In his search for safe anti-inflammatory agents, University of Texas research scientist Bharat B. Aggarwal began 20 years ago to research the very spices that had always been a staple of his Indian diet. He found that many of them could be safely moved out of his kitchen cabinet to his medicine cabinet, as he says in his newly released book, Healing Spices.

From New America Media: Sugar is like crack. Or at least, the threat it poses to the health and well-being of people in Richmond, California, is not far off from the threat posed by crack cocaine or other harmful narcotics, according to a recent report by the Contra Costa County health department, entitled “The Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption on the Health of Richmond Residents.” Soda, says the report, is particularly addictive given how effective our bodies are at absorbing sugar, which can lead to obesity, which in turn causes us to be more susceptible to disease.

In the 1936 screwball comedy mystery The Ex-Mrs. Bradford, Dr. Lawrence Bradford (William Powell) asks his ex-wife, the rich mystery writer Paula (Jean Arthur), “What is a cocktail dress?” She replies, “Something to spill cocktails on.” So strike a pose, raise a glass and make a toast with these classic cocktails from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Spilling on cocktail dresses not required. 

The Soave is now playing the wine equivalent of hardball, reinventing and revamping its stodgy image for a new era of wine consumption and wine consumers by playing up the area’s historic strengths and vintages. The Garganega of Soave produces wines with delicate flavors of pear, pineapple, and apricot that become fuller and more luscious with age. 

As his fame escalated and Anthony Bourdain made the leap from cult hero to mainstream giant, his formerly delightful cynicism and off-color humor turned sour, and, for lack of a better word, dull. Fans have come to expect his highly vocal and frequently profanity-laced criticism as a given, but lately, Bourdain has hit other culinary luminaries below the belt, and now the tide is turning. What were once considered clever jabs and witty repartee are now merely irritating, irate rants, similar to scratchings on a chalkboard.

Turning lemons into lemonade may be an aphorism, but apparently some people prefer a more literal interpretation. After being laid off from a law firm in 2009, Alex Rein decided to make lemonade—as well as Spicy Ginger, Tangy Citrus and Green & Black Tea Slushes—and less than one year later, Kelvin Natural Slush Co. won Best Dessert in a 2010 New York street food competition.

Sifton, who has been the New York Times restaurant critic since October 2009, has a certain flair for the written word. His reviews are frequently, for lack of a better word, flowery, and replete with vivid descriptions –sometimes apropos, other times downright odd – that add a certain flavor to his prose (pun intended).