8.08.2007

YAY WEDNESDAY! The NYT Dining Section!

It’s Wednesday. And guess what Wednesday means. The Dining section of the New York Times comes out! My routine is: I stop by the stand next to the subway, pay my $1.25, promptly throw the rest of the paper away, and take my Dining section down to the train with me. Granted, this morning I tucked the paper away and spent the next two hours trying to find a way to work because the subways were shut down because of flooding. But that’s a different story…

So I finally had the chance to look through the section and found two interesting articles. The first article was titled “Should This Milk Be Legal?” by Joe Drape, and it’s all about the raw milk movement. These raw milk fans are breaking the law to get the white stuff! And I’m all for it. Why shouldn’t we have the choice? It’s the same choice I make when I eat my steaks medium-rare and it’s the same choice I make when I eat my eggs easy. But here’s the most compelling argument (for me) from the article: “’We drink raw milk because we trust the traditional food chain more than the industrial one,’ said Ms. Planck…” Amen!

The other, less socially conscious article was about this place in Long Island City that rents kitchen space. So people can rent space in the professional kitchen to start up food-related businesses, prepare stuff to sell at farmer markets, and just practice their craft. I initially found myself intrigued by the idea, thinking “Hmmm…perhaps I should try my hand at this…” But then I quickly dismissed the idea. First, what would I possibly cook that could be translated to a business? I don’t jar or preserve anything, I really don’t like baking, and I’m not terribly experimental. Not to mention that the biggest joy I get from cooking is making food for my friends and family, laughing, drinking wine, languidly stirring a sauce…the idea of pushing myself that hard – in my “free time”, no less – to see if I have the chops to make it professionally just doesn’t sit well with me. I’ll continue to suffer in my crappy apartment kitchen, thank you. But the article was interesting, nonetheless, to see what’s out there.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pinot, I had to laugh about your throwing away the rest of the paper. Years ago when I commuted by train and had to sit on the floor on occasion, the business section of the Times was always my seat.

P.S. I think I have a picture of my son on that same slide. Central Park, west side-ish, near 60th St.? It's a nice old-fashioned kind of slide from the days when people were so darn worried about everything.

Unknown said...

Yep, that's the slide! Don't you miss the days of metal playgrounds? Now everything's plastic with lots of static electricity so my hair always sticks up everywhere after I go down the slide. Never mind that I'm a 30-something discussing the pros and cons of different kinds of slides...

Anonymous said...

oh, yes, metal playground equipment. I do miss it. Jungle gyms and those wild merry-go-rounds that people slung themselves on and off of!