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.

A Q&A with Hatori in the Village Voice touches on how the duo (with extra memeber here and there including Sean Lennon) started singing about food back in the mid-90s.

“Yuka and I both grew up in Japan and Japan is like that, we just love food. Especially Yuka, I feel like, wow, she is really into food! But me as well. It is almost precious, for both of us. Food and music.” (read the whole thing here)

I wanted to include one of my favorite songs, Artichoke, but couldn’t find a decent version of it so linking you to another fun song (that they also played at the show), Know Your Chicken. I was so glad they decided to tour after years apart. And based on the fun, lively show, it sounded like they still cook well together. My only regret, not getting a T-shirt.

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.

If someone makes me a bacon suit, I will love you forever. Or, if you don’t want to break out your needle and thread, how about these other porcine themed vestments?

Bacon Slip-On Shoes

Bacon Makes Everything Better T-shirt

Bacon Tie

Bacon Belt

Bacon, Egg, and Toast Scarf

And for you vegetarians out there, let us not forget the watermelon shoes (still on my wish list).

I haven’t seen Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World yet, but it’s definitely on my list.  In preparation for the movie, my roommate and I started reading the comics and were pleasantly surprised by how good they are, and how much food makes the scene.  Scott and Ramona eat noodles together, the band meets up at a diner called Sneaky Dee’s, there are burgers after the beach, breakfasts of eggs and bacon, and a drunken tequila night.  I can’t wait to see how the movie compares, or, like many campy action films,  if they neglect the most basic need, eating.

This is (surprise) one of my favorites. Love and burgers, “sigh” for sure.

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

Um, yum? When I was at the Edible Cocktail event a few weeks ago I met Rick Field of Rick’s Picks.  I had to go over and gush at him about his pickles (what’s a girl to do?), and he was flattered enough to send me a T-shirt with my favorite one: Smokra’.  Yes, spicy, pickled, okra with a splash of paprika.

The first time I tried Rick’s Picks was at Spuyten Duyvil in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  They have an awesome pickle platter and the okra was on it.  Instantly I was hooked.  Rarely can I afford to get an $8 jar of the stuff, but when I do, I treasure it all the way to the brine.

Ella Morton of the URDB and SPAM cattle

I can’t help it, I love the Universal Record Database, a group of wacky people that help others from around the world set any world record the wish.  Maybe my adoration is because my first introduction to them dealt with a live, world record event based solely on food: piles, mounds, stacks, and pieces of it.  I saw the world’s longest cupcake kabab, the most tortillas tossed and the tallest s’more.  The second time I wrote about the URDB was for a Time Out New York feature, in which all but one of the record setters were using food (Tabasco, sugar, chocolate, and wine, or at least a wine bottle).  So, imagine my glee when they produced a food themed episode of their new video segment,  The URDB World Record Show. Watch this episode and find out who peeled a banana the fastest, the largest spam cattle herd, who made the largest Lucky Charms beard, and more.

The URDB World Record Show: Top 5 Food Records