Cara Linn Cakes

Over the years, I have come to learn that not all sweets are created equal. Sugar is fine, but honestly, a desert is not worth sticking a fork into unless it meets certain criteria: (1) It must be fresh (2) It must be made with real, natural ingredients, and (3) it must be beautiful!
Our very own editor-in-chief Gina LaMorte just introduced me to a cake shop that meets- and exceeds my criteria. Cara Linn Cakes are fresh, sweetened only with organic cane sugar, and GEORGEOUS! They even offer vegan and raw food options, which is no small feat!
Lucky for you, they're discounting cakes through June 25th! Even the wedding cakes are 40% off. Is it strange that I want to grab a random (but good-looking, mind you) man off the street and marry him so I can get one?
If you are anywhere near Brooklyn, NY, you've got to check them out. If you're too far away, you can always just check out their blog to see the pretty pictures!
Oh, and if you'll be swinging by San Francisco at any point, bring me one of their cupcakes! I simply must try one!!!

The Cutest Lunches Ever

Have you ever heard of bento? Maybe the word makes you think of afternoon take-out specials at your favorite Japanese restaurant, but let me assure you, there is much more to this humble word than you might expect.
In Japan, it's common practice for mothers (and sometimes fathers) to pack bento box lunches for their kids when they send them off to school. Some parents have turned the simple act into its very own art form, creating character-themed snacks for their kids and posting pictures of them on their blogs.
As of late, the bento box lunch concept has caught on in America, and more and more people are starting to pack cute little lunches of their own- not just for their kids, but for themselves!
Packing your own bento box lunch comes with a litany of perks- you'll save money, eat healthier, smaller portions, reduce waste, and have a blast making them!
Best of all, making your own bento needn't be time consuming or difficult. There are a lot of online resources to help you out!

Here are some of the best:

• Lunch in a Box : This site is full of helpful tips, as well as contests, recipes, and connections to other online resources.
• Just Bento : Constantly posting new recipes and tips, Just Bento offers monthly themes, such as frugality as well as a Get Started Handbook . With their weekly bento planner , bento-packing is riculously easy.
  
• Anna The Red's Bento Factory : If you want inspiration, you'll love AnnaTheRed's beautiful bentos, but her site isn't just eye candy; she provides helpful recipes as well.

If the blogs aren't enough for you, YouTube is full of helpful tutorials, and offers plenty of inspiration (as you can see below!). Bento is a blast. I hope you give it a try!



[Photo from AnnaTheRed's Flikr Stream]

On Food

Sometimes I marvel at the difficulty we have with food. We have to much! No wait... there's not enough. Ah, but it is of such low quality! No- it's too expensive!! We need to diet! No, we need exercise more! Let's go GMO and synthetic all the way! No! Organic! Local! Fresh! Raw! ALIVE! GYAAAH!!

I, for one, sometimes feel as though I have no idea what to eat. In such moments of gastronomic crisis, I return to Michael Pollen's wise words from his book In Defense of Food: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

It seems so simple- deceptively so, actually. Pollen's advice to not "eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food" makes perfect sense, but what about all the foods that resemble what she used to eat?
Take sugar, for example. We have many low and no calorie substitutes these days. They pretty much look and taste like real sugar, but they aren't. Are we to avoid those, too?
I'm thinking yes, especially after reading about 17-year-old Smitha Ramakirshna's recent science project, which placed her amongst the finalists of the 2009 Intel Science Talent Search. Smitha found that Splenda "can accumulate in the water supply after people excrete it, potentially harming fish and other living things."
Odd chemical issues aside, I still think it advisable to avoid processed foods, especially those advertised as low-calorie or low-fat. First off, they're expensive. Second, I am tempted to eat more of them, because they're less satisfying and they wear off quickly. In addition, the processing and packaging involved isn't all that great for the environment.

If you're out to cut calories, eat healthier, or lose weight, I'd recommend the taking Pollen's advice. I feel there is a very strong argument for sticking to good old fashioned food. It's good for local farmers, it's good for the environment, and it's good for you, too.

I'm not going to pretend that local, organic food isn't sometimes more expensive, but higher prices have their benefits. Not only are you paying for the real price of your food (whereas with processed foods, you are often not paying for the environmental damage the food inflicts), you are buying less. By opting for quality and not quantity, you have natural portion control, and really fresh, delicious food. Yum!

Ok, so maybe you're on board with buying real food and not what Michael Pollen would refer to as "edible food-like substances," but you hesitate because buying natural staples and actually cooking your own meals seems like a formidable, time-consuming task. Not to worry! You'll find that cooking and baking on your own, once you have some basic tools, is ridiculously easy. For instnace, I used to make cakes using boxed mixes, but then I tried making a cake from scratch, and realized it took only a couple of extra minutes and ingredients. I haven't gone back to boxes since, and I must admit, it feels good to say you've made something from scratch. It's as though you truly own your food.

Thanks to the Internet, we have millions of recipes at our fingertips, and thanks to weekends, we also have the ability to create our own microwavable frozen meals. I and many of my friends like to bake large batches on the weekends, then separate leftoveres into indivudually packaged portions that can be heated up and enjoyed throughout the week. It doesn't take much time, plus it saves money and materials, and peppers long workdays with savory, home-cooked meals.

When it comes to food, there are no clear-cut answers. One food that seems to be healthy and ethical can be worse than its alternatives. Also, it is nearly impossible for us to go all natural or all organic or all local- at least for now. That said, it doesn't have to be hard to eat well. The most important thing is to exercise common sense and stick to meals that are as traditional, natural, and local as possible. Try to select foods with ingredients that you can picture growing naturally, and have fun with your meals. When all else fails, never fear; just remember to "eat food, not to much, mostly plants."


If you'd like to hear Michael Pollen talk about his food philosophy, click here to listen to an NPR interview on In Defense of Food.
You can also get a basic summary of his philosophy from this NY Times Article.

Sweet Patriotism

We love Georgetown Cupcake's special Inauguration cupcakes, especially the ones with "Yes We Can" presidential seals made of fondant.  

Impossible as it may seem, they taste even better than they look! The fresh, high-quality ingredients and family recipes that go into these cupcakes do not disappoint.  What's more, Sophie and Katherine, the Georgetown Cupcake owners, regularly donate their beautiful treats to charity events.  Now, that's sweet indeed!