – Asparagus, snap peas, English peas, snow peas, green garlic, artichokes, greens, lettuces, fava beans, radishes, potatoes, carrots, leeks, spring onions, kiwis, citrus, strawberries, rhubarb

Summer – Corn, green beans, summer squash, tomatillos, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peppers, basil, berries (all types) Stonefruit: peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, figs, grapes

Fall – Greens, beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, winter squash, fresh shelling beans, sweet potatoes, root vegetables, tomatoes, tomatillos, pears, apples, Asian pears, figs, grapes, melons, persimmons, pomegranates,

Winter – leafy greens, winter squash, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, root vegetables including beets, turnips, rutabega, fennel, carrots, potatoes, celery, citrus, dried fruit, pears and apples (stored from fall)

Enjoy these links to seasonal recipes for some of each season’s most characteristic produce items.

Spring:

10 Recipes for Artichokes from Cooking Light

Pea Recipes from Eating Well

Summer:

Corn Recipes and Tips from Epicurious

Stonefruit Recipes from Saveur

Fall:

Tomato Recipes and Tips from Epicurious

Apple Recipes from Smitten Kitchen

Winter:

Broccoli Recipes from Mariquita Farm

Winter Squash Recipes from 101 Cookbooks

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

The post Eating Local and Organic By the Seasons appeared first on EcoSalon.