For those of you who don’t know, I am now a contributing editor for Tea Magazine. That’s right, it’s a magazine dedicated solely to tea. I love it, though now I have piles and piles of tea. So please, stop over for a cup or 12.

The magazine isn’t online, you have to subscribe, which is a practice I whole-heartedly agree with. Still, I decided to attach a PDF of my big, two-page feature that came out in the last issue, I hope you like it! Also, here are some other pieces I have written about regarding tea.

Tea Magazine: Modern Tea in Tea Magazine

Food Republic: Coffee and Tea, Together at Last

Bites Blog: Celebrate Tea Month With These Eight Unusual Blends

Eat Me Drink Me: Lavender Earl Grey Yogurt

On a related note, want to know the best way to fill up a flask when you are funnel-less? JN Urbanski shares her fool proof method in this article she posted on her blog, which also has many pieces relating to food and the economy and is worth a read.

Pi Pie by Cakespy

Here are some of my latest published pieces. I have been writing for Zagat and MSNBC quite a bit. Check them out!

Celebrate Pi Day With Pie: Who knew math could be so tasty? Today is Pi Day, the time when nerds rejoice because the date, 3-14, lines up to the infinite number pi, otherwise known as 3.14159265… And, just as there are thousands of numbers in pi, there are also thousands of types of pie, and thousands of excuses to eat pie…(continue reading)

NYC Restaurant History: Want to know a secret? That restaurant you are dining in may have a sordid past. A while back, we rounded up some of the sensational histories surrounding New York’s restaurants, bars and markets. Since everyone loves a secret, we decided to dig a little deeper into the Big Apple’s culinary history. This time we delve into the world of New York gangs, communists and even David Letterman…(continue reading)

Game Meat Fun Around the Country: There’s a bit of a stigma that still surrounds the consumption of game meat as some diners have yet to have embrace more “exotic” flavors and textures. But like any ingredient, it’s all about how it’s prepared. Get your game on and click through our slideshow of the most interesting game dishes in the land…(continue reading)

Happy Birthday Oreo: For many people the classic Oreo cookie is synonymous with childhood, whether your memory is of being in elementary school when that cute boy shared his with you, or you dunked them in milk with your grandma. The chocolate cookie with a creamy center has remained iconic, and 100 years after the Oreo’s inception it is still a dessert staple…(continue reading)

Cooking With Ingredients You Hate: Every food lover has at least one ingredient they aren’t particularly fond of, but when it’s your job to cook, serve, and make a dish that you like out of an ingredient you hate, what’s a chef to do? One professional professed he wears gloves when handling pureed pumpkin, another hates shelling sea urchin, and another chef, to ensure he isn’t being biased, gets others to taste and evaluate how a dish comes out…(continue reading)

Have any ideas for me? Feel free to email me at linneacovingtonATyahooDOTcom or let me know in the comments.

Often people ask me where to go for dinner as I have  become the person you go to when going out. Instead of listing off some of my picks willy-nilly, I am going to start posting them in segments.

This one deals with cheap eats and was inspired by my friend Jenny Neal who had me on her WIOX radio show The Economy of…, where we talked about how to eat out on a budget in New York.  I would post it here but can’t seem to get it small enough, so stayed tuned on that front!

Linnea Covington’s Top 10 Cheap Eats in NYC:

1. Zaab Elee: Some of the best, most authentic Thai in the East Village, and super affordable.
2. Caracas: They serve luscious Venezuelan arapas and amazing micheladas in two locations, the East Village and Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
3. Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwich Shop: More of a lunch place, but they serve some of the best bahn mi I have ever had. Their pho is good too.
4. Veselka: For solid Ukrainian food (especially late night), this joint serves traditional pierogies, borsht, and potato pancakes.
5. Saraghina: When numerous well-reputed magazines review a place deep in Bed-Stuy, it’s got to be good. They aren’t wrong, this Neapolitan pizza place is great, especially in the summer in their garden sipping the house red.
6. Coppelia: Not only is it surprising that this 24-hour Latin diner in the Flatiron keeps prices low, but owner Julian Medina serves huge portions. You can easily get a dish and an appetizer for two people and be stuffed.
7. Mary’s Fish Camp: This West Village seafood place isn’t cheap, but for the kind of food Mary Redding serves, it’s a great deal. My favorite, her spicy conch chowder.
8. Saravanaa Bhavan: If you want an elegant setting to enjoy this classic South Indian restaurant you can head to the Upper West Side. Or hit up Curry Hill for a more laid back dinner of dosas. Either location is delicious and cheap.
9. Dutch Kills: They don’t serve food at this bar, but in the day of $15 cocktails, it’s nice to find a place that doesn’t charge so much. The only catch, it’s in Queens, but hey, it’s owned by Sasha Petraske so you get points for swank.
10. The Meatball Shop: There are three locations of this amazing spot, which serves an array of meatballs, seasonal salads, roasted veggies, and risotto. My favorite is there original in the Lower East Side, especially for lunch. Check out this Q&A I did with them a few months ago!

There you have it. Let me know if you try any of these and what you would add to the list.

Photo by Brian Everett of EVRT Studio

I know it’s been a while, heck, it’s been over 6 months since I have updated my food blog but I guess that’s how things go sometimes.  Of course I kept meaning to do it, but this article I read in Slate pushed me over the edge–I had to write about the devastating news that pickles might cause cancer.

I know, WTF.  Brian Palmer said this in his piece:

“Doctors have repeatedly attempted to substantiate the connection between pickled vegetables and cancer through clinical studies, with mixed results. But, taken as a whole, there does seem to be an association.”

Does this mean I should now avoid one of my favorite foods? True, pickles tend to be packed with sodium, which doctors have been saying for years that it’s  bad for us, but I have a hard time accepting that an innocent, tart, pickled vegetable could be evil. The most unfortunate part, Palmer suggests homemade pickled goods proved the worst kind, stating that mass produced gherkins don’t actually ferment, hence leaving out the step where microbes eat the vegetables sugar, turning it into alcohol, acids, and some (possible) cancer-causing carcinogens.

Ah! Instead of my life being over I am instead going to share with you my favorite pickles with you, if I’m damned you might as well be too.

Top 5 pickles: Rick’s Picks smokra’, McClure’s spicy pickles, Wheelhouse Pickles, house made pickles at The Vanderbilt and at Buttermilk Channel.

“Beer is not the new wine,” said Goose Island owner Greg Hall, last night at the City Winery. “Craft beer is the new wine.” During yesterday’s NYC Brewer’s Choice, 15 brewers came out, most with rare, unobtainable, small-batch beers. Brooklyn Brewery was pouring a light and citrusy re-fermented Brooklyner Weisse they made for the occasion, HE’BREW offered their thick, hoppy R.I.P.A. Rye and lighter Rejewvenator, and Ray McNeill showed off the wound he got making a batch of ESP, which he brewed Tuesday, as well as the coffee and chocolate tinged Russian Imperial Stout.

Fresh Green Chilies at the Hatch Valley Chile Festival

Ever since I left Denver, Colorado in August 2002 and made my way to Brooklyn, there is only one thing I really missed: green chilies.  Sorry East coasters, you don’t know what I am talking about unless you happened to spend some time in the Southwest and indulged in the these delicious, hot, and meaty green peppers.  This love and constant craving finally drove me to hit up the Hatch Valley Chile Festival in the tiny town of Hatch, New Mexico this year. 

For 38 years they have hosted chili roasters, venders serving up a slew of chili laced goodies, a chili eating contest, auctions, and Chili Queen crowning, and more chili themed events all on a dusty clearing between numerous pepper fields just a couple miles from town.  From the moment you enter Hatch the scent of chilies roasting hits your nose and you can’t go anywhere without people peddling sacks of the fresh peppers as well as ristas (the stringed bunches of chilies), chili stew, and chili rellenos.

Green Chili Ice Cream at the Hatch Valley Chile Festival

Basically, I had landed in heaven.  We spent all of Sunday chowing on chili ice cream, red chili laced popcorn, pecan and green chili brittle, corn soaked in green chili butter, chili beer, and so on.

Even when our car broke down on the drive back to Colorado in the small railroad town of Belen, New Mexico,  I was still living high.  Who cared the only place to eat was Pizza Hut?  I took my jar of fresh green chili salsa and smothered my slice, letting the heat take away the pain of waiting for the mechanic.

Green Chili Smothered Burrito at the Hatch Valley Chile Festival

“The U.S. and Russia have sent spies to each other’s countries for decades, even in the 20 years since the Cold War ended. Still, the latest allegations come at a time when relations between the U.S. and Russia have been warming….They used coffee shops, bookstores and street corners to contact handlers, according to the FBI.”

When I looked though the FBI report, it just said “a coffee shop” near the pay phone at Vanderbilt and DeKalb. Patricia Mulcahy, the owner of Tillie’s, said it could have been Andy’s (now Mega Bites), but I highly doubt it considering all the people tip-tap-typing away sit at Tillie’s. I asked a fellow ex-Tillie’s employee and non-spying Russian what she thought of the whole deal and promptly got back the reply,

“I thought those people were just freelancers!”

Goes to show you don’t always know your neighbors, or your customers.  But in a way, it’s nice to know that despite all our high tech communications and fancy technology devices we can still get a good ol’ human spy in there, and a sexy one to boot.