(y)our food choices™

Eiffel Tower Duo

You know you’ve had a great vacation if, upon your return, you need a few weeks to decompress. We flew across an ocean, dodged an erupting volcano, rode a bullet train, bicycled the ancient cobble stoned streets of a big European city and flirted with disaster more than once all the while eating and drinking until we couldn’t take any more. That’s how we feel after returning from the food capitol of the world. No, we’re obviously not talking about London, but Paris, or course! Ten days in the most beautiful city in the world and neither one of us feels like we made even the smallest dent in a city that rightly boasts the greatest access to culinary treasures of any city on earth. We also spent five days in London and while we were expecting some truly hideous food, we actually found it to be more foodie friendly than we’d been lead to expect. We even enjoyed black pudding at breakfast (more on English breakfast in coming posts). You could give us ten years in both cities and we’d still need ten more. Over the course of the next month we hope to share our Paris and London food experiences coupled with an occasional sight seeing tip. The stories may not come in a linear fashion, and we may jump back and forth from London and Paris, but the cities have not only inspired us to keep blogging but have upped the ante on our cooking and writing efforts.

Cheers,

Jason & Steve

3-Tier To-Go Ware "Tiffin" Set

For the last few months I’ve been searching on-line for the best alternative to plastic storage containers. Not only am I trying to eliminate plastic from our lives because of their environmental impact, but also for the health risks associated with plastics containing bisphenol-A (BPA). Possible hormonal disorders and cancer have been linked to BPA. I thought I would have time to search out and find the perfect containers, since I’m using the trusted All-American Tupperware. Alas, Tupperware isn’t what I thought it was all cracked up to be. Not only does the old Rock ‘n Serve contain BPA, but so does their latest update, Vent ‘n Serve. So what are guys like us to do?

Well, luckily we just happened to stumble upon the latest copy of Cook’s Illustrated which seems to have solved the problem. Not only did the good folks at America’s Test Kitchen test different plastic food storage containers, all BPA free, but they also have a recommendation for those of us who want to eliminate plastic all together. The Kinetic Go Green (also sold as Glasslock by Snapware) is their recommended glass option, and it’s also available on Amazon, but it isn’t oven-safe so we’re also considering Anchor Hocking’s TrueSeal containers. Whatever we decide, the Tupperware will be gone after we return from our trip to London and Paris.

Thank you Cook’s Illustrated for solving a dilemma that has been haunting me for months. Not only am I thinking about purchasing a set or two of Kinetic or TrueSeal, I’m also going to renew my subscription to Cook’s Illustrated!

Steve’s had his eye on a stainless steel stacking “Tiffen” set from To-Go Ware. They remind him of his days living in Tampa, Florida years ago where he noticed folks in the Cuban community using these tins for lunches they retrieved from restaurants that specialized in this style of take-out. I picked up a 3-tier set from Cole Hardware. A simple purchase that left him grinning from ear to ear.

Now the new dilemma, donate the old Tupperware to someone else who may be poisoned by the chemicals from which it is made or toss it into the landfill where it will remain until the end of time. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson, Ay Caramba!