the week that was and is - september 2nd, 2009

September means kids are back to school and the nights grow shorter. Lucky for us here in Edmonton, we've had a few nice days finally show up at the end of August. To think, I may just get a bell pepper from my plant yet!

• An article in yesterday's Edmonton Journal (Bill Mah), mentioned that Albertans are still leading the pack when it comes to eating out. We are however, eating out less at full service sit downs (-3.1%) and increasing our spending at limited-service restaurants (+0.4%). As the article says; 'thrift Albertans opt for burgers over steak'.

• Local blogger, foodie suz, recently returned from her trip across the pond and is filling her blog with delicious, envious treats! That Cork English Market looks fantastic.

• I had no idea about the great volunteer run Green & Gold Community Garden in town until seeing Sharon's (Only Here for the Food) visit. I must say Sharon and Mack are always so up on things; I think we are lucky to have them.
  

• The crew over at foodosophy posted an interesting dialogue about sushi. Worth a read for sure.

• Canada's food guide is turning 67. I wonder in today's world of mammoth portion sizes, if many people truly realize what a proper portion of meat and bread should look like. With the most recent update in 2007 (the first in over 15 years), why not send away for a free copy.

• The San Francisco Food Wars recently held their Battle Royal Mac w/ Cheese. I had to laugh when I read that the 2nd place team received cheese as their prize (given that they contributed a vegan mac n' cheese). With mac n' cheese being such a great canvas, the results speak for themselves, and all sound artery clogging!

• Have you ever considered what great contributions American's have made to food? I haven't, but the crew over at regretfulmorning.com have come up with a list of 6.

• It seems many No Reservations followers were bombarding Travel Channel with questions for Tony, so this weeks episode revolved around that (Burning Questions). The questions seemed too basic, but I suppose they took the most frequently asked ones. A poor episode in my mind.

• Not poor however, was watching Adam Richman devour over two gallons of ice cream for his kitchen sink challenge (Man v Food). I can picture myself eating a lot of food, but I think large quantities of dairy is a different beast all together.

• Best random pictures of the week go to Panasonic microwaves. Who knew they had that special setting.

And speaking about food shows, September means we finally get new episodes on the Food Network. I'm excited because there is really only so much Chef at Home one man can handle before wanting to strangle Michael Smith.