Depending on your perspecitve, my brother might seem a cantankerous sort. In many ways he’s like a gorilla: keep him fed, keep him sated and all will be well. Irritate him and you’ll be eating gorilla paw.Michael–as he is called–finds my obsessive food picture taking bizarre and irritating.”Stop taking pictures of your food,” he said…

Last year a New Yorker article came out that turned me vegetarian for a week. I had survived a college life filled with vegetarians–basically everyone I was friends with was a vegetarian–without my carnivorous foundations cracking. And then this article came along–a very shrewd piece about PETA–that brought the reader to chicken farms where rows…

Gather ’round boys and girls and behold a freak of nature! See the freakish Magneta–watch her skin go from its pinkish hue to blackish silver!Behold her pristine finger:An ordinary finger, yes? No camera tricks, no hand double.Now watch as she grazes a fork across her fingular surface:Parents: cover your children’s eyes. For what you are…

I just pulled yesterday’s ice cream from the fridge and ohmygod is that the best thing I have ever tasted.The Barefoot Contessa is a genius. She solved the problem of the overfrozen ice cream. Every ice cream I’ve made so far (and, as you know, I’ve made many) has turned into a solid rock overnight.…

Good help is so hard to find.Literally.Our waitress was missing for 90% of our meal today at Canoe, an otherwise adorable Atlanta restaurant on Paces Ferry.I mean check it out:Beautiful, right?Canoe is located on the Chattahoochee River. On a completely unrelated note, there were girls in high school we called chattahoochees (or hoochie mamas) because…

Have I told you that I’m a big Roger Ebert fan? Did you know he’s the only film critic to ever win the Pulitzer Prize?Anyway, check out his review today of SUPER SIZE ME / *** (Not rated) .Here are some money quotes:Eating responsibly at McDonald’s is like going to a strip club for the…

When making ice cream it’s always good to keep in mind that the “batter” (if that’s what they call it) has to chill. So, for example, if you start your ice cream at 8:30 pm and the ice cream involves hot sticky caramel that needs to refrigerate to “cool,” don’t expect to be eating until…

Tonight we grieve for the end of one of our most sacred cultural institutions. Let this song provide comfort in our time of need:Click me to mourn with music.

This month’s Martha Stewart Living (May 2004) features, as usual, a Letter From Martha. Unlike Martha’s many other letters, this one actually keeps it real. No BS about gardening: Martha has made the brave (and committee-prodded, I’m sure) choice of addressing her legal woes. Let’s look closer, shall we?How can I thank you all–readers, advertisers,…

Here is my law school:Here is me handing in my last law school final EVER:[A woman standing nearby said: “Excuse me, I have to ask, what did you just take a picture of?” I responded: “I just handed in my last law school final ever. I had to have a picture.” “Of course,” she said…