Top Ten Links of the Week: 10/22/10 - 10/28/10

Happy Halloween, sweet readers! Today, we delve deep into the anthropology of candy, the downsides of fundraisers, and the benefits of soup and vegetables.

Oo! Also! Movie suggestion! If you haven't seen 2008's Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In, rent it for the 31st. It will move you and scare your pants off at the same time. I'm dead serious. Those (we) Scandinavians know horror. And the luge. But mostly horror.

1) New York Times: Is Candy Evil or Just Misunderstood?
By day, Dr. Samira Kawash is ludicrously well-educated administrator, mom, and jellybean addict. By night, she’s CANDY PROFESSOR, a blogger exploring Americans’ cultural relationship with jujubes, lollipops, and Gummi bears. It’s a sweet article, in every sense of the word.

2) The Atlantic Food: The Meanings of Halloween Candy Psychopath Stories
All Hallow’s Eve approaches, my pretties. This year, don’t fear razor-bladed Snickers or poisoned Mary Janes. They’re pretty much an unsubstantiated myth, fostered by our fear of contamination and the unknown. Who knows? CANDY PROFESSOR knows. (Seriously. She wrote this.)

3) Oregon Live: Soup swaps help stock your freezer and foster friendships
Ooo! Wanna procure a variety of delicious, nutritious meals for pennies? Hold a soup swap. This piece gives you the guidelines, along with six good-looking recipes.

4) The Atlantic: The Dark Side of Benefit Dinners
Porchetta chef Sara Jenkins is leery of benefits for two reasons: 1) They often seem more like self-congratulatory parties for their respective parent organizations, and 2) She’s repeatedly expected to buy, prep, and serve a massive amount of food for free. It’s a reasonable argument, and one worth exploring if you're planning, funding, or attending a fundraising dinner anytime soon.

5) Casual Kitchen: Cooking Up Advantages Out of Disadvantages
Love this piece about accidental innovation when you’re too busy to do it on purpose. Aren’t we all more productive when we’re busy?

6) The Simple Dollar: Can Once-a-Month Cooking Really Work?
Personal finance guru/home cook Trent details the beginnings of his family’s OaM experiment, which will be employed full-force when his wife heads back to work. Can they pull it off? Will the meals become too repetitive? Is it something they can do consistently? Read on and find out.

7) HuffPo: Screamin’ Grocery Store Deals: 16 Cheap, Organic Foods
Fab organic deals in somewhat irritating slideshow form. Take a glance if you don’t mind the extra clicking. (Does anyone else loathe slideshows? Man, they make me crazy. HuffPo is a constant culprit.)

8) The Independent: Excessive Meat Eating Kills 45,000 Each Year
You know, you see a lot of articles pinning metabolic syndrome on obesity and poor diets, but you rarely see them specifically blame meat consumption. This is a UK publication, is probably why it's allowed to happen here. Interesting read.

9) Gen X Finance: 8 Ways to Save Money When Going Out to Eat
I love any frugality piece acknowledging that leaving the house is necessary to maintain one’s sanity. Also, food is good. So, um, read this.

10) USA Today: Food allergies more likely in kids born in winter
It’s understood that these claims are legitimate, but don’t they sound a little like obscure baseball stats? Like, kids born in winter after the seventh inning on days ending in 3, 7, or 8 are more likely to have a shellfish intolerance and less likely to hit for the cycle? Am I watching too much of the World Series? Answer me, Tim Lincecum!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Cooking Manager: Interview with Cheap Healthy Good Kris
The lovely Hannah graciously asked to interview me earlier this week. These are the squash-tastic results

The Guardian: Global food crisis forecast as prices reach record highs
Oh, crud. Not again. Imagine 2008’s crisis, but make it much longer.

HuffPo/Eating Well: How to Save $2,997 on Food Without Even Trying
Standard but solid roundup on common ways to cut back on your food expenditures. If you’re new to this, it’s definitely worth a gander.

stonesoup: 7 Things You Should Know About Eggplant
I didn’t know about #2. As Gram used to say, "You learn something new everyday, and could you please turn up my Lawrence Welk Show? Thanks, dear."

Time.com: Lardcore – Southern Food With Hardcore Attitude
The article is incidental. Whoever came up with “lardcore” should be kissed on the mouth. Somewhere, Henry Rollins is eating fried chicken and angrily smiling.

Wise Bread: How to Save $1500 on Coffee
Should you buy an espresso machine? Believe it or not, it might be a solid investment if you’re a joe-holic.

AND ALSO

Electric Company: Morgan Freeman as Count Dracula, Taking a Bath in a Casket
Happy Halloweeeeeeeen!



(Banana and candy pics from Wiki commons.)

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