The Bitten Word

Two Days Left to Vote for The Bitten Word!

Hi guys!

Just a reminder to vote for The Bitten Word in Saveur's "Best Food Blog" Awards! We're nominated in the "Best Cook-Through Blog" category. We're thrilled to be included in that category with some other terrific blogs, and there are tons of great sites nominated in other categories, too.

Voting ends May 12 -- that's just two days from now! So if you have a minute, we'd love to have your support!

Saveur's voting site can be a tad confusing to navigate, so here are step-by-step instructions for how to cast your vote.

Golden Beet Slaw

Martha Stewart Living (April 2011)

 

Sometimes it feels as though our mission in life is to get people to like two sometimes-reviled vegetables: Brussels sprouts and beets. 

It's true. We could rightly be accused of almost force-feeding these two dishes to our friends. Mostly it's because we ourselves didn't really care for them very much before we started writing the blog, and we've since fallen head-over-heels in love.

Brussels, especially roasted, are an easy sell. Throw a little bacon and apple in them, or spice them up and sauté them with cashews, and people love them. Beets can be a little more difficult and require a bit more convincing.

This may help. Here's a beet salad that's not only delicious and fresh tasting, it takes all of about 5 minutes to prepare.

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange

Bon Appétit (May 2011)

Our post on the revamped Bon Appétit apparently struck a chord with a lot of you. In our original post, we waxed about the loss of the mag's instantly recognizable photo style; we questioned the choice of focusing on Italian cuisine for being too safe; and we bemoaned the cheekier, more abrasive editorial style.

Commenters on the post were even more fired up: Some people blasted the changes at Bon App, while others called the revamped issue a welcome breath of fresh air. (As we said then, we completely recognize that judging a magazine redesign based on a single issue isn't very fair. We're looking forward to checking on BA in the next few months to see how it evolves!)

But we're confident there are two things from the latest Bon App that we can all agree on:

1. Pasta is good.

2. This Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange is really good.

Garden Update: From Seeds to Seedlings

An Update on Our Backyard Garden

One of the fascinating things about growing our little garden this year has been watching the seedlings emerge from their pods in their little greenhouse. Some of them almost literally explode out of the soil, taking a significant amount of dirt up into the air on their little leaves. It's been almost inspiring.

But getting our garden started for this summer hasn't been all inspiration and cheers of success. There's plenty of fretting (Do they have enough water? Are the plants spaced too closely together?) and playing the age-old game of "Something I Planted or a Weed?" 

Minted Pea and Prosciutto Crostini

Everyday Food (April 2011)

Just a couple weeks ago we said that crostini and other party snacks can "get a little tiresome."

Let's retract that statement, shall we?

Because these Minted Pea and Prosciutto Crostini are anything but tiresome. They're fresh, filling -- and easy, to boot.