A Full Belly

Raw Feeders

Fido's raw food diet. "Raw Feeders" argue that the best diet for their pets should consist of raw meat because that's what their wild cousins eat. Most vets do not recommend a raw food diet because of the health risks (contracting salmonella and e-coli, choking on bones), and the challenge of creating nutritionally balanced meals.

two-buck chuck's a-comin'

Trader Joe's to Open in New York. "At 15,000 square feet, including the wine shop, the new Trader Joe's will be less than a third the size of the Whole Foods that opened last year at 4 Union Square South."

mac n' cheese, please

What's wrong with the NYTimes Crusty Macaroni and Cheese recipe? No white sauce.

cutting boards and bacteria

The truth about cutting boards and bacteria: "What, then, is the truth about cutting boards? Both plastic and wooden boards can hold on to bacteria for long periods of time. Both plastic and wooden boards allow for transference of bacteria to other foods. Luckily, we found that scrubbing with hot soapy water was an effective (though not perfect) way of cleaning both kinds of boards; the USDA also recommends the regular application of a solution of 1 teaspoon bleach per quart of water. Simply put, maintenance, not material, provides the greatest margin of safety."

RFID cooking

RFID cooking: A pan, cooktop, recipe card and RFID. "Each pan handle is embedded with an RFID chip that uses a proprietary signal to communicate with coordinated chips in the cooktop and special recipe cards that monitor each cooking step for a partcular dish." Available in Japan.

mexican food in new york

Ask MetaFilter: Any good Mexican restaurants in NYC? + a few more answers on Gothamist.

Can't say I'm an expert on Mexican food as I prefer Tex-Mex and hate beans but I've had fantastic meals at El Maguey Y La Tuna on East Houston and Pequeña in Fort Greene. I keep planning to hit up Cafe Juanita on Rivington, which comes very highly recommended by friends I trust. Where do you go for good Mexican food? Let me know where I can find the tasty shrimp tacos I crave in the comments!

judging a good sushi restaurant

How to judge a good sushi restaurant. "While it's possible to have inexpensive Japanese food, sushi is by nature expensive because the fish is expensive, and it's also very labor-intensive. So, in my opinion there is really no such thing as a cheap sushi restaurant. You can have acceptable sushi at a reasonable price in a city with a lot of sushi places, but you can't have good and cheap sushi."

dumpling jewelry

More food-inspired jewelry: the little dumplings collection from Paglieli. Cute and tasty, just like the real thing. Perfect for you favorite dumpling lover (hint! hint!). [via Kathryn]

fugu

My friend Selva had some fugu in Seattle and lived to blog about it. I didn't even know fugu was legal in the US but apparently there are 17 restaurants with fugu licenses, 11 of which are in NYC! My birthday is coming up later this month, maybe I'll have some then.

NYC Restaurants from the Inside Out

NYC Tomorrow, Thursday January 12th, catch Restaurants from the Inside Out, a discussion of what makes a restaurant great featuring Rocco DiSpirito, Steven Shaw and Calvin Trillin moderated by Leonard Lopate. 8 pm, 92nd Street Y, $25.