Lunchtime Reading

How to Make, Cure, and Smoke Homemade Bacon - YUM! imafoodblog.com, may have just become a new favorite. I love knowing how to make things from scratch (note: gravlax) and they have all kinds of delicious recipes on the site. If I make the bacon, I'll let you know how it goes.

The winners of the James Beard Awards were announced last night. Nate Appleman from A16 won for Rising Start Chef and Douglas Keane of Cyrus won for Best Chef - Pacific Region. Congratulations!!

Have you noticed all of the changes on OpenTable lately, customer reviews, restaurants mapped by location, etc... Well, it looks like this could all be part of their plan to IPO this year. Sounds like this has been in the works since January and should it happen, the influx of capital could add some interesting new features to the site. We shall see.

Ever wondered what a ramp is? Check out norecipes.com ingredients tab. They have a description and picture of the item, they tell you where you can get it and how best to use it (including recipes). They even have nutrition information. I'm loving it right now.

Lunchtime Reading

Being a woman, it seems like I am ALWAYS on a diet. So when I saw the latest website on dieting and low-calorie recipe advice on LA Times Daily Dish, I thought I would check it out.

Hungry-Girl is obviously made for women, note the pink background and name. They feature low-fat, low- calorie product updates and reviews, recipes, diet and nutrition advice, and survival tips for eating (and drinking) out. I don't love the way it's organized, but I did love the section on low- and non-fat products, which appear to be taste tested. I mean, who wants to eat low-fat mayo, if you can't even trick yourself into thinking it's full-fat? And for those of you on Weight Watchers or other diets based on points, the recipes and tested products have their point values listed. So no more guess work on your diet. YAY! Unfortunately, no lying to yourself either. Boo!