The Feed: April 10, 2013

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.

The Oregonian: “Welcome 'Mad Men' season 6 with 1960s-themed party snacks, cocktails: Foodday Favorites,” by Grant Butler.
AMC’s stylish drama series Mad Men returned for its 6th season Sunday, sending lovers of nostalgic party food back to the ‘60s for Mad Men-era snacks and drinks. The Oregonian’s Foodday took a nice approach: resurrecting its own recipes from the 1960s but putting a modern spin on them, like updating cheese ball with smoked paprika and marcona almonds.

Table Matters: “Don’t Drink Like Mad Men,” by Derek Brown
Also in the Mad Men vein, although with a caution, as Brown discusses how cocktails were definitely trending downward during the ‘60s. He offers suggestions for how to improve Mad Men-era drinks, such as omitting the “fruit salad” from an Old Fashioned (I prefer just an orange peel myself).

SlowMoneyFarm: “Food Labels – What Do You Believe & REALLY Want to Know?”
If I told you my blog was a “nuclear free zone” would it make you want to read it more? The SlowMoneyFarm blog uses the recent example of the Florida DJs who got in trouble for telling people their taps were dispensing “dihydrogen monoxide” (a.k.a. “water”), to point out that food producers can use the truth in misleading ways to sell their products. For example, labeling popcorn as free of genetically modified corn in hopes of selling to the anti-G.M.O. crowd when no popcorn is G.M.O. in the first place. I’ve seen this with chicken: producers claiming it’s hormone free when no chickens are raised with added growth hormone since they aren’t approved for that use.

New York Times: “Why Do G.M.O.s Need Protection?” by Mark Bittman.
Speaking of G.M.O. Bittman is known as a recipe genius and champion of simple cooking, but here he takes an editorial stance, calling a recent move by Congress to protect producers of genetically modified foods “unnecessary as well as disgraceful.” According to Bittman, the law in question prohibits the Department of Agriculture from stopping production of a genetically engineered crop, even if it’s found to be harmful.

Washington Post: “Homemade crackers, in no time flat,” by Jane Touzalin. 
Think making homemade crackers is difficult? Touzalin discovers its really quite simple and a much more economic way of getting your hands on “artisan” crackers. This recipe, for example, uses only flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, butter and water and sounds like it takes about 30-40 minutes.

New York Times Magazine: “True Tales of Hell in the Kitchen,” by Jessica Gross. 
They may be professional, but top New York chefs have suffered mishaps too. Here’s a collection of 10 amusing anecdotes from restaurants like B. Smith, Perilla and Anissa.