Love, Liberty and Luck Cabbage Mix: Fang Island, Soft Pack, Kid Cudi, Penguin Prison, Star Fucking Hipsters, Old Canes, Cloud Cult , Soulico and more

by: Tender Branson in playlist on Dec. 23, 2009

Lejla Kazinic Kreho, a Croatian nutritionist that studied at King’s College in London, claimed in her book Nutrition of the 21st Century that sauerkraut, or pickled cabbage, could help eliminate erectile dysfunction if it is eaten twice a day. During World War I, sauerkraut makers in America feared that the public would reject a product with a German name so the condiment was temporarily renamed [...]

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An Apple a Day with Once upon a Girl, Mordingjarnir, Au Revoir Simone, Samuraj Cities and Flat Stanley

by: Tender Branson in dessert, fruit, tart on Dec. 22, 2009

There is an old adage that suggests “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” If that truly is mired in fact than my recent birthday celebration will keep me going strong until I am 120 years old (of course if sugar is detrimental to health than I am in trouble). Breakfast: Vegetarian Times’ Apple Cinnamon French Toast (recipe) Lunch: Real Simple’s Apple-Pear Galette (recipe) [...]

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What’s cooking with the Hoodlum Shouts

by: Tender Branson in interview on Dec. 21, 2009

The Hoodlum Shouts first appeared on Write.Click.Cook.Listen with their song “History’s End” on a mix about Roux. Within days I received a message from the band about how they loved roux and haute cuisine and were influenced by Careme. My mouth dropped. Not only were they a band that was making good music but they seemed to know their cooking as well. A perfect fit [...]

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From the Vault: A Pizza and Pasta Party with the bouncing souls, aquabats, Sam’s spaghetti band and smile pasta

by: Tender Branson in italian, pasta, pizza, restaurant, tampa on Dec. 19, 2009

There is nothing worse than bad pizza and the Tampa area has some real stinkers. For two years I consumed overdone, tasteless, dry, even chlorine laced pies before striking gold. The problem is that after spending the first twenty years of my life eating Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Pino’s (a small scale New York style pizza joint in Newville that reportedly served drugs on the side), [...]

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Peanutty Okra on top of The Slew and Satan Takes a Holiday

by: Tender Branson in african, vegetable on Dec. 16, 2009

In order to prepare for our upcoming Christmas trip I have been tossing together some dishes using things that have resided in our freezer and refrigerator for a long time. That means lots of corn, vegetable stock, peas, frozen fruit and okra. The only dish worth mentioning is the Peanut Okra that I made this weekend (although the broccoli, corn and veggie stock is worth [...]

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Baker’s Dozen: Interview with tada tata

by: Tender Branson in band recipe, cake, dessert, interview on Dec. 13, 2009

Last month I was lucky enough to conduct two interviews. The first with Sweden’s My Sunrise (interview can be found here). The second is with another infectious Swedish band, tada tata. tada tata is the poster child for everything I am trying to do here. They are a band that makes great music (like “Hit the Wall” that was part of our November Let Them [...]

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Philly’s Phinest: Veggie Cheesesteak wit’ Unicorn Kid, Philadelphia Grand Jury, and Souvenirs from Fiji

by: Tender Branson in philly's phinest, sandwich, vegetable on Dec. 10, 2009

I’m a dichotomy kind of guy. It’s either black or white, cat or dog, one side of the fence or they other. My latest obsession is the Philadelphia Cheesesteak dichotomy, Pat’s or Geno’s. Unfortunately, as most of you know, my vegetarianism does not allow me the opportunity to conduct my own experiment (although I will someday get the guts to walk up to those two [...]

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Yucca Fries and Alternative Country (You know like Pufferfish and Jon and Roy)

by: Tender Branson in side dish, vegan, vegetable on Dec. 4, 2009

The first time I ate Yucca Fries was at a local Tampa joint called the Lime. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I took that first bite, looking back I probably should’ve thought twice about it. Afterall, I have craved nothing else since that first day. I had not ventured to cook the plant myself until a recent trip to the grocery [...]

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I left My Heart in San FranCrisco Mix: Phantogram, Magneta Lane, Red Mass, The Prairie Cartel, Whitley, The Walt, Swimming In Speakers, and more

by: Tender Branson in cookies, dessert, playlist on Dec. 1, 2009

I’ve never used Crisco, the hydrogenated cottenseed/soybean oil shortening that has been available since 1911, for baking. In fact, the only time I have ever used Crisco was for an experiment with my second graders mimicking whale blubber. As far as I am concerned, that is all it is good for, remaining outside of the body, not being ingested. But not everyone agrees. After gorging [...]