Links

Additional links related to food, beer, Orlando, favourite online stores, food blogs and Etsy shops, and my friends’ sites and projects will be forthcoming.

Other Food Blogs
If perusing food blogs has become your new thing, or if you’re looking to just read up more about what people make and eat (or drink), here are some food blogs I’ve found and liked.

• The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook - What a brilliant idea! Soon to be a book released in 2009, this blog collects home-cooked recipes from across the Asian world. Go on and tell Pat what a killer idea this is for a book.
• Bake & Destroy! - Okay, the blog title: can we say “awesome”? The site was nominated for Best Food Blog, and it’s popular for good reason. Recipes abound, including those for vegan baked goods, so check it out.
• Burnt Lumpia - The tagline “Finding identity through food” says it all. Marvin, the author of this blog, displays a wonderful sense of humour as he cooks his way through the iconic recipes of Filipino culture.
• Eat Air: A Vegan Food Log - Although I’m not vegan, I like to cook and bake vegan now and again, and I support websites and blogs that help those of us with vegetarian or vegan diets. Darlene and Chris provide extensive comments about their vegan experience, sharing cookbooks, recipes and restaurants they’ve liked, and maybe that you’ll like, too.
• EatYet? - A weblog started by Lina and Chelle with regular contributors filled with all kinds of tastiness, including some vegan and vegetarian recipes. The photos will likely make you hungry, so be warned. The Almond Blueberry Cookies Lina posted are currently in the queue for me to try.
• Hamburger America blog - It’s a blog by that fantastic director of Hamburger America and the author of the book of the same name!  Read as George Motz discusses his burger hangover, new spots of burger bliss, and other interesting hamburger-related information.

Orlando
Should you happen to find yourself in “The City Beautiful” or in nearby areas, here are some places to while away your time in.

• Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux - A little neighbourhood cafe and wine bar nestled at the intersection of Audubon Park, Winter Park and Baldwin Park near Stardust Coffee & Video and Park Ave CDs, this new place has a lot of promise, especially with the cycling crowd and the young, suburban set. The owners will apparently greet you by name one you go in a few times.
• Dandelion Communitea Cafe - This organic tea place and vegan-lovin’ eatery is in the greenest building around. Seriously, you can’t miss it. They’re located right behind Colonial Photo & Hobby near the Little Saigon area of town, but I don’t recommend driving through CP&H’s parking lot to get to this tea den; the speed bumps are killer.
• Dechoes - Dechoes is my favourite store to dig through what other people have cast off; I almost always find something good when I walk in the door. There’s three locations close enough to the downtown area. To whomever had given up their women’s Ben Sherman shirts at the one in Bumby plaza: thank you.
• Infusion Tea - When I need tea, I come here and fill up on blueberry white, blackberry sage, orange blossom oolong and organic Earl Grey. I often poke around in the adjacent Cottage Industries Co-op while waiting for tea or food. It’s a great place for lunch or dinner, and one of the highlights of Orlando’s College Park area.
• Orlando Museum of Art - A fantastic way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon (they close at 4 pm, so get in early), I’ve recently become a museum member, which lets me in on exhibits for free since I paid $30 for membership.  If you go to the museum three times a year, it’s worth it, and you can get in for free in a few other art museums around Florida and the South as well.  Art museum road trip, anyone?
• Park Ave CDs - Located no longer on Park Ave in downtown Winter Park, the larger store is now situated on Corrine Drive, a hop and a skip away from Stardust Video & Coffee. Not just selling CDs, Park Ave CDs has vinyl, shirts, DVDs, books, bags, magazines and an assortment of other gear any music lover would want or need. For upcoming events, contests and album reviews, take a look at their newly-launched blog.
• Pom-Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria - Awesome sandwiches on Bumby. I love the Danny G without onions or their vegetarian sandwich, again without onions. Interestingly, Pom-Pom’s has some sort of magical property that somehow causes Melanie Osborn to call me when I am there. It’s true.
• Redlight Redlight - It’s beer heaven in a small nook above a bakery in Winter Park. Well-stocked with many imported and craft beers, you can flip through one of a few binders available with information on the ridiculous amount of beer they stock, or you can badger the bartender to give you suggestions to wean you off of Bud Light. I recommend Ommegang’s Rare Vos for fans of Newcastle, and Hitachino Nest’s White Ale for those who like witbier. I could recommend plenty more, but I’ll stop there.
• Stardust Video & Coffee - Stardust is a local legend among Orlando and Winter Park residents, and for good reason–it’s been around since I was in high school (at least). Since then, it’s morphed to serving excellent bistro-esque food without pretension along with excellent craft and import beer choices, and wine, though I know nothing of wine. Independent and cult films can be rented on a three-day borrowing period. Be nice and return your movies in a timely manner.
• Woodlands - Although their prices seem to slightly increase with every visit (ack!), Woodlands still has fantastic Indian vegetarian cuisine. When I feel like splurging, I get the Gobi Manchurian Dry as an appetizer and the Vegetable Makhani curry as an entree, with a side of poori bread. So tasty, but my eyes hurt when I look at my bill later, since my eating aspirations will completely PWN any budget I set for myself.

Media
Information is everywhere, but you have to know where to get it. Here are some websites for magazines and networks–as well as online blogs–I go to for what’s new and interesting. Some of the outlooks may conflict with each other, but that’s what makes it all the more informative.

• Beer Advocate - Anyone care to hook a girl up with a subscription? Their motto: “Respect Beer.” I love it, and I love their enthusiasm for the beverage that civilisation was built upon. Their website has beer reviews, beer education resources and even a Beer Advocate online community. It’s certainly a bit more refined and accepted than that folded issue of High Times you have tucked away with the weird blacklight effects.
• BUST Magazine - BUST is a friendly and fun way to get my dose of feminism and “you go, girl” with a side of literate pop culture. I’ve made a few friends into loyal subscribers, and with good reason: the articles are smart and relevant, I enjoy the independent/DIY slant, and the fashion section doesn’t take over the whole damn magazine, as it does in most women’s magazines.
• Cute Overload! - Aw, hell yeah! Since I discovered this website from an NPR article, I have been a semi-regular visitor, getting doses of cuteness via this online blog. Warning: You may find yourself audibly squealing at the cuteness, much to the disturbance of your cubicle neighbour.
• Giant Robot - Giant Robot bills itself as covering “Asian American pop culture & beyond,” and it does a fabulous job at it. I’ve been buying stuff from their online store for years.
• GOOD Magazine - I love it when magazines put their articles online, and not only does GOOD do this, but if you subscribe to their magazine, the money you pay to subscribe goes 100% to one of a group of nonprofit partners. The articles are interesting, covering issues and projects for the hybrid-car set.
• Monocle - Only recently have I discovered this magazine, and with its elegant design, international outlook and lovely photographs, I wish I had found out about it sooner. Since it’s a UK-based magazine, subscription prices are sick when converted to USD, but with the $10 rag being a sleeper hit, it’s tempting to pony up the $146 (yes, $146) to get it mailed straight to me rather than deal with slack-ass Barnes & Noble employees who question its existence. (”Are you suuure we carry this magazine? I’ve never heard of it.” Grrr.) Anyway, I wish I lived as swish as Monocle’s intended audience.
• NPR - Even though I rarely listen to the radio, I have a longstanding love affair with National Public Radio’s website. They’re my favourite source of information for pretty much everything, and their Song of the Day section has introduced me to so much new music, I recommend it like I recommend breathing. More fits of awesomeness can be found with the segments All Songs Considered, Kitchen Window and Hidden Kitchens–I own the book for this show!
• Orlando Weekly - Orlando’s freebie weekly is available throughout the town, but you can also read the articles online. I’m normally in it for the restaurant reviews, but there’s also many local news articles from a jaded liberal perspective, along with listings of art, music, culture and film events.
• Venus Zine - Venus Zine is like BUST, but with more of a focus on music. The magazine also touches on the arts, design and DIY shtuffs. I only have a few issues so far in my subscription, but so far, so good.

Makin’ Things Better
These websites and organisations are working in different ways to make a better world. Maybe they’ll inspire you like they’ve inspired me.

• Changing the Present - For five bucks, you can provide treats to a rescued farm animal in upstate New York. Eight dollars will provide an emergency food package to a family of cyclone survivors. For fifteen dollars, you can provide hygiene kits to refugees or turn 10 meters of land into a garden or playground by clearing it of landmines. With a number of causes, you can make a huge impact for as little as lunch money on this website that helps out numerous non-profits. Contributions are tax-deductible, and you can even make a gift registry for your next birthday, graduation, anniversary, bat mitzvah or what-have-you.
• Slow Food International and Slow Food USA - The Slow Food movement is a phenomenon, which has inspired an ethos of Slow Life in Japan (read up on it–it’s rather cool). Per the Slow Food International website: “We believe that everyone has a fundamental right to pleasure and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. Our movement is founded upon this concept of eco-gastronomy – a recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet.”

Etsy Shops
I love Etsy, and I love supporting crafters and creaters across this great world. These are some retailers that I’ve found online shopping bliss with.

• Modern Charm - Ridiculously cute handbags, make-up bags, headbands and totes can be found here at awesome prices. I use my “canvas market tote” as a lunch/book bag for work. This Etsy seller has gift certificates in her shop, too (hint, hint).
• Run Amok - Oona Peterson makes cute purses, pin cushions and accessories, often using vintage materials. I have a handbag made from Japanese obi fabric, and hairpins made with bingo pieces.
• You Stink Soap - Along with being a food freak, I have an unhealthy obsession with bath products, and I’m currently in the throes of adoration for the products of You Stink Soap. The soaps are vegan and they smell excellent. The London Lemon Curd is my favourite so far, but all the others I’ve tried have been wonderful.