- Most Recent | Since 2004
- List View
- Archive
- April 5, 2005
Artichoke Season
April 5, 2005Read more
On a whim, I bought an artichoke from the supermarket. I dimly remember having one when I was a kid, and enjoying scraping the leaves with my teeth. I finally decided to cook it today. In the process of skimming such sites as the California Artichoke Advisory Board, I learned:
It’s a giant thistle! So if you have kids, say it’s like what Eeyore eats in Winnie The Pooh. Hopefully the A.A. Milne version is what they’re being raised on.
“One 12-ounce artichoke is a good source of vitamin C, folate and potassium. It’s low in sodium, fat-free and a dieter’s delight at only 25 calories.” — Artichokes.org
“Artichokes, including leaves, were thought to be an aphrodisiac, a diuretic, a breath freshener and even a deodorant.” — Oceanmist.com
“Current research is showing benefits to the liver from cynarin, a compound found in the artichoke’s leaves. Silymarin is another compound found in artichokes that has powerful anitoxidant properties and may help the liver regenerate healthy tissue.” — Oceanmist.com
The peak season for artichokes is March through May, so this is a seasonal veggie you can get hold of now. Nearly all artichokes sold in the US come from California. They have an artichoke festival every year in Castroville.
- April 5, 2005
The Curse of HTML Email
April 5, 2005Read moreToday I am researching HTML Email for a client newsletter. Out of the blue, I got another call from a friend asking about the very same thing. With the advent of Spring comes the blossoming of a thousand e-marketing initiatives!
Anyway, it seems like this should be straightforward cut-and-paste job, but there are several technical hurdles to overcome when creating a good-looking HTML Email. That’s because HTML email isn’t a simple self-contained document format like Word, nor is it a web page somewhere on a server. It’s a hybrid of both approaches, made difficult by wildly-varying HTML support in email clients. Remember when you had to code HTML for both Netscape and Internet Explorer in the 3.0 days? This is worse.
- April 5, 2005
ZoomQuilt
April 5, 2005Read more
RobertJaz forwarded me this link to Zoom Quilt, a trippy Flash exquisite corpse that seamlessly zooms into or out of a series of images. It’s pretty slickly done…each artist constributes a piece of artwork drawn within a template, and it’s integrated into a Flash piece. The original home page has links to other versions, with the source artworks viewable as individual frames.
- April 4, 2005
Weekend Update
April 4, 2005Read moreA pretty eventful weekend, filled with new experiences and more eating than was perhaps prudent.
- April 1, 2005
NYC, Pizza and Complaints
April 1, 2005Read moreMy sister sent me a link to this blog, Eat Drink One Woman. Informative with a healthy dose of atttitude, it reads a bit like a Gen-X version of one of my favorite curmudgeons, Jeffrey Steingarten. She totally rocks, and her blog is now on my “favorite reads” list. When I get tired of reading about babies and pooping on Dooce, I think I’ll tune in to EDOW and partake of fresh vegetables and gourmet cheeses instead.
Continuing along the New York Theme, Sis is coming up to visit this weekend. She promises to bring a NYC-style pizza from Fellini’s in Providence. Our last NYC-style pizza attempt here in Nashua was a dismal affair. Espresso’s used to have a decent pie when I first moved here, but lately it’s been kind of “eh”. Is it a lack of oven temperature? Every pie I’ve had there lately has seemed sodden and slightly undercooked. The tomato sauce we also found to be slightly too sweet.
Sis also dug up this intriguing notion…NYC pizza vacuum-sealed and shipped to your door. I am skeptical.
Of course, I’m on this “change of food lifestyle” kick, which means I won’t be able to stuff my face with ‘za this weekend. But I’ll be damned if I don’t get a taste.
